Sec. 606. Additional Standards and Regulations:

• A. Off-street Parking Areas, Aisles, Access Drives, Access Lanes and Off-street Loading Facilities: In addition to available on-street parking, off-street parking areas, aisles, access drives, access lanes and off-street loading facilities shall be provided on the site for each use as prescribed in Article 13.

• B. Fences, Walls, Gates, Hedges, and Screening and Landscaping: In order to ensure that fences, walls, gates, hedges, and screening and landscaping do not create traffic hazards at street or road intersections, and where driveways enter streets and roads, the following standards prescribed in this article shall be required by the Zoning Administrator or County Planning Commission for all new uses and major alterations and enlargement of existing uses. These requirements are to protect public health and safety, conserve water resources, and where appropriate, insulate surrounding land uses from their impact.

  1. Fences, Walls, and Hedges shall be permitted as follows:

     • a. Where a site adjoins or is located across an alley from a R, RM, or RR zoning district, a solid wall or fence, vine covered open fence or compact evergreen hedge six feet in height shall be located on the property line common to such districts, except in a required front yard and/or Traffic Safety Visibility Area as defined in Article 25 of this Development Code.

     • b. In all C Districts, no solid fence, wall, hedge or shrub exceeding three feet in height shall be erected, planted or maintained within a required Traffic Safety Visibility Area.

     • c. No solid fence, open-type fence, or wall, shall exceed seven feet in height if located in a required front, side, or rear yard. Noise attenuation fencing that is required as a mitigation measure is not limited to seven feet, but shall not exceed the height required in the mitigation measure.

     • d. No hedge or shrub shall exceed seven feet in height if located in a required front yard.

  2. Gates shall be permitted as follows:

     • a. Gates which are used for primary vehicular ingress and egress and which are opened and closed manually shall be setback so that the greater of the following distances are met from the property line being used for access:

       • (1) A minimum distance of 20 feet.

       • (2) A distance sufficient to ensure that vehicles used for a permitted use requiring a Site Plan Review or Conditional Use Permit are able to pull completely onto their property.

     • b. Gates used for regular vehicular ingress and egress and which are opened and closed electronically with a remote control may be located within any portion of the property being used for access to a driveway provided that:

       • (1) The property owner/occupant shall obtain a building permit from the building division for the installation of the electric gate operating mechanism and wiring. The property owner/occupant must also request and obtain a final inspection for the assigned building permit and demonstrate operation of the mechanism using the remote.

• (2) The gate must be operational at all times using a remote control device that allows the property owner/occupant to open and close the gate to enter the driveway area without exiting the vehicle.

     - (3) At any time that the gate is not operational using the remote control device the gate must either be locked in the open position or it must be removed entirely. 
  
  - c. Access gates to property which are not used for the primary vehicular ingress and egress, such as an access gate to a rear yard to allow the parking of an RV, boat or similar use or for equipment access to be used in maintenance of the property, do not require additional setback from the fence line. Secondary access gates shall have locking mechanisms accessible only from the interior side of the gate.
  

C Commercial Zoning Districts

Art. 6 Page 6 - 11

DEVELOPMENT CODE

3. General Fencing and Gate Requirements :

• a. All private, single-family home swimming pools constructed after January 1, 1998 shall be fenced, enclosed or equipped with another safety feature as provided in Sections 115920 – 115927 of the California Health and Safety Code.

• b. Any fence or wall over seven feet in height is a structure and requires a building permit prior to construction.

• c. All heights in this Section shall be measured from the finished grade of site or the adjacent property, which ever is lower.

• d. Fences, walls, hedges, gates, walks, driveways and retaining walls may occupy any required yard or other open spaces, subject to the limitations prescribed in the district regulations.

4. Screening Requirements:

• a. Open storage of materials attendant to a permitted use or conditional use shall be permitted only within an area surrounded or screened by a solid wall or fence six feet in height, provided that no materials or equipment shall be stored to a height greater than that of the wall or fence. The requirement for a solid or screened fence may be modified or eliminated for situations where law enforcement provides comments on the zoning permit application stipulating that the street side fence be an open-type fence to allow patrol officers to ensure there are no unauthorized persons in the yard after hours.

• b. All mechanical or utility equipment, whether on the roof, ground or side of a building must be screened from view, above or below. The method of screening should be architecturally integrated with the structure in terms of materials, color, shape and size. The design of the screening should be done in concert with and as a part of the design of the building, rather than as an afterthought.

• c. Roof mounted mechanical or utility equipment must be screened. The method of screening should be architecturally integrated with the structure in terms of materials, color, shape and size. It is preferable to screen equipment with permanent solid building elements (e.g. parapet wall) instead of after-the-fact add-on screening (e.g. wood or metal slats) which are not part of the structure.

• d . Air conditioning units placed in individual windows and window transom areas are strongly discouraged.

Figure 6-1 Equipment Screening

C Commercial Zoning Districts

Art. 6 Page 6 - 12

DEVELOPMENT CODE

5. Landscaping and Maintenance:

• a. In all C Districts, not less than five feet of a property adjoining a street shall be landscaped and permanently maintained. This requirement may be waived by the Zoning Administrator if the site was previously developed prior to this requirement and does not currently have sufficient space for the five feet of landscaping.

