Chapter 17.01
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
17.01.010 Title of provisions.
17.01.040 Application and interpretation.
17.01.050 Content of zoning ordinance.
17.01.060 Coordination of review, decision-making and information.
17.01.080 Rules of interpretation.
17.01.010 Title of provisions.
This title, HMC Title 17, shall be known as, and may be cited as, the zoning ordinance of the city of Hughson, California. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.020 Adoption.
There is adopted, as provided in this title, a zoning ordinance for the city. The ordinance is intended to be a precise and detailed plan for the use of land based on the general plan of the city. The ordinance shall at all times be consistent with the general plan of the city. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.030 Purpose.
The zoning ordinance is enacted to promote the public health, safety, comfort and general welfare of the city, and of the public generally. It is also enacted to provide a plan for the sound and orderly growth and development of the city and to ensure social and economic stability within the various zones established by the provisions of this title. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.040 Application and interpretation.
The provisions of this title shall apply to all land and all owners of land within the incorporated limits of the city. It shall be applicable not only to private persons, agencies, and organizations but also to all public agencies and organizations to the full extent that such provisions may now or hereafter be enforceable in connection with the activities of any such public agency or organization. In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this title shall be held to be minimum requirements. No provision of this title is intended to abrogate, repeal, annul, or interfere with any existing regulations of the city or deed restriction, covenant, easement, or other agreement between parties except as specifically stated herein. Where the provisions of this title impose greater restrictions or regulations, those provisions shall control. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.050 Content of zoning ordinance.
The zoning ordinance shall consist of the zoning map or maps of the city designating certain districts. It also includes regulations governing a range of other development controls including, but not limited to, the following: the uses of land, the density of population, the uses and locations of structures, the height and bulk of structures, the open spaces surrounding structures, the external appearance of certain uses and structures, the areas and dimensions of sites, and requiring the provisions of off-street parking, off-street loading facilities and landscaping. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.060 Coordination of review, decision-making and information.
The planning officer shall be responsible for the coordination of review and decision-making and the provision of information regarding the status of all applications and permits for all development covered by this title. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.070 Severability.
If any provision of this title or the application of this title to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this title or the application of a provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected. (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.080 Rules of interpretation.
For the purposes of this title, the following rules of interpretation shall apply unless inconsistent with the plain meaning of the context of the provisions of this title:
A. Words used in the present tense include the future tense.
B. Words used in the singular include the plural, and words used in the plural include the singular.
C. The word “shall” is mandatory; the word “may” is permissive.
D. The word “used” includes the words “arranged for,” “designed for,” “occupied or intended to be occupied for.”
E. Procedures for Interpretations. The planning officer shall respond in writing to any written request for interpretation of the regulations set forth in this title.
1. The written request shall state which provision is to be interpreted, and it shall provide any information that the planning officer deems necessary to assist in the review.
2. The planning officer shall respond to an interpretation request within 30 days of receiving the request. As an alternative to issuing an official interpretation, the planning officer may refer any request for interpretation to the planning commission for a determination.
3. Whenever the planning officer determines that the meaning or applicability of any of the requirements set forth in these regulations is subject to interpretation generally or as applied to a specific case, the planning officer shall issue an official interpretation. Official interpretations shall be:
a. In writing, and shall quote the provisions of the regulations set forth in this title that are being interpreted and explain their meaning or applicability in the particular or general circumstances that caused the need for interpretation; and
b. Maintained on file by the planning officer.
4. Any interpretation by the planning officer of the regulations set forth in this title may be appealed as provided in HMC 17.04.004(D). (Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)
17.01.090 Definitions.
For the purposes of this title, certain terms and words are herewith defined to clarify their use. Where a definition is not given or where a question of interpretation is raised, the definition shall be the normal meaning of the word within the context of its use, or as determined in accordance with HMC 17.01.080.
A. Definitions, “A.”
1. “Abut” means two adjoining parcels of property, with a common property line, are considered in this title as one parcel “abutting” the other, except where two or more lots adjoin only at a corner or corners, then they shall not be considered abutting unless the common property line between the two parcels measures eight feet or more in a single direction.
2. “Access” or “accessway” means the place, means or way by which pedestrians and vehicles shall have safe, adequate and usable ingress to and egress from a property or use as required by this title.
3. “Accessory building” means a detached building located on the same lot with the principal (main) building, the use of which is normally incidental and entirely secondary to that of the principal (main) building. A detached building shall be one that does not have a common wall with the principal (main) building on the same lot.
4. “Accessory use” means a use incidental to, related to, appropriate to, and clearly subordinate to the main use of the lot or building, which accessory use does not alter the principal use of the subject lot.
5. “Adjacent” means near, close, or abutting. For example, an industrial district across the street or highway from a residential district shall be considered as “adjacent.”
6. Administrative Permit. An “administrative permit” is a permit for a specified land use, building or structure that is issued as a ministerial function by the planning officer, rather than requiring the review of the planning commission or city council. The process for an administrative permit is outlined in HMC 17.04.008.
7. “Adult-oriented businesses” means any one of the following:
a. Adult Arcade. The term “adult arcade” is an establishment where, for any form of consideration, one or more still or motion picture projectors, or similar machines, for viewing by five or fewer persons each, are used to show films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions, 30 percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
b. Adult Bookstore, Adult Novelty Store or Adult Video Store. This term means a commercial establishment which, as a regular and substantial course of conduct, offers for sale or rental for any form of consideration any one or more of the following:
i. Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter, or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes or video reproductions, any material in digital format (including, but not limited to, compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), slides, or other visual representations which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas;
ii. Instruments, devices, or paraphernalia, except for clothing, which are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities; or
iii. Matter that, because of its sexually explicit nature, may, pursuant to state law, be offered only to persons over the age of 18 years.
c. Adult Cabaret. The term “adult cabaret” means a nightclub, restaurant, or similar business establishment which: (i) regularly features live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the display of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities; and/or (ii) which regularly features persons who appear nude or semi-nude; and/or (iii) shows films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other photographic reproductions 30 percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
d. Adult Hotel/Motel. The term “adult hotel/motel” means a hotel or motel or similar business establishment offering public accommodations for any form of consideration which (i) provides patrons with closed-circuit television transmissions, films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides, or other photographic reproductions 30 percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas; and (ii) rents, leases, or lets any room for less than a six-hour period, or rents, leases, or lets any single room more than twice in a 24-hour period.
e. Adult Motion Picture Theater. The term “adult motion picture theater” is a business establishment, not an adult arcade, where, for any form of consideration, films, computer generated images, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions are shown, and 30 percent or more of the number of which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.
f. Adult Theater. The term “adult theater” means a theater, concert hall, auditorium, or similar establishment which, for any form of consideration, regularly features live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on the display of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities.
