Napa County Municipal Code § 18.44.040 Minimum lot size, minimum lot width, lot coverage and height

In the GI district:

A. The standards set forth in this chapter, in this title, and in any relevant specific plan, shall be applicable to the development of any property located within the GI district. If a parcel proposed to be developed is subject to a specific plan and that specific plan contains development standards that are inconsistent with or are in addition to the standards established by this chapter or in this title, such additional or inconsistent development standards contained in the specific plan shall control.

B. On sites with mixed industrial and commercial uses, industrial design criteria and development standards shall apply to industrial uses and commercial design and development criteria shall apply to commercial uses. Where the mixed industrial and commercial uses are in the same structure, the more restrictive regulations shall apply.

C. Development plans for all parcels shall be subject to review by the approving officer or body. Said review shall be based upon the pertinent development and performance standards set forth in this chapter. Any development plan submitted including, but not limited to, the required landscape plan shall demonstrate that all pertinent development standards contained in this chapter have been met.

D. Site grading and disturbance shall be minimized.

E. Unless otherwise expressly stated, all front yard setbacks are to be measured from the street or highway right-of-way line. All other setbacks are to be measured from the property line of the parcel.

F. Expansions of pre-existing uses which are conforming as to use but not as to the required development standards shall only be permitted if the development standards set forth in Sections 18.44.080, 18.44.090 and 18.44.110 can be met; provided, however, that the front yard landscaping requirement established by subsection (A) of Section 18.44.110 need not be met to the extent compliance would require the removal of a portion of an existing structure, the construction of which required the issuance of a building permit.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.2)

Minimum lot size, minimum lot width, lot coverage and height development standards in the GI district are as follows:

A. The minimum lot size shall be twenty thousand square feet; provided, that when a parcel larger than twenty acres is divided, at least twenty-five percent of the total site area shall be divided into parcels at least five acres in size to accommodate large-site users.

B. The minimum width of a single parcel shall be one hundred feet at its narrowest point; provided, however, that in the case of cul-de-sac lots, the minimum width of the parcel shall be determined exclusive of the radius of the right-of-way.

C. The maximum permitted percentage of lot coverage by buildings or structures shall be fifty percent, provided all setback, public improvements, landscaping and parking requirements are accommodated.

D. The maximum height of all structures, including buildings, shall not exceed thirty-five feet or the height permitted by Title 11 of this code (commencing with Section 11.04.010), whichever is least. The height of a structure shall be the vertical distance from the highest point of the structure to the average of the highest and lowest points where the exterior walls touch the finished grade. Heating, cooling and other roof equipment shall be included in determining whether or not a proposed structure meets the structure height restrictions.

(Ord. 981 § 49, 1991; Ord. 896 § 1, (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.3)

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.4)

A. Unless a larger setback is required by subsection (B) of this section or by whatever edition of the Uniform Building Code the county has most recently adopted, the minimum yard setbacks are as follows:

1. Front yard setbacks, which shall apply to any property line which is adjacent to a street, are as follows:

a. State Route 29: fifty-five-foot average, with forty-five-foot minimum. A landscaped setback shall be provided meeting the standards set forth in Section 18.44.110,

b. All other streets: twenty-foot minimum;

2. Side yard setbacks: none (with the exception of exterior lots where front yard standards shall apply to all street frontages);

3. Rear yard setbacks: none.

B. The following special setback and setback landscaping requirements are applicable to the following parcels subject to this chapter:

1. Where a lot in the GI district adjoins or is across the street from one or more parcels in the IP district, a minimum building setback of sixty-five feet shall be required. If a street intervenes, this setback is reduced by fifteen feet. In lieu of the requirements of this subsection, a thirty-foot landscape setback planted with a dense landscape screen may be approved by the department based on site-specific design considerations.

2. A minimum ten-foot landscaped side or rear yard shall be required where a lot in a GI district adjoins a residentially zoned parcel.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.5)

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.6)

In the GI district:

A. On-street parking shall not be permitted on any public streets. All required parking and loading facilities shall be located on the same site as the proposed use.

B. Where the computation of required parking spaces produces a fractional result, fractions of one-half or greater shall require one full parking space.

C. All parking spaces and driveways serving those facilities shall be surfaced by a dust-free, all-weather surface approved by the director of public works.

