Lodi Municipal Code Ch. 17.24 Industrial Zoning Districts

This chapter lists the uses of land that may be allowed within the industrial zoning districts established by Section 17.10.020 (Zoning Districts Established), determines the type of land use permit/approval required for each use, and provides basic standards for site development.

(Ord. No. 1869, § 2, 2-20-2013)

The industrial zoning districts are intended to provide for a range of industrial uses, emphasizing high quality development, and to encourage revitalization of existing industrial land uses. The purpose of the individual industrial zoning districts and the manner in which they are applied are as follows:

A. M (Industrial) District. The M zoning district is applied to areas appropriate for a mix of heavy manufacturing, warehousing, general service, storage, and distribution activities. The maximum FAR is 0.6. The M zoning district is consistent with the industrial land use designation of the general plan.

B. BP (Business Park) District. The BP zoning district is applied to areas appropriate for office activities that generate high employment yield per acre. It accommodates campus-like environments for a corporate headquarters and other office parks. This designation may also provide for light industrial and production facilities. The maximum FAR is 1.0. The BP zoning district is consistent with the business park land use designation of the general plan.

(Ord. No. 1869, § 2, 2-20-2013)

Table 2-10 identifies the uses of land allowed by this development code in the industrial zoning districts, and the land use permit required to establish each use, in compliance with Section 17.12.030 (Allowable Land Uses and Permit Requirements).

Note: Where the last column in the tables ("specific use regulations") includes a section number, the regulations in the referenced section apply to the use; however, provisions in other sections of this development code may also apply.

(Ord. No. 1869, § 2, 2-20-2013; Ord. No. 2022, § 4, 1-17-2024; Ord. No. 2030, § 4, 3-19-2025)

Subdivisions, new land uses and structures, and alterations to existing land uses and structures, shall be designed, constructed, and/or established in compliance with the requirements in Table 2-11, in addition to the applicable development standards (e.g., landscaping, parking and loading, etc.) in Article 3, (Site Planning and General Development Standards).

TABLE 2-11 Industrial District General Development Standards

Notes:

(1) None required except: When adjacent to a res. zone boundary where a min. of twenty feet is required.

(2) Additional height is allowed by use permit.

(Ord. No. 1869, § 2, 2-20-2013)

A. Purpose. The industrial design guidelines are intended to provide clear and useful recommendations for the design, construction, review, and approval of industrial development in the city of Lodi. The city of Lodi recognizes the unique requirements of industrial development and the potential for such development, through careful design, to make a positive contribution to the appearance of the community. Site and building design provisions herein are focused on the view from public rights-of-way and compatibility with surrounding development. This chapter will help ensure that new projects will be well designed, uphold the city's vision, and contribute to the quality of the public realm.

B. Applicability.

1. The design guidelines in this chapter apply to the sites designated as industrial in the general plan. The general plan industrial land use designation includes the general mills factory and sites along the railroad and east of State Route 99. The design elements of each project (including site design, architecture, landscaping, parking design) will be reviewed on a comprehensive basis.

2. The review authority may interpret these design guidelines with some flexibility in their application to specific projects, as not all design criteria may be workable or appropriate for each project. In some circumstances, one guideline may be relaxed to facilitate compliance with another guideline determined by the review authority to be more important in the particular case. The overall objective is to ensure that the intent and spirit of the design guidelines are followed.

C. Building Orientation.

1. Design industrial sites to minimize the visual impacts of parking areas, equipment, and outdoor storage from public rights-of-way. Mitigate these undesirable visual impacts through proper placement and design of buildings, screen walls, and landscaping.

2. New buildings shall be oriented toward the adjoining public streets, so that public entrances are a focal point on the building and site layout.

3. Industrial buildings shall be oriented so that bays and loading docks do not directly face the primary street frontage. Loading areas shall be located in the rear or side of the building whenever possible; however, they should never face adjacent residential uses.

D. Building Design and Architecture.

1. Massing and Scale.

a. Organize the massing of larger buildings into components that more readily relate to the human scale.

b. Reduce the mass and scale of large industrial buildings with building facades and wall height variations, and by articulating rooflines and wall planes.

c. Avoid long, repetitive, monotonous facades particularly those that repeat the same design element several times along the same elevation.

d. The scale of building(s) on the site edge shall be compatible with the scale of adjoining development. Where surrounding development is of a small scale, large scale buildings shall be located internal to the site and transition down in scale as the outer edge of the site approaches.

