18.40 — SITE PLAN REVIEW

These regulations are intended to provide for the development of property in accordance with the general purposes of this Ordinance, as well as determine compliance with the property development standards stated in the Ordinance. It is further intended to provide for the review of those developmental qualities which are not subject to precise statement; all as a part of the City's desire to maintain its unique rural environment and atmosphere.

Whenever a Site Plan review and approval is required by this Ordinance for the development and/or use of any land in City prior to the commencement of said development and use, the provisions and procedures in this chapter shall apply to said Site Plan, its review and approval.

Site plan shall mean a plan, prepared to scale, depicting accurately and with complete dimensions all of the proposed buildings, structure and uses on a particular lot and showing the manner by which the development and use of the lot conforms to the development standards required by this Ordinance.

A site plan shall depict and contain among other things the following:

• (1) Lot Dimensions.

• (2) All existing and proposed buildings and structures, including their location, size, height, proposed use, design and construction material.

• (3) All existing and proposed yards and spaces between buildings and structures.

• (4) All existing and proposed walls, fences and landscaping including the location, height, area, nature and type of design and material composition for the walls and fences and the type landscaping vegetation and irrigation system proposed for such.

• (5) All existing and proposed off-street parking, including the location, number of parking spaces, dimensions of the entire parking area and individual parking spaces, the arrangement of spaces, internal circulation pattern for pedestrian, equestrian, and vehicular traffic, and the landscaping thereof.

• (6) All existing and proposed access to the lot, including pedestrian, equestrian, and vehicular access; the points of ingress and egress to the lot, the width, location and description of the access areas and of the streets from which access and ingress is proposed.

• (7) All existing and proposed signs, including the location, size, height, location and nature of supports and material composition of sign and supports.

• (8) All existing and proposed loading, including the location, area dimensions, number of loading spaces and the internal vehicular traffic circulation on the site for loading vehicles.

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/NO4562 on 2026-07-07

City of Norco, CA

NORCO CODE

§ 18.40.08

§ 18.40.10

• (9) All existing and proposed lighting, including the location and general nature of both offsite and onsite lighting; the proposed intensity thereof and diffusion thereof.

• (10) All existing and proposed street or trail dedications, and improvements thereon, including the location, and nature of street or trail improvements.

• (11) All existing and proposed outdoor and indoor storage activities, including but not limited to the nature of such storage, its location, proposed height and type of screening for such including the design and material composition thereof.

• (12) All existing and proposed drainage and grading on site and offsite, including the location of the drains, their type and dimensions.

• (13) All existing and proposed waste disposal facilities, including the results of any percolation tests for on-site septic tank use.

• (14) Such other data as may be required by the Planning Director to enable the Planning Commission to make a proper review and take action thereon.

• (1) The applicant shall submit to the City Manager an application, on a form provided by the Planning Director, together with nine prints of the site plan.

• (2) No site plan or revised site plan shall be accepted by City for review until the applicant has paid a fee as determined by City Council Resolution, said fee being used to defray the City's administrative expenses in reviewing and processing said application and plan.

• (3) The applicant may revise any site plan as submitted to the Planning Commission no later than the time and date the Commission commences to review said site plan. No revision to any site plan shall be permitted after said review has commenced unless the applicant resubmits said site plan, as revised, for review pursuant to all the provisions of this chapter, unless the Planning Commission otherwise approves the submittal of said revision.

• (4) Within ten days after submission of the site plan, the Planning Director shall submit said site plan to the Planning Commission Secretary for presentation to the Commission at its next regular meeting with his report and recommendations thereon. The Planning Commission shall review said site plan at said meeting. The Commission during said review shall hear the applicant and allow him to present certain evidence to the Commission and to respond and make comments on the Planning Director's report. Additionally the Commission may at its discretion hear other persons concerning the subject matter. The Commission may continue its review from time to time, to a time and date certain.

• (5) The review of such site plan by the Planning Commission shall consider the following factors as well as those previously listed in Section 18.40.08:

  • (a) Compliance with all applicable requirements of the zoning ordinance.

  • (b) Overall site design and architectural quality insofar as it relates to the intent and purpose of this Ordinance, and to the general nature of the area in which the development is to be located.

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/NO4562 on 2026-07-07

City of Norco, CA

ZONING

§ 18.40.10

§ 18.40.10

• (c) If a Variance or Conditional Use Permit is being considered, a site plan review shall be for the purpose of determining compliance with the circumstances necessitating said Variance or Conditional Use Permit la addition to those otherwise required by this Ordinance.

• (6) After completing said review, the Planning Commission by motion shall approve said site plan, subject to any reasonable conditions it deems necessary in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare, if it finds that: the development as depicted on the site plan is reasonably compatible with the area immediately surrounding the location of said development; and the manner and nature of said development is not detrimental or undesirable to the public convenience or general welfare of persons residing or working in the neighborhood thereof; and said development is not injurious to the properties immediately surrounding such.

• (7) No decision by the Planning Commission after site plan review shall be final and effective until ten days after the date the Planning Commission makes its final determination thereof, or until the effective date thereof as provided in said approval, provided that the latter date is more than ten days after the date of said approval.

• (8) All decisions of the Planning Commission concerning any Site Plan Review shall be final, unless appealed within the time period and in the manner, as described hereinbelow.

