Chapter 16.08 — DESIGN STANDARDS

A.

All land divisions shall conform to the comprehensive general plan of Riverside County, with all applicable specific plans, with the requirements of the land use ordinance and other ordinances, and with the requirements of this title except as hereinafter provided.

B.

The requirements set forth within this title are minimum requirements, and the county may impose greater requirements if so justified.

C.

Exceptions from the requirements of this title relating to the design or improvement of land divisions shall be granted by the appropriate advisory agency or appeal board only when it is determined that there are special circumstances applicable to the property, such as but not limited to size, shape or topographical

conditions, or existing road alignment and width, and that the granting of the modification will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare or be damaging to other property in the vicinity.

D.

Applications for exceptions shall be made, in writing, stating fully the reasons and justification for the requested exception, and shall be submitted with the application for a land division.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.1, 1997)

A.

The street system in the proposed land division shall relate, in general, to the existing streets in the area adjoining the proposed land division.

B.

The proposed street plan shall give consideration to the future development of adjoining undeveloped property.

C.

All streets shall be designed to serve the proposed use of the abutting land.

D.

When improvements are required, part-width boundary streets in a land division adjacent to undivided land shall have a minimum right-of-way width of forty (40) feet. The land developer shall provide the prescribed half-width, and the additional dedications shall be acquired from the adjacent undeveloped property.

E.

When no improvements are required, part-width boundary streets shall have a minimum right-of-way width of thirty (30) feet.

F.

Additional right-of-way or easements shall be provided where necessary to accommodate roadway slopes, drainage structures, and other facilities related to land division improvements.

G.

When consistent with existing development, access to residential property along freeways, expressways, arterial highways, major highways and flood control channels shall be provided by one of the following:

A frontage road or service road;

A street separated by a tier of lots.

H.

Design of streets shall make provisions for railroads, parkways, expressways, grade separations, flood control channels, prevailing geological conditions and local drainage facilities.

I.

In order to assure adequate evacuation times, whenever lots of a proposed land division are located more than one thousand three hundred twenty (1,320) feet, or six hundred sixty (660) feet in a high fire hazard area, from a publicly maintained circulatory road, alternate or secondary access shall be provided.

J.

When alternate access is required and the alternate access is off-site, or when any other public improvement is required or proposed off-site, the land divider shall do each of the following as part of the tentative map review.

Provide any studies or information required to adequately evaluate the environmental impacts of constructing the off-site improvement/alignment;

Show all proposed centerline, approximate gradients and radii on the tentative map in addition to other factors such as street widths, pavement surface, etc. for the off- site improvement/alignment;

Provide mailing labels showing the addresses of property owners that are adjacent to the off-site improvement/alignment for hearing notification purposes; and

Provide written assurance(s) from the owner(s) of the property underlying the off-site improvement/ alignment that sufficient right-of-way to construct will be provided. A formal agreement or offer of dedication is not necessary to satisfy this requirement, but the owner's willingness to cooperate must be communicated in a form acceptable to the transportation department.

In the event that the land divider does not satisfy one or more of the requirements set forth in subsection (J) (1), (2) or (3) of this section, and no exception is granted, the tentative map shall be redesigned such that the off-site improvement/alignment is no longer required. If the land divider refuses or is unable to redesign, project review staff shall recommend to the appropriate advisory agency or appeal board that the tentative map be denied. In the event that the land divider does not satisfy the requirement set forth in subsection (J) (4) of this section, project review staff shall note in its report the potential need to institute eminent domain proceedings and the appropriate advisory agency or appeal board may, in its discretion, act on the

tentative map as designed or require that the map be redesigned to eliminate the off-site improvement/ alignment.

K.

Cul-de-sac streets shall conform with Ordinance No. 461, Standard No. 800. When a part-width cul-de-sac is permitted, an offset cul-de-sac shall be provided in conformance with Ordinance No. 461, Standard No. 800 (A).

L.

Dead-end and part-width streets shall not be permitted if it is determined that adjacent land use or topographical features will not permit the extension or widening of such streets. Dead-end streets shall be so designed that access to abutting property shall be physically possible.

M.

On land divisions where improvements are not required, the centerline alignment of the street right-of-way shall be so located that future improvements will be feasible and in accordance with county standards and ordinances.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.2, 1997)

A.

Private streets may be permitted when it is determined that there is adequate provision for their construction and continued maintenance, that the welfare of the occupants of the development will be adequately served and that it will not be detrimental to the public health, safety and general welfare.

