For the purpose of this title, certain words and phrases are defined and shall be construed as set out in this and the following sections unless it is apparent from the context that they have a different meaning. All public officials, bodies, and agencies to which reference is made shall be understood to mean those of the County of Alameda, hereinafter referred to as the county, unless the text indicates otherwise.

"Access driveway" means land providing vehicular access to a building or off-street parking area, open from the ground to the sky except as may be otherwise indicated on an approved site development review plan, land use and development plan, or cluster permit plan.

"Accessory structure" means a detached subordinate structure or building on a lot, the use of which is appropriate, incidental and customarily or necessarily related to the district and to the principal use of the lot or to that of a main building on the lot.

"Accessory use" means a use which is appropriate, subordinate, incidental and customarily or necessarily related to a lawfully existing principal use on the same lot or building site and does not alter the essential characteristics of such principal use as a whole and as related to other uses permitted in the same district.

"Adult entertainment activity" means any commercial activity, whether conducted intermittently or full time, which primarily involves the sale, display, exhibition or viewing of books, magazines, films, photographs or other materials, distinguished or characterized by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to human sex acts, or by an emphasis on male or female genitals, buttocks, or female breasts. Adult entertainment activities also include, by way of illustration only, such activities as nude encounter, dance studios, bath houses, escort studios and any establishment that offers no readily discernable product or service.

"Agricultural building" means a structure designed and constructed or used to house farm implements or farm equipment; poultry, livestock, or similar farm or ranch animals; or hay, grain, olives, nuts, hops, wine, or other horticultural products in bins, tanks, barrels, case goods, or other storage vessels. This structure shall allow for the processing, treatment, packaging, and storage of agricultural and/or horticultural products. This structure shall not be a place of human habitation, nor shall it be a place used by the public or for social events.

"Agricultural caretaker" is a person who performs at least one of the following: on-site security; maintenance or care for livestock or other ruminants, horses, bees, rabbits, fowl, poultry; operational tasks related to farming or ranching, or in a viable agricultural business or public/commercial recreational interest on the property.

"Agricultural caretaker dwelling" means any approved temporary dwelling, manufactured home, or mobile home constructed after September 15, 1971, and issued an insignia of approval by the California department of housing and community development which is placed on a temporary foundation. Such a dwelling shall be occupied by an agricultural caretaker and his/her family.

"Agricultural employee" means a person engaged in agriculture, including: Farming in all its branches, and, among other things, includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as agricultural commodities in Section 1141j(g) of Title 12 of the United States Code), the raising of livestock, bees, furbearing animals, or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparation for market and delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.

"Agricultural employee housing" means any living quarters or accommodations of any type, including mobilehomes, which comply with the building standards in the State Building Standards Code or an adopted local ordinance with equivalent minimum standards for building(s) used for human habitation, and buildings accessory thereto, where accommodations are provided by any person for individuals employed in farming or other agricultural activities, including such individuals' families. The agricultural employee housing is not required to be located on the same property where the agricultural employee is employed.

"Alcohol outlet" means any retail establishment engaged in the business of selling alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption; a winery, pursuant to the definition of winery in this section is exempted.

"Artisan/maker space" means a work, studio, and/or retail space for artisans, craftsmen, and small-scale manufacturers to work in an individual or communal setting, where the activities produce little to no vibration, noise, fumes, or other nuisances more typical in industrial or manufacturing uses.

"Billboard" means a permanent structure or sign used for the display of offsite commercial messages and shall include and be synonymous with "advertising sign."

"Block" means that property abutting one side of a street or lane which lies between the two nearest intersecting or intercepting streets, or between the nearest such cross street and an intersecting railroad right-of-way, watercourse, body of water, or the end of the street or lane.

"Boarding house" means a building or portion thereof, other than a hotel or restaurant, where four or more persons are provided with lodging or meals or both meals and lodging for a consideration and pursuant to previous arrangement. The term includes a lodging house or rooming house, but does not include institutional uses such as a hospital or an orphanage or home for the aged.

"Board of zoning adjustments" means any board of zoning adjustments established under Administrative Code Sections 2.40.120 et seq. having jurisdiction over the specific application.

"Building" means any structure erected for the support, shelter, or enclosure of persons, animals, or property. A vehicle regulated by the State Vehicle Act shall not be deemed to be a building. (See also accessory building, main building.)

"Building site" means the land area, consisting of one or more recorded lots which constitute a unit, either under one ownership or for use as a condominium, which is to be considered as a site either occupied or to be occupied by a main building or buildings and accessory buildings or by a principal use and accessory uses together with the effective lot frontage on a street, and the yards, open spaces and parking and loading spaces required by these regulations.

