5.5. COMMERCIAL ZONING DISTRICTS — Sacramento County Zoning Code

5.5.1. Purpose and Applicability ¶

[AMENDED 01-12-2019]

The standards in this Section apply to:

Lots within the BP, C-O, LC, GC zones and lots created for commercial or institutional uses in other zoning districts where allowed, and,

All commercial and institutional projects including new construction, retrofitting, and remodeling of existing construction in all zones where permitted but not governed by other specific plan, special planning area, or neighborhood preservation area standards.

The standards in this Section are to be used in close concert with the County-wide Design Guidelines to achieve high quality projects that fit within the surrounding community. All commercial and institutional projects are subject to Design Review.

Alternatives to these standards may be approved with a Special Development Permit if the intent and purpose of the standards and guidelines are met.

5.5.2. Commercial and Institutional Development Standards ¶

5.5.2.A. Development Standards Summary

Lots created within commercial zoning districts or for commercial or institutional purposes in other zoning districts where allowed, and all commercial and institutional projects, shall be subject to the development standards of Table 5.13, as follows:

For the creation of new lots, the lot area and width requirements of Table 5.13 regulate minimum lot size and configuration for each zoning district and are not necessarily as optimum project design standards. Refer to the Countywide Design Guidelines for ways to provide compatibility, access and connectivity with surrounding neighborhoods.
Development of commercial projects in the commercial zoning districts is subject to the applicable development standards in Table 5.13.
Development of commercial projects in non-commercial zoning districts is subject to the lot and development standards of the LC/GC zones as summarized in Table 5.13.
Development of institutional projects is subject to the development standards of the BP zone unless specified in Table 5.13.

All commercial and institutional development is subject to Design Review in accordance with the County-wide Design Guidelines.

Table 5.13 Commercial Lot and Commercial and Institutional Project Development Standards

This table has been split into multiple tables to comply with accessibility requirements. The following four tables shall all be referred to as a part of Table 5.13.

Commercial Lot Standards

Required Development Standard	BP	C-O	LC, GC
Minimum Lot Area (sq. ft.)	N/A [1]	N/A [1]	N/A [1]
Minimum Lot Frontage and Width (ft.)	60	66	N/A
Minimum Lot Depth	100	N/A	N/A

Development Standards - Institutional Uses

Development Standard	Requirement
Applicable standards in commercial or	Institutional uses located in a commercial or industrial zoning
industrial zoning districts, except the BP	district, except for the BP zone, shall use the LC, GC
zone	development standards.
Applicable standards in the BP zone	Institutional uses located in the BP zone shall follow the BP
	zone development standards.

Development Standard	Requirement
Applicable standards in all other zoning	Institutional uses in all other zoning districts shall use the BP
districts	development standards, except for yards, as specified.
Yard requirements when located within a	Front Yard – 25 ft. (Without PUPF) / 31 ft. (With PUPF)
zoning district other than commercial or	Interior Side Yard – Minimum 6 ft.
industrial	Rear Yard – Minimum 25 ft.

Development Standards - Yard Requirements (ft.) Commercial Uses

Required	BP	C-O	LC, GC
Development
Standard
Minimum Required	25 (Without PUPF) / 31	50 (Without PUPF) / 56	50 (Without PUPF) / 56
Front Yard	(With PUPF)	(With PUPF)	(With PUPF)
Minimum Required	25	25	20
Interior Side and
Rear Yards,
Adjacent to
Multifamily Use [2]
Minimum Required	0	0	0
Interior Side and
Rear Yards,
Adjacent to
Nonresidential Use
[2]
Minimum Required	If the rear yard or	If the rear yard or	If the rear yard or
Interior Side and	interior side yard abuts a	interior side yard abuts a	interior side yard abuts a
Rear Yards,	freeway or scenic	freeway or scenic	freeway or scenic
Abutting Freeway	corridor, a minimum 15-	corridor, a minimum 15-	corridor, a minimum 15-
or Scenic Corridor	foot rear or interior side	foot rear or interior side	foot rear or interior side
	yard setback shall be	yard setback shall be	yard setback shall be
	provided. The entire 15-	provided. The entire 15-	provided. The entire 15-

Required

C-O

LC, GC

Development

Standard

	foot setback shall be
	landscaped.	landscaped.	landscaped.
Minimum Required	25 (one-story); 100 (two-	25 (one-story); 100 (two-	25 (one-story); 100 (two-
Interior Side and	story and three-story)	story and three-story)	story and three-story)
Rear Yard, Adjacent
to Single-Family
Residential Use
Projection Into Rear	The main building may	The main building may	The main building may
Yard	project into the required	project into the required	project into the required
	rear yard provided that	rear yard provided that	rear yard provided that
	an equal area is	an equal area is	an equal area is
	provided as a yard or	provided as a yard or	provided as a yard or
	court within the	court within the	court within the
	buildable portion of the	buildable portion of the	buildable portion of the
	lot.	lot.	lot.
Minimum Required	25 (Without PUPF) / 31	50 (Without PUPF) / 56	50 (Without PUPF) / 56
Side Street Yard	(With PUPF)	(With PUPF)	(With PUPF)

Development Standards - All Other Requirements, Commercial Uses

Development	Requirement
Standard
Maximum Building	50
Height (ft.)
Minimum	Refer to Section 5.2.4, “Landscape Standards.”
Landscape
Requirements
Additional	All setback areas visible from public streets shall be landscaped. Required planter or
Landscaping	landscaped areas shall include pedestrian walks, steps, and similar hard surface areas

