San Diego Municipal Code Div. 8 Vehicle and Vehicle Equipment Sales and Service Use Category

--Separately Regulated Uses (Added 12-9-1997 by O-18451 N.S.; effective 1-1-2000.)

Automobile service stations are permitted as a limited use in the zones indicated with an “L” in the Use Regulations Tables in Chapter 13, Article 1 (Base Zones) subject to the following regulations. Automobile service stations may be permitted with a Neighborhood Use Permit decided in accordance with a Process Two in the zones indicated with an “N” or with a Conditional Use Permit decided in accordance with Process Three in the zones indicated with a “C” in the Use Regulations Tables in Chapter 13, Article 1 (Base Zones) subject to the following regulations.

(a) The following activities may be permitted in automobile service stations:

(1) Sale and dispensing of engine fuels and lubricants;

(2) Sale and servicing of tires, batteries, automotive accessories and
replacement items;

(3) Minor automotive maintenance and repair, including all government
mandated automobile diagnostic evaluations; and

(4) Other incidental customer services and products.

(b) The following activities may be permitted as accessory uses in automobile
service stations:

(1) Sale of groceries and sundries;

(2) Automatic or manual automobile washing, waxing, interior cleaning
and detailing services;

(3) Sale of liquefied or pressurized butane, propane, or natural gas; and

(4) Other accessory uses similar in nature to the uses listed in this section.

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(c) The minimum street frontage required is as follows:

(1) 100 feet on one street for a station that engages only in the sale and
dispensing of engine fuels and lubricants; and

(2) 150 feet on one street for a station that engages in any two or more
activities listed in Section 141.0801(a) and (b).

(d) The minimum setback requirements are as follows:

(1) For corner lots, the minimum front setback and the minimum street
side setback shall be the minimum setback required by the zone of the
abutting property.

(2) For interior lots, the minimum front setback shall be the minimum front setback required by the zone of the abutting properties. If the required front setbacks of the abutting properties differ, the service station is required to provide the greater setback.

(3) The minimum side setback and the minimum rear setback are as
required by the applicable zone, except that if the lot abuts
residentially zoned property, the minimum side or rear setback along
the common property line is 15 feet or as required by the zone,
whichever is greater.

(e) Driveways shall be in compliance with Chapter 14, Article 2, Division 5
(Parking Regulations) except as provided in the following regulations.

(1) One driveway up to 35 feet wide may be permitted on each street
frontage if it is the only driveway on that street frontage and the
adjacent street has four or more lanes and is classified as a collector
street, a major street, or a primary arterial. In all other cases
driveways shall be no more than 30 feet wide.

(2) No more than two driveways are permitted for any street or alley
frontage.

(3) Corner lots with an area of 20,000 square feet or less shall have no
more than three driveways per lot.

(4) No more than one driveway is permitted on any frontage of 100 feet or
less.

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(5) Driveways shall be at least 30 feet apart.

(6) On corner lots, driveways shall be located at least 20 feet from the end
of the curb radius.

(7) No driveway should be located closer than 15 feet to an abutting
property line.

(f) Devices to alert station attendants to entering vehicles shall be located and
adjusted so that they do not cause noise disturbance to adjoining properties.

(g) Stations abutting residentially zoned property shall operate only between the
hours of 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight. Signs on sites abutting residentially
zoned property may be lighted only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 12:00
midnight.

(h) Merchandise, material, and products for sale shall be stored and displayed only within an enclosed building, except that motor oil, tires, batteries, and other automotive supplies may be displayed at pump islands or adjacent to a building if the display or storage racks and containers are designed to appear as an integral part of the pump island or building exterior.

(i) When a service station is abandoned or the use changed, the property owner
shall remove the underground tanks in accordance with the procedures of the
City of San Diego Fire Department and the County of San Diego Health
Services Department.
(Added 12-9-1997 by O-18451 N.S.; effective 1-1-2000.)
(Amended 11-13-08 by O-19803 N.S; effective 12-13-2008.)

Use

This use may be permitted with a Conditional Use Permit decided in accordance with
Process Three in the zones indicated with a “C” in the Use Regulations Tables in
Chapter 13, Article 1 (Base Zones) subject to the following regulations.

(a) Automobile access to the facility shall be at points of low pedestrian activity
and shall be located away from any adjacent residential development.

(b) The facility shall be screened from adjacent residential development by fences
or walls and landscaping.

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(c) Measures shall be taken to ensure that the ground water table is not adversely
affected by the increase of impermeable surfaces due to the development of
the facility.
(d) Measures shall be taken to ensure that the water quality is not adversely
affected by runoff containing fuel and lubricants or other pollutants.
(Added 12-9-1997 by O-18451 N.S.; effective 1-1-2000.)

This use includes short or long-term storage of all types of operable motor vehicles as a primary use. This use may be permitted as a Limited Use in the zones indicated with an “L” in the Use Regulations Tables in Chapter 13, Article 1 (Base Zones) subject to the following regulations.

(a) This use shall only occur upon a premises where every street frontage is
improved to the current standards of the City of San Diego as determined by
the City Engineer.

(b) The facility shall be screened from the public right-of-way by a solid fence
with a minimum height of 6 feet. The fencing shall be screened with plant
material that includes 24-inch box evergreen canopy form trees separated by a
maximum distance of 30 feet along the street frontage.

(c) The facility shall be screened from adjacent properties by 10-foot wide
landscape strips that include 24-inch box evergreen species separated by a
maximum distance of 30 feet along the side and rear yards. Landscape strips
shall not be required along the side or rear yards abutting parcels zoned as
Open Space or Agricultural. This screening requirement does not apply to
abutting lots, if both lots are occupied by a use in this same land use sub-
category.

(d) The entire surface of the facility, excluding required landscape areas, shall be
paved with asphalt, concrete, compacted gravel, compacted decomposed
granite, or similar surface paving material of at least four inches in depth.

If compacted gravel, compacted decomposed granite, or similar materials are
used to pave any surface of the facility upon which vehicles are stored or
driven, then a 6-inch thick reinforced concrete or asphalt driveway of not less
than 25 feet in length for automobile storage or 50 feet in length for truck
storage from the public right-of-way shall be required.

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(e) One or more commercial coaches, or other accessory use structures, shall be
located on the premises for facility staff to provide for security, inventory
control, or other directly related administrative functions and shall be placed
or built upon a concrete slab or other permanent foundation in compliance
with the Construction permit.

(f) No vehicles shall be stored until a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued
for the accessory use structure.

(g) Vehicles shall be stored in an orderly manner in accordance with the site plan approved by the Construction permit.

(h) The following activities may be permitted as accessory uses on the premises:

(1) Auctioning of vehicles from inventory provided there is no
dismantling of vehicles for the purposes of selling parts.

(2) Performing minor repairs to vehicles held in inventory if there is no
discharge of fluids.

(i) Vehicle components that may contain oil, grease, or similar ground water
contaminants shall not be washed except if the facility is equipped, as
authorized by the Construction permit, to prevent the contaminants from
leaching into the water table.

(j) The parking stalls for visitor and employee parking shall be subject to the
landscape regulations in Section 142.0402.
(“Vehicle Storage Facilities as a Primary Use” added 1-8-2020 by O-21164 N.S.;
effective 2-9-2020.)

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Article 1: Separately Regulated Use Regulations