B.

Private streets, other than interior streets of planned residential developments, shall be required to be offered for dedication to public use. All dedicated private streets shall meet the width requirements set by the director of transportation and shall be constructed in accordance with improvement standards of Riverside County Ordinance No. 461. All offers of dedication shall remain in effect and shall be irrevocable unless abandoned under the Streets and Highways Code.

C.

All streets that are permitted to be private, whether offered for dedication or not, may provide for access control by land division design, posting or gating.

D.

Interior streets of a planned residential development, if not offered for dedication, shall be constructed to minimum widths of thirty-two (32) feet for noncirculatory interior access and thirty-six (36) feet for circulatory interior access in accordance with improvement standards of Ordinance No. 461; however, reduced widths may be permitted when either of the following conditions occur:

Where the design and topography permit the taking of access only on one side of the street; or

When the design does not permit on-street parking.

E.

When a special design for a cul-de-sac, length of a street terminating in a cul-de-sac, landscaped median, or any other improvement design is proposed and is not provided for in this ordinance or in the improvement standards of Ordinance No. 461, the design shall be submitted to the director of transportation for approval.

F.

Concrete rolled curbs in conformance with Ordinance No. 461, Standard No. 202, may be permitted in place of standard curbs on non-dedicated streets upon the determination of the director of transportation that the streets are adequate to handle drainage, and that an adequate maintenance program is provided for in the covenants, conditions and restrictions.

G.

Sidewalks shall be required to be constructed in conjunction with dedicated or nondedicated private streets unless it is determined by the approving body to be unnecessary, considering the design of the development. Sidewalk construction shall be in accordance with the improvement standards of Ordinance No. 461 unless otherwise approved by the director of transportation.

H.

Improvement plans, agreements and bonds shall be required for all dedicated and non- dedicated private streets in accordance with the applicable provisions of this title.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.3, 1997)

A.

Grades for local streets may not exceed sixteen (16) percent unless approved by both the transportation and fire departments. In areas with an elevation of five thousand (5,000) feet or more, street grades shall not exceed ten (10) percent, except that grades up to fifteen (15) percent may be approved for distances not to exceed two hundred (200) feet.

B.

Street grades of less than 0.50 percent may be approved only when engineering design shows that local drainage provisions are adequate and steeper gradients cannot be obtained. The utilization of combinations of steep and minimum grade lines as a means of generating embankment materials for on-

site tract grading to the detriment of street maintenance and good engineering design will not be approved. Every effort shall be made to design street grades which will be in conformance with the existing terrain.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.4, 1997)

Curves of streets with right-of-way width of sixty (60) feet or less shall have a minimum centerline radius of three hundred (300) feet in comparatively level locations and shall have a minimum centerline radius of one hundred fifty (150) feet in comparatively steep hillside locations.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.5, 1997)

A.

All street intersections shall be at right angles, plus or minus five degrees, unless otherwise approved by the director of transportation.

B.

Centerline offsets of less than two hundred (200) feet shall not be permitted, except that in special design cases offsets of less than five feet may be used when approved by the director of transportation.

C.

Curb Returns.

A minimum curb return radius of twenty-five (25) feet shall be provided at intersecting streets designated as collector or local streets.

A minimum curb return radius of thirty-five (35) feet shall be provided when one or both of the intersecting streets is designated as a secondary highway or greater.

In hillside areas, the curb return radius may be modified if required because of the topography.

D.

Corner cutbacks shall be established as provided in county Ordinance No. 461, Standard No. 805.

E.

Frontage road connections providing access on C-1/C-P, C-P-S, M-SC, M-M, M-H and I-P zoned properties to the main highway shall incorporate an intersection design in conformance with county

Ordinance No. 461, Standard No. 802.

F.

Median openings or crossovers between opposing lanes of a divided highway shall be located only at approved intersections and at intervals of not less than six hundred sixty (660) feet unless otherwise approved by the director of transportation.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.6, 1997)

A.

Improved alleys not less than twenty (20) feet in width may be approved at the rear of all lots intended for industrial, commercial, and multiple-family uses.

B.

Alley intersections shall have minimum corner cutbacks of twenty-five (25) feet or shall provide unobstructed sight distance as approved by the director of transportation.

C.

Dead-end alleys shall provide an adequate turnaround.

D.

Part-width alleys shall not be permitted.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.7, 1997)

A.

Lot size shall not be less than the minimum required by the zoning classifications applicable to the subject property, and shall be consistent with the comprehensive general plan for Riverside County.