Development
Standard
Requirement
Requirement
provided that such hard surface does not cover more than 25% of the required
landscaped area. Ornamental or landscaping rock and gravel areas, artificial turf, or
areas covered with other artificial materials shall be considered hard surface areas for
the purposes of this provision.
Landscaping to
Allow Yard
Reduction
In the C-O, LC, and GC zones, the front yard depth may be reduced to a minimum of
25 feet, and to a minimum of 31 feet for right-of-way with a PUPF, provided that for
each square foot of additional buildable area created by the application of this
provision, an equivalent square foot of landscape area is provided in the
corresponding street yard.
Parking
Requirements
Refer to Section 5.9, “Off Street Parking”
Lighting
Site and street lighting shall comply with Section 5, Street Light Design of the
Sacramento County Improvement Standards. Also refer to Section 5.9.4.G for Parking
Area Lighting standards.
Signage
Signs shall be integrated and designed at a quality consistent with the design of the
project and shall comply with Chapter 5.10, Sign Regulations and the County’s Design
Guidelines.
Shopping Carts
All businesses shall comply with Chapter 9.76 of the SCC relating to Unauthorized Use
of Shopping Carts.
Compliance with
Noise Ordinance
(SCC Section
6.68)
All commercial activities, including truck loading, operation of machinery, and human
activity areas, located within proximity of a residential or agricultural-residential zoning
district shall comply with the County Noise Ordinance. If complaints are received and
non-compliance verified by the Environmental Management Department, then the
Planning Director may require the property owner to submit an acoustical study
prepared by a qualified acoustical engineer. Said study shall provide recommended
physical and operational measures to bring the property into compliance.
The Planning Director may require compliance with such measures as a condition of
the business license as provided for in SCC Section 4.06.090. This requirement shall
be applicable to existing and new commercial uses.

Development	Requirement
Standard
Circulation	Incorporate attractive and well-marked pedestrian networks that provide connectivity
	and safe travel from the public rights-of-way and through parking areas. Design shall
	reflect the need for safely mixing and separating modes (i.e. trucks, autos, transit,
	pedestrians and bicyclists), while enhancing the pedestrian linkages to other
	buildings, transit and parking areas.
Access	Provide cross-access between projects to the extent practicable to support mixed use
	development, active design and walkability.
Outdoor	Within the buildable area of a lot, material, goods, furniture, and appliances, normally
Merchandise	used out of doors, which are sold on-site, may be allowed to be displayed outdoors
Display [ADDED	during hours of operation when accessory to a permitted commercial use. Displays
01-12-2019]	may be allowed within required setback areas adjacent to roadways with the issuance
	of a Minor Use Permit; however, displays must maintain a minimum 25-foot setback.
	Displays shall not block vehicular or pedestrian pathways or be located in required
	parking or landscaped areas.
Outdoor Storage	Within the buildable area of a lot, the outdoor storage of goods, if new or in good
[ADDED 01-12-	repair, may be allowed if completely screened from view in accordance with Section
2019]	5.2.5.D, “Commercial and Industrial Fences.” Such storage shall not block vehicular
	or pedestrian pathways or be located in required parking or landscaped areas.

Trash and Recycling Enclosures and Loading Docks

Development Standard	Requirement
Minimum Setback from	31
Public Street (ft.)
Minimum Setback from	25
residentially-zoned
property, or property used
for residential purposes
(ft.)

Development Standard	Requirement
Minimum Setback from the	15
edge of pavement of a
private street
Required Gate Height	Six-foot minimum and eight-foot maximum required solid gate.
General Standards	All trash and recycling containers and enclosures shall be located within an
	enclosed masonry area with a surrounding wall at least six feet high and no
	taller than eight feet in height, with an appropriate solid gate.
	Trash and recycling enclosure areas shall be designed to the County’s latest
	stormwater quality source control design standards.
	There shall be adequate area provided for recycling containers and
	enclosures. Recycling enclosures shall be located for functional use by
	occupants and by the disposal and hauling companies providing collection
	services. The appropriate authority can allow flexibility on the trash and
	recycling enclosure standards to facilitate the siting and provision of adequate
	space allocation for recycling collection and storage areas.
Loading Docks - Setback	Loading docks shall be setback a minimum of 75 feet from the boundary of
	property zoned or used for residential purposes, unless a reduced setback is
	allowed by a Special Development Permit approved by the Zoning
	Administrator.

PUPF = Public Utilities, Public Facilities easement (per Section 5.2.1)

[1] For business and professional uses and convenience centers in residential zoning districts, the minimum lot area shall be at least 6,000 square feet where both a public water and sewerage facility are in use; one acre if either a public water system or public sewerage facility, but not both, is in use; or two acres if neither a public water system nor a public sewerage facility are in use.

[2] Exceptions for Mechanical Equipment. Mechanical equipment may be located in the required rear yard or interior side yard provided that no structure or equipment shall occupy more than 200 square feet of the required yard area, or be located within five feet of any property boundary, or extend more than 12 inches above the finished grade. All vents, flues, doorways, or other openings shall be

oriented away from the adjacent property boundary. Landscaping shall be provided to screen any portion of such use which extends above ground level.