"Cannabis" shall have the same definition as in Business and Professions Code Section 26001(f), which defines "cannabis" as all parts of the plant cannabis sativa linnaeus, cannabis indica, or cannabis ruderalis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin, whether crude or purified, extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or resin. "Cannabis" also means the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from cannabis. "Cannabis" does not include the mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the mature stalks (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination. For purposes of this chapter, "cannabis" does not mean "industrial hemp" as defined by Section 11018.5 of the California Health and Safety Code.

"Cannabis cultivation" means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, or trimming, including any associated storage, of Cannabis, including cannabis for medicinal use and/or adult-use in accordance with the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

"Cannabis distribution" means the procurement, sale, and transport of cannabis and cannabis products between entities licensed pursuant to the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

"Cannabis retailer" means a premises where cannabis, cannabis products, or devices for the use of cannabis or cannabis products are offered, either individually or in any combination, for retail sale, including an establishment that delivers cannabis and cannabis products as part of a retail sale under the authority of the California Compassionate Use Act, the Medical Marijuana Program Act, or the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act and as regulated by Chapter 6.108 of this code.

"Cannabis testing laboratory" means a laboratory, facility, or entity that offers or performs tests of cannabis or cannabis products in accordance with the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

"Canopy" means an accessory structure, enclosure. or shelter constructed of fabric or pliable material supported in any manner, except by air or the contents it protects, without side walls or drops on seventy-five (75) percent or more of the perimeter.

"Channel" means a natural or artificial watercourse of perceptible extent, with a definite bed and banks to confine and conduct continuously or periodically flowing water. Channel flow thus is that water which is flowing within the limits of the defined channel.

"Clubhouse" means a building used for social or civic activities by a group of persons who are members of an organized and incorporated association, excluding any building where the chief activity is one customarily carried on as a business, or where a room or suite of rooms is frequently rented or regularly offered for a rent to nonmember groups or to the general public.

"Code enforcement manager" means the planning director or designee.

"Combined cannabis operation" means a cannabis operation that engages in at least three of the following commercial cannabis operations on one premises: cultivation, distribution, manufacturing and retail in accordance with the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

"Community clubhouse" means a clubhouse containing facilities for neighborhood civic and social activities, operated by and for residents in the vicinity, where residence in the area served is a requisite for membership.

"Community facility" means any of the following buildings or uses:

1.

Church or rectory or convent, when constructed of frame or more lasting materials;

2.

School, attendance at which satisfies the requirements of the compulsory education law of state;

3.

Nursery school (except in Castro Valley (Castro Valley Urbanized Areas), where nursery school is not allowed. See instead "Day care center.");

4.

Library, college, university;

5.

Outdoor recreation facility;

6.

Public utility building or uses, excluding such uses as a business office, storage garage, repair shop or corporation yard;

7.

Newspaper carrier distribution center, having an area not in excess of one hundred (100) square feet.

"Day care center" means a commercial or non-profit child day-care facility designed and approved to typically accommodate twelve (12) or more children. Includes infant centers, preschools, sick-child centers, and school-age day-care facilities. These may be operated in conjunction with other approved land uses, or as an independent land use.

"Directional tract sign" means a temporary sign not exceeding thirty-two (32) square feet in area and fifteen (15) feet in height and containing only the name and location of a subdivision and directions for reaching same. For the purposes of Section 17.54.080, "directional tract sign" as defined herein is a principal use.

"Drive-in business" means a business activity consisting of sales or service activity predominately rendered to patrons who normally receive the product or utilize the service, at least in part, while in automobiles upon the premises. This definition includes drive-in restaurants and automobile car washes.

"Drive-in restaurant" means any eating establishment which contains any of the following characteristics:

1.

The floor area available for public use is less than one-half of the total floor area;

2.

Has an outside service window; or

3.

Is designed for or uses service to patrons while in automobiles on the premises.

"Drive-in theater" means a place where automobiles are admitted for a fee and parked so the occupants can view a motion picture display while seated therein.

"Dwelling" means any building or portion of a building which contains one or more dwelling units. The term includes one-family dwelling, two-family dwelling and multiple dwelling.

"Dwelling group" means two or more separate one-family, two-family or multiple dwellings occupying a single building site.

"Dwelling unit" means a room, or a suite of connecting rooms, designed for use as separate living quarters or used as separate living quarters and constituted as a separate and independent housekeeping unit and having its own kitchen facilities consisting of one or more of the following: sink, cooking facility or refrigerator. Any detached structure containing a full bath including a water closet, basin and shower or tub or containing a half bath including a water closet and basin, the area of which half bath exceeds twenty (20) square feet, shall also be considered a dwelling unit.

