Salinas Municipal Code Div. 5 Industrial (I) Districts

In addition to the general purposes listed in Article I, Division 1: General Provisions, the purpose of the industrial (I) districts regulations is to:

(a) Provide appropriately located areas consistent with the general plan for a broad range of manufacturing and service uses;

(b) Strengthen the city's economic base, and provide employment opportunities close to home for residents of the city and surrounding communities;

(c) Minimize the impact of industrial uses on adjacent residential and commercial districts; and

(d) Promote safe industrial areas through the incorporation of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) features in development;

(e) The additional purposes of each industrial (I) district are as follows:

(1) Industrial-General Commercial (IGC) District. The industrial-general commercial (IGC) district provides for a range of retail, wholesale, and service businesses not generally suitable in commercial districts because they attract heavy automobile and truck traffic or have certain adverse impacts; and to provide opportunities for certain limited manufacturing uses that have impacts comparable to those of retail and service.

(2) Industrial-Business Park (IBP) District. The industrial-business park (IBP) district regulations allow development of sites with high architectural and landscape standards for industrial office centers, limited manufacturing, warehousing and large-scale, single destination retail and other limited retail uses which may not be appropriate in retail areas.

(3) Industrial-General (IG) District. The industrial-general (IG) district regulations provide for the full range of manufacturing, industrial processing, general service, and distribution uses deemed suitable for location in Salinas; and protect Salinas' general industrial areas from competition for space from unrelated commercial uses that could more appropriately be located elsewhere in the city.

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

Table 37-30.130 identifies the use classifications for properties located in industrial (I) districts:

Table 37-30.130 Industrial (I) Districts Use Classifications

Notes: P = Permitted Use NP = Not Permitted Use CUP = Conditional Use Permit Required SPR = Site Plan Review Required TULP = Temporary Use of Land Permit Required

(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

(Ord. No. 2507 (NCS), §§ 9—11, 44, 46, 5-18-2010; Ord. No. 2569 (NCS), § 5, 4-19-2016; Ord. No. 2592 (NCS), § 2; Ord. No. 2634(NCS), § 1, 6-9-2020; Ord. No. 2635(NCS), § 1, 6-23-2020; Ord. No. 2649 (NCS), § 4, 9-21-2021)

Table 37-30.140 identifies the development regulations for the industrial (I) districts:

Table 37-30.140 Industrial (I) Districts Development Regulations

Notes:

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(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)

(Ord. No. 2507 (NCS), § 8, 5-18-2010)

(a) Purpose. These design standards are intended to assist the designer in understanding the city's requirements for high quality industrial development. These standards complement the development regulations contained in this division by providing good examples of potential design solutions and by providing design interpretations of the various regulations. These standards ensure the highest level of design quality while at the same time providing the flexibility necessary to encourage creativity on the part of project designers.

(b) Applicability. Although most applicable to the IGC and IBP zoning districts, these standards shall also apply to the IG zoning district but primarily for those uses visible from public rights-of-way and U.S. Highway 101.

(c) Site Planning.

(1) The main elements of sound industrial site design include the following:

(A) Controlled site access;

(B) Site planning, lighting, and architectural design that encourage natural surveillance;

(C) Service areas located at the sides and rear of buildings;

(D) Convenient access, visitor parking, and on-site circulation;

(E) Screening of outdoor storage, work areas, and equipment; and

(F) Landscaped open space.

(2) A variety of building and parking setbacks should be provided in order to avoid long monotonous building facades and to create diversity on those facades that are visible from any private or public street.

(3) Structures should be located on landscape islands, where the office portion of the building does not directly abut paved parking areas. A minimum five- to seven-foot landscape strip should be provided between parking areas and the office portion of a structure.

(4) Where industrial uses are adjacent to nonindustrial uses, appropriate buffering techniques such as setbacks proportional to building size, screening and landscaping need to be provided to mitigate any negative effects of industrial operations.

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(d) Natural Surveillance. Whenever feasible, design and placement of buildings and other physical features are encouraged to maximize visibility and facilitate natural surveillance from public rights-of-way and other public areas. This includes building orientation, placement of windows, doors, and balconies, building and site entrances and exits, placement of parking, lighting, and refuse containers, placement and type of landscape materials, location of walkways, types of walls and fences (including the use of picket, wrought-iron, and similar materials to promote visibility when appropriate), and other physical obstructions in a manner which discourages the potential for criminal activity.

(e) Architecture. As a category of structure types, industrial structures often present unattractive and monotonous facades. There are, however, a variety of design techniques that can be used on building facades that are visible from any public or private street, to help overcome this situation and to direct development into a cohesive design statement.

