Chapter 18.02 — Purpose and Applicability of Zoning Code

Sections

• 18.02.010 – Title 18.02.020 – Purpose and Authority 18.02.030 – Applicability of Zoning Code

• 18.02.040 – Relationship to Prior Ordinances

• 18.02.050 – Relationship to General Plan

• 18.02.060 – Prior Rights and Violations

• 18.02.070 – Effect of Zoning Code Amendments on Projects in Progress

Title 18 of the Santa Clara City Code (SCCC), containing the City’s zoning regulations, shall be known as the "Santa Clara Zoning Code" and referred to as this “Zoning Code.”

• A. Purpose. This Zoning Code is intended to carry out the policies of the Santa Clara General Plan. More specifically, the purpose of this Code is as follows:

  1. Promote and protect the public comfort, convenience, health, safety, peace, and general welfare;

  2. Provide a comprehensive zoning plan for the development of the City and to guide, control, and regulate the future growth of the City;

  3. Minimize conflicts between private individual or groups or other conflicts that might result from incompatible or inappropriate adjacent land uses;

  4. Promote orderly growth while providing adequate infrastructure and maximizing the efficient use of land;

  5. Maintain and enhance desirable characteristics of the neighborhoods;

  6. Protect the character, social and economic stability of residential, commercial, mixed use, industrial, and other private and public areas within the City, and ensure the orderly and beneficial development of these areas;

  7.

  • Prevent public safety conflicts between the locations of structures and streets; and

8. Provide adequate air, light, privacy, and convenience of access to property, and to ensure safety from fire, inundation, and other dangers.

Santa Clara Zoning Code, Title 18 July 2025

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SANTA CLARA CODE

Chapter 18.02 –

Purpose and Applicability of Zoning Code

• B. Authority. This Zoning Code is enacted based on the authority vested in Santa Clara and the State of California, including but not limited to the State Constitution, Subdivision Map Act (California Government Code Section 66410 et seq.), California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.), the California Health and Safety Code, the City Charter, and the SCCC.

The use of all land, either permanently or temporarily, and the act of altering, constructing, enlarging, erecting, moving, or using any structure shall comply with the provisions of this Zoning Code and applicable provisions in other Titles of the SCCC. This Zoning Code applies to all uses of land and structures, subdivisions, and development, regardless of ownership, within the City.

• A. Compliance Required. No structure shall be altered, erected, or reconstructed in any manner, nor shall any structure or land be used for any purpose, other than as expressly allowed by this Zoning Code.

• B. Land Use Permits and Approvals Required. Land use permits and approvals are required when a development, as defined in this Zoning Code, is proposed. No person shall begin construction, occupy, or conduct a use or operation within the City unless any required land use permits have been issued and approvals have been obtained and the applicable appeal periods have expired in compliance with Chapter 18.144 (Appeals). The City shall not issue any other permit related to the development until all required approvals have been obtained.

• C. Subdivisions. A subdivision of land proposed within the City after the effective date of the ordinance adopting this Zoning Code shall comply with the minimum parcel size requirements of Article 2 (Zones, Allowable Land Uses, and Development Standards), other applicable requirements of this Zoning Code, and SCCC Title 17 (Subdivisions).

• D. Continuation of an Existing Land Use. A legally established land use is lawful and not in violation of this Zoning Code only when operated and maintained in compliance with applicable provisions of this Zoning Code and any condition(s) imposed on a discretionary application, including compliance with Article 5 (Nonconformities).

• E. Minimum Requirements. The provisions of this Zoning Code shall be considered the minimum requirements, unless specifically stated otherwise, for the promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare. When this Zoning Code provides for discretion on the part of a Review Authority, the discretion may be exercised to impose more stringent requirements than required by this Zoning Code, as determined by the applicable Review Authority to be necessary to promote orderly land use and development, environmental resource protection, and the other purposes of this Zoning Code.

• F. Conflicting Requirements. Conflicts between different requirements of this Zoning Code, or between this Zoning Code and other regulations, shall be resolved in compliance with Section 18.04.020 (Rules of Interpretation).

• G. Other Requirements May Apply. Nothing in this Zoning Code eliminates the need for obtaining other permits required by the City, or a permit approval, or entitlement required by another applicable special district or agency, or other approvals required by the regulations of a State or Federal agency. The City shall not issue any permit, Business License, or other approval if the structure or land use would violate the provisions of this Zoning Code. Permits issued in error shall be void.