D. The surfacing of all parking spaces and driveways serving those facilities shall be permanently maintained.

E. When two or more uses are located in the same building or parcel and share common parking facilities, the parking requirements shall be the same as the separate requirements for each use.

F. Parking space and drive aisle dimensions shall comply with the requirements of the Napa County Road and Street Standards.

G. The county may establish a maximum parking limit where a development proposal exceeds the number of spaces provided for in subsection (I) of this section.

H. Parking lot lighting shall be directed onto the subject property only, so that the light source is not visible from adjacent properties or streets.

I. The following off-street parking and loading facilities shall be required:

1. One parking space per one thousand square feet of the first twenty thousand square feet of gross building floor area which is to be used for warehousing or storage space. One parking space per two thousand square feet of gross floor area above twenty thousand square feet;

2. One parking space per two hundred fifty square feet of gross building area which is to be used for office uses;

3. One parking space per five hundred square feet of gross building floor area which is to be used for manufacturing, processing, packaging, research, service or other permitted uses;

4. One parking space for each company-owned or leased truck, passenger car or other vehicle located or principally based on the premises.

5. Other allowed uses not identified above in subsections (I)(1)—(I)(4) of this section: required parking shall be established through the use permit or site plan approval, and shall be in conformance with the provisions of Chapter 18.110.

J. All parking shall be screened from existing or proposed streets and adjacent properties through the use of a permanently maintained evergreen hedge, view-obscuring wall or fence, raised planter, planted berm or the like approved by the director. The minimum height shall be forty-two inches.

(Ord. 1234 § 8, 2004: Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.7)

In the GI district:

A. Buildings of at least ten thousand square feet of gross floor area shall have a minimum of one off-street loading space, plus one additional space for each forty thousand square feet of gross floor area.

B. Each loading space shall be at least twelve feet by forty feet, with fourteen feet of vertical clearance.

C. Where buildings are used entirely for office uses, or other uses which in the determination of the decision-maker do not result in off-street loading, no loading space is required.

(Ord. 1234 § 9, 2004: Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.8)

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.9)

Landscaping development standards in the GI district are as follows:

The following standards shall apply to all landscaping required pursuant to this chapter:

A. A minimum of twenty feet of the required front yard setback, as established by subsection (A) of Section 18.44.060, including exterior lots, shall be permanently landscaped in accordance with these standards.

B. All unpaved developed areas between a street curb line and the front walls of a building or side or yard enclosure shall be permanently landscaped and maintained by the owner, lessee or occupant.

C. All outdoor storage or work areas shall be prohibited from any required front yard setback and screened from view of public streets and adjacent property by a minimum six-foot evergreen hedge or solid opaque fencing, or a combination approved by the director.

D. All parking lots shall be landscaped at the ratio of one tree per six parking spaces for double-loaded stalls and one tree per three parking spaces for single-loaded stalls.

E. Where the use is on a parcel adjacent to or across the street from one or more parcels within the IP district, a minimum landscape setback of thirty feet is required. A minimum of fifty percent of the required landscape setback line shall be mounded and bermed and planted in lawn or a suitable substitute established in a landscape master plan and approved by the planning commission, and all outdoor storage or open manufacturing uses shall be screened.

F. All landscaped areas shall have an automated irrigation system to ensure that plantings are adequately watered.

G. Landscaping approved by the county shall be installed prior to the issuance of any occupancy permit.

H. Trees shall be planted not less than twenty-five feet from the beginning of curb returns at intersections, and not less than ten feet from streetlights, utility poles, fire hydrants and driveways. Trees shall be planted a minimum of six feet behind a curb, and lower branches of established trees shall be trimmed up to a minimum of thirteen feet above the road surface to ensure safe stopping sightlines.

I. Existing vegetation, especially mature trees and shrubs, shall be preserved whenever practical.

J. In the selection of new plant materials, preference shall be given to native and drought-tolerant species, and to species which are hardy, long-lived, and require little maintenance. Landscaping material shall also be consistent with any applicable approved master landscape plan.

K. The required front yard landscaped area shall include trees at a ratio of one per every thirty feet of parcel frontage.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.10)

(Ord. No. 1379, § 153, 1-29-2013)

In the GI district:

A. Signs shall be in accordance with the standards set forth in Chapter 18.116 (commencing with Section 18.116.010), with particular attention given to the compatibility of proposed signs to the surrounding development.