8. “Adult-oriented business operator” means a person who supervises, manages, inspects, directs, organizes, controls or in any other way is responsible for or in charge of the premises of an adult-oriented business or the conduct or activities occurring on the premises thereof.
9. “Agricultural land” means all land used for an agricultural operation.
10. “Agricultural operation” means and includes, but is not limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil; dairying; the production, irrigation, frost protection, cultivation, growing, harvesting and processing of any agricultural commodity, including but not limited to viticulture, horticulture, timber or apiculture; the raising of livestock, fur-bearing animals, fish or poultry; and any commercial agricultural practices performed as incident to or in conjunction with such operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market, or to carriers for transportation to market, but not including slaughterhouses, fertilizer yards, bone yards or plants for the reduction of animal matter or any other industrial use which is similarly objectionable because of noise, odor, smoke, dust or fumes.
11. “Alcoholic beverage sales” means the retail sale of beer, wine or distilled spirits for on-premises or off-premises consumption.
12. “Alley” means a public or private thoroughfare, generally less than 30 feet in width, which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.
13. “Amendment” means a change in the wording, context or substance of any provision in this title, an addition or deletion or a change in the zone district boundaries or classification upon the zoning map.
14. “Animal keeping” means the keeping of animals as provided in Chapter 6.24 HMC.
15. “Apartment” means one dwelling unit in an apartment house.
16. Apartment House. See “Dwelling, multiple-family.”
17. Applicant. An “applicant” is a person who is required to file an application for a permit under this title, including an individual owner, managing partner, officer of a corporation, or any other operator, manager, employee, or agent of a business.
18. “Area of special flood hazard” means the land in the floodplain within a community subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.
19. “Attached building” means a building which has a common wall with the principal (main) building. “Common wall” means a single wall which serves simultaneously as a wall for the principal (main) building and the attached building. “Wall” means one of the sides of a building connecting floor and ceiling, or foundation and roof.
B. Definitions, “B.”
1. “Bank or financial service” means a financial institution such as a bank, credit agency or lending institution. A check cashing store shall be considered a moderate-impact personal service rather than a bank or financial service.
2. “Basement” means a story partly or wholly underground. See also “Story.”
3. “Bed and breakfast” means a residential structure with one family or manager in permanent residence and up to five bedrooms rented for overnight lodging, and where meals may be provided subject to applicable health department regulations. A bed and breakfast with more than five guest rooms shall be considered a hotel or motel, as applicable.
4. “Boarding or rooming house” means a dwelling where rooms are rented to paying guests, who may be provided with meals. The term “boarding house” includes “rooming house.”
5. “Building” means any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the housing or enclosure of persons, animals or property.
6. Building, Height Of. “Height of building” means the vertical distance measured from the ground to the highest point of the structure, exclusive of chimneys and ventilators; provided, however, that where buildings are set back from the street line, the height shall be measured from the average elevation of the finished grade at the front of the building as shown in Figure 17.03.020.1.
7. “Building inspector” means the building official, or his or her designee.
8. “Building supply” means a retail establishment that sells lumber, wallboard, fixtures and similar large building materials to the general public.
9. “Business support service” means an establishment primarily within a building that provides services that are necessary to other businesses, such as blueprinting, computer rental and repair, mailing and mailbox services, copying and other services of like kind or character.
C. Definitions, “C.”
1. “Car wash” means an area of land and/or a structure with machine- or hand-operated facilities used principally for the cleaning, washing, polishing, or waxing of motor vehicles. A facility of this type may be able to accommodate more than one vehicle at the same time.
2. “Catering service” means a business that prepares food for consumption on the premises of a client, and that is not part of a restaurant. A restaurant that provides catering shall not be considered a catering service.
3. “Cemetery” means any place for the burial, disposal or long-term storage of human remains, including but not limited to a columbarium, crematory or mausoleum.
4. “Chief of police” means the chief of police of the city of Hughson or the authorized representatives thereof.
5. Child- or Family-Oriented Business. The term “child- or family-oriented business” means a business establishment which has as its primary clientele children or families with children, such as, but not limited to, toy stores, children’s clothing stores, family amusement arcades, or family recreation facilities.
6. Church. The term “church” is a structure or leased portion of a structure which is used primarily for religious worship and related religious activities.
7. “City” means the city of Hughson.
8. “City council” means the city council of the city of Hughson.
9. “Clearing” means any activity that removes vegetation from the vegetative surface cover.
10. Collection Facility, Small. For the purposes of this section, “small collection facility” means a center for the acceptance of donation, redemption, or purchase of recyclable material from the public, which occupies an area of not more than 500 square feet.
11. “Commercial recreational facility” means any establishment that provides entertainment activities or services for a fee or admission charge, including but not limited to bowling alleys, electronic game arcades, billiard rooms, miniature golf courses, sports clubs, amusement parks, amphitheaters, stadiums and other uses of like kind or character.
12. “Commercial vehicle” means and includes any vehicle registered for commercial purposes pursuant to the applicable provisions of the California Vehicle Code and having a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or more, and any trailer or semi-trailer designed to be drawn by such vehicle.
13. “Conditional use permit” means a permit approved by the planning commission for any use listed as a conditional use in that zone.
14. “Condominium” means real property consisting of an undivided interest in common in a portion of a parcel of real property together with a separate interest in space in a residential, industrial, or commercial building on the real property.
15. “Construction office” means a temporary structure or trailer placed on or adjacent to a project site for the duration of construction. It may include a construction materials yard.
16. “Court” means an open unoccupied space, on the same lot with a building or buildings and bordered on two or more sides by such building or buildings.
17. “Cultivation” means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, or trimming of marijuana and hemp.
D. Definitions, “D.”
1. Damage, Substantial. “Substantial damage” means damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its condition prior to the damage would equal or exceed 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
2. Day Care, Child. “Child day care” means a facility licensed to regularly provide care, protection and supervision in a facility which is not the provider’s home for periods of less than 24 hours, while the parents or guardians are away; that does not qualify as a small or large home day care; and that meets the licensing requirements of the state.
3. Day Care, Home – Large. In accordance with Section 1596.78(b) of the Health and Safety Code, “large home day care” means a home that regularly provides care, protection and supervision for 7 to 14 children.
4. Day Care, Home – Small. In accordance with Section 1596.78(c) of the Health and Safety Code, “small home day care” means a home that regularly provides care, protection and supervision of eight or fewer children.
