Chapter 17.02 — PURPOSE AND APPLICABILITY

• A. Title. This title is known as the Development Code of the City of Rancho Cucamonga.

• B. Authority. This title is adopted pursuant to the authority granted to the city by Government Code § 65800 et seq.

• C. Purpose and intent. These standards and guidelines for the city are hereby established and adopted to protect and promote the public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience, and welfare, and more particularly to:

  1. Implement the goals and objectives of the general plan and to guide and manage the future growth of the city in accordance with such plan.

  2. Protect the physical, social, and economic stability of residential, commercial, industrial, and other land uses within the city to assure its orderly and beneficial development.

  3. Reduce hazards to the public resulting from the inappropriate location, use, or design of buildings and other improvements.

  4. Attain the physical, social, and economic advantages resulting from comprehensive and orderly land use and resource planning.

• D. Consistency with the land use element of the general plan. No use of land or buildings for which an application is required pursuant to this title is to be approved for processing under this title unless it is consistent with the land use element of the general plan. In the event of any conflict between this title and the land use element, the land use element shall prevail. A proposed use is consistent with the land use element when all of the following conditions exist:

  1. The proposed use is in conformance with the programs and standards of the land use element.

  2. The proposed use is to be established and maintained in a manner that is consistent with the land use element and all applicable standards contained therein.

• (Ord. No. 1000 § 4, 2022)

This title applies to all land uses, structures, subdivisions, and development within the city, as follows:

• A. New or altered land uses or structures. Compliance with this title is required to lawfully establish, construct, reconstruct, alter, or replace any use of land or structure.

• B. Existing uses and structures. An existing land use or structure is lawful only when it was legally established and is operated and maintained in compliance with all applicable provisions of this title. See chapter 17.62 (Nonconforming Uses and Structures) for more details.

• C. Minimum requirements. The provisions of this title shall be the minimum to ensure the public health, safety, and welfare. For discretionary actions, city officials or bodies have the discretion to impose more stringent requirements than set forth in this title as may be necessary to promote orderly land use development and the purposes of this title.

• D. Land use permit or entitlement required; limitation on subsequent permits. Land use permits or entitlements are required when a development, as defined in this title, is proposed. No person shall begin construction, occupy, or conduct a use or operation within the city, and the city shall not issue any other permit related to the development, until any required land use permit or entitlements have been approved and the appeals period has expired.

• E. Other requirements and permits. Nothing in this title eliminates the need for obtaining any other permits required by the city, including the Rancho Cucamonga Fire District, or any permit, approval, or entitlement required by the regulations of any regional, state, or federal agency.

• F. Effect of zoning code changes on projects in process. The enactment of this title, or any amendments thereto, may have the effect of imposing different standards on new land uses, development, and/or structures than those that applied to existing land uses, development, and/or structures. Following the effective date of this title the following provisions shall apply. Successive amendments to this title shall specify their applicability to pending applications and projects not yet or under construction; in the event an amendment is silent on this matter, the following shall apply.

  1. Pending applications. All land use permit applications that are active and that have been determined by the planning director to be complete before the effective date of this title, or any amendments thereto, will be processed according to the regulations in effect when the application was deemed complete.

  2. Approved projects not yet under construction. Any structure authorized by a planning permit or entitlement for which construction has not begun as of the effective date of this title, or any amendment thereto, may still be constructed in compliance with the approved permit, as long as construction is completed and the approved land use is established before the expiration of the permit or, where applicable, before the expiration of any approved time extension.

rized by a planning permit or entitlement for which construction has not begun as of the effective date of this title, or any amendment thereto, may still be constructed in compliance with the approved permit, as long as construction is completed and the approved land use is established before the expiration of the permit or, where applicable, before the expiration of any approved time extension.

3. Projects under construction. A structure that is under construction pursuant to a valid building permit on the effective date of this title, or any amendments thereto, may be completed and need not be changed to satisfy any new or different requirements of this title as long as construction is beyond the approval of the first inspection on the effective date of this title, or any amendment thereto, and provided that construction is diligently prosecuted to completion. Such a structure shall be deemed to be a lawfully existing building.

• G. Conflicting requirements. Wherever conflict occurs between the provisions of this title and any other provision of law, the more restrictive of any such provisions shall apply, except for conflicts between the requirements of this title and any adopted specific plan or special planning area, in which case, the requirements of the specific plan or special planning area shall govern.

• H. Severability. If any portion of this title is for any reason held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this title. The city council hereby declares that this title and each article, chapter, section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, and portion thereof is adopted, irrespective of the fact that one or more portions of this title may be declared invalid, unconstitutional, or unenforceable.

• (Ord. No. 1000 § 4, 2022)