2. Articulation and Detail.

a. Individual design elements shall be faithful to the overall architecture of the building. Architectural details shall be part of the design and not something applied as an afterthought. A consistent design theme provides continuity and avoids confusion of style.

b. Front and street-side facades of large buildings visible from a public street or adjacent residential property shall include architectural features such as reveals, windows and openings, trellises, changes in color, texture, and material to add interest to the building elevation and reduce its visual mass.

c. Consideration shall be given to recessing building floors above the first story and providing vertical or horizontal offsets in the wall surfaces at regular intervals, including columns, projections, and recesses, (e.g. every twenty feet).

d. All sides of the building visible from the street or residential property shall have the same level of architectural detailing as the main elevation.

e. Primary building entries shall have pedestrian scale and shall be expressed with windows, awnings, trellises, articulation, arcades, landscape, planters, and material changes or other design elements so that the building entry is easily identified and visible from the street and parking lot.

f. Architectural detail at the street level shall establish human scale and enhance the building's and the streetscape's appearance.

3. Roofs.

a. Roofs shall be compatible with the architectural style and scale of the building.

b. The roof shape shall reflect the configuration of the building's mass and volume, and shall be consistent in its character where visible from public streets.

c. Rooflines for large buildings shall be broken up and varied by providing change in the height of a portion of the roof(s), change in form, or other articulations. High pitched "A-frame" type rooflines and partial mansards should be avoided.

4. Building Materials and Colors.

a. Innovative use of durable, high quality materials such as brick, stone, tile, stucco, and concrete is encouraged.

b. Incorporation of energy conservation features is encouraged in industrial buildings to exceed California's 2005 Title 24 regulation standards for building energy efficiency.

c. Use a color scheme (for example: two analogous colors plus a complementary trim color) to create visual interest and enhance the streetscape appearance of the building.

d. Use earthtone colors and keep the number of colors used on the building and within the overall streetscape to a minimum.

e. Use smaller, articulated, varied color and texture wall surfaces rather than larger homogenous ones.

f. The same exterior colors and finishes shall be used on all sides of the structure.

g. Building color shall not be used as signage, branding, or business identification.

h. Awning materials shall be compatible with the overall design and character of the building. The use of fabric awnings is encouraged. The use of vinyl and plastic awnings is discouraged.

E. Parking and Circulation.

1. Site access shall allow for easy circulation throughout the project to minimize conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians, between employee/visitor traffic and truck shipping/delivery. Separate walkways shall be provided to the public way from the main entrance. Main pedestrian routes through parking areas to building entrances shall have decorative paving treatment or other demarcation of pedestrian right-of-way.

2. Enhance primary entry drives for automobiles, especially visitors, with ornamental landscaping, special treatment, and monument type signs to communicate site access locations.

3. Parking lots shall not be the dominant visual element of the site. It is generally more visually appealing to locate parking lots along the side or the rear of buildings. Small customer-oriented parking lots are appropriate toward the front of the site; however, the majority of employee parking should be located to the rear of the site to the maximum extent feasible. To avoid large expanses of paved areas, large parking lots should be divided into smaller parking areas. Buildings should not be located in a manner that make them appear like "islands" surrounded by paved areas.

4. The number of site accesses (ingress/egress) shall be controlled in terms of the location and number of driveways to minimize traffic safety conflicts, street congestion, and unnecessarily disrupted street frontage. Where possible, adjoining properties should share access driveways to minimize the number of driveways along public streets. Shared service or secondary access alleys shall also be considered. Use of an existing side street for primary or secondary access is encouraged as opposed to creating one or more new curb cuts on a collector or arterial street.

5. New streets for industrial projects shall be designed to handle heavier loads associated with truck operations, as necessary. Larger turning movements shall also be included in new streets to facilitate truck movements.

F. Landscaping.

1. Emphasis shall be placed on California or Mediterranean style landscaping, particularly indigenous plants, ornamental vines, and flowers in either container pots or as part of an arbor/trellis. Landscaping must be well maintained with drip irrigation systems for trees/garden beds and pots that do not drain across the pavement.

2. All landscaping shall employ features and techniques that reduce the demand for and consumption of water, including appropriate low-water plants, a high degree of paving permeability and water conserving irrigation techniques and systems. Recycled water should be utilized to the extent possible.

3. Trees in paved areas shall be provided with "deep root" barriers, deep root automatic irrigation, and expandable metal tree grates of adequate size. Root barriers shall be of a material specifically designed for containing tree roots. Irrigation shall be adapted for deep watering.

4. Planting plans for building setbacks should include a hierarchy of plantings in terms of size and types of plant materials that mark the transition between the horizontal ground plane at the sidewalk or parking area and the tall, vertical facades of buildings.

