Imperial County Municipal Code § 90512.04 Minimum lot size

The purpose of the C-1 (light commercial) zone is to designate areas for low density commercial activities that are oriented to serving and compatible with nearby residential areas. The C-1 zone may also be combined with the combination use MP zone (multi-purpose overlay) referenced Title 9, Division 3, Chapter 6 to achieve innovative unique and inventive office or commercial development. The C-1 zone typically includes small retail service oriented commercial activities. The C-1 zones are generally located in residential neighborhoods along major or secondary highways.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

The following uses are permitted in the C-1 zone provided they meet the requirements of this title:

a) Art gallery.

b) Artist studio.

c) Automobile parking areas when developed as required by this division if adjacent to a residential zone.

d) Automobile service station (containing not more than six pumps).

e) Auto parts and accessory retail store.

f) Bakeries.

g) Banks.

h) Barber/beauty shop.

i) Bar/tavern/cocktail lounge.

j) Bath house (including saunas, spa, Turkish, steam or tanning).

k) Bicycle sales (including rental and service).

l) Book store.

m) Business or professional office.

n) Caretaker, security or proprietor residential quarters (accessory dwelling unit per Section 90405.02).

o) Charitable or public service organizations.

p) Christmas tree sales (temporary).

q) Church.

r) Clinic (medical for out-patient use only).

s) Clothing and apparel stores (small not large department stores).

t) Commercial accessory structure(s) (including cargo containers).

u) Community or senior service center.

v) Computer stores (retail and repair).

w) Confectionery stores.

x) Convenience market.

y) Dress making or millinery shops.

z) Drive-in food market or dairy.

aa) Driving school.

bb) Drug and pharmacy store.

cc) Dry cleaning, pressing and laundry agencies.

dd) Dry goods and notions stores.

ee) Electric appliance stores and repairs.

ff) Electrical vehicles charging stations as a primary use.

gg) Elementary school.

hh) Fast food restaurant.

ii) Financial institutions.

jj) Florists shops.

kk) Food store.

ll) Gift and cards store.

mm) Government office or government building.

nn) Grocery, fruit and vegetable stores.

oo) Hardware stores (general), excluding outside storage of material.

pp) Health club, tennis or swim club (in door use only).

qq) High school.

rr) Hotels and motels (including bed and breakfasts).

ss) Household pets (with no outside kennel).

tt) Ice cream parlor (including yogurt).

uu) Ice storage houses or not more than five-ton capacity.

vv) Ice vending machines.

ww) Instruction school.

xx) Interior decorating.

yy) Jewelry stores.

zz) Junior high school.

aaa) Laboratory for medical, dental, optical, or biological.

bbb) Laundry mat/laundry.

ccc) Lawn mower, including repair, sales and service (including service and repairs, provided it is contained within a building).

ddd) Library.

eee) Locksmith and key shop.

fff) Martial arts school.

ggg) Meat markets or delicatessen stores.

hhh) Museum.

iii) Newspaper, magazine stand.

jjj) Offices, business, professional or public utility.

kkk) Photographic shops.

lll) Pre-school.

mmm) Public buildings.

nnn) Real estate offices.

ooo) Research and development office.

ppp) Restaurant/cafe/coffee shop/team rooms where all customers are served at a table or counter (excluding dancing and entertainment.

qqq) Retail appliance store (including service and repairs, provided it is contained within a building).

rrr) Retail store, general.

sss) Satellite dish (sales and repair).

ttt) School.

uuu) Self-service laundries.

vvv) Shoe stores, shoe repair or shoe sales.

www) Single-room occupancy units (SRO) and boarding/rooming houses.

xxx) Solar energy extraction generation provided that it is for on-site consumption only.

yyy) Specialized stores including meat, vegetable, health foods.

zzz) Stationary and office supply.

aaaa) Tailor, clothing or wearing apparel shops.

bbbb) Taxidermists.

cccc) Telegraph.

dddd) Ticket agency.

eeee) Tobacco store.

ffff) Trade school.

gggg) Travel agency.

hhhh) Utility substation.

iiii) Variety store.

jjjj) Video rental.

The above specified stores, shops and businesses shall be retail establishments selling new merchandise exclusively and shall be permitted only under the following conditions:

Such stores, shops or businesses except automobile service stations shall be conducted entirely within an enclosed building.

Products made incidental to a permitted use shall be sold at retail on the premises.

Any exterior sign displayed shall pertain only to a use conducted within the building.

The accessory building and structures necessary to such use located on the same lot or parcel of land, including a storage garage for the exclusive use of the patrons of the above stores or businesses.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

The following uses are permitted in the C-1 Zone provided they meet the requirements of this Title:

a) Airports or aircraft landing fields.

b) Ambulance.

c) Mixed use (residential units over commercial).

d) Auto wash.

e) Automobile parking garage or parking lot.

f) Billboard and advertising structures.

g) Cemeteries, columbariums, crematories and mausoleums.

h) Cemetery.

i) Circus or carnival.

j) City, County, State and Federal enterprises, including buildings, facilities and uses of departments or institutions thereof which are necessary or advantageous to the general welfare of the community.

k) Club or lodge.

l) Communication Towers: including radio, television, cellular, digital, along with the necessary support equipment such as receivers, transmitters, antennas, satellite dishes, relays, etc. (subject to requirements of this zone and Division 24; Section 92401 "Communications Facilities Ordinance" et al).