The term "dwelling unit" shall also include for the purposes of this title a one-family mobilehome constructed after July 15, 1976, and issued an insignia of approval by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and permanently located on a foundation system.

"Effective lot frontage" means whichever is smaller of the following two specified dimensions of a lot or a building site:

1.

The length of the front lot line, excluding any frontage on the stub end of a street where there is no approved turning circle; or

2.

The least lot width at any point between the front line of the lot and the point at which the median lot width is measured.

"Elevation or level of one hundred (100) year flood" means the water surface elevation of the one hundred (100) year flood as shown on officially adopted flood plain maps (as amended) of Alameda County.

"Emergency shelter" means housing with minimal supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of six months or less by a homeless person.

"Flood" means a temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas.

"Flood plain" means the land adjacent to a watercourse or body of water which has been or may hereafter be covered by floodwater from flood flows associated with watercourses conveying the regulatory one hundred (100) year flood.

"Floodway" means the channel of a stream and those portions of the flood plain adjoining the channel that are required to carry and discharge the flood flows associated with the regulatory one hundred (100) year flood without raising the water surface elevation of that flood more than one foot at any point, as shown on officially adopted flood plain maps (as amended) of Alameda County.

Floor Area. See Section 17.52.900.

"Grade" is the lowest point of elevation of the finished surface of the ground between the exterior wall of the building and a point five feet distant from the said wall or the lowest point of elevation of the finished surface of the ground between the exterior wall of the building and the property line if it is less than five feet distant from said wall. In the case of walls parallel to and within five feet of a public sidewalk, alley, or other public way, the "grade" shall be the elevation of the sidewalk, alley, or public way.

"Height of building" means the vertical distance between the average level of the highest and lowest points of that portion of the lot covered by the building and the topmost point of the structure.

"Hog ranch" means any premises where more than three hogs, with any unweaned litters, are maintained.

"Home occupation" means an activity customarily carried on by a resident of a dwelling unit, when activity is incidental and subordinate to the use and maintenance of the dwelling unit as living quarters, as regulated in Section 17.52.210.

"Hospital" means a general hospital as licensed by the State Department of Public Health or psychiatric or alcoholism hospital as licensed by the State Department of Mental Health.

"Hotel" means a building other than a motel containing six or more bedrooms where overnight lodging, without individual cooking facilities, is offered to the public for compensation, primarily for the accommodation of transient guests. A motel shall not be deemed to be a hotel.

"Innovative or unconventional housing to alleviate homelessness" means housing consisting of one or more housing units with no mandated limit on length of stay, linked to onsite or offsite services that assist the resident in retaining the housing, improving their health status, maximizing their ability to live and, where possible, work in the community, and operated under program requirements that call for the recirculation of the unit to another eligible program recipient at regular intervals (for example, every one to two years). Innovative or unconventional housing can include but is not limited to facilities such as tiny homes or micro-housing, co-housing, small sheds, sleeping cabins, and commercial modular buildings or shipping containers reconfigured for sleeping and living.

"Interior lot" means a lot other than a corner lot.

"Kennel" means any premises where more than six dogs or more than twelve (12) cats, over the age of weaning, are boarded, kept, or otherwise maintained.

"Key lot" means the first lot to the rear of a corner lot, the front lot line of which is a continuation of the side lot line of the corner lot.

"Lane" means either (1) a public thoroughfare which is not improved or maintained by the state, the county or a city; or (2) any private road over which the different owners of three or more separate lots have a common easement for vehicular passage extending to a street. The term does not include any thoroughfare defined in this section as a street, or any driveway lying entirely within a single building site.

"Lot" means a separate parcel of land shown and identified as such on the records of the county recorder or on the final map of an approved and recorded subdivision, excluding therefrom for the purposes of this title any portion thereof which lies within a street, within a lane, or within a fenced-off flood control easement.

Lot, corner. "Corner lot" means a lot or a building site in one ownership which is bounded on two or more adjacent sides by street lines, or by a street line and a lot line abutting a lane, where the angle of intersection does not exceed one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.

"Lot depth" means the average horizontal distance between the front lot line and the rear lot line (or between two opposite front lot lines) measured on a line running in the general direction of the side lot lines; provided, however, that if either side lot line has any angular change of direction, it shall be measured along a straight line starting from the midpoint of the front lot line so as to bisect the front half of the lot, and extended to the rear lot line.