5. “Delivery” means the transfer, whether commercial or noncommercial, of marijuana or marijuana products to another person. “Delivery” also includes the use by a retailer of any technology platform owned and controlled by the retailer or independently licensed under California law that enables customers to arrange for or facilitate the commercial transfer by a licensed retailer of marijuana or marijuana products.
6. “Density” means the ratio between dwelling units and land, expressed as the number of dwelling units per net acre, or as square feet of land required per dwelling unit.
7. “Density bonus” means an increase in the allowable residential density over the otherwise allowable residential density in that zone. See HMC 17.03.016.
8. “Development” means any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.
9. “Development incentive” means any concession given by the city to an applicant that results in a reduction in site development standards or a modification of zoning code requirements or architectural design requirements that exceed the standards in this title, including, but not limited to, a reduction in setback and square footage requirements and in the ratio of vehicular parking spaces that would otherwise be required that results in identifiable, financially sufficient, and actual cost reductions. It may also include other regulatory incentives or concessions that result in identifiable, financially sufficient and actual cost reductions.
10. “Dispensary” means a facility or location, whether fixed or mobile, where marijuana, marijuana products or devices for the use of marijuana are offered, made available, or provided, either individually or in any combination, with or without remuneration for medical, recreation, or other purposes.
11. Distinguished or Characterized by an Emphasis Upon. The term “distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon” shall mean and refer to the dominant or essential theme of the object described by such phrase. For instance, when the phrase refers to films “which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon” the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, the films so described are those whose dominant or predominant character and theme are the depiction of the enumerated sexual activities or anatomical areas. See Pringle v. City of Covina, 115 Cal.App.3d 151 (1981).
12. District. See “Zone.”
13. “Drive-through establishment” means a building where a customer is permitted or encouraged, either by the design of physical facilities or by the service procedures offered, to be served while remaining seated within a vehicle, including but not limited to drive-through restaurants.
14. “Drug paraphernalia” means and includes any of the items possession of which is prohibited by California Health and Safety Code Section 11364, or any instrument used, designed for use, or intended for use in ingesting, smoking, administering or preparing marijuana, hashish, hashish oil or cocaine.
15. “Dwelling” means any building or portion thereof designed or used exclusively for residential occupancy.
16. Dwelling, Duplex. “Duplex dwelling” means a building on a single parcel of land designed for occupancy by, or occupied by, two households living independently of each other, and having separate kitchen and toilet facilities for each household.
17. Dwelling, Multiple-Family. “Multiple-family dwelling” means a building or portion thereof on a single parcel of land designed for occupancy by, or occupied by, three or more households living independently of each other, and having separate kitchen and toilet facilities for each household.
18. Dwelling, Single-Family Detached. “Single-family detached dwelling” means a detached building designed exclusively for occupancy by one family.
19. “Dwelling unit” means one or more rooms and a single kitchen area designed for occupancy by one family for living and sleeping purposes.
E. Definitions, “E.”
1. “Emergency housing” means housing with minimal supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of six months or less by a homeless person and that is not withheld due to a client’s inability to pay.
2. Entertainer, Adult-Oriented Business. “Adult-oriented business entertainer” means any person who performs live entertainment for patrons of an adult-oriented business whether such person is an employee or independent contractor of the adult-oriented business, including persons providing such services without any compensation or other form of consideration.
3. “Equipment and machinery sales or rental” means any establishment that sells or rents large construction equipment, such as bulldozers, ditch diggers, tractors, industrial generators, water tankers or similar items.
4. “Erosion control” means a measure that prevents erosion.
5. Erosion Control Plan. An “erosion control plan” indicates the specific measures and sequencing to be used to control sediment and erosion on a development site during and after construction.
F. Definitions, “F.”
1. Factory-Built Home. See “Home, manufactured.”
2. “Figure model” means any person who, for pecuniary compensation, consideration, hire or reward, poses in a modeling studio to be observed, sketched, painted, drawn, sculptured, photographed or otherwise depicted.
3. “Findings” are determinations necessary to approve certain types of requested permits or proposed development projects. Findings establish a factual basis explaining why a decision was made to approve or disapprove an application. For example, approval of a variance application requires the decision-making body to make five separate findings, including that the variance “will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity or the zone in which the subject property is located.” If the decision-making body cannot determine that this statement – along with the four other variance findings – is true, the variance request must be denied. It is the designated decision-making body (planning commission, city council, or planning official) which must make the required findings.
4. “Flood” or “flooding” means:
a. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from: the overflow of inland or tidal waters; the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or mudslides (i.e., mudflows) which are proximately caused by flooding as defined herein and are akin to a river of liquid flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when earth is carried by a current of water and deposited along the path of the current.
b. The collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or other body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels or suddenly caused by an unusual and unforeseeable event which results in flooding as defined in this definition.
5. Flood, Base. “Base flood” means a flood which has a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Base flood is the term used throughout this title.
6. “Floodplain” means any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from any source. See “Flood.”
7. “Floodplain administrator” is the individual appointed to administer and enforce the floodplain management regulations.
8. Floor Area, Gross. “Gross floor area” means the total interior floor area of all stories of a building or structure, including basements, as well as aboveground stories, interior balconies and mezzanines.
9. Floor Area, Net. “Net floor area” means the total interior floor area of all stories of a building or structure, excluding corridors, hallways, stairways, balconies, breezeways, elevators, restrooms, closets, vaults, garages, carports, and other similar space used by all occupants of a building rather than by an individual occupant.
10. “Floor area ratio” is the ratio of the total gross floor area of all buildings on a lot, excluding structured parking areas, divided by the total lot area. For example, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.1, if a 10,000 square foot lot has one two-story building, and the gross floor area of each story is 2,500 square feet, the lot has a total gross floor area of 5,000 square feet and an FAR of 0.5.
11. “Food and beverage production” means a manufacturing plant that produces or processes foods and beverages for human consumption and primarily for wholesale or distribution purposes.
12. “Food and beverage sales” means a retail establishment in which the majority of the floor area open to the public is occupied by food or beverage products, not including alcoholic beverages, that are packaged for consumption away from the store.
13. “Foster home” means a facility licensed to regularly provide care, protection and supervision to children in the licensee’s home on a 24-hour basis for varying periods of time. See also “residential care home.”
14. “Frontage” means the property line of a site abutting on a street.
Figure 17.01.090.1. Floor Area Ratio
G. Definitions, “G.”
1. “Garage, patio, rummage or yard sale” means a sale allowed to be conducted from any location on the premises of a residence in any kind of residential zone for the purpose of permitting occupants of that residence to dispose of their personal property accumulated during the course of ordinary residential living.
