HomeMy WebLinkAbout1234 - Minor Modifications to Allow Limited Exceptions to Design and Development StandardsPage 1 of 13
ORDINANCE NO. 1234
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UKIAH AMENDING VARIOUS
SECTIONS OF THE UKIAH CITY CODE THAT WOULD MAKE MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO
DIVISION 9, CHAPTER 2, ARTICLE 5.2, SECTIONS 9055 - 9055.2 (OBJECTIVE DESIGN &
DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS) TO INCORPORATE GENERAL PLAN OBJECTIVES,
CLARIFY EXISTING REGULATIONS, AND ALLOW FOR LIMITED EXCEPTIONS, AS
NECESSITATED BY SITE OR BUILDING CONSTRAINTS.
The City Council of the City of Ukiah hereby ordains as follows:
SECTION 1
Section 9055 of the Ukiah City Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
§9055 PURPOSE AND INTENT
The purpose of this article is to create a by-right, ministerial approval process for all new
residential construction, excluding single-family homes and duplexes. To do so, this article sets
forth objective design and development standards that remove barriers to and reduce costs for
new residential construction for multi-family housing, while still protecting the residential
character of the City’s neighborhoods. (Ord. 1212, §7, adopted 2021)
SECTION 2
Section 9055.1 of the Ukiah City Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
§9055.1 DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
A. Setbacks:
1. Front: The front setback shall comply with the base zone front setback requirements.
2. Setback Landscaping: Areas between the required setback and street improvements
shall be landscaped per the landscaping requirements in subsection L of this section.
3. Side (Interior):
a. Minimum Side Setbacks: There is no minimum interior side setback; provided, that
structures comply with the building and fire code standards for structure separation.
b. Zero Setback: If zero setbacks are proposed, the side setback opposite the zero
setback shall be a minimum of five feet (5').
4. Rear: The rear setback shall comply with the base zone rear setback requirements.
B. Property Access: There shall be vehicular access from a dedicated and improved street,
easement, or alley to off-street parking areas.
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C. Street Frontage: Every primary residential structure shall have frontage on a public street
or an accessway which has been approved for residential access by the City.
D. Structure Orientation: Structures shall incorporate site design that reduces heating and
cooling needs by orienting structures (both common facilities and dwelling units) on the parcel to
reduce heat loss and gain, depending on the time of day and season of the year.
E. Structure Height: Structure height shall comply with the base zone maximum allowable
height.
F. Alternative Energy Applications: All structures shall be designed to allow for the installation
of alternative energy technologies including but not limited to active solar, wind, or other
emerging technologies, and shall comply with the following standards:
1. Installation of solar technology on structures such as rooftop photovoltaic cell arrays
shall be installed in accordance with the State Fire Marshal safety regulations and
guidelines.
2. Roof-mounted equipment shall be located in such a manner so as to not preclude the
installation of solar panels, as shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1: Application of Roof-Mounted Equipment
G. Utility Lines: All utility lines from the service drop to the structure shall be placed
underground.
H. HVAC Systems: All HVAC systems shall be located on the roof of the structure to minimize
noise impacts to adjacent properties, or shall be placed on the ground, not visible from the
public right of way, meet the required setback and be obscured by fencing or landscaping as
described in §9055.2(H) - Screening.
I. Mail and Package Delivery Location: For multifamily development projects greater than four
(4) dwelling units, mailboxes and package delivery areas shall be in locations easily visible by
residents.
J. Primary Entrances:
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1. Entry Lighting: All primary structure entrances shall include dusk-to-dawn lighting for
safety and security per subsection P of this section.
2. Interior-Facing Structures:
a. The primary entrance of each interior-facing structure shall be oriented toward
paseos, courtyards, pathways, and active landscape areas.
b. For safety, units not facing the street shall be oriented to provide visual access to
entryways, pedestrian pathways, recreation areas, and common facilities from
dwelling units.
K. Open Space: The following development standards apply to multifamily developments
greater than four (4) dwelling units:
1. Public Open Space:
a. Public Open Space: Not less than ten percent (10%) of the gross acreage of the
total project shall be set aside as public open space to allow for active and passive
recreation opportunities and that includes shading elements to benefit all residents of
the project, as shown in Figure 1-2. Open space ownership and maintenance shall be
the responsibility of the property owner(s).