"Lot line" means one of the boundary lines of a lot or a building site. A street lot line is any lot line abutting a street and for the purposes of this title, does constitute a boundary line of a lot unless otherwise specified in the document creating the lot. The front lot line is a street lot line upon which the effective lot frontage is required to be provided. On a corner lot, the shorter street lot line is the front lot line; in the case of a square corner lot, either of the equal street lot lines may be designated to be the front lot line. An interior through lot abutting two approximately parallel streets has two front lot lines. The lot line generally opposite the front lot line is the rear lot line, and need not be a straight line. All other lot lines are side lot lines.

"Lot width" means the horizontal distance between the side lot lines measured at a right angle to the line along which lot depth is measured.

"Main building" means one in which the principal use of the lot upon which it is situated is being conducted. A dwelling in any R district is a main building.

"Manufactured home" means a factory-assembled structure or structures transportable in one or more sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit with or without a permanent foundation acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction and where connected to the required utilities, including but not limited to plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning contained therein and installed in accordance with Title 25.

"Median lot width" means the lot width at the midpoint of the line along which the lot depth is measured.

"Medical cannabis," "medical cannabis product," or "cannabis product" means a product containing cannabis, including, but not limited to, concentrates and extractions, intended to be sold for use by medical cannabis patients in California pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215), found at Section 11362.5 of the Health and Safety Code. For the purposes of this chapter, "medical cannabis" does not include "industrial hemp" as defined by Section 11018.5 of the Health and Safety Code.

"Medical or residential care facility" means a residential care home as licensed by State Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division. This term also includes group living quarters housing persons placed by an authorized agency for rehabilitation purposes and is funded by or licensed by or is operated under the auspices of an appropriate federal, state or county governmental agency.

"Microbrewery" means a commercial facility for manufacture, blending, fermentation, processing, and packaging of malt liquor that produces less than ten thousand (10,000) barrels (three hundred ten thousand (310,000) U.S. gallons) of beer annually. At all times, microbreweries must have a current and applicable California Alcohol Beverage Control License.

"Microbrewery related uses" means various uses accessory to a microbrewery which must be clearly incidental and subordinate to the primary microbrewery use. The term includes various temporary, cultural and social events (catered banquets, receptions, concerts, food and beer festivals, etc.) that would not compromise the primary agricultural operation or appearance of the property.

"Mobilehome" means a factory-assembled structure or structures transportable in one or more sections, that is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling unit with or without a permanent foundation where connected to the required utilities, including but not limited to plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning contained therein and installed in accordance with Title 15.

"Mobilehome park" is any building site where one or more mobilehome sites are rented or leased or held out for rent or lease or for sale as a unit of a condominium to accommodate mobilehomes used for human habitation.

"Mobilehome site" is that portion of a mobilehome park designed or used for the occupancy of one mobilehome.

"Motel" means a building, or group of one-story or two-story buildings on the same lot or building site, whether detached or in connected rows, containing bedrooms or dwelling units independently accessible from the outside, which are occupied, or offered to the public to be occupied, by automobile travelers. The term includes any building or group of buildings designated as an auto court, motor lodge, tourist court or by any other title or sign intended to identify it as providing for rental or over-night accommodation primarily to motorists.

"Multiple dwelling" means a building or portion of a building containing three or more dwelling units. (Nonconforming use, see Section 17.52.610)

"Name plate" means a sign which serves exclusively to designate the name, or the name and occupation of a person residing in the dwelling.

"Non-taxable merchandise" means products, commodities, or items not subject to California state sales tax.

"Obstruction" means any dam, wall, wharf, embankment, levee, dike, pile, abutment, projection, excavation, channel rectification, bridge, conduit, culvert, building, wire, fence, rock, gravel, refuse, fill, structure or matter in, along, across, or projecting into any channel, watercourse, or regulatory flood-hazard area such as a combining FW or FF district, which may impede, retard, or otherwise adversely affect the flow of water or characteristics thereof, whether in itself or by catching or collecting debris carried by such water, or that is placed where the flow or water might carry the same downstream to the possible damage of life or property.

"Officially adopted flood plain maps" means the boundaries of the flood fringe and floodway and flood elevations, delineated on the county zoning map, based on maps prepared by the county flood control and water conservation district and based on flood insurance rate maps of the Federal Insurance Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"Olive oil mill" means a commercial, bonded facility for the processing of olives into olive oil.

"One-family dwelling" means a building containing one and only one dwelling unit.

