Vallejo Municipal Code Ch. 16.308 Automobile/Vehicle Sales, Leasing and Rentals

These provisions are intended to allow for the expansion and improved performance of automobile dealers (new and pre-owned vehicles) leasing and rental agencies in the city at appropriate locations and in a manner that minimizes negative effects on surrounding businesses and residences.

More specifically, these provisions are intended to:

A. Allow automobile dealers to expand in their current locations as long as their redevelopment is in the urban auto dealership format and incorporates mitigations to reduce any negative impacts on surrounding residential and nonresidential uses;

B. Encourage new automobile dealers and automobile rental establishments to locate in areas proposed to accommodate auto-oriented and auto-related uses and to develop shared inventory storage facilities in appropriate locations to meet their needs; and

C. Encourage dealerships to provide on-site automobile storage in above-grade structures or subterranean parking facilities.

All new automobile/vehicle sales and leasing and automobile storage uses shall comply with the requirements of this chapter.

D. Existing automobile/vehicle sales and leasing uses are required to comply with the standards for development in conjunction with any one of the following:

1. Any new construction or expansion of floor area, in which case only the expanded floor area shall be required to comply with the standards;

2. Any outdoor expansion of vehicle display area, in which case only the expanded floor area shall be required to comply with the standards of this chapter; or

3. Any expansion of the land area on which the dealership is located, whether by purchase, lease, business combination or acquisition, or similar method, in which case only the expanded land area shall be required to comply with the standards of this chapter. This provision does not apply if the expanded land area was legally operated as a dealership within one year of the expansion.

E. Auto-dealership uses on parcels on Sonoma Boulevard south of Lewis Brown Drive and north of Couch Street in operation prior to the effective date of this Zoning Code and which have not subsequently been abandoned, are permitted uses that may be maintained or modified subject to the requirements of this chapter.

Automobile/vehicle sales and leasing businesses shall comply with the development standards—including but not limited to maximum height, maximum FAR, and minimum setbacks—for the respective zoning district or districts in which they are located. If the development standards for the respective zoning district or districts conflict with the standards included in this chapter, the standards of this chapter shall apply. The following development standards apply to automobile/vehicle sales and Leasing uses:

A. Showrooms. Automobile/vehicle sales and leasing uses shall be developed to include indoor showrooms for display of vehicles for sale or lease.

1. Maximum Setback. Showrooms shall be located no farther than fifteen feet from the property lines facing any boulevard and shall occupy at least sixty percent or one hundred feet, whichever is greater, of the site frontage along such boulevards.

2. Treatment of Setbacks. If a setback is provided along any street frontage, the setback area (any area between building and sidewalk) shall be landscaped or improved as an extension of the public sidewalk to include pedestrian amenities. This requirement applies to all portions of a street-facing setback area that are not used for driveways or other accessways.

3. Facade Height. Showrooms shall be constructed to achieve at least the minimum required facade height of the zoning district in which they are located.

4. Transparency. Street-facing facades fronting major arterials or corridors shall have transparent glazing that provides views into display and sales areas. Transparent windows or doors shall be provided for at least seventy-five percent of the building wall area located between 2.5 and seven feet above the level of the sidewalk. No wall may run in a continuous horizontal plane for more than twenty-five feet without an opening.

B. Location of Required Parking and Storage. Parking and vehicle storage shall be located behind the street frontage or in a garage structure that complies with the applicable requirements of Chapter 16.508, Off-Street Parking and Loading. Parking and vehicle storage may not be located between a vehicle showroom and any adjacent street.

C. Transition Requirements Adjacent to Residential zoning districts. Where an automobile/vehicle sales and leasing use is adjacent to a residential zoning district, the following standards apply.

1. Minimum Setbacks. Buildings used for parking and vehicle storage that are adjacent to a residential zoning district not containing an existing automobile/vehicle sales and leasing use shall be set back a minimum ten feet from the shared property line. Buildings used for any other use allowed by this chapter shall be set back a minimum fifteen feet from the shared property line.

2. Landscaping and Screening. A continuous planting area with a minimum width of 7.5 feet shall be provided along any interior parcel line adjacent to a residential zoning district.

D. Screening. All outdoor areas used in conjunction with the business shall be screened in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 16.505, Fences, Walls and Screening.

E. Parking, Vehicle Storage, and Display. Parking structures and automobile storage uses associated with an automobile/vehicle sales and leasing business permitted to maintain inventory on the same site shall comply with the following development and design standards:

1. Customer parking shall comply with all standards of Chapter 16.508, Off-Street Parking and Loading.

2. Employee and inventory parking may be provided in tandem and is not subject to the minimum parking space and aisle dimensions of Chapter 16.508, Off-Street Parking and Loading. Final design of all parking and inventory storage areas shall be subject to review and approval by the director.

