Santa Clara County Municipal Code Art. 5 Building Approval on Slopes Exceeding Thirty Percent

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. No. NS-1203.125, adopted Dec. 13, 2016, amended Art. 5 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Former Art. 5 pertained to the same subject matter, consisted of §§ C12-350.1—C12-350.7, and derived from Ord. No. 1203.102, adopted July 24, 1990; Ord. No. NS-1200.318, adopted Mar. 28, 2006; and Ord. No. NS-300.731, adopted Apr. 22, 2008.

The County discourages development on slopes of 30 percent or more due to the additional site constraints and challenges typically occurring in such hillside environments, including but not limited to steep terrain, geologic and seismic hazards, difficulties in designing and constructing safe and sustainable onsite wastewater systems, meeting access standards for regular and emergency vehicles, potentially significant tree removal, and the need for significant grading, terrain alteration, and retaining walls. Consequently, building site approval on slopes 30 percent or more shall only be granted where the parcel has no feasible alternative location for development on slopes less than 30 percent, all necessary health and safety issues are adequately addressed, and the resulting visual impacts of such development are addressed or mitigated through appropriate conditions. By establishing these additional review and regulatory standards for development of parcels on areas of 30 percent slope or more, the intent of this Article is to ensure that such development conforms to the County General Plan policies, demonstrates maximum health and safety protection and preservation of the natural environment, ensures that development does not result in unsafe or unsustainable conditions, and avoids or mitigates potentially significant environmental impacts.

These requirements shall apply to all lands zoned R1E One-Family Residence-Estate zoning districts, RHS Urban Hillside Residential zoning districts, and HS Hillside zoning districts as defined in the County of Santa Clara Zoning Ordinance, Appendix I, County Ordinance Code.

(Ord. No. NS-1203.125, § 1, 12-13-16)

Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following definitions are applicable to this Article:

(a) Perspective views of proposed buildings means architectural renderings, drawings, or other similar electronically produced visualizations of the proposed residence and accessory structures proposed for development showing the structure(s) as they would appear after construction with final grades in multi-dimensional space.

(b) Proposed development area means the area delineated for the location of a primary residence, including any and all residential accessory structures, secondary dwellings, tennis courts, swimming pools, decks, patios and similar accessory uses, onsite wastewater treatment and disposal systems, road and driveway access improvements, including turnouts, turnarounds, and parking areas, with an additional 25 feet of area immediately surrounding all such component features, as delineated on project site plans.

(c) Average slope means the natural slope of the land within the proposed development area based upon topographic surveys by a licensed surveyor or engineer and calculated as defined in Section C12-5.20(g) of the Subdivision Ordinance of the County Ordinance Code.

(d) Story poles mean to-scale frameworks of wood framing materials or metal poles depicting the on-site location, height and massing of a proposed structure, as further described in the Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 5.50: Design Review, and the County's Story Pole guidelines.

(Ord. No. NS-1203.125, § 1, 12-13-16)

(a) All applications for building site approval subject to the requirements of this Article shall include accurate, detailed topographic data (contours) on the site plan. The average slope of the proposed development area shall be calculated by a licensed land surveyor or registered civil engineer. The calculation shall be provided on the site plan, and shall be accompanied by a signed professional stamp or seal of the licensed land surveyor, or registered civil engineer. Where such licensed land surveyor or registered civil engineer can determine with reasonable certainty that the average slope of the proposed development area does not exceed ten percent, a statement such as: "Based on [topographic data source] and confirmed by field observation at the project site, the average slope of the proposed development area does not exceed ten percent," shall suffice in lieu of a calculation.

(b) All applications for building site approval on slopes of 30 percent or more shall comply with the following submittal requirements:

(1) Full sets of floor plans, elevations, structural cross sections, perspective views, and other pertinent architectural design information, including facade treatments, roofing materials, and related design components;

(2) Geologic reports as required by the Chapter IV, Geologic Provisions, of Division C12 of the County Ordinance Code, supplemented by soils and geotechnical reports for foundational and wastewater treatment and disposal systems designs;

(3) Civil engineering plans for all site engineering improvements and retaining walls systems;

(4) Drainage plans, and erosion and sedimentation control plans, as needed in accordance with any applicable federal, state, or county requirements;

(5) Tree removal, protection, and/or replacement plans in accordance with the requirements of any zoning district in which the property is located, the County Tree Preservation and Removal Ordinance, and state regulations;

(6) Application for environmental review and clearance in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and

(7) Application fees in amount established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.

(c) All applications for building site approval subject to the provisions of this Article shall be distributed, reviewed and conditioned as stated in Section C12-311 of Chapter II, Article 2 of the County Ordinance Code to secure the purposes of this Article and to ensure consistency with applicable policies of the County General Plan. An approval may include reasonable conditions that are commensurate with the nature and magnitude of the project and designed to accomplish the purpose of this Article and applicable policies of the County General Plan.

(d) A formal pre-application meeting between the applicant and staff shall be required prior to submittal of an application for site approval for development on slopes of 30 percent or more.

(Ord. No. NS-1203.125, § 1, 12-13-16)

(a) The Zoning Administrator shall consider and act upon the application for building site approval at a public hearing and pursuant to the findings in Section C12-350.5.

(b) Notice of a public hearing shall be provided to all property owners whose property is located within 300 feet of the exterior boundary of the subject property, unless such properties number less than 24 individual properties, in which case, noticing shall include sufficient additional properties to meet or exceed 24 individual properties.

(Ord. No. NS-1203.125, § 1, 12-13-16)

The Zoning Administrator may grant building site approval for development on slopes of 30 percent or greater if all of the following findings are made:

(a) The project meets or exceeds the requirements of any applicable County agency or other affected public agency and conforms to all applicable development standards;

(b) The project integrates design solutions to all site or development constraints satisfying the requirements and standards for all reviewing and responsible agencies;

(c) The project cannot be located on portions of the lot with less than 30% slope; and

(d) The overall site design, including but not limited to access roads and driveways, retaining walls, architectural quality, landscaping, tree preservation, grading and erosion control, and landscaping, is in harmony with the natural landscape and environment and topography, demonstrates efficiency in terms of the extent and nature of proposed access or other improvements, minimizes overall grading and terrain alteration, and reasonably mitigates the visual impacts of development.

If all of the above findings cannot be made, the application shall be denied.

(Ord. No. NS-1203.125, § 1, 12-13-16)

(a) Any person dissatisfied with the decision of the Zoning Administrator may file an appeal within 15 calendar days after the decision. Appeals shall be filed with the Planning Office and shall include a filing fee in an amount established by the Board of Supervisors. The Planning Commission shall hear the matter de novo and approve or deny the application, with or without modification to the conditions of approval.

(b) Any person dissatisfied with the decision of the Planning Commission may file an appeal within 15 calendar days after the decision of the Planning Commission. Appeals shall be filed with the Planning Office and shall include a filing fee in an amount established by the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors shall hear the matter de novo and approve or deny the application, with or without modification to the conditions of approval. The decision of the Board of Supervisors on appeal is final.

(Ord. No. NS-1203.125, § 1, 12-13-16)