"One hundred (100) year flood" means the highest level of flooding that, on the average, is likely to occur once every one hundred (100) years in a given area (i.e., that has a one per cent chance of occurring in any given year), as shown on officially adopted flood plain maps (as amended) of Alameda County.

"Original decision-maker" is the individual, board or commission that makes a decision as provided for in this title that is appealed to the board of supervisors pursuant to Section 17.54.670.

"Outdoor recreation facility" means a park, or a playing field for active games, a golf course, a swimming pool, a camp or picnic grounds, a vacation resort or guest lodge, or a neighborhood recreation area, together with such buildings or uses as are accessory to the recreational use. The term does not include drive-in theater, a drive-in business, carnival, circus or trampoline courts.

"Ownership" means possession of property in fee by a person or persons, firm, corporation or partnership, individually, jointly or in any other manner whereby the property is under single or unified control. The person, firm, corporation or partnership exercising such ownership of a parcel of land shall be referred to herein as the owner thereof.

"Parking lot" means any premises the principal use of which is to provide a hard-surfaced open space for the parking of passenger automobiles. (For parking spaces, See Sections 17.52.750—17.52.810)

"Place of public assembly" means any place designated for or used in whole or in part for the congregation or gathering of fifty (50) or more persons in one building whether such gathering be of a public, restricted or private nature. Assembly hall, church, school auditorium, recreation hall, or pavilion, place of amusement, dance hall, opera hall, motion picture house, established for the consumption of food or drink, or other similar establishments are included in this term.

"Planning director" means the planning director of this county or his designated representative.

"Primary building frontage" means the width of the projection of a business building, or establishment within a building, onto a single straight line chosen by the establishment to be the primary building frontage and normally parallel to a lot line or street. A primary building frontage line must lie in a roadway or public open space area such as a private street, an open plaza or square or an auto parking area. A business may have only one primary building frontage. Any sign area accrued and authorized by one building frontage may not be attached to any other frontage.

"Principal use" means a use permitted, excluded, conditioned, or allowed to continue as a nonconforming use by this title, as distinguished from an auxiliary or subordinate use permitted only when accessory to another use lawfully occupying the same lot or building site. Every dwelling in an R district is a principal use.

"Private garage" means a building or portion of a building used for the parking of one or more automobiles where the use is accessory to the principal use of the building or the premises structure or an enclosed space that is accessory to a residential use, and that is intended for and principally used to park and/or keep motor vehicle(s), and that accommodates legal and/or legal, non-conforming parking space(s), and which is attached or detached from the primary residential structure(s); other, incidental use(s) for a garage as defined herein are for the keeping and/or storage of tools, equipment, personal belongings, and/or such appliances as washer/dryer, water heaters, and heaters, which are directly under the care of and for personal use of a resident on the property; provided that such incidental uses do not restrict or eliminate the principal use of the garage.

"Production facility, wine, beer, or olive oil" means a commercial area for wine, beer or olive oil making, bottling, and storage. Production facilities may include crushing, pressing, blending or similar treatments of grapes, olives, hops or similar agricultural products required for making wine, beer or olive oil; cooperage; fermentation tanks; onsite aboveground disposal of wastewater; aging, processing and storage of wine, beer or olive oil in bulk; bottling and storage of bottled wine, beer or olive oil; office, marketing and laboratory uses.

"Race track" means a facility for the competitive or recreational use of motor vehicles which are principally designed or commonly used for off-highway or recreational purposes.

"Recreational vehicle" means a camp car, motorhome, travel trailer or tent trailer, with or without motive power, designed for human habitation for recreational or emergency occupancy, with a living area less than two hundred twenty (220) square feet, excluding built-in equipment such as wardrobes, closets, cabinets, kitchen units, or fixtures, bath and toilet rooms, and is identified as a recreational vehicle by the manufacturer.

"Recreational vehicle park" is any building site where one or more sites are rented or leased or held out for rent or lease for one or more days to owners or users of recreational vehicles.

"Recreational vehicle site" is that portion of a recreational vehicle park designed or used for the occupancy of one recreational vehicle.

"Recycling center" means a facility that collects, sorts, and temporarily stores glass, metals and other reusable materials. The term does not include any processing activity.

"Remote testing facility" means an outdoor facility for testing electronic equipment where an environment that is relatively free from radio frequency interference is a prerequisite for successful testing. The term includes research and testing facilities of a low-intensity nature, where there is a minimum of permanent construction and minimum impact on existing and potential agricultural uses. Accessory buildings may be included.

