Modoc County Municipal Code Ch. 18.74 Environmental Protection (ep) Zone

The EP zone is an overlay zone and is intended to be applied in combination with specified zones for the purpose of protecting and conserving wildlife habitat, environmentally sensitive areas, or other environmental resources while providing options for development on those portions of property that are less sensitive, provided there are no conflicts with the general plan. The EP zone may also be applied to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public by restricting development in areas with environmental hazards. The EP zone is supported by the M zone.

(Ord. 236-73 Exh. A(part), 1991)

The regulations set out in this chapter shall apply in all EP zones, and shall provide for the modification of the minimum lot size regulations and densities of the principal zone which it overlays as specified in this chapter. The EP zone may be applied in combination with the LI, LIC, AE, RC, OFG, RR, and AG zones, for the express purposes of environmental protection or protection of the public from environmental hazards as described in Section 18.74.010. The M zone shall also be applied in areas to which the EP zone is applied.

(Ord. 236-73 Exh. A(part), 1991)

The following criteria shall apply to the establishment of the EP zone:

A. The area proposed for restricted development shall include the environmentally sensitive or hazardous area, and must encompass at least twenty acres. Land proposed for development restriction must have environmental value or encompass a hazard.

B. The minimum lot size in the subject principal zone shall establish the average density, meaning either parcels or dwelling units. The number of parcels or dwelling units that may be proposed for development shall not exceed the total number of acres proposed for inclusion in the EP zone divided by the average density, except as provided in Section 18.74.040.

C. The minimum lot size in the area proposed for development shall be not less than the carrying capacity of the land when all environmental factors are considered and mitigated below a significant level, nor less than one acre.

D. When any lot proposed in the EP zone is less than three acres, public water or public sewer shall be available and utilized. Except, an exemption from the requirement of this subsection may be granted by the planning commission, acting upon a finding by the county health officer that a lesser size is adequate to accommodate the proposed water system and sewage disposal system without endangering the health of any person or the environment.

E. The M zone shall be applied to all areas proposed to be zoned EP, including the development area and restricted development area, wherein future division shall be prohibited or restricted upon application of the M zone. When the proposal consists of multiple dwelling units instead of individual lots, the appropriate application must also be approved in order to allow a multiple dwelling unit project.

F. When the county determines it to be in the public interest it may require, as a condition of land use entitlement, that notice of the establishment of the EP zone and M zone be recorded in the office of the county recorder in reference to the subject property.

G. Development in the EP zone shall be consistent with the policies and provisions of the general plan and any applicable specific plan.

(Ord. 236-73 Exh. A(part), 1991)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 236-146, adopted Dec. 12, 2017, repealed former § 18.74.040 which pertained to density bonus, and derived from Ord. No. 236-73, adopted in 1991.

A. Application: In addition to the application requirements in Chapter 18.134, an application for an amendment to apply the EP zone shall identify the nature and location of the environmental resource or constraint which makes the property eligible for inclusion in the EP zone, the location and number of acres proposed for development and restricted development, and a request to apply the M zone to the property proposed to be included in the EP zone. If the proposal consists of a multiple dwelling unit project instead of the division of individual lots then an application for a use permit shall also be required.

B. Finding for approval: In addition to the requirements in Chapter 18.134, the board of supervisors shall make a written finding establishing the necessity for the protection of the specified environmental resource or protection of the public from an environmental hazard.

(Ord. 236-73 Exh. A(part), 1991)