Piedmont Municipal Code Div. 17.68 Conditional Use Permit

Sections:
17.68.010 General: Intent; Applicability.
17.68.020 Application.
17.68.030 Decision Making body
17.68.040 Findings for Conditional Use Permit
17.68.050 Review
17.68.060 Modification
17.68.070 Permit to run with land

A. General; Intent. No person shall begin a conditional use without first obtaining a conditional use permit. The purpose of conditional use permits is to provide a process for reviewing land uses which may be compatible with the zoning district, but whose effect on the site and surroundings cannot be determined before being proposed for a specific location. The Planning Commission may approve a conditional use permit, upon making findings of approval and imposing any necessary conditions of approval.

B. Applicability. A conditional use permit is required for a use listed as a conditional use in any zone, or a change in an existing conditional use, unless the new proposed use is permitted by right or is a minor modification under 17.68.060.

C. Wireless communication facilities permit. A wireless communication facility is a conditional use in all zones if not otherwise permitted by and approved under division 17.46.

The applicant must submit an application for a conditional use permit, or a minor modification to a conditional use permit on a form provided by the Director. The application shall be accompanied by plans as set forth in the required materials for the applicable permit application, and the application fee. Where necessary, the Director or hearing body may waive a requirement or require additional information.

A. Conditional Use Permit. The Planning Commission will hold a hearing on a conditional use a application and make a final decision. The decision of the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council subject to Division 17.78.

B. Minor modification. The Director will make a determination on a minor modification. The decision of the Director can be appealed to the Planning Commission subject to 17.78.

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A. The Planning Commission may approve a conditional use permit for residential use requiring a conditional use permit (e.g. large family day care home, residential group home, residential component of mixed-use development) only after making the following findings:

1. The proposed use is consistent with the general plan and any applicable specific plan, and the use conforms to the zoning code. Ordinance No. 783 N.S. Page 8

2. The proposed use will not cause an increase in peak hour traffic exceeding 50 trips as determined by a traffic study.

3. The proposed use will not generate a parking demand greater than the number of on-site spaces provided in accordance with the city parking standards.

4. The proposed use will not produce mechanically-generated noise levels that exceed 50 dBA measured at the nearest residential property line.

B. The Planning Commission may approve a conditional use permit for a commercial or commercial component of mixed-use development only after making the following findings:

1. Necessity, Desirability, Compatibility. That the size, intensity and location of the proposed use will provide a development that is necessary or desirable for, and compatible with, the general neighborhood; and

2. Adverse Impacts. That such use as proposed will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or general welfare, or physically injurious to property, improvements or potential development in the vicinity, with respect to aspects including but not limited to the following:
   a) The accessibility and traffic patterns for persons and vehicles, the type and volume of such traffic, and the adequacy of proposed off-street parking and loading;
   b) The safeguards afforded to prevent noxious or offensive emissions such as noise, glare, dust and odor;
   c) Treatment given, as appropriate, to such aspects as landscaping, screening, open spaces, parking and loading areas, service areas, trash and recycling management, lighting and signs; and

3. Consistency with Zoning Ordinance, General Plan and Specific Plan. That such use or

feature as proposed will comply with the applicable provisions of this chapter and will be

consistent with the policies and standards of the General Plan and any applicable specific

plan.

A. Review. Each conditional use permit is subject to review two years after the permit is approved, or a longer period if provided in the approved permit, and each five years after that, or longer as determined by the Planning Commission. The Director will initiate the review and provide a report to the Planning Commission. If the Director or Planning Commission

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determines that there may be grounds for revocation of the permit, the Director will schedule the matter for a revocation hearing under section 17.80.050.

B. Applicability to prior conditional use permits. If a use permit issued before December 2013 has a condition with an automatic review or termination date, that condition is superseded by this section.

A. Application. A person may apply for a minor modification to a conditional use permit if the

modification meets any of the following criteria:

1. The cumulative physical expansion of any structure or space approved in the original

Conditional Use Permit by no more than 10 percent.
2. Relocation of a use within the same property or structure.
3. A maximum 25% increase or decrease in the number of employees or hours of operation.

B. Minor Modification Findings: The Director may approve a minor modification to a

conditional use permit only after making the following findings:

1. The modification qualifies as a minor modification described in 17.68.060.A.
2. The modification does not have any new significant impact and is Categorically Exempt

from the California Environmental Quality Act,
3. The modification is consistent and in substantial conformance with the conditions of

approval of the existing conditional use permit.

C. Other Modifications. An applicant wishing to make modifications to an existing conditional

use permit that does not meet the criteria in section 17.68.060.A, shall submit an application

for an amendment to their existing conditional use permit. Consideration of this application

requires the same procedures and findings as for the original use permit.

D. It is not the intent of this Section that a series of minor modifications be used to circumvent the need for a new Conditional Use Permit.

A conditional use permit granted pursuant to the provisions of this division shall run with the land and shall continue to be valid upon a change of ownership of the business or property which is the subject of the conditional use permit. (Ord. 783 N.S., 10/2025)

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SECTION 17.70

VARIANCE

A. General. The city may approve a variance from the provisions of this chapter, except for those features set forth in subsection B, which do not require a variance.

B. Exceptions.

1. These features do not require a variance: fence, retaining wall, or site feature.

2. A variance is not required to replace a nonconforming:

a.
garage, pool house, exempt accessory dwelling unit, or accessory structure, which is destroyed, and any of those may be replaced as it was, within two years, without increasing the degree of nonconformity, and without a variance under this division; (See section 17.50.020 B.4.)

b. deck, balcony, porch, or site feature, which is destroyed, and any of those may be replaced as it was, within one year, without increasing the degree of nonconformity, and without a variance under this division. (See section 17.50.020 B.4.)

3. If a proposed improvement of an existing structure is subject only to a design review permit except that a feature of the improvement requires a variance, the city may approve it without the need for a variance if: (1) the extent of the nonconformity is unchanged or reduced; and (2) the proposal meets the design review permit requirements of section 17.66.050, Standards. (See section 17.66.020 F.)

4. A variance shall not be required to construct an accessory dwelling unit meeting the standards of division 17.38. (Ord. 747 N.S., 02/2020; Ord. 768 N.S. 01/2023)

The applicant must submit a written application for a variance on a form provided by the Director. The application shall be accompanied by: plans as set forth in the required materials for a variance; a statement of the reasons for and evidence in support of the request; and the application fee. Where necessary, the Director or hearing body may waive a requirement or require additional information, including a survey.

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The Planning Commission will hold a hearing and decide on a variance request.

However, when another related application is normally decided by the City Council, the City Council will also be the decision-making body on the variance, and the Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council. For example, this applies to an application for a subdivision (under chapter 19). (Ord. 783 N.S., 10/2025)

A. Findings. The hearing body may approve a variance only if it makes the following findings:

1. The property and existing improvements present unusual physical circumstances of the property (including but not limited to size, shape, topography, location and surroundings), so that strictly applying the terms of this chapter would keep the property from being used in the same manner as other conforming properties in the zone;

2. The project is compatible with the immediately surrounding neighborhood and the public welfare; and

3. Accomplishing the improvement without a variance would cause unreasonable hardship in planning, design, or construction. In this subsection 3, unreasonable hardship refers to the unusual physical characteristics of the property and existing improvements, and not to conditions personal to the applicant. (See also Reasonable accommodation, at division 17.76.)

B. No variance for use. The city may not grant a variance authorizing a use or activity not otherwise permitted.

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