"Sales floor area" means interior building space devoted to the sale of merchandise, but excluding restrooms, office space, storage space, automobile service areas, or open-air garden sales spaces. For the purpose of determining whether total sales floor area of a single business establishment exceeds one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet, the aggregate square footage of all adjacent stores which share common check stands, management, a controlling ownership interest, warehouses, or distribution facilities shall be considered a single establishment.

"Salvage yard" means the use of more than two hundred (200) square feet outside of a building on any lot for the handling or storage of scrap metal, paper, rags or discarded, salvaged or waste materials of any kind. The term includes automobile wrecking yards, used lumber yards, junk yards and storage of salvaged house wrecking and structural steel materials and equipment, but does not include yards for the storage or sale of operable used cars or machinery or the incidental processing of used or salvaged materials where permitted, as part of a lawful manufacturing or industrial use on the same premises.

"Sanitary land fill" means an engineering method of disposing solid waste on land by spreading the waste in thin layers, compacting it to the smallest practical volume and covering the waste with earth each day in a manner which prevents environmental pollution.

"Secondary building frontage" means the width of the projection of a business building, or establishment within a building, onto a single straight line which is either perpendicular to or parallel to the primary building frontage line. A secondary building frontage line must lie in a roadway or public open space area such as a private street, an open plaza or square or an auto parking area. A business may have a maximum or three secondary building frontages. Any sign area accrued and authorized by one building frontage may not be attached to any other frontage.

"Secondary (or accessory dwelling) unit" means an accessory, second or secondary unit that is an attached or detached residential dwelling unit which provides complete independent living facilities for one or more persons. It shall include permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation on the same parcel as one single-family dwelling is situated. An accessory dwelling unit also includes the following:

1.

An efficiency unit, as defined in Section 17958.1 of Health and Safety Code.

2.

A manufactured home, as defined in Section 18007 of the Health and Safety Code.

"Self-service laundry" means an establishment where the clothing of individual patrons is laundered separately in coin-operated or automatic washing machines and dryers. The term includes establishments containing dry cleaning units with a capacity not in excess of forty (40) pounds and using non-inflammable fluids whose flash point is not less than 138.5 degrees Fahrenheit. The term does not include any establishment which involves the use of a vehicular pick-up or delivery service.

"Shelter" means a building or structure, the use of which is for the protection of persons against blasts, fire, heat and radio-active fallout as described in Appendix 2, Annex 10, National Shelter Plan of the United States Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization; but not as a place of human habitation except during periods of natural disaster, enemy attack and authorized local, state and federal civilian defense alerts, tests or other authorized activities. The term includes both disaster and fallout shelters.

Sign, Advertising. "Advertising sign" means any lettered or pictorial matter or device which advertises or informs about a business organization or event, goods, products, services or uses, not available on the property upon which the sign is located and does not include directional tract sign or community identification sign.

Sign, Apartment Rental. "Apartment rental sign" means a temporary sign located on a site to advertise for initial occupancy of new apartment complexes.

"Sign area" means and is computed as, the entire area within a single continuous rectilinear perimeter of not more than eight straight lines enclosing the extreme limits of the sign; provided that in the case of a sign with more than one exterior surface containing sign copy, the sign area shall be computed as the sum of all exterior faces. Any structure or part of a structure which departs from standard architectural procedures in an attempt to attract attention to the premises by reason of color scheme, building shape or unusual architectural features shall be considered sign area and subject to all pertinent regulations. Where two advertising signs are located on the same supporting members and the two faces of the signs are at no point more than two feet from one another, each face shall be considered a single sign.

Sign, Business. "Business sign" means any lettered, figured or pictorial matter or device which serves to identify and indicate pertinent facts concerning a business, professional service, manufacturing or industrial enterprise lawfully conducted on the same premises. The term excludes the advertisement of products not handled or services not available on the premises.

Sign, Community Identification. "Community identification sign" means a sign serving to identify or otherwise describe a city or an unincorporated community. Community identification signs are regulated by Section 17.52.530.

Sign, Directional Tract. "Directional tract sign" means a temporary sign containing only the name and location of a subdivision and directions for reaching the same. For the purposes of Section 17.54.080 directional tract sign as defined herein is a principal use.

Sign, Freestanding. "Freestanding sign" means a sign supported from the ground by a structure installed primarily for the purpose of supporting the sign. A sign attached to or painted on a fence shall be considered a freestanding sign.

Sign, Identification. "Identification sign" means a sign or device on the premises which serves exclusively to designate the name or the name and use of a public or semi-public building, or of a community facility, medical or residential care facility, multiple dwelling or dwelling group, or mobilehome park, or to inform the public as to the use of a lawful parking area, recreation area, or other open use permitted in the district. The term may include bulletin boards for churches or auditoriums.

Sign, Pedestrian. "Pedestrian sign" means any lettered, figured, or pictorial matter or device which is oriented towards pedestrian traffic and serves to identify and indicate pertinent facts concerning a business or professional service lawfully conducted on the same premises.

Sign, Political. "Political sign" means a sign placed on the premises for the sole purpose of advocating the election of a declared candidate for public office, or relating to an election proposition on the ballot.

Sign, Projecting. "Projecting sign" means a sign which projects twelve (12) inches or more beyond the wall or other vertical surface of the building or structure to which it is attached.

Sign, Sale or Lease. "Sale or lease sign" means a sign which serves exclusively to indicate, with pertinent information the offer for sale or lease of the real property or premises upon which it is located, or the original sale or lease of the real property in a tract or subdivision upon which the sign is located. A directional tract sign when not located in the tract or subdivision shall not be deemed to be a sale or lease sign.

Sign, Service Station Price. "Service station price sign" means a sign indicating gasoline prices and available services when accessory to an existing service station.

Sign, Shopping Center Master Identification. "Shopping center master identification sign" means an on-site identification sign for a shopping center.

Sign, Subdivision Sale, Rent or Lease. "Subdivision sale, rent or lease sign" means a temporary sign located within the boundaries of a subdivision to advertise the original sale, rental, or lease of building lots or dwellings.

Sign, Wall. "Wall sign" means a sign attached to, erected against or painted on a building or similar structure, and not extending above or outward from the building face or parapet or structural canopy more than twelve (12) inches. Additionally, signs not extending more than thirty (30) inches from a wall parapet or roof, located below the height of the roof of the building to which they are affixed, may be considered a wall sign if approved by site development review pursuant to Section 17.54.210 of this title.

Sign, Wind. "Wind sign" means flags, banners, pennants or other similar devices which consist of any material made in any shape, which are fastened together or placed in such manner as to move by wind pressure.

"SRO (single room occupancy) facility" means a building containing six or more SRO units or guestrooms, designed for occupancy of no more than two persons, and which is intended, designed, or is used as a primary residence by guests.

"SRO (single room occupancy) unit" means a room that is used, intended or designed to be used by no more than two persons as a primary residence, but which lacks either or both a self-contained kitchen or bathroom.

"Storage garage" means a building or portion of a building available to the general public for the storage of personal property as distinguished from any property stored prior to sale or distribution in conjunction with a business enterprise.

"Story" means that portion of a building included between the upper surface of any floor and the upper surface of the floor next above except that the topmost story shall be that portion of a building included between the upper surface of the topmost floor and the ceiling or roof above. If the finished floor level directly above a basement, cellar, or unused underfloor space is more than six feet above grade as defined herein, or more than fifty (50) percent of the total perimeter, or is more than twelve (12) feet above grade as defined herein at any point, such basement, cellar, or unused underfloor space shall be considered a story.

"Street" means a public thoroughfare improved and maintained by the state, the county or city, or thoroughfare the design and improvement of which has been approved by the planning director, which affords the principal means of access to abutting property. (See also Lane)

"Structural alteration" means any change in the supporting members of a building, such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders.

"Structure" means anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground or attachment to something having location on the ground.

"Superstore" means a single business establishment engaged in retail sales to the general public whose total sales floor area exceeds one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet and that devotes more than ten percent of sales floor area to the sale of non-taxable merchandise. This definition excludes wholesale clubs or other business establishments selling primarily bulk merchandise and charging membership dues or otherwise restricting merchandise sales to customers paying a periodic access fee.

"Supportive housing" means housing with no limit on length of stay, that is occupied by the "target population," and that is linked to onsite or offsite 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.

"Target population" means persons with Low Income having one or more disabilities, including mental illness, HIV or AIDS, substance abuse, or other chronic health conditions, or individuals eligible for services provided under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (California Welfare and Institutions Code, section 4500 et seq.) and may include, among other populations, adults, emancipated youth, families, families with children, elderly persons, young adults aging out of the foster care system, individuals exiting from institutional settings, veterans, and homeless people.

"Tasting room, on-site" means an establishment where wine, beer, or olive oil produced on the premises are served to the public for on-site consumption; also may include offsales of beer, wine or olive oil produced on the premises.

"Tavern" means any premises where alcoholic beverages are offered for sale for consumption on the premises as its principal function, including: restaurants having a separate bar or lounge area; a restaurant with a bar located within the restaurant seating area; a restaurant which offers "happy hour" for alcoholic beverages or where alcohol sales are in any way promoted; or, a restaurant which advertises the sale of alcohol in any way other than on the menu; a winery, pursuant to its definition in this section, is exempted.

"Tent" means an accessory structure, enclosure, or shelter constructed of fabric or pliable material supported in any manner except by air or the contents it protects.

"Transitional housing" and "transitional housing development" mean buildings configured as rental housing developments, but operated under 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.

"Travel trailer" means a vehicle other than a motor vehicle, which is designed or used for human habitation and which may be moved upon a public highway without a special permit without violating any provision of the Vehicle Code.

"Two-family dwelling" means a building containing two and only two dwelling units.

"Unattended collection box" means any unattended container, receptacle, or similar device that is located on any property within unincorporated Alameda County, used for soliciting and collecting items of clothing or other salvageable personal property. This term does not include recycle bins for the collection of recyclable materials governed or regulated pursuant to the Alameda County General Ordinance Code.

"Use" means the purpose for which land or premises or a building is designed, arranged or intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained let or leased.

"Useable open space" means the area on a building site designed and reserved for outdoor living, recreation, pedestrian access and planting, calculated pursuant to Section 17.52.390.

"Winery" means a commercial, bonded facility for the fermentation and processing of grapes or other produce into wine, or the refermentation of still wine into sparkling wine.

"Winery (or olive oil mill) related uses" means various uses accessory to a winery (olive oil mill) which must be clearly incidental and subordinate to the primary winery (olive oil mill) use. The term includes various temporary, cultural and social events (catered banquets, receptions, concerts, food and wine festivals, races, etc.) that would not compromise the primary agricultural or appearance of the property. The term includes wine (olive oil) marketing activities that are otherwise disallowed by the definition of winery or olive oil mill. The term includes up to two overnight room accommodations for use by winery (olive oil mill) business associates.

"Yard" means any space on the same lot with a building which space is open and unobstructed from the ground upward except as otherwise provided in Section 17.52.330 for required yards.

Yard, Front. The measurement of the required depth of a front yard, or the required width of the street side yard of a corner lot, shall be horizontal and inward from the street lot line at a right angle; provided, however, that where any street's official right-of-way line, or any future width line pursuant to Chapter 17.100, traverses the building site, the measurement here specified shall be taken from such right-of-way line, such future width line, or from the street lot line, whichever line is located a greater distance from the center line of the street. Through lots have two front lot lines, from each of which a front yard shall be measured.

Yard, Rear. The required rear yard is the horizontal measurement inward from the rear lot line at a right angle. Where the side lot lines converge, or nearly converge, a line ten feet long within the lot, parallel to the front lot line and at a maximum distance therefrom shall be deemed to be the rear lot line for the purposes of this section. The rear yard shall extend across the full width of the rear of the building site.

Yard, Required. "Required yard" means that portion of any yard which fulfills the yard requirements of this title; or in the case of an existing deficiency, all of such existing deficient yard.

Yard, Side. The required side yard is the horizontal measurement inward from the side lot line at a right angle. The required width of a street side yard shall be the horizontal measurement inward and at a right angle from the street lot line. The side yard shall extend along the side lot line from the front lot line to the rear lot line.

(Ord. 2008-33 § 1; Ord. 2006-18 § 2 (part); Ord. 2004-97 § 1; Ord. O-2003-47 § 1; Ord. 2002-60 § 1 (part); Ord. 96-15 § 1 (part): Ord. 93-86 § 3; Ord. 93-33 § 1; prior gen. code §§ 8-20.0—8-23.8)

(Ord. No. 2010-7, § 2, 2-9-10; Ord. No. 2010-22, § 1, 6-29-10; Ord. No. 2010-49, § 3, 9-14-10; Ord. No. 2010-71, § 9, 12-21-10; Ord. No. 2012-58, §§ 1—3, 4-10-12; Ord. No. 2013-26, § 2, 7-16-13; Ord. No. 2017-13, § 2(Pt. 1), 4-25-17; Ord. No. 2017-35, § 2, 9-12-17; Ord. No. 2017-37, § 2, 9-12-17; Ord. No. 2018-23, § 2, 5-8-18; Ord. No. 2018-24, § 2, 5-8-18; Ord. No. 2019-10, § 2, 4-23-19; Ord. No. 2019-23, § 2, 6-18-19; Ord. No. 2019-44, § 2, 10-15-19; Ord. No. 2020-66, § 2, 12-15-20; Ord. No. 2023-15, § 2, 4-13-23; Ord. No. 2025-40, § 1, 7-10-25)