Figure 1-2: Configuration of Public Open Space
b. Connections: Public open space areas shall be directly connected to all interior
space areas (i.e., community room, recreation room, exercise center), trash and
recycling enclosures, laundry facilities (if applicable), structure entrances, parking
areas, and mail delivery areas by pedestrian-oriented pathways.
c. Landscaping and Gardening: A minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of the required
public open space shall be landscaped with materials and plantings consistent with
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the standards in subsection L of this section (Landscaping and Gardening) and the
subject parcel’s underlying base zone landscaping requirements.
d. Lighting: In addition to the exterior lighting standards in subsection P of this
section, public open space areas shall incorporate accent lighting. Accent lighting
may include string lighting in trees or crisscrossed over pedestrian areas via
courtyards, or plazas; lighting in fountains; or lighting of significant structures or
architectural design features.
e. Public Gathering Space: Public open space areas shall include a minimum of two
(2) of the following public gathering spaces:
(1) Patio seating area for a minimum of eight (8) people. Patio seating can be
fixed chairs and tables, table/bench combination, or landscape materials (i.e.,
slabs of stone or rock);
(2) Community Garden;
(3) Water feature in the form of a fountain, bubblers, or water play area;
(4) Picnic/BBQ area no smaller than two hundred (200) square feet with a
minimum of three (3) Picnic/BBQs and tables; or
(5) Pedestrian plaza no smaller than two hundred (200) square feet with a
minimum of four (4) benches.
f. Recreation Facilities: A maximum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the required
public open space area may be paved for recreation facilities including but not limited
to basketball courts, tennis courts, common playground, or swimming pools.
2. Private Open Space:
a. Ground Floor Units: Each ground floor dwelling unit shall include a minimum of
forty (40) square feet of private open space in the form of a covered or uncovered
patio to allow for light, air, and privacy.
b. Above-Ground-Floor Units: Each above-ground-floor dwelling unit shall include a
minimum of forty (40) square feet of private open space in the form of a terrace,
balcony, or rooftop patio to allow for light, air, and privacy.
L. Landscaping (see Figure 1-3):
1. Landscaping Plans: Existing features, such as trees, creeks, and riparian habitats shall
be incorporated into landscaping plans.
2. Site Landscaping:
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a. All street trees shall be planted consistent with the standard planting detail on file
with the City Engineer.
b. Vegetation (i.e., bushes, shrubs, flowers) shall be maintained at a height of no
more than three feet (3') when located adjacent to pedestrian pathways and building
facades and placed in such a manner that does not obstruct lighting.
c. Foodscaping: The integration of edible plants into ornamental landscapes is
allowed and can constitute a percentage of the required landscaping for the subject
property.
d. Community Garden: A public garden tended and maintained by members of the
local community, allowed per §9173.2 (Community Gardens). Community Gardens
shall be regularly maintained and feature a management plan.
3. Irrigation: Site landscaping shall include an automated irrigation system with a minimum
of seventy-five percent (75%) of system being drip irrigation to reduce water consumption.
4. Maintenance: All trees and on-site landscaping shall be maintained by the property
owner.
5. Landscaping Plant Selection:
a. Landscape planting shall consist of at least seventy-five percent (75%) native,
drought-tolerant plants and/or flowering plants, including plants identified for
‘Foodscaping’.
b. All tree plantings shall be equivalent to a fifteen (15) gallon container or larger.
c. Street trees shall be selected from the approved species on the Ukiah Master Tree
List – Required Street Tree List.
Figure 1-3: Landscaping
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M. Personal Outdoor Storage Spaces: A minimum of ten (10) square feet (eighty (80) cubic
feet) of personal outdoor storage space shall be provided for each dwelling unit. Personal
outdoor storage areas shall be covered and able to be locked.
N. Bicycle Parking is an essential element of any bikeway network. Site planning for short-
term and long-term bicycle storage considerations should be based on the Association of
Pedestrian and Bicycle Professional’s (APBP) “Bicycle Parking Guidelines” and best practices.
See below for bicycle parking standards (see Figure 1-4):
1. Class I Bicycle Parking: One Class I bicycle parking space (i.e., bicycle locker) is
required for every fifteen (15) dwelling units. The Class I bicycle space shall be located
within or directly adjacent to the required public open space area.
2. Class II Bicycle Parking: For multifamily development projects greater than four (4)
dwelling units, one Class II bicycle parking space (i.e., inverted U-rack, ribbon rack, wave
rack) is required for every three (3) dwelling units. The Class II bicycle space shall be
located within or directly adjacent to the required public open space area.