• (9) Any person aggrieved by the Planning Commission's determination after a plot plan review, including any condition or requirement impose on the approval thereof, may no later than ten days from the Planning Commission's final determination file a written Notice of Appeal therefrom to the City Council. Said written Notice of Appeal shall be filed in triplicate with the City Clerk and shall state therein the grounds for such appeal and the specific factual and/or legal errors allegedly committed by the Commission in its review and determination of the plot plan.

• (10) The City Clerk shall not accept for filing a Notice of Appeal until and unless the appellant has submitted to the City Clerk a filing fee as determined by City Council Resolution. Failure to submit said filing fee shall not toll the time period within which an appeal must be filed hereunder.

• (11) The Council may by majority vote no later than ten (10) days from the date of the Commission's determination order the determination or any condition or requirement imposed thereon to be reviewed by it in the same manner and according to those procedures as provided herein for appeal. Said Council action may be by motion and no error, factual or legal, need be stated in support of said action. The Commission's Secretary shall present to the City Council no later than its next meeting, regular or special, immediately following the date of the Commission's determination, a certified copy of the Commission's resolution of determination and the City Staff's report concerning the subject matter of said determination.

• (12) Upon receiving said Notice of Appeal or Council action, the City Clerk shall forthwith transmit one copy to the Planning Commission by delivering it to the Commission's Secretary. The Commission's Secretary shall, no later than ten calendar days from the date of her receipt of the Notice of Appeal or Request or Council action to review, transmit to the City Clerk for presentation to the Council the original site plan review request, the plan in question, including any amendments thereto, and copies of all other papers constituting the record upon which the Commission's decision or recommendation was taken, including

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/NO4562 on 2026-07-07

City of Norco, CA

NORCO CODE

§ 18.40.10

§ 18.40.14

but not limited to minutes of all hearings thereon; and shall submit to the Council a written report, prepared from the record upon which the final determination or recommendation was made, stating the factual and legal bases on which the Commission found and determined that the application met or failed to meet the criteria and requirements provided in the appropriate sections of said City's zoning ordinances and State of California general law.

• (13) Upon receipt of said material, the City Clerk shall submit said appeal to the City Council at its next regular meeting. At said next regular meeting the Council, after reviewing the aforesaid written record of the Planning Commission action, may "hear the appellant and any other interested person. After said review and hearing the Council may by motion affirm, reverse, or modify in whole or in part the final order, requirement, condition, decision or determination appealed from, and make any such order, requirement, condition, decision or determination as it deems should be made. Such action of said Council shall be final.

• (14) On the date a Notice of Appeal is filed hereunder or on the date the Council orders a review of the Commission's determination, all proceedings in furtherance of the determination, order, decision, condition or requirement appealed from, including the effective date of any approval, shall be stayed until the final determination of the appeal or review by the Council.

• (15) Any hearing conducted by the Council or Council initiated review on an appeal shall be a de novo hearing.

• (16) The City Clerk shall send to all interested parties, written notice of the Council's final determination, of any matter on appeal, or Council ordered review or what has been determined after the Council's hearing thereon.

• (17) All copies of the Site Plan as approved, with any conditions imposed thereon, shall be dated and signed by the Planning Director as of the date of approval. One copy of said approved site plan and all conditions thereon shall be mailed to the applicant.

The issuance of a building permit pursuant to and following Site Plan Review shall be in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 18.48 (ENFORCEMENT) of this Ordinance. Where a question arises as to the administration of specific sections of this chapter, or where there is a substantial change from the original Site Plan, the matter or plans shall be resubmitted to the Planning Commission subject to all of the provisions of this chapter, as if it were a new Site Plan Review.

Not less than 10 days prior to the decision date by the Planning Commission (or the City Council on appeal), the City shall mail notices of the proposed site plan application to all property owners as shown on the last equalized assessment rolls within a minimum radius of 600 feet of the exterior boundaries of the property which is the subject of the application, or within the minimum radius that is required such that a minimum of 40 property owners will be notified, whichever is greater. Appeals on the site plan review applications shall be noticed similarly. (Ord. 1128 Sec. 1, 2025)

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/NO4562 on 2026-07-07

City of Norco, CA

§ 18.40.14 ZONING

§ 18.40.16

The provisions of Chapter 18.46 (Revocation and Expiration of Permits and Variances) shall apply.

• (Ord. 501 Sec. 1, 1983)

Subject to compliance with all applicable zone regulations and subject to compliance with the criteria for architectural approval, as determined by the Planning Director or his appointed representative, site plan review shall be exempted under the circumstances specified as follows:

• (1) Changes from a conforming use to another conforming use.

• (2) Interior non-structural alterations for permitted uses.

• (3) One or more structural or exterior improvements to existing structures or other site improvements provided that the sum of the incremental costs during any ten year period of said improvements does not exceed ten (10) percent of the current replacement value of the permanent improvements existing on the premises as determined by the Building Official.

• (Ord. 289 Sec. 2, 1974; Ord. 387 Sec. l(a)(b), 1977; Ord. 514 Sec. 1, 1984)

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/NO4562 on 2026-07-07

City of Norco, CA

ZONING

§ 18.41.02

§ 18.41.10