City of East Palo Alto

227 Pages·2004·2.54 MB·English

CITY OF EAST PALO ALTO

ZONING ORDINANCE

2002 EDITION

Accepted –
Planning Commission: January 22, 1996

Adopted –
City Council: March 4, 1996

Updated –
October 31, 2003

$30.00
EAST PALO ALTO ZONING ORDINANCE

2003 EDITION

The City of East Palo Alto incorporated as a general law city in the County of San Mateo on July
5, 1983. Upon incorporation, the City adopted the San Mateo County Zoning Regulations and
corresponding zoning districts, both of which were in effect prior to incorporation. Since
incorporation, the City of East Palo Alto has made many amendments to the adopted Zoning
Regulations, although never adopting a zoning ordinance of its own. This first edition of the East
Palo Alto Zoning Ordinance incorporates all those amendments into a unified document, which is
based on the Zoning Regulations adopted in 1983.

Generally, citations for ordinance amendments can be found listed in parentheses at the end of
each chapter. Original ordinance documents are available through the East Palo Alto City Clerk at
2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.

As new amendments are adopted by the East Palo Alto City Council, new pages will be printed to
be inserted into this set. Such pages will be marked by page number and a date and will be placed
at the bottom of the page to signify when the page was prepared and to which change unit it
belongs. As changes are made from time to time, they will be available for sale at the Planning
Division offices at 2200 University Avenue.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

An optional subscription service is available for securing changes to documents published by the
Planning Division. In order to avail yourself of this subscription service, please inquire at the
address below, or telephone the offices of the division.

City of East Palo Alto
Department of Community Development
Planning Division
2200 University Avenue
East Palo Alto, California 94303

Telephone [phone]
Facsimile [phone]
CITY OF EAST PALO ALTO
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
PLANNING DIVISION
ZONING ORDINANCE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER BEGINNING SUBJECT SECTION PAGE
Chapter 1 General Provisions 6100 1
Definitions 6102 1
Establishment of Planning Commission 6104 17
Chapter 2 Districts 6110 20
Chapter 3 Parking 6117 23
Parking Spaces Required 6119 26
Exceptions 6120 28
Parking Areas, Development and Maintenance 6121 28
Chapter 4 Non-Conforming Uses 6130 30
Chapter 6 "R-1" (One-Family Residential District) 6160 33
Chapter 7 "R-2" (Two-Family Residential District) 6170 37
Chapter 8 "R-M" (Multiple-Family Residential District) 6180 42
Chapter 8.5 Below Market Rate Housing Requirements 6182 46-a
Chapter 8.6 "OR" (Office Residential Mixed Use District) 6185 47
Chapter 9 "PUD" (Planned Unit Development District) 6190 49
Chapter 12.5 "COSC" (Community Open Space Conservation Dist.) 6225 60
CHAPTER BEGINNING SUBJECT SECTION PAGE
Chapter 13 "P" (Parking District) 6230 63
Chapter 14.5 "O" (Office District) 6245 64
Chapter 15 "C-l" (Neighborhood Business District) 6250 66
Chapter 16 "C-2" (General Commercial District) 6260 70
Chapter 17 "M-1" (Light Industrial District) 6270 73
Chapter 17.5 "MB" (Industrial Buffer District) 6276 83
Chapter 18 "M-2" (Heavy Industrial District) 6280 86
Chapter 19 Home Businesses 6290 88
Chapter 20 "S" (Combining Districts) 6300 93
Chapter 21 Water Efficient Landscaping 6330 94
Chapter 22 General Provisions and Exceptions 6400 99
Height 6402 99
Yards 6406 100
Accessory Buildings, Attached 6409 102
Accessory Buildings, Detached 6410-11 104
Fences, Walls, and Hedges 6412 105
Tree Regulations 6420.1 106
Sign Regulations 6421.1 110
Chapter 22.5 Second Dwelling Units 6425 123
Chapter 24 Use Permits 6500 131
Topsoil Sites 6502 132
CHAPTER BEGINNING SUBJECT SECTION PAGE
Procedure 6503 133
Expiration 6503.1 135
Revocation of Use Permits 6505 136
Sale of Alcoholic Beverages 6506 137
Chapter 24.1 Interim Uses in Redevelopment Project Areas 6507 140
Chapter 24.2 Large Family Day Care Homes 6510 145
Chapter 24.3 Residential Care Facilities 6515.1 148
Chapter 24.4 Temporary Uses of Land 6516 151
Chapter 24.5 Public Utility Antennas and Satellite Dishes 6518 155
Chapter 25 Variances 6530 159
Chapter 26 Design Review: Single Family Dwellings 6540 162
Chapter 27 Amendments 6550 166
Chapter 28 Architectural Supervision 6560 168
Chapter 29 Planned Community Permits 6570 171
Chapter 30 Form of Petitions, Applications and Appeals 6580 175
Chapter 31 Enforcement, Legal Procedure, Penalties 6590 177
Chapter 35.5 Flood Hazard Areas 6820 178
Definitions 6822 180
General Provisions 6824 184
Development Review Procedures 6826 186
Variance Procedures 6827 191
CHAPTER BEGINNING SUBJECT SECTION PAGE
Non-Conforming Uses 6829 194
APPENDIX A Sign Tables 196
TITLE 10