Figure 1-4: Bicycle Parking
O. Parking and Circulation:
1. Parking Areas:
a. Parking Lot Design and Location:
(1) Parking is prohibited within required sight distance areas.
(2) Multifamily development projects greater than fifteen (15) dwelling units shall
not site more than fifty percent (50%) of the total parking stalls in a single area of
the parking lot.
(3) Multifamily development projects greater than four (4) dwelling units shall not
provide parking between the building(s) and the primary street frontage.
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(4) Parking lots within a site shall be internally connected and use shared
driveways.
b. Parking Lot Landscaping: The following development standards apply to multi-
family developments greater than four (4) dwelling units:
(1) Parking areas with twelve (12) or more parking stalls shall have a tree placed
between every four (4) parking stalls (with exceptions for access aisles and
other features required for accessibility or EV Charging), unless infeasible, due
to existing mature trees or other similar site-constraint. Parking lots shall also
feature a continuous linear planting strip, rather than individual planting wells..
(2) Parking lots shall provide shade trees in landscaped areas and along
pedestrian pathways. Parking areas shall be designed to provide a tree canopy
coverage of fifty percent (50%) over all paved areas within ten (10) years of
planting.
(3) Parking lots shall provide a minimum ten-foot (10') buffer between the
parking and structures. This buffer can include walkways and/or landscaping.
(4) Parking lots shall use concrete curbing or raised planting areas to protect
landscaped areas from encroaching vehicles.
(5) At least seventy-five percent (75%) of parking lot trees shall be deciduous
species.
c. Parking Lot Lighting: The following development standards apply to multifamily
development projects greater four (4) dwelling units.
(1) Parking lots shall include pole-mounted lighting that shall be no more than
sixteen feet (16') in height.
(2) Parking lot lighting shall be directed downward to minimize glare.
d. Carports: Carports shall be reserved for vehicles and shall not be used as storage
space.
e. Individual Garage Parking: For multifamily development projects greater than four
(4) dwelling units, indoor vehicle parking in the form of garages is encouraged, but
not required.
2. Required Parking:
a. Parking Standards: Multifamily dwelling parking standards shall be consistent with
the parking regulations of their zoning designation.
b. Parking Standards: Mixed-use parking standards shall be consistent with Ukiah
City Code Section 9198.A.9.
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P. Exterior Lighting (see Figure 1-5):
1. Pedestrian-oriented lighting shall be provided in active pedestrian areas (i.e., paseos,
interior sidewalks, pathways, etc.) for safety and security.
2. Pedestrian pathway (excluding street-fronting sidewalks) lighting features shall not
exceed ten feet (10') in height.
3. Active pedestrian areas shall incorporate free-standing lighting separate from
structures.
4. Pedestrian pathways, elevator lobbies, parking areas, stairwells, and other common
areas shall have minimum illumination levels of one-half (0.5) foot-candle at the pathway
surface to clearly show walking conditions.
5. Overhead sports court lighting shall illuminate only the intended area. Light trespass
onto neighboring parcels is prohibited.
6. Outdoor lighting shall use energy efficient lighting technology and shall be shielded
downward to reduce glare and light pollution in conformance with Dark Sky Standards of
the International Dark Sky Association.
Figure 1-5: Exterior Lighting
Q. Privacy: Any balcony, window, or door shall use at least one of the following development
approaches to lessen the privacy impacts onto adjacent properties. These techniques include:
use of obscured glazing, landscaped/privacy buffer in the required setback with a minimum of
five feet (5'), window placement above eye level, or locating balconies, windows, and doors
facing toward the street and backyard. Trees and landscaping used as a landscaped/privacy
buffer shall be planted and maintained by the property owner to preserve the privacy of adjacent
property owners.
R. Trash and Recycling Enclosures: The following trash and recycling enclosure development
standards apply to multifamily development projects greater than four (4) dwelling units:
1. Walls either made of masonry, metal, or wood with finished metal doors.
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2. Vehicle and pedestrian access gates.
3. Downward lighting for safety and security.
S. Structure Identification: Structure identification numbers shall be placed along pedestrian
pathways and roads and shall be readable from a distance of at least sixty feet (60').
T. Signage and Information: Developments shall comply with the sign standards in Division 3,
Chapter 7 of this code (Signs). In addition, all directional signage and informational kiosks (i.e.,
development maps) shall be located at the entrances of individual buildings and at
convergences of main pedestrian pathways.