m) Community care/Veteran facility.

n) Convalescent home.

o) Day nurseries and nursery schools.

p) Educational institutions including schools, elementary and high.

q) Electrical generation plants.

r) Electrical substations in an electrical transmission system (500 kv/230 kv/161 kV).

s) Establishments or enterprises involving large assemblages of people or automobiles, including amusement parks, circuses, carnivals, exposition, fairground, open-air theatres, racetracks, recreational and sport centers.

t) Facilities for abused women.

u) Facilities for the transmission of electrical energy (100—200 kV).

v) Farm implement sales and metal fabrication.

w) Fire or police station.

x) Fraternity or sorority house.

y) Heliport.

z) Hospital.

aa) Hospitals, sanitariums and rest homes.

bb) Hotels.

cc) Institutions of a philanthropic nature.

dd) Labor or union hall.

ee) Libraries, museums, private clubs and golf courses.

ff) Major facilities relating to the generation and transmission of electrical energy, provided such facilities are not, under state or federal law, to be approved exclusively by an agency or agencies of the state and/or federal governments and provided that such facilities shall be approved subsequent to coordination and review with the Imperial Irrigation District for electrical matters. The maximum allowance of battery shall be in a ratio of 2 to 1 compared to solar.

gg) Mausoleums.

hh) Mini storage.

ii) Miniature golf course.

jj) Mobile home parks.

kk) Mortuaries.

ll) Movie Theater.

mm) Nursery.

nn) Park or playground.

oo) Parks, playgrounds and community buildings.

pp) Pool or billiard parlor.

qq) Post office.

it) Printing (topography or blueprints).

ss) Public agency or utility buildings or facilities.

tt) Recycling Collection Facility, per Title 8, Chapter 8.68.

uu) Rehabilitation facility.

vv) Residential hotel.

ww) Rest home.

xx) Retirement home.

yy) Sanitarium.

zz) Swap meets.

aaa) Swimming (public).

bbb) Tennis club (outdoor-public).

ccc) Used car sales and repair facilities.

ddd) Video game arcade.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20; Ord. No. 1587, §§ 1, 2, 12-5-23)

All other uses not permitted specifically by Sections 90512.01 and 90512.02 of this chapter are prohibited in the C-1 zone.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

Except as otherwise provided within this title no lot, parcel or portion thereof within the C-1 zone shall be less than eight thousand (8,000) square feet net, except in the case of conveyances to or from a governmental agency, public entity, public utility. No parcel within this zone shall have less than sixty (60) feet of street frontage.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

Where a residential use is permitted on a C-1 zone lot or parcel, there shall be a minimum of one thousand five hundred (1,500) square feet of lot area per dwelling unit, in addition to the minimum lot size.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

The following yard and setback requirements shall apply in the C-1 zone:

A. Front Yard. Except as otherwise provided, the front yard minimum setback for all buildings shall be as follows:

1. Ten (10) feet from front yard property line or right-of-way of public street or easement.

2. Zero feet from property line or right-of-way line upon the approval of a full site plan review by public works, fire/OES, and planning/building.

B. Side Yard. Except as otherwise provided, the side yard minimum setback for all buildings shall be as follows:

None required provided that adequate fire segregation is provided between all structures as required under the California Building Code and California Fire Code.

C. Rear Yard. Except as otherwise provided, the rear yard minimum setback for all buildings shall be as follows:

Shall be a minimum of twenty (20) feet rear yard, except for lots that have public alley access. The director of planning may reduce the rear yard requirement to a minimum of five feet, provided written concurrence is obtained from the Imperial County Fire/OES and Imperial County Public Works Department.

D. Front, rear and side yard setbacks for residential occupancies permitted within the C-1 zone shall meet the same setbacks as those contained in the R-3 zone.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

Building and/or structures within the C-1 zone shall not exceed five stories or fifty (50) feet whichever is less.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

There are no minimum distances between structures in the C-1 zone.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

Off-street parking shall be provided in the C-1 zone according to the standards contained in Sections 90402.00 through 90402.15 of this Title. Where off-street parking is prohibited vis-à-vis enclosed parking garages that are not readily visible from the street a five-percent reduction in the density may be allowed.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

Every C-1 lot/parcel shall be landscaped to meet the requirements of Section 90302.04.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

The following signs shall be permitted in the C-1 zone; however, all signs shall be subject to Section 90401 as applicable:

1. Temporary real estate signs, advertising property for sale or lease not to exceed twenty (20) square feet.

2. Temporary construction signs.

3. Temporary political signs, not to exceed three months.

4. Institutional signs.

5. Signs attached to buildings.

6. Monument signs.

7. Pole signs advertising on-site identification uses only.

8. Off-site advertising signs when approved by a conditional use permit.

All signs shall meet the requirement of Division 4, Chapter 1.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

All areas within the C-1 zone shall be, at all times, maintained as not to create a fire or life safety or health hazard either to the occupants of the structures or to neighboring properties.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)

Any residential development allowed within the C-1 zone either as an outright use or as a conditional use shall comply with the provisions and standards as contained in the R-2 zone and meet all applicable health and safety regulations.

(Ord. No. 1565, §§ 3, 4, 12-15-20)