B.

Corner lots shall be designed to provide a building site equal to that required for interior lots in the same zone.

C.

When lots eighteen thousand (18,000) square feet or less are proposed, the depth of lots shall not exceed two and one-half times the width. When lots greater than eighteen thousand (18,000) square feet are proposed, the depth shall not exceed four times the width.

D.

When lots are crossed by major public utility easements, each lot shall have a net usable area of not less than three thousand six hundred (3,600) square feet, exclusive of the utility easement.

E.

When a lot includes an access strip, the access strip shall not be less than thirty (30) feet in width. In no case shall the length of the access strip exceed six hundred sixty (660) feet. When the access portion abuts a dead-end street or cul-de-sac, the combined length of the street and the access strip shall be no more than one thousand three hundred twenty (1,320) feet in length in a nonhazardous fire area and six hundred sixty (660) feet in a hazardous fire area.

F.

Side lot lines shall be at approximately right angles or radial to the street centerline, except where terrain or other restrictions make such design impractical.

G.

Lots less than two acres in gross area shall not have double street frontage except that in hillside areas where the topography requires, lots may abut two or more streets provided that the frontage and vehicular access is from only one such street.

H.

No lot shall be divided by a city, county, school district or other taxing agency boundary line.

I.

The minimum lot frontage on a knuckle or cul-de-sac street shall be thirty-five (35) feet measured along the property line unless otherwise specified in the development standards of the zoning classification.

J.

Lot frontage along curvilinear streets may be measured at the building setback line in accordance with development standards of the zoning classifications.

K.

Garage door setbacks for all residential zones shall be twenty-four (24) feet for a conventional door or twenty (20) feet for a roll up door, measured from the back of the sidewalk to the face of garage door or the face of the curb if no sidewalk is required, or twenty (20) feet from the street right-of-way, whichever setback is greater.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.8, 1997)

A.

Any contiguous property that is owned by the land divider shall be included within the boundaries of a land division when necessary or desirable in the design or improvement of the land division if the remaining parcels are less than forty (40) acres in size,

B.

Any contiguous property that is owned by the land divider, but not included within the boundaries of the land division, shall be of such size and shape as to conform to the provisions of this title, the land use ordinance, the comprehensive general plan of Riverside County, or any applicable specific plan; otherwise it shall be included within the boundaries of the land division.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.9, 1997)

A.

No land division map shall be recorded unless public access is provided from each parcel of the land division to a city, county, county service area, community service district, state or federal road that is maintained for public use. Public access to a road maintained by a property owner's association may be allowed if the board determines that there is no other feasible means of guaranteeing maintenance of the road for public use, and if the association has the unqualified right to maintain the road pursuant to recorded conditions, covenants and restrictions which require the association to maintain the road and such requirement cannot be amended or terminated without the consent of the county.

B.

The requirement for public access may be waived under the following circumstances.

If a parcel map creates four or less parcels and public access over intervening lands cannot be offered for dedications, an appurtenant private easement for ingress, egress, roadway, and public utility purposes may be approved, provided:

a.

The land to be divided is not zoned for commercial, industrial, or multiple- residential use;

b.

No parcel under one acre in size is created unless only two additional parcels are being created;

c.

If no improvements are required, the private easement is not less than twenty (20) feet in width, and is duly recorded, is perpetual in duration, and is not subject to liens and encumbrances which might impair or defeat its purpose. If improvements are required, a minimum of forty (40) feet is required;

d.

The access easement owned by the land divider is not an exclusive easement or specifically written to prohibit further division of the land.

If a subdivision map has been previously recorded that permitted private streets without the requirement of offering the streets for dedications, a private road easement may be approved, provided the easement grants the new lots unrestricted access rights to the existing private streets.

C.

Public access is not required if each parcel created is forty (40) acres or more or is a quarter of a quarter section.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.10, 1997)

In order to provide for future passive or natural heating and/or cooling opportunities in a subdivision, the following considerations shall be taken into account: subdivision lot design, size, configuration of structure, orientation in an east-west direction, local climate, contour, configuration of the parcel to be divided, and other design and improvement requirements. Such provision shall not result in reducing allowable densities or the percentage of lot which may be occupied by a building or structure under applicable planning and zoning in force at the time the tentative map is filed.

These requirements do not apply to condominium projects which consist of the subdivision of airspace in an existing building when no new structures are added.

(Ord. 460.137 § 3.11, 1997)