2. Garage, Repair. “Repair garage” means a building, or portion thereof, used for the commercial repair, maintenance or painting of motor vehicles.
3. “General retail” means a retail establishment that sells a variety of merchandise and is not otherwise identified in this title as a unique retail use, including but not limited to antique stores, bookstores, drugstores, hobby shops, secondhand stores, retail bakeries, hardware stores, appliance and electronics stores and any use of like kind or character.
4. “Governing body” is the local governing unit, i.e., county or municipality, that is empowered to adopt and implement regulations to provide for the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizenry.
5. “Government facility” means any facility owned and operated by the city, county, state or federal government, regardless of the use. Any use that is listed as an allowed use for a given district may be provided as a government facility, even if the district does not list “government facility” as an allowed use.
6. “Grading” means the alteration of the slope and/or elevation of a ground surface, paving, or sidewalk, including excavation or fill of material.
7. “Guest house” means living quarters within an accessory building for use by temporary guests of the occupants of the premises. It shall have no kitchen or cooking facilities and shall not be rented or otherwise used as a separate dwelling.
8. “Gym” means a fitness center or health club that provides facilities including but not limited to exercise machines, free weights, instruction facilities, swimming area for use by clients.
H. Definitions, “H.”
1. “Hemp” shall have the same meaning as set forth in Section 11018.5 of the California Health and Safety Code.
2. “Home and garden supply facility” means a facility for the sale of home, lawn, and garden supplies; landscaping materials, plants, brick, lumber, and other similar materials. This use may include the outside storage of materials.
3. Home, Manufactured. “Manufactured home” means a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use with or without a permanent foundation when attached to the required utilities. The term “manufactured home” does not include a recreational vehicle.
4. “Home occupation” means the gainful employment of the occupant of a dwelling in a limited commercial activity, with such employment activity being subordinate to the residential use of the property.
5. Home Occupation, Low-Impact. A “low-impact home occupation” means a home occupation conducted entirely within a dwelling or accessory building with no external alteration of the appearance of the dwelling in which a home occupation is conducted. Low-impact home occupations involve no storage of equipment or supplies other than samples in an accessory structure or outside the dwelling. A low-impact home occupation shall not involve the use of any material, other than craft or art supplies, or mechanical equipment other than customarily incidental to domestic use. No advertising signs shall be placed in the yard or on the house or any part of the property.
6. Home Occupation, Moderate-Impact. A “moderate-impact home occupation” means a home occupation that does not qualify as a low-impact home occupation as defined above. See HMC 17.03.044 for specific moderate-impact home occupation restrictions.
7. “Hospital” means a facility or portion thereof used or designed for the therapeutic treatment of the sick and injured.
8. “Hotel” or “motel” means a building or portion thereof or a group of attached or detached buildings containing individual guest rooms or suites where lodging is provided for transients for compensation.
9. “Household” means one or more persons sharing a dwelling unit in a living arrangement that includes the sharing of living expenses, such as rent or mortgage payments, food costs and utilities; the maintenance of a single lease or rental agreement for all persons sharing the dwelling unit; or other characteristics indicative of a single household.
I. Definitions, “I.”
1. Improvement, Substantial. “Substantial improvement” means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition, or other proposed new development of a structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the structure before the start of construction of the improvement. This term includes structures which have incurred substantial damage, regardless of the actual repair work performed. The term does not, however, include any project for improvement of a structure to correct existing violations or state or local health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which have been identified by the local code enforcement official and which are the minimum necessary to assure safe living conditions.
2. “Industrial land” means all that real property within the boundaries of the city of Hughson used for industrial operations.
3. “Industrial operation” means and includes, but is not limited to, light manufacturing, heavier industrial land uses and industrial parks, as well as lighter industrial uses such as automobile dealerships and repair shops, building materials sales, distribution, warehousing and wholesaling.
4. “Instructional or production studio” means a small-scale establishment for the instruction or production of art, including but not limited to dance, painting, photography, music, sculpture and related arts, and that accommodates only a small number of students or artists at any one time. The term “instructional or production studio” also includes studios for gymnastics, martial arts or similar activities; provided, that they do not also offer fitness equipment similar to a gym.
J. Definitions, “J.” None.
K. Definitions, “K.”
1. “Kiosk” means a small, freestanding open structure used as a newsstand; retail sales, refreshment, and/or information/service booth; and/or upon which temporary information and/or posters, notices, and announcements are posted.
L. Definitions, “L.”
1. “Landscaping” means plantings, including but not limited to trees, shrubs, lawn, flowers and groundcovers, suitably designed, selected, installed and maintained. “Landscaping” may include rock, fountains, pools, screens, walls, fences, benches, walkways and concrete plazas.
2. “Library or museum” means a public or quasi-public facility such as an aquarium, art gallery, library, museum or zoo.
3. “Living area” means the interior habitable area of a dwelling unit, including basements and attics with a finished floor and a ceiling height of at least six feet. Living area shall not include a garage or any accessory structure.
4. “Loading space” means an off-street space or berth on the same lot with a building or contiguous to a group of buildings, for the temporary parking of a commercial vehicle while loading or unloading merchandise or materials, and which abuts upon a street, alley or other appropriate means of access.
5. “Lot” means a parcel of land shown on a subdivision map, parcel map or record of survey map or described by metes and bounds and recorded in the office of the county recorder of Stanislaus County, and/or a building site in one ownership having an area for a building or buildings, together with such yards, open spaces, lot width, and lot areas as are required by this title and having frontage upon a public street, road or highway (other than an alley), unless otherwise approved.
6. “Lot area” means the total horizontal net area within the lot lines of a lot or parcel exclusive of streets, highways, roads and alleys.
Figure 17.01.090.2. Lot Types. (NOTE: Some lots can be defined as more than one type of lot.)
7. Lot, Corner. “Corner lot” means a lot situated at the intersection of two or more streets having an angle of intersection of not more than 135 degrees, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.2.
8. “Lot coverage” means that portion of a lot occupied by any building or structure, excepting paved areas, walks and swimming pools, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.3.
Figure 17.01.090.3. Lot Coverage.
9. Lot, Deep. A “deep lot” in the R-1 or R-2 zone is any lot which has an average depth in excess of 125 feet.
10. “Lot depth” means the horizontal distance between the front and rear lot lines measured on the longitudinal centerline.
11. Lot, Flag. “Flag lot” means a lot so shaped and designed that the main building site area does not have street frontage, but is connected to the street by a strip of land which is used for access purposes, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.2.
12. Lot, Interior. “Interior lot” means a lot other than a corner lot, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.2.
13. Lot, Key. “Key lot” means an interior lot that abuts the rear lot line of a corner lot, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.2.
