Article 10 — Development Code Glossary

This chapter provides deYnitions of terms and phrases used in this development code that are technical or specialized, or that may not reZect common usage. If a deYnition in this chapter conZicts with a deYnition in another provision of the municipal code, these deYnitions shall control for the purposes of this development code. If a word or phrase used in this development code is not deYned in this chapter, elsewhere in the UC Hansen Trust Property SpeciYc Plan, or in the city’s municipal code, the director shall determine the correct deYnition, giving deference to common usage. (Formerly 24H.300.1)

As used in this development code, the following terms and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this article, unless the context in which they are used clearly requires otherwise.

The San Buenaventura Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2026-005, passed February 17, 2026.

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“Accessory building” means a building located on the same lot and customarily incidental and subordinate to the primary building on the lot or to the use of land. Where an accessory structure is attached to the primary building, as by a roof or common wall, such structures shall be considered a portion of the primary building. Typically accessory structures are intended for a variety of uses such as vehicular parking, storage of lawn and garden equipment, storage of household items, play house and green house. Accessory structures may include habitable area such as a home o[ce, recreation room, guesthouse, and sleeping room(s).

Adult Business. See Chapter 24.492.

“Adverse impact” means the negative consequences of the use of a building on adjacent lots, usually as a result of noise, vibration, odor, pollution, or socioeconomic disruption. Negative consequences resulting from the use of the building and conYned within the lot boundary are not considered to create adverse impact.

“A]ordable housing” means a residential unit that is restricted to occupancy by an income eligible household as deYned by a local, state or federal program, as may be amended from time to time.

“Allee” means a regularly spaced and aligned row of trees usually planted along a thoroughfare or pedestrian path.

“Alley” means a public way permanently reserved as a means of access to abutting property.

“Bicycle lane” means a dedicated bicycle lane running within a moderate-speed vehicular thoroughfare, demarcated by striping.

“Block” means the aggregate of private lots, passages, rear lanes and alleys, circumscribed by thoroughfares.

“Building placement” means the placement of a building on its lot.

“Building type” means the structure deYned by the combination of conYguration, disposition and function, including frontage and height but speciYcally deYned by Article 5 of this chapter.

“Child day care” means facilities that provide nonmedical care and supervision of minor children under 18 years for periods of less than 24 hours. These facilities include the following, all of which are required to be licensed by the California State Department of Social Services:

“Large family day care home” means, as deYned by Health and Safety Code Section 1596.78, a day care facility in a single-family dwelling where an occupant of the residence provides family day care for seven to 14 children, inclusive, including children under the age of 10 years who reside in the home.

“Small family day care home” means, as deYned by Health and Safety Code Section 1596.78, a day care facility in a single-family residence where an occupant of the residence provides family day care for eight or fewer children, including children under the age of 10 years who reside in the home.

“Civic building” means a building, or building function, owned or leased by a public agency or nonproYt

organization, for the primary purpose of providing a service to the general public. Such organizations conduct land uses that are dedicated to arts, culture, education, recreation, government, transit and municipal/public parking.

The San Buenaventura Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2026-005, passed February 17, 2026.

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New civic buildings or changes to existing civic buildings shall not be subject to the requirements of Articles 3 through 7 of this chapter. Civic building design shall be approved by design review and requires issuance of a warrant. Changes to existing buildings not previously designed and used for civic functions shall be subject to design review.

“Civic space” means an outdoor area dedicated for public use. Civic spaces are deYned by a combination of physical elements that deYne the relationship between their intended use, size, landscaping and/or enfronting buildings.

“Commercial” is a term deYning workplace, o[ce and retail use collectively.

“Director” means the community development director of the city of Ventura, or their designee.

“Dooryard” means a yard between the street and a building, raised at least 18 inches above the grade of the sidewalk adjacent, or bounded by a garden wall, between 18 inches and 36 inches in height built on the frontage line(s).

“Facade” means the exterior wall of a building that is set along a primary street setback line or side street setback line.

“Front porch” means a roofed structure, that is not enclosed, attached to the facade of a building.

“Frontage line” means the property lines of a lot fronting a street or other public way, or a park, green or paseo.

“Frontage type” means site and/or building design feature that interfaces between public (or semipublic) and private spaces. The interface occurs physically according to horizontal and vertical parameters with a principal purpose of identifying and mediating access to a building entry point. Design instruction and diagrammatic examples of permitted frontage types are provided in Article 4 of this chapter.

“General plan” means the 2005 Ventura General Plan.

“Home occupation” means an occupation conducted at a premises containing a dwelling unit as an incidental use by the occupant of that dwelling unit.

“Lot line” means the boundary that legally and geometrically demarcates a lot.

“Lot width” means the length of the principal frontage lot line.

Multifamily. See “Quadplex.”

“Net Zoor area” means the enclosed area of a building, excluding unglazed porches, arcades and balconies.