(1) Employ variety in structure forms, to create visual character and interest.

(2) Avoid long, unarticulated facades. Facades with varied front setbacks are strongly encouraged. Wall planes should not run in a continuous direction for more than fifty feet without an offset.

(3) Avoid blank front and corner side wall elevations on street frontages.

(4) Windows are encouraged to be placed to maximize natural surveillance.

(5) Entries to industrial structures should portray a quality office appearance while being architecturally tied into the overall mass and building composition.

(6) All elevations of a structure that are visible from public and private streets and U.S. Highway 101 shall be architecturally treated.

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(7) Windows and doors are key elements of any structure's form and should relate to the scale of the elevation on which they appear. Windows and doors can establish character by their rhythm and variety. Recessed openings help to provide depth and contrast on elevation planes.

(8) Sensitive alteration of colors and materials can produce diversity and enhance architectural forms.

(9) The staggering of planes along an exterior wall elevation creates pockets of light and shadow, providing relief from monotonous, uninterrupted expanses of wall.

(10) Design elements which are undesirable and should be avoided include:

(A) Highly reflective surfaces at the ground story;

(B) Large blank, unarticulated wall surfaces;

(C) Exposed, untreated precision block walls;

(D) Chain link, barbed wire, or razor wire fencing visible from public rights-of-way;

(E) False fronts;

(F) "Stuck on" mansard roofs on small portions of the roofline;

(G) Unarticulated building facades; and

(H) Materials with high maintenance such as stained wood, shingles, or metal siding.

(11) Wall materials that will withstand abuse by vandals or accidental damage from machinery and vehicles are encouraged.

(12) All metal buildings shall have architectural enhancements on street facades to provide visual interest and variety to the streetscape.

(13) Berming in conjunction with landscaping can be used at the building edge to reduce structure mass and height along facades.

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(14) Doors located on the inside of the building are the preferred method for providing large loading doors while keeping a clean, uncluttered appearance from the exterior.

(f) Roof Treatments.

(1) The roofline at the top of the structure should not run in a continuous plane for more than fifty feet without offsetting or jogging the roof plane.

(2) Nearly vertical roofs (A-frames) and piecemeal mansard roofs (used on a portion of the building perimeter only) should not be used. Mansard roofs should wrap around the entire perimeter of the structure.

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(3) All roof top equipment must be screened from public view by screening materials of the same nature as the building's basic materials. Mechanical equipment should be located below the highest vertical element of the building.

(4) The following roof materials shall not be used:

(A) Corrugated metal (standing rib metal roofs are permitted) unless the city planner determines the material is appropriate for the architectural style or theme of the building;

(B) Highly reflective surfaces that create glare; and

(C) Illuminated roofing.

(5) The roof design should be considered as a component of the overall architectural design theme.

(g) Parking and Circulation.

(1) The parking lot and cars should not be the dominant visual elements of the site. Large expansive paved areas, located between the street and the building, are to be avoided in favor of smaller multiple lots separated by landscaping and buildings. Angled parking is highly encouraged for larger parking lots that can accommodate one-way aisles.

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(2) Site access and internal circulation should be designed in a straightforward manner that emphasizes safety and efficiency. The circulation system should be designed to reduce conflicts between vehicular and pedestrian traffic, combine circulation and access areas, where feasible, provide adequate maneuvering and stacking areas, and consideration for emergency vehicle access. Circulation routes and parking areas should be separated.

(3) Entrances and exits to and from parking and loading facilities shall be clearly marked with appropriate directional signage where multiple access points are provided. The use of sidewalks, pavement, gates, lighting, and landscaping to and from entrances and exits shall also be used to clearly guide the public.

(4) Vehicles shall not be required to enter the street in order to move from one area to another on the same site.

(5) Parking lots adjacent to and visible from public streets shall be adequately screened from view through the use of rolling landscaped earth berms, low screen walls, changes in grade elevation, landscaping, or combinations thereof.

(6) All parking areas serving the public are encouraged to be visible from the interior of the structures, especially entrances.

(7) The industrial site shall be a self-contained development capable of accommodating its own parking needs. The use of the public street for parking and staging of trucks is not allowed.

(8) Parking areas are encouraged to provide facilities for vehicles with alternative fueling systems (such as electric vehicle charging areas, etc.)

(9) Industrial uses that rely on larger trucks for pickup and deliveries shall include separated truck parking facilities on-site to support the use.

(h) Loading Facilities.

(1) To alleviate the unsightly appearance of loading facilities for industrial uses, these areas should not be located at the front of buildings where it is difficult to adequately screen them from view. Such facilities are more appropriate at the rear of the site where special screening may not be required.