14. “Lot line” means any line bounding a lot as defined in this section.
15. Lot Line, Front. “Front lot line” means, in the case of an interior lot, the street line separating the lot from the street. In the case of a corner lot, the owner may designate on which street the lot fronts. If such designation is made, then the line is the street line separating the designated street from the lot. If no such designation is made, then the line is the street line separating the narrowest street frontage of the lot from the street. Once the choice of frontage has been made, it cannot be changed unless all requirements for yard space are complied with.
16. Lot Line, Rear. “Rear lot line” means a lot line which is opposite and most distant from the front lot line or, in the case of an irregular or triangular lot, a line 10 feet in length within the lot, parallel to and at the maximum distance from the front lot line.
17. Lot Line, Side. “Side lot line” means any lot boundary line not a front lot line or a rear lot line.
18. Lot, Through. “Through lot” means a lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.2.
19. “Lot width” means the horizontal distance between the side lot lines, measured at right angles to the lot depth at a point midway between the front and rear property lines.
20. “Lower-income household” means households whose income does not exceed the low income limits applicable to Stanislaus County, as published and periodically updated by the State Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the applicable sections of the California Health and Safety Code.
M. Definitions, “M.”
1. “Manufacture” means to compound, blend, extract, infuse, or otherwise make or prepare a marijuana product.
2. Manufactured Home. See, “Home, manufactured.”
3. “Manufactured home park or subdivision” means a parcel (or contiguous parcels) of land divided into two or more manufactured home lots for rent or sale.
4. “Manufacturing” means the conversion of raw materials or assembly of parts into new products that are primarily sold off site.
5. “Marijuana” has the same meaning as in Section 11018 of the Health and Safety Code as the same may be amended from time to time. For purposes of this chapter “marijuana” shall also include marijuana infused in foodstuff or any other ingestible or consumable product containing marijuana. “Marijuana” includes all types of marijuana, whether medical, nonmedical, or otherwise.
6. “Marijuana activity” means any personal, commercial, noncommercial, or nonprofit cultivation of marijuana, delivery of marijuana, distribution of marijuana, dispensing marijuana, manufacture of marijuana, sale of marijuana and/or marijuana products, the nonmedical use and medical use of marijuana to the extent prohibited by Chapter 9.40 HMC, and the operation or establishment of a medical or nonmedical marijuana cooperative, dispensary, delivery service, operator, or provider.
7. “Marijuana products” means marijuana that has undergone a process whereby the plant material has been transformed into a concentrate, including, but not limited to, concentrated marijuana/cannabis, or an edible or topical product containing marijuana or concentrated marijuana/cannabis and other ingredients. “Marijuana products” includes all types of marijuana, whether medical, nonmedical, or otherwise.
8. “Medical marijuana facility” means any facility or location where marijuana is made available for medical purposes in accordance with Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5, or where a primary caregiver intends to make available, sell, transmit, give, or otherwise provide medical marijuana to two or more of the following: a qualified patient, or a person with an identification card, or a primary caregiver in strict accordance with Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 et seq., including but not limited to Health and Safety Code Section 11362.7(d)(2) and (3). The terms “primary caregiver,” “qualified patient,” and “person with an identification card” shall be as defined in Health and Safety Code Section 11362.5 et seq.
9. “Meeting facility” means any facility for public or private meetings, excluding commercial entertainment facilities. Meeting facilities include community centers, clubs, lodges, houses of worship, auditoriums, union halls and other uses of like kind or character.
10. “Metalwork” means any manufacturing or repair use that involves the production, assembly or dismantling of metal parts, including but not limited to machine shops, welding shops and sheet metal shops.
11. “Mini-storage/warehouse facility” means a building or group of buildings in a controlled-access and fenced compound that contains varying sizes of individual, compartmentalized, and controlled-access stalls or lockers for the dead storage of customer’s goods or wares.
12. “Minor(s)” means any person under the age of 21, in accordance with California Business and Professions Code Sections 22950 through 22963 and 21 U.S.C. Section 387f(d).
13. “Mobile home” means a transportable structure built on a chassis for future movement, and designed to be used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation, when connected to the required utilities, and intended for occupancy by one family. No such structure shall be deemed to be a mobile home if it is less than eight feet in width, and less than 32 feet in length, when assembled for use as a dwelling.
14. “Mobile home park” means a facility designed and equipped in accordance with the requirements of HMC 17.03.052 and applicable state laws for the accommodation of occupied mobile homes.
15. “Mobile home supplemental housing” means a mobile home used to provide supplemental housing for the care of the ill or the infirm.
16. “Modeling studio” means a business or facility owned, operated, or maintained by an individual artist or group of artists for the purpose of observing, sketching, photographing, painting or sculpting figure models, so long as such facility does not provide, permit, or make available “specified sexual activities.” A “modeling studio” does not include a business which provides, for pecuniary compensation, monetary or other consideration, hire or reward, figure models who, for the purposes of sexual stimulation of patrons, display “specified anatomical areas” to be observed, sketched, photographed, painted, sculpted or otherwise depicted by persons paying such consideration.
17. “Moderate-income household” means households whose income does not exceed the moderate income limits applicable to Stanislaus County, as published and periodically updated by the State Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the applicable sections of the California Health and Safety Code.
18. “Mortuary” means a facility where bodies are prepared for burial or cremation, which may include areas for embalming, performing of autopsies, and the storage of funeral supplies and vehicles, as well as facilities for funeral services. A “mortuary” does not include facilities for the cremation or interment of bodies on site.
N. Definitions, “N.”
1. “Nonconforming building” means a building or structure or portion thereof lawfully existing at the time of the adoption of this title, and which does not conform to the applicable regulations of this title. “Nonconforming building” includes any building or structure or portion thereof lawfully existing in an area annexed to the city at the time of such annexation, and which does not conform to the applicable regulations of this title.
2. “Nonconforming use” means a use which lawfully occupies a building or land at the time of the adoption of this title, and which does not conform to the applicable regulations of this title. “Nonconforming use” includes any use which lawfully occupies any building or land in an area annexed to the city at the time of such annexation, and which does not conform to the applicable regulations of this title.
3. “Nudity or a state of nudity” means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, and/or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple or areola.
4. “Nursing and convalescent home” means a facility providing bed care, or chronic or convalescent care for persons who by reason of illness, physical infirmity, or age are unable to properly care for themselves. A facility shall be deemed to be a “nursing and convalescent home” for the purpose of this title, notwithstanding the designation applied to the facility by the operator, or any federal, state or local regulatory agency, such as “hospital” or “rest home,” so long as the facility provides care, as described in this section, and does not qualify as a “hospital” as defined in this chapter..