3. Parking structures shall comply with the following standards:

a. Except for emergency-only pedestrian exits required by the chief building official, parking structure walls facing property lines that are adjacent to a residential use shall be solid and decorative, subject to development plan approval pursuant to Chapter 16.605, Development Review;

b. Non-skid or other similar surface treatment on both floors and ramps of the parking structure shall be required to prevent tire squeals. This material shall be subject to the review and approval of the director;

c. Rooftop parking on parcels that directly abut or are separated by an alley from a residential zoning district is only permitted if the parking structure provides a six-foot parapet on the side of the parking structure closest to the residential zoning district. This parapet shall be solid and have a surface density of four pounds per square foot; and

d. In order to minimize noise and air impacts, exhaust vents and other mechanical equipment associated with a parking structure shall be located as far from residential uses as possible consistent with the requirements of this Zoning Code.

4. Lighting. Lighting shall comply with Chapter 16.506, Lighting and Glare. Light sources shall be designed to contain direct and diffuse lighting and glare on the subject property.

5. Queuing of Vehicles. An adequate on-site queuing area for service customers shall be provided. On-site driveways may be used for queuing but may not interfere with access to required parking spaces. Required parking spaces may not double as queuing spaces.

6. Vehicle Stacking Equipment. Vehicle-stacking equipment is permitted within structures and on surface lots for employee parking and vehicle storage when screened with an eight-foot-high solid masonry wall. The wall shall be set back from the property line at least two feet so that a landscaped buffer of up to two feet in width can be provided. Parking spaces in lifts shall not be applicable in calculating parking requirements. All facilities shall comply with the city's noise ordinance and Section 16.502.10, Noise, of this Zoning Code.

7. Resource Recovery Storage. Floor area dedicated to employee and customer parking and vehicle storage shall be excluded when applying resource recovery and recycling requirements in Section 16.501.08, Solid Waste, Recycling, and Organic Waste Storage, unless otherwise required by the director of public works in order to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare.

All businesses shall be operated according to the following standards:

A. Customer and Employee Parking.

1. On-site customer parking shall be provided at no charge to the customers.

2. Areas designated for employee or customer parking shall not be used for vehicle storage or display.

B. Loading and Unloading of Vehicles. Loading and unloading of vehicles shall comply with an off-loading plan approved by the director. The dealership operator shall be responsible and liable for any activities of a common carrier, operator, or other person controlling such loading or unloading activities to the extent any such activities violate the provisions of this chapter.

1. Loading and unloading of vehicles is generally limited to the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday unless the director determines that off-loading can be accomplished during another time period without disturbing nearby residents. Loading and unloading of vehicles is prohibited on Sundays and legal holidays.

2. Vehicle off-loading shall not be permitted from streets that abut residential parcels in a residential zoning district unless no other off-loading alternative is feasible, and an alternative operational plan is approved by the director.

3. The applicant shall prepare and submit to the director for approval a plan that complies with all requirements of this chapter.

C. Storage of Vehicles. No automobile dealership owner, operator, or employee, for any period of time on any public street or alley, shall park or store vehicles for sale, to be repaired, that have been repaired, or that are part of an automobile rental operation associated with the dealership.

D. Circulation. Entries and exits shall be located as far away from adjacent residential properties as reasonably feasible by means of signage and design. If structured parking or storage is used, the interior circulation system between levels shall be internal to the building and shall not require use of public ways or of externally visible or uncovered ramps, driveways, or parking areas. No arrangement shall be permitted which requires vehicles to back into a public street.

E. Noise control. Businesses shall comply with the applicable requirements of Section 16.502.10, Noise and the following requirements, whichever is stricter:

1. There shall be no outdoor loudspeakers. Interior loudspeakers shall produce no more than forty-five dba at a boundary abutting or adjacent to a residential parcel under normal operating conditions (e.g., with windows open if they are likely to be opened).

2. All noise-generating equipment exposed to the exterior shall be muffled with sound-absorbing materials to minimize noise impacts on adjacent properties and shall not be operated before 7:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. if reasonably likely to cause annoyance to abutting or adjacent residences and shall at all times be in compliance with the city's noise ordinance and Section 16.502.10, Noise.

F. Toxic Storage and Disposal.

1. Gasoline storage tanks shall be constructed and maintained in compliance with the requirements applicable to automobile service stations.

2. Operators shall comply with the requirements of all applicable federal, state and local laws relating to the storage and disposal of toxic chemicals and hazardous waste.

G. Air Quality.

1. Use of brake washers shall be required in service stalls or areas that perform service on brakes employing asbestos or other materials known to be harmful when dispersed in the air.

2. All mechanical ventilating equipment shall be directed to top story exhaust vents, which face away from abutting or adjacent residential properties.

3. Exhaust systems shall be equipped with appropriate and reasonably available control technology to minimize or eliminate noxious pollutants, which would otherwise be emitted.

H. Hours of Operation. Unless otherwise approved by the planning commission, if the automobile/vehicle sales and leasing use is within one hundred feet of a Residential zoning district, operation of the use shall be prohibited between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.