B. Signs on lots within the GI district which are adjacent to or across the street from lots within the IP district shall conform to the sign standards of the IP district.

C. Within any road right-of-way, only traffic control signs and street identification signs shall be permitted. Traffic control signs shall conform to the standards set forth in the Caltrans Traffic Manual.

D. Exterior site lighting shall be designed and maintained so as to maximize energy conservation while continuing to meet safety and security needs.

E. All lights shall be directed so as to not cause off-site glare.

F. All lighting visible from the outdoors shall be designed so as to minimize aviation hazards.

G. At intersections, streetlights, traffic signals and vehicular and pedestrian signs shall be integrated whenever possible onto a single pole.

H. All utility services and boxes shall be underground.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.11)

Street development standards in the GI district are as follows:

A. All lots shall have adequate access and public street frontage.

B. All roads and streets necessary to provide such frontage shall be dedicated and shall, along with all public roads fronting a given lot, be improved in accordance with current Napa County Road and Street Standards, or any applicable specific plan, whichever is more restrictive. The required improvements shall be completed prior to issuance of an occupancy permit or parcel/final map recordation, or use of the lot pursuant to a use permit, whichever comes first; except that, alternatively, a security instrument guaranteeing that all required improvements will be completed within twelve months which meets the requirements set forth in Sections 17.38.030 and 17.38.040 of this code may be provided. Such improvements shall include, for lots which are subject to any specific plan requiring same, all walkways, bike lanes, turn lanes, bus turnouts, railroad gates, and flashers which are required or recommended in the applicable specific plan. Where the roadway runs between two parcels, the lot owner shall be responsible only for the improvement of half the width of the ultimate roadway, or that needed for two-way traffic, whichever is greater.

C. All rights-of-way for all other public roads and improved intersections identified in any specific plan for the area involved that border or pass through a lot shall be irrevocably offered for dedication to the county in the widths specified in the adopted 1987 County Road and Street Standards, as amended, or any applicable specific plan, whichever is more restrictive, prior to issuance of an occupancy permit or parcel/final map recordation, or commencement of use of the lot pursuant to a use permit, whichever comes first. Where a planned roadway alignment runs between two lots, the owner of each lot shall be responsible for irrevocably offering for dedication half of the ultimate width of the right-of-way.

(Ord. 1160 § 10, 1999; Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.12)

In the GI district:

No building permit or use permit shall be issued or tentative map approved, whichever comes first, until a drainage plan for the lot or lots involved in the project has been approved by the public works director. No occupancy permit shall be issued, parcel map/final map recorded, or use commenced pursuant to a use permit, whichever comes first, until all easements identified in the approved plan have been irrevocably offered for dedication and all improvements required in the approved plan have been installed. Alternatively, security guaranteeing that the required improvements will be completed within twelve months and which meets the requirements set forth in Sections 17.38.030 and 17.38.040 may be provided.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.13)

Drainage development standards in the GI district are as follows:

A. Connection to a public sewer, as that term is defined in Section 13.16.290, shall be required prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy or the commencement of a use not requiring a certificate of occupancy, except that if the director or director's designee determines that serving a lot is not feasible due to topography or location of the lot, and certifies that the proposed use will not produce a sewage flow of more than fifteen hundred gallons per day and that the proposed use will not be detrimental to the public health and/or safety, a private or individual sewage disposal system shall be permitted until such time as public sewer connection becomes feasible.

B. Where a lot within the GI district is also located within the jurisdiction of a water service agency which has adopted a water facilities master plan, no occupancy permit shall be issued, parcel/final map recorded, or use commenced pursuant to a use permit, whichever occurs first, until the property owner has furnished the county with proof of compliance from the service agency that the requirements of such master plan have been met.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.14)

(Ord. No. 1379, § 154, 1-29-2013)

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.15)

Any use within the GI district shall be conducted in compliance with the watercourse protection standards set forth in the Napa County Floodplain Management Ordinance (commencing at Section 16.04.010) or the standards set forth in any specific plan applicable to the lot or lots on which the use is conducted, whichever is more restrictive. Proof of compliance with the applicable standards shall be a prerequisite for issuance of any occupancy permit, recordation of a parcel/final map, or approval of issuance of any use permit, whichever is applicable and/or occurs first.

(Ord. 896 § 1 (part), 1988: prior code § 12279.16)