Inglewood Municipal Code Art. 1.1 General Regulations

Every residential unit and place of business shall be designed to permit pedestrian access from a public street without the need to only utilize an alley or adjacent property for such access. However, any legal lot or parcel, previously created, not abutting a public street may utilize an alley for sole access.

(Ord. 88-32 10-25-88)

(a) Except as provided otherwise, no building shall be erected, reconstructed or structurally altered or exceed the height limit established for the zone in which such building is located.

(b) The building height shall be based upon the existing grade of the site or, if the existing grade of the site is lower than all adjacent properties, upon the lowest grade of any abutting interior lot line. The building height shall be measured vertically from the average level of the highest and lowest point of the portion of the site covered by the building to the ceiling of the uppermost story. Refer to Diagram A.

(c) Height Exceptions. Penthouses or roof structures for the housing of elevators, stairways, tanks, ventilating fans or similar equipment required for the operation of buildings, and fire or parapet walls, skylights, flagpoles, chimneys, or similar structures may be erected above the height limits here prescribed, but no equipment penthouse, roof structure, or other space above the height limit shall be allowed for the purpose of providing additional floor area.

(Ord. 88-32 10-25-88)

(a) Every required front, side or rear yard shall be open and unobstructed by any portion of any structure, from the ground to the sky, unless specifically permitted otherwise in this Chapter.

(b) Every residential front yard, and any residential street side yard not enclosed by a solid fence or wall at least four feet in height, shall be landscaped with trees, shrubs and lawn or ground cover, including the use of decorative rock materials. Concrete, asphalt or comparable pavement in such yards shall be limited to only the minimum areas necessary to provide pedestrian footpath access to the residential structure(s) and vehicle access to garages, as specified in Article 19 of this Chapter. Additionally, in accordance with Article 3 of Chapter 5 of this Code, parkways shall be landscaped with City-approved trees and with lawn, ground cover plants, and/or shrubs and flowers not exceeding two feet in height.

(c) No yard or open space on an adjoining property shall be considered as providing a yard or open space on a lot whereon a building is to be erected.

(d) Reversed Corner Lot. There shall be a side yard along the street side of a reversed corner to not less than fifty percent of the front yard required of those lots located at the rear of the subject corner lot; provided further, that this regulation shall not be so interpreted as to reduce the buildable width (after providing the required interior side yard) of a reversed corner lot of record as of December 17, 1946, to less than twenty-eight feet. Refer to Diagram B.

(e) Through Lots. Either lot line separating a through lot from a public street may be designated by the owner as the front lot line for the purpose of determining the required building setback. In such cases, the minimum rear yard shall be the average of the existing yards on the next adjoining lots. If such adjoining lots are undeveloped, the minimum rear yard shall conform to the front yard setback for the zone in which the property is located.

(f) Alley as Portion of Rear Yard. The depth of any required residential rear yard may be reduced by a maximum of five feet if the rear lot line abuts a public alley. However, no such reduction shall result in the remainder rear yard having a depth less than five feet.

(Ord. 88-32 10-25-88; Ord. 90-31 11-20-90)

One apartment unit may be located over a detached garage structure provided that:

(a) No portion of the apartment unit shall be located upon the ground floor level, unless constructed or approved for construction prior to January 1, 1989.

(b) The garage apartment structure shall not exceed a total of two stories in height.

(c) The apartment unit shall not exceed two bedrooms (inclusive of any den or family room) and shall not exceed nine hundred square feet in total floor area.

(d) The garage apartment structure shall maintain a setback from the rear property line not less than:

(1) Five feet if the subject lot is less than six thousand square feet in area or if the structure was constructed or approved for construction prior to January 1, 1989.

(2) Ten feet, if the subject lot equals or exceeds six thousand square feet in area but is less than seven thousand square feet.

(3) Fifteen feet, if the subject lot equals or exceeds seven thousand square feet.

(e) The garage apartment structure shall observe the side yard setbacks required for its respective zone and an open area comparable to the otherwise required rear setback for that zone shall be maintained between the garage apartment and any other structure on the property. Refer to Diagram D.

(Ord. 88-32 10-25-88)

(a) A detached accessory structure may occupy not more than twenty-five percent of a required rear yard, provided such structure is not more than one story in height. Excepting garage apartments or ADU's, no two-story accessory structure shall occupy any part of any required yard. No accessory structure shall exceed two stories.