Santa Clara Zoning Code, Title 18

1-2 July 2025

18 Attachment 1:4

Publication, Apr 2026

ZONING

Chapter 18.02 –

Article 1 – Enactment and Applicability

The provisions of this Zoning Code, as it existed before the effective date of Ordinance No. (Insert Ordinance number to adopt this update) , are repealed and superseded as provided in the ordinance enacting this Title. No provision of this Zoning Code shall validate or legalize any land use, structure, or subdivision constructed, created, established, or maintained in violation of the City’s Zoning Code as they existed before repeal by the ordinance enacting this Zoning Code, except as addressed by nonconformities created by this Zoning Code, in compliance with Article 5 (Nonconformities).

• A. Zoning Code is the Primary Tool. This Zoning Code is the primary tool used by the City to implement the goals, policies, and actions of the General Plan and any applicable specific plan.

  1. General Plan. The General Plan is a comprehensive, long-range, general policy statement for the entire community. The General Plan designates appropriate locations and densities for residential, commercial, mixed use, industrial, public, and open space uses.

  2. Zoning Code. This Zoning Code is a specific statement of allowable uses of land and related development standards by zone designed to control the use, type, bulk, height, space, and location of structures and land. This Zoning Code is intended to be applied to the City based on land use designations established in the General Plan.

• B. General Plan Consistency.

  1. Recognizing and honoring Santa Clara’s rights and authority as a charter city, the Council intends that this Zoning Code be consistent with the General Plan and any applicable specific plan, and that any development, land use, or subdivision approved in compliance with this Zoning Code shall also be consistent with the General Plan and any applicable specific plan.

  2. In setting this goal, the City does not waive its charter city exemption to Government Code Title 7, Division 1, Chapter 3 under Government Code Section 65700.

• C. Where Inconsistencies Exist. Where inconsistencies are found to exist between the General Plan and this Zoning Code, the Zoning Code shall control the use and development of the land until the Council adopts an amendment to achieve consistency with the existing or current General Plan. In the case of inconsistencies between density ranges in the Zoning Code and General Plan, the greater density range prevails.

The enactment of this Zoning Code shall not terminate nor otherwise affect land use development permits, approvals, or agreements authorized under the provisions of any ordinance or resolution, nor shall violation of any prior ordinance or resolution be excused by the adoption of this Zoning Code.

The enactment of this Zoning Code, or an amendment to this Zoning Code, may have the effect of imposing different standards on a new land use than those that applied to existing development. (For example, this Zoning Code or a future amendment could require a different number of off-street parking spaces for a particular land use than the former regulations.) The following provisions determine how the requirements of this Zoning Code will apply to a development project that is in progress at the time this Zoning Code or an amendment goes into effect.

Santa Clara Zoning Code, Title 18 July 2025

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SANTA CLARA CODE

Chapter 18.02 –

Purpose and Applicability of Zoning Code

• A. Application Complete. All planning permit applications (Article 6 [Permit Processing Procedures]), that are active and that have been determined by the Project Clearance Committee to be complete before the effective date of this Zoning Code or any amendment, shall be processed in compliance with the requirements in effect when the application was deemed complete.

• B. Approved Projects not Yet Under Construction. Any structure authorized by a planning permit or approval for which a Building Permit has been issued may be constructed in compliance with the permit or approval, as long as construction is completed and the approved land use is established before the expiration of the permit or, where applicable, before the expiration of any approved time extension, in compliance with Section 18.128.060 (Expiration).

• C. Project Under Construction. A project for which a Building Permit has been issued under the provisions of earlier ordinances of the City which are in conflict with this Zoning Code, and on which substantial construction beyond approval of the first inspection before the effective date of this Zoning Code, or any amendment, as determined by the Director, may be continued and completed in compliance with the plans and specifications upon which the permit was issued, and further provided that construction is diligently prosecuted to completion. The original permit need not be changed to satisfy any new or different requirements of this Zoning Code.

• D. Subdivision Maps. Subdivision maps shall be processed in compliance with the Subdivision Map Act (Government Code Section 66410 et seq.) and SCCC Title 17 (Subdivisions).

Santa Clara Zoning Code, Title 18

July 2025

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Publication, Apr 2026

ZONING

Chapter 18.04

Article 1 – Enactment and Applicability