PART I: ZONING

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 6100. ADOPTION OF ZONING PLAN

Hereby adopted is a Zoning Ordinance for the City of East Palo Alto, County of San Mateo, State
of California, an ordinance that constitutes a Zoning Ordinance under the provisions of Section
65800, et seq., of the Government Code of the State of California.

SECTION 6101. PURPOSE

This Zoning Ordinance is adopted to promote and protect the public health, safety, peace, morals,
comfort, convenience and general welfare, and for the accomplishment thereof is adopted for the
following more particularly specified purposes:

(a) To guide, control, and regulate the future growth and development in the City of East
Palo Alto.

(b) To protect the character and the social and economic stability of residential, commercial,
industrial, and other private and public areas within the City, and to assure the orderly
and beneficial development of such areas.

(c) To obviate the menace to the public safety resulting from the locating of buildings, and
the use thereof, and the use of land, adjacent to streets and highways which are a part of
the Circulation Element of the General Plan of the City, or which are important
thoroughfares, in such manner as to cause interference with existing or prospective traffic
movements on said streets and highways.

(d) To provide adequate light, air, privacy, and convenience of access to property, and to
secure safety from fire, inundation, and other dangers.

(e) To prevent overcrowding the land and prevent undue congestion of population.

SECTION 6102. DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this Part, certain terms used herein are defined as follows:

SECTION 6102.1. All words used in the present tense shall include the future tenses; all words
in the plural number shall include the singular, and all words in the singular number shall include
the plural number unless the natural construction of the wording indicates otherwise. The word
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"lot" includes the word "plot," the word "building" includes the word "structure," and the word
"shall" is mandatory and not directory. The word "City" as used herein shall mean the City of
East Palo Alto, State of California; the words “City Council" shall mean the City Council of the
City of East Palo Alto, State of California; the words "Planning Commission" shall mean the
Planning Commission of the City of East Palo Alto, State of California; and the words "City
Boundary" shall mean the limit of incorporation of the City of East Palo Alto, State of California.

SECTION 6102.1.5. ADULT BOOKSTORES, ADULT MOVIE HOUSES, ADULT
CABARETS

(a) Adult bookstore: A building or portion thereof used by an establishment having as a
substantial or significant portion of its stock-in-trade for sale to the public books,
magazines or other publications which are distinguished or characterized by their
emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or
anatomical areas.

(b) Adult movie house: A building or portion thereof, or area, whether open or enclosed,
regularly used for the presentation of motion pictures distinguished or characterized by an
emphasis on matter depicting, describing or relating to specified sexual activities or
specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons or customers.

(c) Adult cabarets: A building or portion thereof, or area, regularly used for the presentation
or exhibition or featuring of topless or bottomless dancers, strippers, or any entertainers
regularly displaying specified anatomical areas for observation by patrons or customers.

(d) Specified sexual activities:

(1) Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal;

(2) Acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse, sodomy or bestiality; or

(3) Fondling or other erotic handling of human genitals, pubic region, buttock or
female breast.

(e) Specified anatomical areas:

(4) Less than completely and opaquely covered human genitals, pubic region,
buttock and female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola.