(b) A detached accessory structure shall not be located between the front lot line and the building line of the main dwelling structure, excluding any front architectural projections or open porches or balconies of the dwelling structure. Such an accessory structure may be attached to a main dwelling structure, and be deemed a part thereof if in compliance with the dwelling setbacks, by means of a permanent roof (breezeway) not less than five feet in width.

(c) Setbacks.

(1) A detached accessory structure shall not be located within six feet of any main dwelling structure nor within six feet of any other accessory structure.

(2) A two-story accessory structure shall not be located within any part of any required side or rear yard area and shall not be located within five feet of any interior side or rear lot line.

(3) A detached accessory structure on a corner lot shall not be located within ten feet of a street side lot line or within a reversed corner lot side yard, whichever is greater, or as provided in Section 12-18.3 of this Chapter.

(4) A detached accessory structure shall not be located within fifteen feet of the rear lot line of a through lot, or within any portion of the required rear yard of any through lot exceeding one hundred forty feet in depth.

(5) No accessory building on a reversed corner lot shall be located within five feet of the rear lot line, being the side lot line of the adjacent property.

(6) On corner lots occupied by a single family residence, the garage may be located within the required rear yard and connected to the residence with a one-story covered passage or breezeway not less than five feet in width, provided an interior side yard equivalent in area to the required rear yard is maintained adjacent to the garage. The garage shall maintain the minimum street side yard required for the residence or for accessory structures, whichever is greater. Further, the garage shall not be located closer than five feet to the rear lot line.

(d) Other than required garage facilities, the total floor area of accessory structure(s) shall not exceed four hundred square feet on any lot containing fewer than five residential units.

(e) Miscellaneous residential yard facilities including, but not limited to, clotheslines, trash can storage areas, refuse enclosures, portable storage sheds, permanent barbecue grills and other comparable accessory facilities and devices shall not be located within any yard separating a residence from a public street, except within a street side yard that is enclosed behind a wall or opaque fence not less than five feet high.

(Ord. 94-09 5-26-94; Ord. 88-32 10-25-88; Ord. 10-09 5-25-10; Ord. 23-07 1-31-23; Ord. 24-02, 12/12/2023)

All buildings or structures hereafter constructed shall provide adequate refuse and recycling storage areas in conformance with the following standards:

(a) Residential Use.

(1) For sites having three or less residential units, no recycling area or enclosure is required.

(2) For sites having four units, an enclosure having at least sixty-four square feet of area shall be provided. No recycling area is required.

(3) For sites having five to twenty units, an enclosure having at least eighty square feet of area shall be provided.

(4) For sites having twenty-one to forty units, an enclosure or enclosures having a minimum total area of one hundred twenty square feet shall be provided.

(5) For each additional twenty units, an additional forty-eight square feet of enclosure area shall be provided.

(6) Each separate enclosure shall have a minimum area of eighty square feet with the smaller interior dimension of at least six feet.

(b) Commercial, Institutional and Industrial Use. There shall be six and one-quarter square feet of refuse enclosure per each one thousand square feet of net floor area of building or structure, provided that each individual enclosure shall have a minimum interior area of eighty square feet with the smaller interior dimension of at least six feet.

(c) Refuse and Recycling Enclosure Design.

(1) All refuse and/or recycling enclosures shall be constructed of a masonry block wall not less than five feet nor more than six feet in height.

(2) Any enclosure shall have an opening six feet in width with an opaque panel gate the same height as the enclosure wall.

(3) A water faucet for hose attachment shall be located adjacent to or within the enclosure.

(4) The enclosure shall be constructed with a concrete floor sloped to drain.

(5) The enclosure shall be so located upon the site as to be readily accessible to the collection vehicle at all times.

(d) Miscellaneous Refuse and Recycling Standards.

(1) A recycling area must be provided on a site when there is an addition to an existing development of thirty or more percent to the existing floor area; or if an addition to a commercial, institutional or industrial site exceeds ten percent of the current assessed value of the subject parcel and an application has been submitted for Site Plan Review.

(2) All refuse and recycling bins and containers must contain easy-to-handle lids.

(3) A recycling area shall have a one foot by one foot sign specifying "Recycling Area" located on the enclosure nearest the bin(s) or container(s) used to store recyclable materials.

(4) All recycling areas in multifamily residential developments shall be located within two hundred fifty feet of any residential unit.

(5) Internal storage space of three cubic feet per residential unit shall be provided in residential developments.

(Ord. 88-32 10-25-88; Ord. 93-14 6-29-93)