SECTION 3
Section 9055.2 of the Ukiah City Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
§9055.2 DESIGN STANDARDS
A. Carports:
1. For multifamily development projects greater than four (4) dwelling units, carports shall
not be visible from the street.
2. Carports shall include the approved color palette, materials, and design elements of the
structure.
B. Color Palettes (see Figure 1-6):
1. All structures shall include at least one primary color and a maximum of two (2) accent
colors, in addition to the color of the roofing material.
2. Each structure elevation shall include two (2) colors in the selected color palette.
3. Projects that include more than ten (10) dwelling units shall include at least two (2) color
palettes, where no single-color palette shall be used on more than fifty percent (50%) of
the dwelling units.
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Figure 1-6: Color Palettes
C. Fences and Walls: The following materials are prohibited for all fences and walls:
1. Electrified;
2. Barbed wire/razor wire;
3. Sharp objects such as spires and glass;
4. Cyclone or chain link (Exception for on-site gardening or recreation improvements (e.g.,
basketball court, community gardens, etc.); and
5. Vinyl (Exception for on-site gardening or recreation improvements (e.g., basketball
court, community gardens, etc.).
D. Glazing: Structures shall incorporate the use of energy efficient glazing to reduce heat loss
and gain.
E. Common Mailboxes: Common mailboxes shall be painted using the approved color palette
for the overall development.
F. Trash and Recycling Enclosures: Trash and recycling enclosure walls and metal doors shall
be painted in accordance with the approved color palette for the overall project.
G. Roof Design and Materials (see Figure 1-7):
1. Horizontal eaves longer than twenty feet (20') in length shall be broken up by gables,
building projections, or other forms of articulation.
2. Roof overhangs shall be a minimum of twelve inches (12").
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Figure 1-7: Roof Design
3. The following are allowable roofing materials:
a. Nonreflective standing seam metal roofs in shades of tan, brown, black, light blue,
red, and green;
b. Cool foam roofs (white);
c. Clay tile; and
d. Architectural composition shingles.
H. Screening: All screening of ground-mounted, wall-mounted, and roof-mounted equipment
shall be painted in accordance with the approved color palette for the project. Visual screening
shall be installed if ground-mounted or wall-mounted equipment faces the street.
I. Stairways/Stairwells: Exterior stairways/stairwells that are not enclosed shall not be visible
from the public right-of-way.
J. Structure Massing: Structures that have a length longer than thirty feet (30') shall include
facades with varying modulation with a minimum depth of two feet (2') at intervals of no more
than ten feet (10'), as shown in Figure 1-8.
Figure 1-8: Structure Massing
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K. Structure Materials and Elements:
1. Drainpipes, parapets, and ledges shall not be located near windows, corridors, and
balconies. If such placement is not feasible, they shall face parking lots, public spaces,
and roads.
2. All structures shall include a minimum of two (2) primary materials (i.e., stone, wood,
masonry, or metal) on each structure elevation. Each material shall comprise at least
twenty percent (20%) of the elevations excluding windows and railings.
3. All structures that use exterior veneers shall ensure the edge of the veneer is not
obvious by prohibiting the use of vertical joints at exterior corners.
4. The following primary structure materials are prohibited:
a. Exposed logs in their natural state;
b. Stucco textured foam, synthetic stucco, vinyl or vinyl clad materials; and
c. Unfinished galvanized metals.
L. Exception: As needed or required, due to site or building constraints, the applicant can
request deviation from the identified standards conveyed in UCC §9055.1 (K-S) or UCC
§9055.2 (J-K) by 25% upon review by the Community Development Director.
SECTION 4
1. SEVERABILITY.
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance,
or its application to any person or circumstance, is for any reason held to be invalid or
unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of
the remaining sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases
of this Ordinance, or its application to any other person or circumstance. The City Council of the
City of Ukiah hereby declares that it would have adopted each section, subsection, subdivision,
paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more
other sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases hereof be
declared invalid or unenforceable.
2. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall be published as required by law in a newspaper of general circulation in
the City of Ukiah and shall become effective thirty (30) days after its adoption.
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Introduced by title only on October 4, 2023, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Orozco, Sher, Duenas, and Mayor Rodin
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: Councilmember Crane
Adopted on October 18, 2023, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Orozco, Sher, Crane, Duenas, and Mayor Rodin
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
Mari Rodin, Mayor
ATTEST:
Kristine Lawler, City Clerk