Article 22.5 — Hillside Preservation District (HPD)

It is the intent of the Hillside Preservation District to place special controls on any proposed development, public or private, within hillside areas of the City in order to:

(a)

Preserve and enhance their use as a prime resource;

(b)

Help protect people and property from all potentially hazardous conditions particular to hillsides;

(c)

Assure that any development be economically sound; and

(d)

Encourage innovative design solutions.

The Hillside Preservation District is shown by the shaded areas on the Zoning Section Maps made a part of this chapter and shall be considered as an overlay district to the zoning districts incorporated within. In cases of conflict between such zoning districts and the overlay Hillside Preservation District, the provisions of this article for the Hillside Preservation District shall prevail.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1976)

For any public hearing under the provisions and regulations of this article, the Commission shall give notice thereof by at least one publication in a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated within the City, at least ten (10) days prior to such hearing and by mailing a postal card notice not less than ten (10) days prior to the date of the hearing to the owners of the property directly affected, and within a radius of 300 feet of the exterior boundaries of property directly affected, using for such purpose the last known name and address of such owners as shown upon the assessment roll of the County. The failure of any owner to receive such notice shall not invalidate the hearing proceedings.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975)

It shall be the purpose of the Hillside Preservation District to promote the following City objectives which shall be considered as guidelines:

(a)

To maximize choice in types of environment available in the City and particularly to encourage variety in the development pattern of the hillsides;

(b)

The concentration of dwellings and other structures by clustering and/or high rise should be encouraged to help save larger areas of open space and preserve the natural terrain;

(c)

To use to the fullest current understanding of good civic design, landscape architecture, architecture, and civil engineering to preserve, enhance, and promote the existing and future appearance and resources of hillside areas;

(d)

To provide density and land use incentives to aid in ensuring the best possible development of the City's natural features, open space, and other landmarks;

(e)

To encourage the planning, design, and development of building sites in such a fashion as to provide the maximum in safety and human enjoyment while adapting development to, and taking advantage of, the best use of the natural terrain;

(f)

To preserve and enhance the beauty of the landscape by encouraging the maximum retention of natural topographic features, such as drainage swales, streams, slopes, ridge lines, rock-out-croppings, vistas, natural plant formations, and trees;

(g)

To prohibit, insofar as is feasible and reasonable, the padding or terracing of building sites in the hillside areas;

(h)

To provide safe means of ingress and egress for vehicular and pedestrian traffic to and within hillside areas while at the same time minimizing the scarring effects of hillside street construction;

(i)

Utility wires and television lines shall be installed underground;

(j)

Outstanding natural physical features, such as the highest crest of a hill, natural rock outcroppings, major tree belts, and the like, should be preserved;

(k)

Roads should follow natural topography wherever possible to minimize cutting and grading;

(l)

Imaginative and innovative building techniques should be encouraged to create buildings suited to natural hillside surroundings; and

(m)

Detailed and effective arrangements shall be formulated for the preservation, maintenance, and control of open space and recreational lands resulting from planned unit development.

It is the intent of this section to discourage the development of ridgelines; however, where a parcel has ridgelines that are the only buildable portion of the property, or where it can be demonstrated that the sensitive development of other portions of such a parcel would significantly frustrate the other purposes of this article, then some development of such ridgelines may be permitted provided most of the ridgeline remains undisturbed, and any such ridgeline development is of low profile, has minimum visual impact, and utilizes a minimum of grading.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord.156-C.S., eff. November 26,1975)

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975, and § 1, Ord. 180-C.S., eff. October 13, 1976; repealed by § 1, Ord. 321-C.S., eff. February 10, 1982)

Subject to all other regulations set forth in this chapter, uses shall be permitted and regulations shall apply in the Hillside Preservation District as set forth in this article.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27,1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975)

The uses permitted in the Hillside Preservation District shall be the uses designated on the approved development plan of the applicant and as such uses are consistent with appropriate and applicable elements of the adopted General Plan of the City, such as, but not necessarily limited to, land use, housing, open space, parks and recreation, conservation, transportation, seismic safety, and any subsequent additions and changes to the General Plan and its elements as may be adopted by the City from time to time.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975)