(5) Human male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

SECTION 6102.2. ADVERTISING STRUCTURE A structure of any kind or character
erected or maintained for outdoor advertising purposes, upon which any poster, bill, printing,
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painting, or other advertisement of any kind whatsoever may be placed, including statuary, for
advertising purposes.

" Advertising structure" does not include:

(a) Official notices issued by any court or public body or officers;

(b) Notices posted by any public office, in performance of a public duty or by any person in
giving legal notice; and

(c) Directional, warning or information structures required by or authorized by law or by
Federal, City, or State authority.

SECTION 6102.3. AGRICULTURE The tilling of the soil, the raising of crops, horticulture,
viticulture, small livestock fanning, dairying, or animal husbandry.

SECTION 6102.4. AIRPORT Any area of land or water which is used or intended for use for
the landing and taking off of aircraft, and any appurtenant areas which are used or intended for
use for airport buildings or other airport facilities or rights of way together with all airport
buildings and facilities located thereon.

SECTION 6102.5. ALLEY A passage or way open to public travel affording generally
pedestrian and/or vehicular access to abutting lots and not intended for general traffic circulation.

SECTION 6102.6. ALTER To make any change in any of the supporting members of a
building or structure such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders, or to make any change or
addition for which a building permit is required.

SECTION 6102.7. APARTMENT A room, or suite of two or more rooms, which is designed
for, intended for, or occupied by one family for living or sleeping purposes and doing its cooking
therein.

SECTION 6102.8. APARTMENT COURT See Dwelling Group.

SECTION 6102.9. APARTMENT HOUSE See also “Dwelling-Multiple.” Any building, or
portion thereof, which is designed, built, rented, leased, let or hired out to be occupied, or which
is occupied as the home or residence of three or more families living independently of each other
and doing their own cooking in the said building. This includes flats and apartments.

SECTION 6102.10. AUTOMOBILE WRECKING YARDS See Junk Yard.

SECTION 6102.11. AUTOMOBILE COURT Dwellings or dwelling units occupying a
building site integrally owned and used to furnish transient living accommodations - primarily for
use of automobile travelers.
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SECTION 6102.12. AUTOMOBILE TRAILER PARK Land where space is used, rented or
offered for rent to owners or users of trailer coaches.

SECTION 6102.13. AUTO WRECKING ESTABLISHMENTS Premises which are so
covered or enclosed that, in either case, they are not open to ordinary view and which are used for
the same purposes as Automobile Wrecking Yards.

SECTION 6102.13.1. BAR Any building or structure, or any portion of a building or structure,
or any premises or place where alcoholic beverages are sold, given, delivered, or consumed, or
permitted to be sold, given, delivered, or consumed in compliance with the provisions of Division
9 (commencing with Section 23000) of the Business and Professions Code.

SECTION 6102.14. BASEMENT A story partly underground and having at least one-half (l/2)
of its height above grade. A basement shall be counted as a story if the vertical distance from
grade to the ceiling is over five feet or if used for business purposes, or if used for dwelling
purposes by other than a janitor or domestic servants employed in the same building including the
family of the same.

SECTION 6102.15. BILLBOARD Same as Advertising Structure.

SECTION 6102.16. BLOCK That property abutting on one side of a street and lying between
the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, or nearest intersecting or intercepting streets,
and railroad right-of-way, unsubdivided acreage, water course, or body of water.

SECTION 6102.17. BOARDING HOUSE A building or portion thereof other than a hotel or
restaurant in which more than five (5) persons are furnished meals for a consideration.

SECTION 6102.18. BUILDING Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls
and intended for the shelter, housing, or enclosure of any person, animal, or chattel. When any
portion thereof is completely separated from every other portion thereof by masonry division or
fire wall without any window, door, or other opening therein which wall extends from the ground
to the upper surface of the roofing at every point, then each such portion shall be deemed to be a
separate building.

SECTION 6102.19. BUILDING – ACCESSORY A detached subordinate building, the use of
which is appropriate, subordinate, and customarily incidental to that of the main building or to the
main use of the land, and which is located on the same lot with the main building or use.

SECTION 6102.20. BUILDING – MAIN A building in which is conducted the principal use of
the lot on which it is situated. In any residential district, any dwelling shall be deemed to be a
main building on the lot on which the same is situated.

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