“Noxious” means harmful to health or physical well-being.

“Park” means an outdoor recreation facility that may provide a variety of recreational opportunities including playground equipment, open space areas for passive recreation and picnicking, and sport and active recreation facilities.

The San Buenaventura Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2026-005, passed February 17, 2026.

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Parking Spaces. O]-street parking spaces shall be a minimum of nine feet by 19 feet, except that in o]-street parking lots of more than 10 spaces, up to 20 percent of the spaces may be a minimum of eight feet by 16 feet. The parking requirement may be accommodated on the lot and on the street on the corresponding frontage, or on another site by way of a shared parking proposal approved by the director. Pairs of on-site parking spaces for use by employees of a single business, or for use by residents of a single dwelling unit, may be provided in tandem conYguration (one behind the other) when approved by the director.

“Primary building” means the main building on a lot, usually located toward the frontage.

“Primary street setback” means building setback distance varying by zone designation that is measured from the property line abutting a street at which point a building must be placed. For corner lot scenarios, the director shall have the authority to determine the applicability of a primary street setback line and/or side street setback line.

“Primary unit” means the larger dwelling unit on a site with a second unit.

“Private frontage” means the privately held layer between the frontage line and the primary building facade. The structures and landscaping within the private frontage may be held to speciYc standards. The variables of private frontage are the depth of the setback and the combination of architectural elements such as fences, stoops, porches and galleries.

“Prohibited uses” means any use not speciYed in Table 24.590-1.

“Public frontage” means the area between the curb of the vehicular lanes and the frontage line. Physical elements of the public frontage include the type of curb, sidewalk, planter, street tree and streetlight.

“Public realm” means those parts of the urban fabric that are held in common such as plazas, squares, parks, thoroughfares and civic buildings.

“Quadplex” means a residential structure containing four dwelling units. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards).

“Residential” means premises available for long-term human dwelling.

“Rowhouse” means a building with two or more single-family dwellings located side by side, with common walls, the facades reading in a continuous plan.

“Secondary building” means a building that accommodates the secondary use of the site.

“Setback” means the mandatory distance between a property line and a building or appurtenance. This area must be left free of structures that are higher than three feet excluding streetwalls, except as noted in the urban standards.

“Side street setback” means building setback distance applying to corner lots that varies by zone designation and that is measured from the property line abutting a street at which point a building must be placed. The director shall have the authority to determine the applicability of a primary street setback line and/or side street setback line.

The San Buenaventura Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2026-005, passed February 17, 2026.

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“Single dwelling housing” means a residential structure containing a single dwelling unit. Includes for the purposes of this development code: large lot houses, side yard houses, front yard houses, and rowhouses. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards) for deYnitions of each of these types.

“Single-family” means the use of a site for one dwelling within one building.

“Story” means a habitable level within a building that, depending upon zone location, may extend between nine to 18 feet in height from Ynished Zoor to Ynished ceiling. Attics and raised basements are not considered stories for the purposes of determining building height.

“Story, half-story” means a story under a gable, hip, or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than two feet above the Zoor of each story, and the habitable Zoor area measured at a height of six feet above the Zoor does not exceed 75 percent of the Zoor area of the story immediately below it.

“Substantial conformance” occurs when physical improvements to the existing development site are completed which constitute the greatest degree of compliance with current development provisions.

“Terminated vistas” means a location at the axial conclusion of a thoroughfare. A building located at a terminated vista designated on a regulating plan is required to be designed in response to the axis.

“Thoroughfare” means a vehicular way incorporating moving lanes and parking lanes within a public right-of-way.

“Transect” means a system of ordering human habitats in a range from the most natural to the most urban. The Ventura general plan identiYes six transect zones that describe the physical character of place at any scale, according to the density and intensity of land use and urbanism.

Transect Zone (T-Zone). Transect zones are administratively similar to the land use zones in conventional codes, except that in addition to the usual building use, density, height, and setback requirements, other elements of the intended habitat are integrated, including those of the private lot and building and the enfronting public streetscape. The elements are determined by their location on the transect scale. The T-zones are: T1 natural, T2 rural, T3 suburban, T4.7 general urban, T5 urban center, and T6 urban core.

“Type” means a category determined by function, disposition, and conYguration, including size or extent. There are community types, street types, civic space types, etc. (See also “Building type.”)

“Utility infrastructure” means pipelines for water, natural gas, and sewage collection and disposal; and facilities for the transmission of electrical energy for sale, including transmission lines for a public utility company. Also includes telephone, telegraph, cable television and other communications transmission facilities utilizing direct physical conduits. Does not include o[ces or service centers, or distribution substations.

“Zoning ordinance” or “zoning regulations” means the city of Ventura zoning ordinance, this title. (Formerly 24H.300.2)

The San Buenaventura Municipal Code is current through Ordinance 2026-005, passed February 17, 2026.

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