• b. All new urban development shall provide and maintain shade trees and other landscaping along streets and within parking areas to reduce radiation heating.

• c. As stated in Article 15 of this Development Code, all new construction and rehabilitated landscape projects installed after January 1, 2010 are subject to and shall comply with the “Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance.” See Article 15 for additional information concerning specific landscaping requirements.

• d. All open and unlandscaped portions of any lot shall be maintained in good condition free from weeds, dust, trash and debris.

• C. Signs in Commercial Zoning Districts: Signs shall be allowed in compliance with the regulations contained in Article 14 and as prescribed in Table 6-3 below and the “Specific Limitations and Requirements” section following Table 6-3.

C Commercial Zoning Districts

Art. 6 Page 6 - 13

DEVELOPMENT CODE

Table 6-3 SIGNS IN COMMERCIAL ZONING DISTRICTS

Table 6-3 Specific Limitations and Additional Requirements:

1. All signs shall be located outside of the public right-of-way.

2. No sign other than a directional sign shall project more than 24 inches into a required rear yard or required interior side yard. No sign other than a sign required by law shall project more than 12 inches into a public right-of-way. No outdoor advertising structure shall project into a public right-of-way.

3. No sign permitted by this Section shall be placed within 30 feet of a street intersection (intersecting curb lines) unless placed on a pole at least 12 feet above the ground or unless placed at a maximum height of three feet above ground.

4. No sign which faces and is located directly across the street from property situated in an R-1 or RM District, shall be directly illuminated or flashing.

5. No red, green or amber lights or illuminated signs may be placed in such position that they could reasonably be expected to interfere with or be confused with any official traffic control device or traffic signal or official directional guide signs.

6. Corner lots in Commercial zoning districts at an intersection controlled by traffic lights are not subject to the Traffic Safety Visibility Area restriction.

C Commercial Zoning Districts

Art. 6 Page 6 - 14

DEVELOPMENT CODE

7. Unless a different setback is specified for a particular zoning district, the minimum setback distance for all signs over three feet in height shall be ten feet from property lines.

8. Building Frontage: For the purposes of signage, building frontage shall be considered the wall of a building that faces and is roughly parallel with a public street, excluding an alley. The linear dimension of that building frontage shall be used to calculate allowable signage. Buildings with walls facing more than one public street shall be allowed signage for each building frontage. Buildings located on interior lots (not on a corner) and that are oriented perpendicular to a public street shall be allowed signage based on the longer of the front or side building elevation.

(Ord. No. 668-1-17, §28, 3/28/17)

• D. General Provisions and Exceptions: All uses shall be subject to the general provisions and exceptions prescribed in Article 1.

• E. Transit Stop Improvements: In Community Plan designated areas, building entrances and pedestrian walkways shall be designed to provide safe and efficient access to nearby public transit stops. The applicant for a development on property which is near or abuts a transit stop may be required to make transit stop improvements. Improvements may include the installation of a bus pad, turnouts, benches, trash receptacles (and service), shade/shelter, security lighting, bike racks, water features, and/or landscaping. When practical, the bus stop shall be built into the project and be compatible with the development.

• F. Exterior Lighting: Exterior lighting should be designed to be compatible with the architectural and landscape design of the project, so as not to constitute a nuisance.

  1. All new proposed uses shall preserve the existing nighttime environment by ensuring that the outdoor lighting for the use is so arranged and/or hooded as to reflect light away from adjoining properties.

  2. An appropriate hierarchy of lighting fixtures/structures and intensity should be considered when designing the lighting for the various elements of a project (i.e., building and site entrances, walkways, parking areas, or other areas of the site).

  3. The use of exterior lighting to accent a building’s architecture is encouraged. All lighting fixtures shall be properly shielded to eliminate light and glare from impacting adjacent properties, and passing vehicles or pedestrians. If neon tubing is used to illuminate portions of a building it shall be concealed from view through the use of parapets, cornices or ledges. Small portions of exposed neon tubing may be used to add a special effect to a building’s architecture but this must be integrated into the overall design of the project.

ight and glare from impacting adjacent properties, and passing vehicles or pedestrians. If neon tubing is used to illuminate portions of a building it shall be concealed from view through the use of parapets, cornices or ledges. Small portions of exposed neon tubing may be used to add a special effect to a building’s architecture but this must be integrated into the overall design of the project.

4. To achieve the desired lighting level for parking and pedestrian areas, the use of several short, low intensity fixtures is encouraged over the use of a few tall fixtures that illuminate large areas.

(Ord. No. 668-1-17, §29, 3/28/17)

• G. Stormwater Drainage: All new development within the communities of Armona, Home Garden, Kettleman City, and Stratford shall integrate onsite stormwater drainage features such as small catch basins, rain gardens, and landscape depression basins into their site plans to increase the stormwater detention throughout the community.

C Commercial Zoning Districts

Art. 6 Page 6 - 15

DEVELOPMENT CODE

Article 7. Mixed Use Zoning Districts

Sections: