HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 189 ORDINANCE NO. 189
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL
CITY, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE ZONING
ORDINANCE BY REVISING REGULATIONS
PERTAINING TO ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE
PLAN REVIEW PROCEDURES.
The city council of the City of Cathedral City does ordain
as follows:
SECTION 1. Pursuant to state and local environmental
guidelines, it has been determined that the regulations
encompassed in this ordinance are not considered to have a
significant impact and it is determined to be categorically
exempt pursuant CEQA guidelines.
SECTION 2 . Division K of Article V, Architectural and
Site Plan Review, of the Cathedral City Zoning Ordinance hereby
is amended to read as follows:
Division K. Design Review
Sections
1. Purpose
2. Review Committee
3 . Planning Commission Action
4. Administration Approval
5. Appeals to City Council
6. Processing Time Limits
7. Project Requiring Design Review
8. Exception to Design Review
9. Filing Procedures
10. Evaluation
11. Delegation
12 . Time Limitations and Modifications
13. Site Plan Review
Section 1. Purpose
It is hereby found and declared that the City
of Cathedral City lies in a natural setting of
scenic and natural beauty with year-round
{ weather encouraging outdoor activities; that
this environment generates a strong catalyst
for development of Cathedral City as a tourist
' and recreation oriented community with stable
family oriented residential areas; that this
unique environment contributes a material
economic advantage to the citizens, business,
and industry within the City and particularly
to the property owners who reside therein.
Therefore, it is the purpose of these
provisions to assure that the development of
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the community is in an orderly manner with
compatible uses and attractive structures that
are consistent with the natural environment.
This is necessary to maintain economic
advantage, to stabilize, protect, and maintain
property values, to encourage permanency of
desirable residential areas, to promote
tourism and commerce, and to assure a
I: continued sound economic growth of the City
and well-being of its economy and its people.
Further, these provisions are consistent with
and implement the community development goals
of the General Plan.
To achieve these goals it is hereby enacted
that all substantial development prior to
issuance of building permits be reviewed for
compliance with city codes, proper
architectural and site design.
Section 2 . Review Committees
a. Development Service Committee:
There is hereby created a Development Service
Committee which shall review all projects
subject to Design Review. The membership of
this committee shall be: The City Engineer,
Fire Marshal, City Planner and any other
person so designated by the Director of
Community Development. The Development
Service Committee shall hold a pre-scheduled
meeting for the review of application to
determine completeness and to determine if the
proposal meets minimum City standards and
proper site planning techniques. The
applicant may be invited to attend if the
chairman determines a need exists for such
attendance. The committee shall establish its
own rules and procedures consistent with the
intent of this zoning ordinance or laws of the
City or State. Upon request by the applicant,
the applicant shall be entitled to attend any
meeting of the committee at which the
applicant's project will be reviewed.
b. Architectural Review Committee:
"' There is hereby created an Architectural
Review Committee to be appointed by the City
Council. The rules regarding appointments,
terms, vacancies and the selection of officers
shall be as contained in Chapter 2. 06 of the
Cathedral City Municipal Code, except that
there shall be no term limitation on
reappointments. The Architectural Review
Committee shall consist of five members of
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whom two shall be licensed architects, one
shall be a licensed landscape architect or
landscape contractor and two shall be the same
or of a similar background as the foregoing,
but not required to be licensed. The
Architectural Review Committee shall hold a
pre-scheduled meeting for the review and
conducting of business where the applicant or
I: his representative may be present to
participate in the review process. Three
members of the committee shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business. The
affirmative or negative vote of a majority of
the committee members present shall be
necessary for it to take action. The
committee shall establish its own rules and
procedures consistent with the intent of this
zoning ordinance or any other ordinances or
laws of the City or State.
c. Review Committee Responsibilities:
The two committees shall operate in tandem.
The Development Service Committee shall review
the application for completeness and
consistency with the General Plan, city codes,
development guidelines, parking and traffic
circulation, traffic safety, compatibility
with adjacent and nearby properties, proper
site planning techniques and adequacy of
public services and facilities. The
Development Service Committee shall prepare a
report to the Architectural Review Committee.
This report shall be forwarded to the
Architectural Review Committee and the
applicant. The Architectural Review Committee
will review the project based on the report
submitted by the Development Service
Committee, the plans submitted as part of the
application and any information provided by
the applicant. The Architectural Review
Committee shall prepare a report and
recommendation to the Planning Commission on
each application.
Section 3 . Planning Commission Action
s ` The Planning Commission shall give full
consideration to the recommendations of the
Architectural Review Committee the General Plan,
zoning regulations, specific plans and development
standards, and may approve or deny the project,
with full authority to add, delete or modify
conditions of approval. The Planning Commission
shall articulate reasons for changing or deleting
conditions specifically recommended by the
Architectural Review Committee. Any change in
conditions or design recommended by the
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Architectural Review Committee shall be reported to
the committee. The Planning Commission action
shall be final and in effect 10 days after the
action unless appealed within this period.
Section 4. Administrative Review
The staff of the Department of Community
Development shall have authority to perform Design
Review and to impose reasonable conditions in
4 connection with such review, regarding applications
for the issuance of a building permit for projects
not specifically requiring Design Review. Upon a
determination by the Director of Community
Development that the applicant's project appears to
be detrimental to surrounding uses and the
immediate neighborhood, or will tend to diminish
values of or otherwise detrimentally affect
neighboring uses, or appears to be inconsistent
with the purposes stated in Section 1, the Director
of Community Development, on his or her own
initiative, may, with notice to the applicant,
forward any such case to the Development Service
Committee, Architectural Review Committee and
Planning Commission.
Section 5. Appeals to City Council
Any person aggrieved by any decision of the
Planning Commission or City staff on administrative
approval in connection with Design Review may
appeal to the City Council as provided in Sections
2. 04 . 100 et. seq. , of the Cathedral City Municipal
code. This provision shall not apply, however, in
any case wherein the decision of the Planning
Commission would in some other fashion come before
the City Council for consideration and action, and
in which proceeding the person aggrieved as
aforesaid would have the opportunity to express the
appeal to the City Council.
Section 6. Processing Time Limits
It shall be the responsibility of the Director of
Community Development or designee to inform the
applicant of a Design Review application of the
completeness of such application within 30 days of
receipt. If the application is complete, the
Director shall place the application on the next
available Development Service Committee agenda and
assure that the application is processed
expediently through both committees and the
Planning Commission. If a Negative Declaration is
prepared and ready to be issued, action shall be
completed within six months. If an Environmental
Impact Report is prepared, action shall be
completed with one year. The applicant may at any
stage in the processing, including the Director's
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review of the application, request that the
application be forwarded to the Planning Commission
for action. It is the applicant's responsibility
to provide the Planning Commission in writing the
reasons the application is to be forwarded without
compliance with all processing steps.
Section 7. Project Requiring Design Review
1[ Design Review shall be required to construct,
alter, move, remodel or reface a building,
structure or sign of any of the following:
a. All multiple family residential development of
2 or more dwelling units per parcel that the
parcel fronts or sides on a street designated
as a scenic highway within the General Plan.
b. All multiple family residential development of
5 or more dwelling units per parcel in any
zone.
c. All non-residential main structures in
residential zones such as churches, government
buildings, etc.
d. All buildings designed for commercial,
professional, or industrial occupancy.
e. All permanent signs that identify a business
or place of business, advertise a product or
service, but not including incidental
directional signs and similar messages.
f. Tennis courts in residential zones.
g. Use of land in excess of 2000 sq. ft. in
conjunction with a commercial or industrial
use.
h. Any building or structure that the Director of
Community Development finds could have adverse
impacts to adjacent properties or the
community because of unique design, lot
dimensions, grading and drainage alterations,
building size, building height, contrasting
I: design within an existing homogenous setting,
modification of traffic patterns, view or
privacy impacts, or substantial modification
of a native landscape.
Section 8. Exceptions to Design Review
Design Review shall not be required for the
following:
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a. Interior non-structural alterations for
permitted uses.
b. One or more structural or exterior
improvements to existing structures or other
site improvements provided that the sum of the
incremental costs during any five-year period
of said improvements does not exceed ten (10)
percent of the current replacement value of
the permanent improvements existing on the
premises as determined by the Building
Official.
Section 9. Filing Procedures
a. Request for Design Review approval shall be
made through application forms provided by the
Director of Community Development. The
application for such approval shall be filed
with the Director of Community Development.
If the project requires a conditional use
permit or planned development, such
application shall be considered as meeting
all requirements of the Design Review and
shall be processed as stipulated herein.
b. An application for Design Review shall be
supplemented by plans, drawings, photographs,
renderings, samples of materials and any other
pertinent information, as required by the
Director of Community Development to
adequately portray all applicable aspects of a
proposal and adjacent property as required.
Plans and drawings shall be signed by the
draftsman and the architect, building designer
or engineer responsible for their correctness.
Section 10. Evaluation
The Development Services Committee, the
Architectural Review Committee and the Planning
Commission, shall review applications and arrive at
recommendations or approvals as appropriate, by
considering the following elements and aspects for
conformance with the General Plan, specific plans
and with the purposes of this division and of this
zoning ordinance, and supplemental regulations and
plans related to community appearance as may be
adopted from time to time
a. Site utilization, including: traffic
circulation and safety on- and off-site;
pedestrian circulation and safety; arrangement
of off-street parking and loading facilities;
provisions related to public facilities;
b. Architectural considerations, including:
height, bulk, and area of buildings; colors
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and types of building and installations;
physical and architectural relations with
existing and proposed structures; height;
materials, colors, and variations in boundary
walls, fences or screening planting; exterior
elevations of all sides of the proposed
buildings or structures; methods used to
screen mechanical equipment from view;
1[ c. Landscape and site treatment, including:
consideration of types of planting and
vegetation, rock groupings, ground forms;
methods of irrigation; lighting for parking,
and aesthetic uses of lighting; incorporation
and placement of utilities and appurtenances;
d. Signs, including consideration of: number,
location, color, size, materials and lighting.
Signs shall be part of the architectural
concept and arrangement,shall be harmonious
with the building design and shall be
compatible with signs on adjoining buildings
and properties. Signs shall have good scale
in design and in visual relationship to
buildings and surroundings. The City's sign
regulations shall be considered part of the
criteria of this subsection.
Section 11. Delegation
When authorized by the Architectural Review
Committee, Planning Commission or City Council in
appeal, the Director of Community Development shall
have authority to take final action on specified
projects or portions of projects where complete
approval was not possible because of insufficient
time for final review during the Architectural
Review Committee or Planning Commission hearings.
Section 12. Time Limitations and Modifications
Architectural and site plan approval shall expire
within twenty-four (24) months after the original
date of approval, unless a completed building
permit application has been submitted. A
"completed building permit application" shall mean
1[ all required fees, structural plans, site plans,
grading plans and other documents required pursuant
to the Architectural and Site Plan approval. The
Director of Community Development shall have
authority to determine the sufficiency of the
building permit application as complying with the
criteria in this section.
In the event said architectural and site plan
review application was filed and approved in
conjunction with the filing and approval of a
tentative tract or parcel map, then said
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architectural site plan approval may be extended in
conjunction with an approved extension of the
subdivision map process.
Section 13 . Site Plan Review
The Director of Community Development shall
administratively process all applications for
a building permits requiring zoning compliance that
are not specifically listed as requiring Design
Review per Section 7 or within the various zone
districts. The Director of Community Development
may require an application, graphics, plans or any
other material to properly evaluate the requests
for zoning compliance and public facility needs.
Any applicant for site plan review may appeal the
Director of Community Development's action. Such
appeal shall be in the form of a Design Review
application and shall be processed accordingly.
SECTION 3 . EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be in
full force and effect thirty (30) days after passage.
SECTION 4. POSTING. The City Clerk shall within 15 days
after the passage of this ordinance, cause it to be posted in at
least the 3 public places designated by resolution of the City
Council; shall certify to the adoption and posting of this
ordinance; and shall cause this ordinance and its certification,
together with proof of posting, to be entered in the book of
ordinances of this City.
The foregoing ordinance was approved and adopted at a meeting
of the City Council held on September 16 , 1987 by the following
vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers Di Grandi , Hillery, Kri ngs, Murphy and
Mayor Paquette
Noes: None
Absent: None
_MAYS '
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v ATTEST:
,1/)'2-< /6 tg4 -7-1/
CI Y CLERK
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APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED AS TO CONTENT:
MIA&jR. 4.7r, z.,,_<,/e,-1.7..,..6ei
CITY ATTORNEY C TY MANAGER
I HEREBY CERTIFY, UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, THAT THE
FOREGOING ORDINANCE NO. I Aq WAS DULY ADOPTED
BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL CITY,
CALIFORNIA.IN A MEETING THEREOF HELD ON THE j low
DAY OF< PO4e r* er,198 , AND THAT SAME WAS POSTED
IN AT LEAST THE THREE PUBLIC PLACES SPECIFIED FOR SUCH
POSTINGS, BY THE SAID CITY COUNCIL.
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Aft/A/ / LIP OA .. _i
CITY CLERK
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