O. Definitions, “O.”
1. Professional Office. “Office, professional” means a building or portion of a building that is designed, constructed for, used or usable by professional persons, including but not limited to accountants, architects, dentists, doctors, engineers, lawyers and other persons who provide services that require a state license or certificate, such as realtors and beauticians. The term “professional office” shall not include any facility that provides intensive medical treatment or overnight lodging for persons, such as a hospital, or any facility that provides permanent or temporary boarding of animals, such as a veterinary office or kennel.
2. Open Space, Usable. “Usable open space” means outdoor space, including but not limited to natural and landscaped ground areas, pools, patios, decks and balconies designed for active or passive recreational use and which is accessible to the occupants of a building on the same lot.
3. “Operate an adult-oriented business” means the supervising, managing, inspecting, directing, organizing, controlling or in any way being responsible for or in charge of the conduct of activities of an adult-oriented business or activities within an adult-oriented business.
4. “Orchard” means an area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.
5. “Orchard tree” means a fruit or nut tree that is part of an orchard.
P. Definitions, “P.”
1. “Parcel size, net” means total area of a parcel measured in a horizontal plane within the lot lines bounding the parcel. The following features do not contribute to the net of the parcel area: the area within easements for streets, driveways, parking, pedestrian, bicycle access ways and navigation channels which are not for the exclusive use of the parcel on which any such easement is located.
2. “Park or playground” means a public outdoor recreational facility that provides active or passive recreational opportunities.
3. “Parking area” means a permanently surfaced open area, other than a street or alley, used for the parking of motor vehicles, either free, for compensation, or as an accommodation for residents, clients or customers. See HMC 17.03.060.
4. “Parking garage” means any building or structure, other than a garage on the premises of and used exclusively by a single-family dwelling, that is used for the parking or storage of vehicles, whether for free or for compensation.
5. “Parking lot” means any property used temporarily or permanently for parking or storage of vehicles of any type in exchange for compensation, or as an accommodation for patrons, customers, or clientele of a business, professional office, or other commercial enterprise.
6. “Parking space” means a permanently surfaced space, directly accessible to a driveway, street or alley, exclusive of access, driveways, ramps or maneuvering areas, designed or used for the parking of one motor vehicle. See HMC 17.03.060.
7. “Permitted uses” includes principal, conditional and accessory uses.
8. “Person” means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, association, joint stock company, corporation, limited liability company or combination of the above in whatever form or character.
9. “Personal services establishment” means an establishment (other than a professional office) that provides services to individuals as a primary use, and that may provide accessory retail sales of products related to the services provided.
10. Personal Services Establishment – Low-Impact. A “low-impact personal services establishment” means an establishment that tends to create minimal adverse impacts for its surroundings, including but not limited to clothing rental, laundromats, tailors, tanning salons and other uses of like kind or character.
11. Personal Services – Moderate-Impact. A “moderate-impact personal services establishment” is one that may tend to create blight and deterioration in its surroundings and that may need to be dispersed in order to reduce the potential impacts, including but not limited to check cashing stores, pawnshops, tattoo and body piercing parlors and other uses of like kind or character.
12. “Plan lines” means officially established right-of-way lines for future streets or for the extension or widening of existing streets within which the construction of structures is prohibited.
13. “Planned unit development” means an integrated development as allowed by HMC 17.02.028 consisting of a building or group of buildings situated on a site in such a manner that each unit may be sold separately from all other units, and where all owners of units may also own an interest in recreation facilities, parking facilities, open space, or any combination thereof along with appurtenant facilities.
14. “Planning officer” means that officer of the city or their designee designated from time to time to perform the duties of review set forth in this title.
15. “Private residence” means a house, an apartment unit, a mobile home, or other similar dwelling.
16. Property Line. See “Lot line.”
17. “Public safety facility” means a facility operated by a public agency for the purpose of protecting public safety, including but not limited to fire stations and other fire-fighting facilities, police stations and ambulance dispatch facilities.
18. “Public and quasi-public uses” includes such uses as cemeteries, churches, corporation yards, fire stations, hospitals, parks, public utility distribution substations, schools, and communication equipment buildings; it excludes street tree areas.
Q. Definitions, “Q.” None.
R. Definitions, “R.”
1. Recreational Vehicle and Recreation Vehicle. “Recreational vehicle” and “recreation vehicle” mean mobile home not on a foundation, camper, motor home, trailer, fifth wheel, or watercraft.
2. Recreational Vehicle (RV) Park. “Recreational vehicle park” means a facility designed and equipped in accordance with the requirements of HMC 17.03.052 and applicable state laws, for the accommodation of motor homes and recreational vehicles on a temporary basis.
3. Regularly Features. The term “regularly features” with respect to an adult theater or adult cabaret means a regular and substantial course of conduct. The fact that live performances which are distinguished or characterized by an emphasis upon the display of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities occur on two or more occasions within a 30-day period, three or more occasions within a 60-day period, or four or more occasions within a 180-day period shall to the extent permitted by law be deemed to be a regular and substantial course of conduct.
4. “Repair service” means any service or facility where electrical, electronic or mechanical equipment are repaired away from the premises of the customer.
5. “Research laboratory” means a facility for scientific research, including but not limited to pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnology research, or the design, development and testing of electrical, electronic, magnetic, optical, computer or telecommunications components.
6. “Residential care home” means a state authorized, certified or licensed family care home, foster home, or group home serving six or fewer mentally disordered or otherwise handicapped persons or dependent and neglected children on a 24-hour basis.
7. “Restaurant or cafe” means any retail business that sells ready-to-eat food or beverages for on-premises or off-premises consumption.
S. Definitions, “S.”
1. “Satellite receiving dish” means a device or instrument designed or used for the reception of television or other electronic communications signal broadcast or relayed from an earth satellite. It may be solid, open mesh, or bar configured structure in the shape of a shallow dish or parabola.
2. School. The term “school,” as used in this title, means an institution of learning for minors, whether public or private, offering a regular course of instruction, such as, but not limited to, those courses of study required by the California Education Code, or any child or day care facility. This definition includes a nursery school, kindergarten, elementary school, middle or junior high school, senior high school, or any special institution of education, but it does not include a vocational or professional institution of higher education, including a community or junior college, college, or university.
3. “Second dwelling unit” shall have the same definition as an “accessory dwelling unit,” as defined in HMC 17.03.072.
4. “Semi-nude” means a state of dress in which clothing covers no more than the genitals, pubic region, buttocks, and areola of the female breast, as well as portions of the body covered by supporting straps or devices.
