Mendocino County Municipal Code § 20.684.005 Intent

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017, amended the title of ch. 20.684 to read as set out herein. Previously ch. 20.684 was titled "Mendocino Visitor-Serving Facilities Combining District "*"."

This combining district is intended to provide for, and protect, visitor accommodations within the Town of Mendocino, and shall apply to those specific sites that have been reserved and deemed appropriate for commercial visitor serving facilities providing overnight accommodations, as listed in Appendix 2 of the Mendocino Town Plan, and as depicted with an asterisk (*) or asterisk-B (*B) on the certified Town Land Use and Zoning Maps, including hotels and inns of five (5) units or more (*), and bed and breakfast accommodations of four (4) rooms or fewer (*B). (Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals are also Visitor Accommodation Use Types, but are not included in the Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District because their locations are not fixed. See Chapter 20.748 "Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals" of this Division.)

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.684.050 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.684.050 was titled "Expiration and Completion."

(A) The Principal Permitted Use shall be the use specified in the base zone as the Principal Permitted Use.

(B) The following use types are permitted in the Mendocino Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District (* and *B):

(1) Visitor Accommodation Use Types (Visitor Serving Facilities)

Hotels and Inns, as listed in Appendix 2 of the Mendocino Town Plan, and depicted with an asterisk (*) on the certified Town Land Use and Zoning Maps.

Bed and Breakfast Accommodations, as listed in Appendix 2 of the Mendocino Town Plan, and depicted with an asterisk-B (*B) on the certified Town Land Use and Zoning Maps.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.684.010 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.684.010 was titled "Principal Permitted Uses for * Districts."

The following use types may be permitted in the Mendocino Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District (* and *B) upon issuance of a use permit:

(A) Residential Use Types

All Residential Use Types specified in the base zone

(B) Other Use Types

All Non-residential Use Types specified in the base zone as Conditional Uses.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.684.015 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.684.015 was titled "Conditional Uses for * Districts."

Within the Mendocino Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District (* and *B), site development regulations of the base zone shall apply, including the provisions of Section 20.660.075(A) and (B) when combined with the MMU District.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.684.020 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.684.020 was titled "Development Regulations for * Districts."

Maximum dwelling units as specified in the base zone.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995; Ord. No. 3996, adopted 1998)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.684.025 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.684.025 was titled "Maximum Density for * Districts."

(A) The total number of visitor serving lodging units (guest rooms and suites) in the Town of Mendocino shall not exceed the limit of two hundred thirty-seven (237) Inn, Hotel, and Bed and Breakfast visitor serving facility lodging units (guest rooms and suites) set forth in Growth Management Policy GM-3(a).

(B) No new or expanded inn or hotel operation or business shall exceed twenty-five (25) overnight units, and each such use type shall be operated as a separate entity from any other visitor serving facility within the Town of Mendocino, by providing separate parking facilities, ingress and egress, registration and reservation facilities.

(C) All new visitor serving facilities or expansion of existing visitor serving facilities shall be designed in scale, architecture and materials to maintain existing character of the town consistent with the special community designation.

(D) All persons operating a Visitor Accommodation Use Type, whether or not included in the Mendocino Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District, shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 5.20 (Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax) and Chapter 6.04 (Business License Chapter) of the Mendocino County Code.

(E) One (1) parking space shall be provided on-site for each visitor serving facility lodging unit (guest room or suite), or where available space or the requirements this Division preclude off-street parking, an in-lieu fee shall be paid for provision of off-site parking.

(F) Any new visitor serving facility not located on a site identified on the certified Mendocino Town Land Use and Zoning Maps with an asterisk (*) or asterisk-B (*B) shall be located in the Mendocino Mixed Use (MMU) or Mendocino Commercial (MC) Districts and shall first require an amendment to the Local Coastal Program before a coastal development permit application for such new development.

(G) The 1992 Mendocino Town Plan's visitor accommodation limit was two hundred eighty (280) unit equivalents, comprised of two hundred thirty-four (234) "visitor serving facilities" lodging units, twenty-three (23) Single Unit Rental, and twenty-three (23) Vacation Home Rental private visitor accommodations. The updated Mendocino Town LCP reclassifies the existing thirteen (13) Art Center Student/Instructor Housing units as a housing use where priority is given for housing students instructors, artist-in-residence, staff, and scholar art program members, although transient occupancy of the units by the general public may occur. As the use is primarily housing, the thirteen (13) units have been deleted from the calculation of the total number of allowable visitor serving facility lodging units in the Town, reducing visitor accommodations from two hundred eighty (280) to two hundred sixty-seven (267) unit equivalents However, the transfer of sixteen (16) unit equivalents from Single Unit Rental and Vacation Home Rental to "Visitor Serving Facilities" results in availability of two hundred thirty-seven (237) committed visitor accommodation units in the Mendocino Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District (* and *B). Most of the units within the limit are already allocated to facilities designated in the 1992 Town Plan. The remainder shall be allocated as set forth in Section 20.684.030(H).