5. The use of vines, trellises, and landscape screen walls is strongly encouraged on larger areas of unadorned building facades to soften the appearance and to deter graffiti.

6. Increase the amount of landscaping and special landscape features at project entries and pedestrian gathering areas.

7. Minimize the quantity of impervious paving in parking areas and maximize the use of landscaping or permeable pavement on-site to reduce surface water runoff and the need for water detention basins.

8. Where it is infeasible to locate all large parking areas to the rear of the building, views of expansive paved areas from public rights-of-way and/or residential areas shall be minimized by landscaping within and along the perimeter of parking lots.

9. Required parking lot landscaping shall include the use of landscape planters along parking aisles throughout the parking lot.

10. Streetscapes shall incorporate a mix of trees, shrubbery, and ground cover to establish a landscape corridor presence.

11. Consideration shall be given to the incorporation of open space areas in the form of courtyards, plazas, shaded arcades and functional landscaped areas. These features should link adjoining buildings and take advantage of outdoor as well as indoor space. These features can be located in areas with recessed facades or setbacks in excess of minimum standards, and may be designed for use by employees and/or customers. Pedestrian features such as benches, tables, fountains, artwork, and landscaping should be incorporated as focal points or relaxation area.

G. Lighting.

1. The design and location of outdoor lighting fixtures shall preclude direct glare onto adjoining non-industrial property and streets.

2. Outdoor lighting shall be designed to foster security. Illumination should be increased at building entries to increase visibility and safety.

3. Use landscape lighting and exterior lighting to enhance project design features. Lighting fixtures shall have sharp cut off so that no direct lighting falls onto adjacent properties or the public right-of-way.

4. As applicable, illuminate flags only with very narrow spot type lamps directed no more than fifteen degrees from vertical. Shield fixtures so that the light source is not visible from off-site.

H. Equipment, Service Area, and Refuse Area Screening.

1. Roof-mounted utility and communication equipment shall be screened from view by structural features that are an integral part of the building's architectural design.

2. Loading and service areas shall be concealed from view within the building envelope or shall be located to the rear of the site and designed for minimal visual impact and circulation conflicts.

3. When trash enclosures, loading docks, utility equipment, and similar uses are visible from a street, they shall be screened using materials, colors, and landscaping that are harmonious with the site design and building architecture.

4. Trash enclosures shall provide an area for recycling.

I. Metal Buildings. Metal buildings present their own special set of challenges and opportunities in the community context. If metal buildings are well articulated and surfaces are judiciously mixed with other materials, or textures, and colors, they can make an attractive contribution to industrial park appearance.

1. Metal buildings should incorporate architectural features such as gable, hip, and other sloping roof forms, prominent main entries, windows, storefront, glazed doors, canopies and window awnings, use of brick or stone at building base, and architectural lighting fixtures to make a positive contribution to the streetscape.

2. Street frontages of metal buildings shall present sloping or articulated roof forms. Eaves and steeper roof pitches are more attractive than shallow roofs and roofs without eaves.

3. As with all building design, roofs, particularly metal roofs, contribute significantly to a building's appearance and character. Variety in roof shapes and colors should complement the scale of the building. Darker, non-glare colors help reduce the mass of metal roof designs. Metal roofs can incorporate standing seam, tile and shake materials to create visual interest in design.

4. Long, stark, and uninterrupted panels used for metal buildings shall be avoided. Use of panels with continuous vertical seams shall also be avoided. Other building materials should be incorporated into structural design to add contrast, variety, and visual interest in building form. Wall systems should use techniques that hide or disguise wall fastening systems and seams. Building features such as columns, curved metal corners, deep reveals at construction joints or other details should be incorporated into building design to add interest into the architectural design.

5. Window treatments can provide a key design element for metal buildings. Windows shall particularly be incorporated along the street front elevation(s) to help metal buildings incorporate human-scale design elements that address the building to the street. Windows should incorporate changes in building plane by either recessing or projecting them as integral parts of the overall design theme. Detailed window fenestration should be incorporated around windows including change in relief, color, pattern, and/or materials.

6. Downspouts shall be concealed unless they are part of the design, in which case downspouts shall be coated to match the wall color.

7. Any freestanding outbuildings shall use forms, shapes and materials that are consistent with the main structure.

8. Large expanses of light colored metal wall materials shall be avoided. Darker colors help visually reduce the prominence of large metal buildings. Horizontal color bands, and wall projections and recesses, provide shadowing to accentuate differentiation for wall designs. Consider using corrugated or flat fiber-reinforced cement panels, as well as metal.

(Ord. No. 1869, § 2, 2-20-2013)