5. “Sensitive use” means a school, day care center (as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 1596.76, as may be amended from time to time), youth center as defined in this chapter, church or religious institution, library, community center, recreational facility, park, or other similar use where minors are typically gathered or located.
6. “Service station” means any building, structure, premises or other place used primarily for the retail sale and dispensation of motor fuels, lubricants and motor vehicle accessories, and the rendering of services and minor repairs to such vehicles, not including painting, body work or fender work.
7. “Shopping center” means a primarily retail-oriented commercial site with at least three separate businesses that share common pedestrian and parking areas.
8. “Shrub” means a woody perennial plant smaller than a tree, usually having permanent stems branching from or near the ground.
9. Sign, Attached. “Attached sign” means a sign that is permanently affixed to a building, including but not limited to a wall sign, projecting sign, marquee sign, canopy sign or awning sign.
10. Sign, A-Frame. See “Sign, portable.”
11. Sign, Awning. “Awning sign” means a sign that is attached to, painted on, hung from or supported by an awning, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.4.
Figure 17.01.090.4. Awning signs painted on an awning (left) and hanging from an awning (right).
12. Sign, Banner. “Banner sign” means a sign that is made of fabric, cloth or any other loosely draping material, including any flag, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.5.
Figure 17.01.090.5. Banner sign.
13. Sign, Monument. “Monument sign” means a detached sign that is placed on the ground on a foundation or bearing surface and is not supported by poles, braces or similar structures, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.6.
Figure 17.01.090.6. Monument sign.
14. Sign, Outdoor. “Outdoor sign” means any card, cloth, paper, metal, painted glass, wooden, plaster, stone, or other sign of any kind or character whatsoever placed for outdoor advertising purposes on the ground or on any tree, wall, bush, rock, post, fence, building, structure or thing whatsoever. This term includes erecting, constructing, posting, painting, printing, tacking, mailing, gluing, sticking, carving, or otherwise fastening, affixing or making visible in any manner whatsoever.
15. Sign, Portable. “Portable sign” or “A-frame sign” means an on-site, nonilluminated sign used to advertise the location, goods or services offered on the premises.
16. Sign, Projecting. A “projecting sign” means a sign that is attached to a building and that projects outward from the building, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.7.
Figure 17.01.090.7. Projecting sign.
17. Sign, Reader Board. “Reader board sign” means a sign with detachable letters, numbers or other characters that allows its message to be changed without replacing or covering the sign face.
18. Sign, Roof. “Roof sign” means a sign erected on or above the roof or parapet of a building or structure, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.8.
Figure 17.01.090.8. Roof Sign
19. Sign, Temporary. “Temporary sign” means a sign generally constructed of paper, cardboard, cloth, canvas, plastic, synthetic, fabric or other similar lightweight materials used to provide information on events or conditions of a short and limited time duration.
20. Sign, Wall. “Wall sign” means a sign that is affixed to the wall of a building and is essentially parallel to the wall, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.9.
Figure 17.01.090.9. Wall sign.
21. Sign, Window. “Window sign” means a sign that is affixed to the inside or outside of a window or located within three feet of the window, and that is visible from the outside of the window, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.10.
Figure 17.01.090.10. Window sign.
22. Site, Grading. “Grading site” means a parcel of land or a contiguous combination of such parcel, where grading work is performed as a single unified operation.
23. “Smoke shop” means a retailer whose main purpose is the sale of smoking and/or tobacco products including, but not limited to, cigars, pipe tobacco, and smoking accessories for off-premises consumption at a retail establishment that either devotes more than 10 percent of its total floor area to smoking, drug, and/or tobacco paraphernalia or devotes more than a two-foot by four-foot (two feet in depth maximum) section of shelf space for display of for-sale tobacco products and the sale of smoking and/or tobacco paraphernalia, including electronic cigarettes and electronic vapor devices.
24. “Specified anatomical areas” as used herein shall mean and include any of the following: less than completely and opaquely covered human (a) genitals or pubic region; (b) buttocks; and (c) female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola.
25. “Specified sexual activities,” as used herein, shall mean and include any of the following, whether performed directly or indirectly through clothing or other covering:
a. The fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus, or female breast; sex acts, actual or simulated, including but not limited to intercourse, oral copulation, or sodomy;
b. Masturbation, actual or simulated; excretory functions as part of or in connection with any of the other activities found in this definition.
26. “Story” means that portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above, or if there is no floor above, the ceiling or roof above it. If the finished floor level directly above a basement or cellar is more than six feet above grade, such basement or cellar shall be considered a story, as shown in Figure 17.01.090.11.
Figure 17.01.090.11. Basement Story.
27. “Street” means a public or private thoroughfare 30 feet or more in width, other than an alley, which affords the principal means of access to abutting property.
28. “Street line” means the boundary line between the right-of-way or easement for a street, and the abutting property.
29. “Street tree” means any tree planted, caused to be planted and/or maintained within a “street tree area.”
30. “Street tree area” means the street right-of-way and five feet on either side thereof or to the edge of a planting area within the public right-of-way.
31. “Structural alterations” means any change in the supporting members of a building or structure such as bearing walls, columns, beams, girders or rafters.
32. “Structure” means anything constructed or erected which requires location on the ground or attached to something having location on the ground, including swimming pools, but not including fences or walls used as fences. For the purposes of the floodplain ordinance, “structure” means a walled and roofed building that is principally above ground; this includes a gas or liquid storage tank or a manufactured home.
33. Structure, Historic. “Historic structure” means any structure that is:
a. Listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places (a listing maintained by the Department of the Interior) or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as meeting the requirements for individual listing on the National Register;
b. Certified or preliminarily determined by the Secretary of the Interior as contributing to the historical significance of a registered historic district or a district preliminarily determined by the Secretary to qualify as a registered historic district;
c. Individually listed on a state inventory of historic places in states with historic preservation programs which have been approved by the Secretary of Interior; or
d. Individually listed on a local inventory of historic places in communities with historic preservation programs that have been certified either by an approved state program as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or directly by the Secretary of the Interior in states with approved programs.
34. “Supportive housing” means housing with no limits on length of stay, that is occupied by the target population and that is linked to on-site or off-site services that assist the supportive housing resident in retaining the housing, improving his or her health status, and maximizing his or her ability to live and, when possible, work in the community. Supportive housing units are residential uses permitted in all zones allowing residential uses, subject only to those requirements and restrictions that apply to other residential uses of the same type in the same zone.
T. Definitions, “T.”
1. “Target unit” means a dwelling unit within a housing development which will be reserved for sale or rent to, and is made available at an affordable rent or affordable ownership cost to, very-low-, low-, or moderate-income households, or is a unit in a senior citizen housing development.
