Vallejo Municipal Code Ch. 16.605 Development Review

Development review is a discretionary process that may also include design review. These standards and procedures for conducting site review of development proposals are intended to:

A. Promote excellence in design that will enhance the attractiveness of the city's districts and neighborhoods by being compatible with the best elements of the existing character of the area to provide a pleasing environment for residents, pedestrians, and building occupants;

B. Support site development practices that are appropriate with respect to the site's solar orientation, drainage patterns, existing trees and landscaped areas and the location, size and massing of existing structures adjacent to the subject property;

C. Supplement other city regulations and standards in order to ensure that exterior design features that are not otherwise addressed but have a bearing on land use compatibility and neighborhood fit are considered during the development review and approval process.

D. Exceptions. Development review is required for all permits for new construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation alteration, or other improvements to the exterior of a structure, development site or parking area except for:

1. Replacement in kind;

2. Parking lots providing fewer than ten parking spaces which do not substantially change from existing design;

3. Decks that do not exceed four feet in height at any point excluding railings;

4. The relocation or movement of any non-residential building or accessory structure under five hundred square feet in area to another lot or a new location less than one hundred feet or more from the existing location;

5. Residential additions less than five hundred square feet in area and less than fourteen feet in height including, but not limited to, minor window, door, and roof modifications except for additional stories to an existing building and as long as no more than one addition is exempted in any twenty-four-month period;

6. Additions of any size or repairs that do not affect any street-facing facade or add stories to existing buildings;

7. Accessory structures less than five hundred square feet in area and less than fourteen in height;

8. Additions or improvements to industrial, commercial and mixed-use structures that are less than one thousand square feet in area and are not adjacent to a R Zoning District;

9. Accessory dwelling units in compliance with state standards;

10. Residential solar panels located on roofs or in a rear yard;

11. Temporary structures;

12. Exterior alterations required by state or federal law or other public agencies;

13. Any other buildings, structures, and improvements requiring a building permit that the director finds in compliance with all applicable standards of the Zoning Code when the exterior of any existing improvement will not be significantly altered;

The final determination shall be made by the director. The city council may, by resolution, direct such development review within specified areas of the city, if the exterior is to be significantly altered.

A. Application for Development Review.

1. Applications for Development Review must be filed and processed in compliance with the requirements in Section 16.602.02, Application Forms and Fees, and shall be subject to a fee established by the Master Fee Schedule.

2. Applications for Development Review approval shall include such information as may be required in submission requirements issued by the director and available from the planning division, which may include, but is not limited to, site plans, floor plans, building sections perpendicular to the street, exterior elevations, photographs of the subject or abutting properties, perspective or axonometric drawings and/or a model, description of building materials, material and/color samples, exterior lighting and fence plans, signage details and locations, and landscape and irrigation plans and any other items as stated in a current checklist maintained by the city.

3. When a development project requires a use permit, variance, or any other discretionary approval, the development review application shall be submitted to the planning division as part of the application for the use permit, variance, or other discretionary approval development review decisions shall be made by the review authority for the use permit, variance or any other discretionary permit.

4. Applications for development review within a specific plan area or a planned development zoning district replaces the unit plan process. The application shall describe the specific design and uses for all or part of the project as proposed conceptually in the adopted planned development, and provide at minimum the following:

a. Site Plan

b. Roof plan of building

c. Location of all existing and proposed structures

d. Location of existing trees or natural attributes

e. Location of off-street parking and loading facilities

f. Location and dimensions of street and highway dedications

g. Location of points of entry and exits for vehicles and internal circulation patterns

h. Location of walls and fences and the indication of their height and material of construction

i. Exterior lighting standards and devices

j. Grading and slopes where they affect the relationship of the buildings with cross-sections, amount of cut and fill and a statement of whether or not there will be balanced grading plan

k. Location of all utilities and related easements.

l. Architectural Plans.

i. Plan to scale;

ii. Four elevations and cross-sections including all sides of development;

iii. Architectural drawings indicating location, size, color and shape of all appurtenances visible from the exterior, including, but not limited to, signs, stairs, ramps, storage areas, solid waste storage area, utility lines, meter boxes, transformers, mechanical equipment, awnings, balconies, towers and antennas;

iv. Perspectives or other suitable graphic materials, if required by the planning division; and

v. Colors and materials of exterior surfaces, including samples when requested.