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(2) When it is not feasible to locate loading facilities at the rear of the building, loading docks and doors shall not dominate the frontage and must be screened from view of the street by the use of landscaped berms or a combination of landscaping and architecturally enhanced walls. Chain link with slats is not acceptable for screening along public or private streets. Loading facilities should be offset from driveway openings.

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(3) Backing from the public street onto the site, for loading into front-end docks, causes unsafe truck maneuvering and shall not be used.

(i) Landscaping.

(1) For industrial uses, landscaping should be used to define areas by helping to focus on entrances to buildings, parking lots, loading areas, defining the edges of various land use, providing transition between neighboring properties (buffering), and providing screening for outdoor storage, loading, and equipment areas.

(2) Landscaping shall be in scale with adjacent buildings and be of appropriate size at maturity to accomplish its intended goals.

(3) Use of vines on walls is appropriate in industrial areas because such walls often tend to be large and blank.

(4) Landscaping around the entire base of buildings, especially where offices and similar customer-oriented areas are located, is encouraged to soften the edge between the parking lot and the structure.

(5) Trees should be located throughout the parking lot and not simply at the ends of parking aisles. In order to be considered within the parking lots, trees should be located in planters that are bounded on at least three sides by parking area paving or related site hardscape. Trees shall also be provided between the public sidewalk and parking areas.

(6) Landscaping shall be protected from vehicular and pedestrian encroachment by raised planting surfaces, depressed walks, or the use of concrete curbs.

(7) As the ground cover, shrubs and trees mature, landscaping shall be maintained to minimize the conflicts between natural surveillance and the landscaping.

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(j) Walls and Fences.

(1) Walls will serve a major function in the industrial landscape to provide a clear indication of ownership of space and movement from public to semipublic to private space. Walls will also be used to screen automobiles, loading and storage areas, and utility structures and provide barriers to conflicting uses. Walls should be as low as possible while still performing their screening and security functions.

(2) Where walls are used at property frontages, or screen walls are used to conceal storage and equipment areas, they should be designed to blend with the site's architecture. Both sides of all perimeter walls should be architecturally treated. Plant materials should be used in combination with such walls.

(3) When security fencing is required, it should be a combination of solid pillars or short solid wall segments and wrought iron grill work.

(4) Long expanses of fence or wall surfaces should be offset and architecturally designed to prevent monotony. Landscape pockets should be provided.

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(k) Screening.

(1) Screening for outdoor storage shall be determined by the height of the material being screened.

(2) Where screening is required, a combination of elements should be used including solid masonry walls, berms, and landscaping.

(3) Black powder or vinyl-coated chain link fencing with black slatting is an acceptable screening material only for areas of a lot not visible from a public or private street or U.S. Highway 101.

(4) Any outdoor equipment, whether on the roof or side of a structure, or on the ground, shall be screened from public view. The method of screening shall be architecturally integrated in terms of materials, color, shape, and size. The screening design shall blend with the building design. Where individual equipment is provided, a continuous screen is desirable.

(5) The need to screen rooftop equipment shall be taken into consideration during the initial design phase for the structure.

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(l) Lighting.

(1) Lighting should be used to provide illumination for the security and safety of on-site areas such as parking lots, walkways, entrances, exits, and related areas.

(2) The design of light fixtures and their structural support shall be architecturally compatible with main buildings on-site. Illuminators should be integrated within the architectural design for the buildings.

(3) As a security device, lighting should be adequate but not overly bright. All accesses to buildings should be well lighted.

(4) All exterior fixtures should be illuminated from dusk until dawn, unless otherwise approved for the site.

(5) Any exterior lighting device designed for security lighting should be protected by weather and vandal-resistant covering.

(6) All lighting should be shielded to confine light spread within the site boundaries and "sky-glow" impacts.

(7) Lighting shall be maintained at all times to the standards approved for the site.

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(m) Signs.

(1) Every structure should be designed with a precise concept for adequate signing. Provisions for sign placement, sign scale in relationship with the building, and the readability of the sign shall be considered in developing the overall signing concept. All signs should be highly compatible with the structure and site design relative to color, material, and placement.

(2) Monument-type signs are the preferred alternative for business identification. Where several tenants occupy the same site, individual wall mounted signs are appropriate in combination with a monument sign identifying the development and address.

(3) The use of backlit individually cut letter signs is strongly encouraged.

(4) The industrial site should be appropriately signed to give directions to loading and receiving areas, visitor parking, and other special areas.

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(Ord. No. 2463 (NCS).)