(H) Visitor Serving Facilities Combining District (* and *B) Lodging Unit Allocation Procedures: Appendix 2 identifies the 1992 allocation of two hundred fifteen (215) visitor serving facility lodging units allowed in the Town at the sites designated for visitor serving facility lodging units by an asterisk * or asterisk B (B*). The remaining twenty-two (22) of the total of two hundred thirty-seven (237) visitor serving facility lodging units that may be allocated in the Town pursuant to Town Plan Policy GM-3 shall be made available for application, permitting, and use by existing visitor serving facilities that are designated for visitor serving lodging units by an asterisk (*) or asterisk-B (*B).

(1) Seven (7) units are reserved for the Nicholson House Inn, located at 44861 Ukiah Street to allow the operators of the Nicholson House Inn to submit a coastal development permit application that is deemed complete by the Department of Planning and Building Services by December 31, 2018, in order to establish legal operation of the reserved units. If a complete application is not submitted by that date, and a coastal development permit is not obtained by June 30, 2019, the allocations for the visitor serving facility lodging units shall be forfeited and shall become available for reallocation to another visitor serving facility.

(2) Remaining unallocated Visitor Serving Facility lodging units shall be made available by the Planning and Building Services Department for application, permitting, and use on Visitor Serving Facility sites mapped with an asterisk (*) or asterisk-B (*B) that can accommodate additional units, consistent with the Visitor Serving Facility Unit Allocation Procedure in Mendocino Town Plan Section 6.7 and this Chapter, and with all other standards of the Mendocino Town LCP.

(3) Any visitor serving facility lodging unit that is operating without a valid coastal development permit where one (1) is required must both submit an application for a coastal development permit deemed complete by the Department of Planning and Building Services by December 31, 2018 and obtain a coastal development permit by June 30, 2019. If either a complete application is not submitted, or a coastal development permit is not obtained, by their respective deadlines, any existing allocation for the visitor serving lodging unit shall be forfeited and shall become available for reallocation to another visitor serving facility pursuant to the Visitor Serving Facility Lodging Unit Allocation Implementation Procedure in Mendocino Town Plan Section 6.7 and Mendocino Town Zoning Code Section 20.684.030(H).

(4) As any allocated visitor serving lodging unit becomes abandoned, fails to obtain any necessary coastal development permit or other necessary approvals, or when any such permits or approval for an allocated unit has expired or been revoked, the allocation for the visitor serving facility lodging unit shall be forfeited and the Planning and Building Services Department shall reallocate the unit.

(5) In the event that (a) the County's Planning and Building Services Department does not receive applications for authorization of any unallocated units by December 31, 2018, or (b) at such other time as an allocation is forfeited or any authorized or permitted unit expires, or is abandoned, denied, or revoked, the Director of the Planning and Building Services Department shall issue a public notice stating the number of units available, and the time period during which permit applications for the unreserved and/or unallocated units in the Town will be accepted by the Department.

(6) The Director shall issue a public notice that permit applications for unallocated units are being accepted within twenty-one (21) days after one (1) or more units become available for allocation. The notice shall state the number of visitor serving facility lodging units available, and the date on which a sixty (60) day permit application period for receipt of applications for these units will commence. The Department will accept and hold, but not process, applications deemed complete by the Department during the specified application period. A "complete application" shall include all of the information required by Section 20.720.025(2) including, but not limited to, demonstration that (a) adequate water well production and wastewater system capacity exist, or have been permitted, to serve the newly authorized, as well as existing, visitor serving facility lodging units on the site, and (b) proposed authorized units shall also comply with the County Building Codes and the parking requirements of this Chapter.

(7) On completion of the sixty (60) day application period described in Section 20.684.030(b)(6), the Department of Planning and Building Services will determine the quantity of visitor serving facility lodging units being sought. If this number is less than, or equal to, the quantity of units that is available, the Department shall schedule the applications, in the order they are deemed complete, for public hearing and action pursuant to Chapters 20.720 and 20.760 of the Mendocino Town Zoning Code. If this number of requested units exceeds the quantity available, then the Director will hold a random lottery to determine the order in which each complete application will become eligible for public hearing and action.

(8) The granting or modification of any coastal development permit by the approving authority shall be supported by findings which establish at a minimum that the proposed development and use of the unit(s) is in conformity with the certified Town local coastal program and with the current applicable County Building code and parking requirements of this Division.

(9) Any required condition of approval imposed by a County-issued permit or other authorization pursuant to this Section, shall be satisfied within two (2) years following the date of issuance, or the permit authorization shall expire.

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.684.030 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.684.030 was titled "Additional Regulations for * Districts."