4. Landscaping plans showing number, size, spacing and names of plant materials including planting and irrigation specifications pursuant to Chapter 16.504, Landscaping.

5. Signage plans.

6. Identification of type and location of all proposed uses.

B. Notification. Notice shall be provided in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 16.602, Common Procedures, Section 16.602.08, Noticing. When a development proposal subject to development review approval requires a use permit, variance, or an amendment of the Zoning Code, the notice for such approvals shall also state that the project is subject to development review.

C. Scope of Review. The development review process shall focus on issues of site and building design and shall not address land use issues, which are considered separately. Development review approval may not be used to require a reduction in density, height or floor area or an increase in setbacks or parking that is different from the standards that are required by the Zoning Code or have been imposed by a discretionary approval including but not limited to a major or minor use permit, variance, specific plan, planned development, or tentative map applicable to the project or the location where it is proposed.

D. Concurrent Review. When a development proposal subject to development review requires a major or minor use permit, variance, or an amendment to the Zoning Code or a specific plan, development review shall be conducted concurrently with any review the use permit, variance or amendment application requires pursuant to this code.

E. Referral to the Design Review Board. The director or planning commission may refer development review applications to the design review board for review and comment if such referral seems appropriate.

F. Notification of Approval or Denial. Upon making a determination, the director shall prepare and send one copy of the staff report to the applicant, and one copy of the staff report shall be made available at no cost to each of the identified neighborhood groups within three hundred feet of the subject property at city hall. Any other person or group requesting a copy of the staff report shall be charged the city's current per page copying cost.

Prior to granting a development review approval, the director, planning commission, or design review board shall find that the proposed development:

1. Complies with all applicable specific standards and criteria of this Zoning Code;

2. Is consistent with the general plan and any applicable approved specific plan or planned development;

3. Complies with any design conditions, standards, or requirements imposed by a discretionary approval including but not limited to a major or minor use permit, variance, specific plan, planned development, or tentative map applicable to the project or the location where it is proposed;

4. Is in substantial compliance with any applicable adopted design guidelines;

5. Will serve to achieve groupings of structures that are well related one to another and which, taken together, will result in a well-composed urban design, with consideration given to site, height, arrangement, texture, material, color and appurtenances, the relation of these factors to other structures in the immediate area, and the relation of the development to the total setting as seen from key points in the surrounding area; only elements of design which have some significant relationship to outside appearance shall be considered;

6. Will be of a quality and demonstrates thoughtful site planning that will serve to protect the value of private and public investments in the area; and

7. That the project has been reviewed in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, if applicable, and the requirements of this chapter.

The director, planning commission or design review board may impose reasonable conditions related to the design impacts of the proposed development review approvals. Such conditions must be consistent with the considerations of this chapter and deemed reasonable and necessary under the circumstances to carry out the intent of this chapter.

A. Appeals. Development review approvals for projects that do not require a use permit, variance, or other final action by the director or planning commission may be appealed to the planning commission and design review board in accordance with Table 16.601-A: Permit Review Authority, as provided for in Chapter 16.602, Common Procedures, Section 16.602.14, Appeals.

B. Expirations, Extensions and Modifications. Development review approvals are effective and may only be extended or modified as provided for in Chapter 16.602, Common Procedures, Sections 16.602.12, Expiration and Extension.

C. Revocation. A development review permit may be revoked as provided for Chapter 16.615, Enforcement and Abatement.

No building permit, license, certificate or other approval or entitlement shall be issued or given by the city or any department or employee thereof with respect to any improvement subject to development review approval until the design of the improvement has been approved as provided in this chapter. No certificate of use and occupancy or similar approval shall be issued or given for any improvement subject to development review approval under this chapter unless and until the director has certified that the improvement has been completed in accordance with the design approved pursuant to this chapter.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to exempt any application from compliance with any requirement of any other provision of this Zoning Code or any other ordinance of this city, or to amend any such other ordinance unless so stated in the code codified in this chapter.