2. “Target population” means persons with low income who have one or more disabilities, including mental illness, HIV or AIDS, substance abuse, or other chronic health condition, or individuals eligible for services provided pursuant to the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Division 4.5 (commencing with Section 4500) of the Welfare and Institutions Code) and may include, among other populations, adults, emancipated minors, families with children, elderly persons, young adults aging out of the foster care system, individuals exiting from institutional settings, veterans, and homeless people.
3. “Temporary tract office” means a temporary sales office located on the site of a new development, usually in a model home, and operated until sales are completed.
4. “Tobacco paraphernalia” means cigarette papers or wrappers, pipes, holders of smoking materials of all types, cigarette-rolling machines, electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes, electronic smoking devices, electronic cigarette cartridges, electronic smoking device cartridges and related products, and any other item designed or used for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco products.
5. “Tobacco product” means any tobacco cigarette, cigar, pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, e-cigarette or electronic smoking device, or any other form of tobacco or product containing at least 50 percent tobacco which may be utilized for smoking, chewing, inhalation or other manner of ingestion. “Tobacco product” does not include any product that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for sale as a tobacco cessation product (e.g., skin patches, lozenges, gum and prescription medications), or for other therapeutic purposes where that product is marketed and sold solely for such approved use.
6. “Transitional housing” means rental housing operated under the California Multifamily Housing Program requirements that call for the termination of assistance and recirculation of the assisted unit to another eligible program recipient at some predetermined future point in time, which shall be no less than six months. Transitional housing units are residential uses permitted in all zones allowing residential uses of the same type in the same zone.
7. “Tree” means a woody perennial plant characterized by having a main stem or trunk, or a multistemmed trunk system with a more or less definitely formed crown. It is usually over 10 feet high at maturity. This definition shall not include trees planted, grown and held for sale by licensed nurseries or the first removal or transplanting of such trees pursuant to and as part of the operation of a licensed nursery business.
8. “Tree removal” means the elimination of a tree by cutting to the ground, complete extraction, or killing by spraying, girdling, or any other means.
9. Tree, Significant. “Significant tree” means any tree which measures three inches or more in diameter at breast height (DBH) (four and one-half feet above natural grade) or immediately below the lowest branch, whichever is lower.
U. Definitions, “U.”
1. “Use” means the purpose for which a lot or structure is or may be leased, occupied, maintained, arranged, designed, intended, constructed, erected, moved, altered or enlarged.
2. Use, Accessory. “Accessory use” means a use incidental and accessory to the principal use of a lot or building located on the same lot.
3. Use, Conditional. “Conditional use” means a use which may be suitable only in specific locations in a zoning district or only if such use is designed or laid out on the site in a particular manner. A conditional use requires a conditional use permit.
4. Use, Principal Permitted. “Principal permitted use” means a permitted use not requiring a conditional use permit in that zone.
5. Use, Temporary. “Temporary use” means a short-term activity that may or may not meet the normal development or use standards of the applicable zoning district, but that occurs for a limited period of time, typically no longer than 60 days, and that does not permanently alter the character or physical facilities of a property.
6. “Utility building or substation” means any facility that is used for production, distribution or processing related to a public utility that involves the use of direct physical connections, such as water, sewage, electricity, natural gas or telecommunications services.
V. Definitions, “V.”
1. “Vehicle” means any device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved or drawn, except a device moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.
2. Vehicle, Recreational (RV). “Recreational vehicle (RV)” means a vehicle which is:
a. Built on a single chassis;
b. Four hundred square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection;
c. Designed to be self-propelled or permanently towable by a light duty truck; and
d. Designed primarily not for use as a permanent dwelling but as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use.
3. “Vehicle depot” means a facility that is used primarily for the storage of operative vehicles in a fleet, including but not limited to associated repair facilities for temporarily inoperative vehicles.
4. “Very-low-income household” means households whose income does not exceed the very low income limits applicable to Stanislaus County, as published and periodically updated by the State Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to the applicable sections of the California Health and Safety Code.
W. Definitions, “W.”
1. “Warehousing” means the provision of facilities used primarily for the storage of commercial goods, including documents. “Warehousing” does not include mini-storage facilities or facilities used primarily for wholesaling and distribution.
2. “WECS, dominant wind direction” means the direction from which 80 percent of the energy contained in the wind flows.
3. “WECS, overspeed control” means a mechanism used to limit the speed of blade rotation to below the design limits of the WECS.
4. “WECS, swept area” means the largest area of the WECS which extracts energy from the wind stream. In a conventional propeller-type WECS there is a direct relationship between swept area and the rotor diameter.
5. “WECS, total height” means the height of the tower and the furthest vertical extension of the WECS.
6. “Wholesaling and distribution” means the provision of facilities used primarily for selling or distributing goods to retailers, contractors, commercial purchasers or other wholesalers, or to the branch or local offices of a company or organization.
7. “Wind energy conversion system (WECS)” means a machine that converts the kinetic energy in the wind into a usable form of electrical or mechanical energy (commonly known as a wind turbine or windmill). The WECS includes all parts of the system except the tower and the transmission equipment.
X. Definitions, “X.” None.
Y. Definitions, “Y.”
1. “Yard” means an open space other than a court on the same lot with a building, unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward, except as otherwise provided in this title.
2. Yard, Front. “Front yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot measured between the front property line and the nearest vertical support or wall of the main building.
3. Yard, Rear. “Rear yard” means a yard extending across the full width of the lot measured between the rear property line and the nearest vertical support or wall of the main building.
4. Yard, Side. “Side yard” means a yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard measured between the side lot line and the nearest vertical support or wall of the main building.
5. “Youth center” means any public or private facility that is primarily used to host recreational or social activities for minors, including but not limited to: private youth membership organizations or clubs, social service teenage club facilities, and where minors are legally permitted to accept services. This definition shall not include any private gym, martial arts, yoga, ballet, music, art studio or similar studio of this nature, nor shall it include any athletic training facility, dentist office, doctor’s office primarily serving children or a location which is primarily utilized as an administrative office or facility for youth programs or organizations.
Z. Definitions, “Z.”
1. “Zone” means a portion of the territory of the city within which certain uniform regulations and requirements, or various combinations thereof, apply pursuant to the provisions of this title. (Ord. 24-02 § 2, 2024; Ord. 23-04 § 1, 2023; Ord. 20-03 § 2, 2020; Ord. 20-01 §§ 1, 2, 2020; Ord. 17-01 § 1, 2017; Ord. 15-08 §§ 1 – 3, 2015; Ord. 08-06 § 1, 2008)