Applicants of any development proposal within the Hillside Preservation District shall pursue the procedures and standards set forth for the P-D District, specifically Sections 9-4.2204 through 9-4.2211 of Article 22 of this chapter, as now enacted or hereafter amended. Such procedures and standards shall include the requirement for reclassification to a P-D District, Public agencies, including special districts, proposing developments and improvements on their lands within the HPD in conjunction with the uses and activities for which such lands are held and uses proposed under the special use permit procedure set forth in Section 9-4.2306 of Article 23 of this chapter shall be exempt from pursuing a P-D classification, except as provided in subsection (2) of subjection (c) of said Section 9-4.2306, but such developments and improvements shall adhere to the objectives of the HPD and specifically to the standards set forth in Sections 9-4.,2257 and 9-4.2258 of this article, except where specifically exempted by State or Federal laws. Where land is both within the Agricultural and Hillside Preservation zoning districts, applicants proposing a development which is either a conditional or a permitted use within the Agricultural District are exempt from the requirement to reclassify the property to the Planned Development District; however, all other requirements of the Hillside Preservation District shall remain applicable. A proposal to subdivide such land is a development proposal within the meaning of this section and shall be required to follow the procedures and standards of this section, including the requirement of reclassification to the Planned Development District.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975, § 1, Ord. 197-C.S., eff. April 13, 1977, and § 3, Ord. 604-C.S., eff. June 8, 1993)

The maximum allowable land coverage for any development within the Hillside Preservation District shall be controlled by the following formula:

C = 40 - s2

35

Where C = the maximum allowable site coverage; and S = the average percent of natural slope of the site, the maximum allowable site coverage (C) shall include all areas of the site occupied or covered by buildings, pavement, and grading, except for recreation facilities and active recreation areas which can be utilized by all residents of the development. All areas not considered coverage shall remain undisturbed in their native or natural state, with the exception of the recreational areas. The HPR Board and Commission may recommend the exclusion of certain dedicated public streets from the definition of coverage (C) provided such public streets serve a major, City-wide circulation function and would not otherwise be necessary to the design and function of the individual project.

It is the intent of this section to allow the reasonable use of hillside lands consistent with the objectives of this article in such a manner so as not to be confiscatory. The following represents a graphic illustration of this formula:

The following formula is an acceptable method of determining average slope:

S= 0.00229 IL / A

Where I = Contour interval in feet, not to exceed ten (10′) feet;

L = Situation of length of contour lines in feet; and

A = Area in acres of the site or parcel being considered.

The maximum allowable site coverage may be awarded to a project which represents outstanding and innovative design, site planning, and engineering techniques and strongly achieves the objectives of the HPD District as set forth in Section 9-4.2252 of this article. A project which to some lesser extent meets the above stated requirement may be awarded less than the maximum allowable coverage.

Notwithstanding the land coverage controls, a minimum of 200 square feet of usable recreational open space, as defined in Section 9-4.280 of Article 2 and subsection (2) of subsection (a) of Section 9-4.2210 of Article 22 of this chapter, shall be provided for each dwelling unit.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. l56-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975)

Minimum street standards in the Hillside Preservation District shall be as follows:

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff, November 26, 1975)

Parking in the Hillside Preservation District shall be provided off-street, and in no case may parking lanes be provided except as approved in a development plan. The intermittent widening of streets for emergency parking and turnarounds at convenient places shall be encouraged. The following on-site parking standards shall be the minimum acceptable for residential units within hillside areas. The City may require more parking where topography, special traffic, building, grading, or other circumstances warrant it. The uncovered parking spaces may include areas such as driveways outside garages or carports and off-street parking bays, except that each required space shall be accessible at all times:

(a)

Single-family detached dwelling units. Two (2) covered spaces, plus two (2) uncovered spaces. The uncovered spaces may be incorporated within a parking area shared by spaces for other units; provided, however, in no case shall the total number of spaces so located together be less than the same of the separate requirements for each unit and shall be located no farther than 100 feet from each dwelling unit entrance;

(b)

Single-family attached dwelling units, including vertical and horizontal condominiums. Two (2) covered spaces, plus one-half (½) uncovered space. The uncovered spaces may be incorporated within a parking area shared by spaces for other units; provided, however, in no case shall the total number of spaces so located together be less than the same of the separate requirements for each unit and shall be located no farther than 100 feet from each dwelling unit entrance;

(c)

Two and multiple-family dwelling units. For each dwelling unit, one covered space, plus one-half (½) uncovered space for each bedroom more than one in each unit. In cases where a one-half (½) space occurs in a total figure, the standard shall be increased to the next whole figure; and

(d)

Guest spaces. In addition to the standards set forth in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section, a minimum of one guest space shall be provided for every ten (10) dwelling units, or fraction thereof.

(§ 1, Ord. 69-C.S., eff. December 27, 1972, as amended by § 1, Ord. 156-C.S., eff. November 26, 1975)