Arcadia City Zoning Code
ARTICLE III
Additional Regulations; Nonconforming Uses
§ 425-16 Accessory buildings and uses; basement dwellings; mobile homes.
A.
Uses permitted in districts.
(1)
Accessory buildings and uses and those customarily incidental to permitted uses, including public and private ways and easements, essential services, dwelling units for servants employed on the premises or for private guests, private garages, satellite signal reception dishes, swimming pools (aboveground and in-ground), decks, fences, boathouses, docks and other noncommercial marine facilities, structures for yard and garden ornamentation, and private recreation areas and facilities, are permitted in any district, provided that:
(a)
No accessory use shall be dangerous, obnoxious or offensive to persons residing in the vicinity, nor shall it impair the use, enjoyment or value of any property;
(b)
No accessory dwelling unit in any R District shall be let for living purposes for compensation; and
(c)
No accessory use shall invade the minimum yard areas required by this chapter, except as permitted in § 425-18C hereof.
(2)
Home gardening and crop growing may be an accessory use on any dwelling lot or the principal use on any vacant lot or parcel.
(3)
A home occupation or home professional office, as defined herein, is permitted in a dwelling, provided that in a residential district there shall be no external evidence thereof, except a nameplate.
B.
Basement dwellings. No basement dwellings shall be permitted in any district after the effective date of this chapter.
§ 425-17 Nonconforming uses.
The lawful use of a building or premises existing at the time of the adoption or amendment of this chapter may be continued although such use does not conform to the provisions hereof. Structural repairs or alterations may be made to nonconforming uses. If such nonconforming use is discontinued for a period of 12 months, any future use of the building and premises shall conform to this chapter.
§ 425-18 Yards, lot areas and open spaces.
A.
Lots not served by sewer. Minimum lot area permitted for dwellings shall be 1/2 acre and minimum lot width shall be 100 feet for any lot or parcel not served by City sanitary sewer or by a community-type sewage disposal system approved by the City Engineer as adequate for the purpose.
B.
Yard and lot area measurement from future street line. Whenever a future street line is established by this chapter and shown on the District Map, or is established otherwise and shown on an adopted street widening map, measurements of required lot area and required depth or width of a yard adjoining such street shall be made from such future street line instead of from the existing street line.
C.
Structures in yards and courts.
(1)
Every part of a yard or court shall be open and unobstructed by a building or structure, from its lowest point upward, except as follows:
(a)
Sills, cornices, buttresses, eaves, open work fire balconies and fire escapes, chimneys, flues and similar building appurtenances may extend not more than four feet into a yard.
(b)
Porches, decks and steps to building entrances may extend into any front yard or rear yard, but not more than three feet into any side yard or court.
(c)
Plants and trees may be planted within the required setback area of any lot, but any plants or trees planted after the effective date of this chapter shall be planted in a manner which will ensure that in their mature state no part of the plant or tree will cross a lot line.
(d)
Walks, steps on ground slopes, retaining walls, paved terraces and paved area, and structures used ornamentally and for essential services and for yard and garden purposes and for private recreation, when accessory to and customarily incidental to the principal use, are permitted in yards and courts.
(e)
Solar panels attached to the building or roof used for private electric consumption when accessory to and customarily incidental to the principal use are permitted in yards and courts and must abide by the setback criteria within that district.
(f)
Garden sheds of 100 square feet or less and used exclusively for storage of lawn and garden material may extend within the required setback area in the R-1 and R-2 Districts. Garden sheds must be five feet or more from the property line.
(g)
Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, no building, structure, steps not on ground slopes, porches, or deck, or any part thereof, may extend within the required setback area for the zoning district in which the property is located.
(2)
Fences shall be restricted as follows:
(a)
Fences may be constructed within the required setback area, but all portions of the fence shall be constructed on the property owner's lot.
(b)
The maximum height of any fence constructed within a vision clearance triangle, as defined herein, shall be 2 1/2 feet, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained herein.
(c)
Subject to Subsection C(2)(b), the maximum height of a fence constructed or modified after the effective date of this chapter shall be six feet.
(d)
The unfinished side of any fence, indicated by, including but not limited to, exposed fence posts, unpainted wood or other materials, exposed nails, exposed screws, or exposed joints, shall face the interior of the lot and shall not face outward towards a neighbor's property or a public street, road, or highway.
D.
Building height limit exceptions.
(1)
Established building height limits shall not apply to belfries, cupolas, spires, monuments, radio or television antennas, flagpoles, chimneys or flues, silos, water towers or to poles, towers and other structures for essential services, nor to similar structures or necessary mechanical appurtenances extending from a roof upward and not occupying more than 25% of the area of such roof as projected into a horizontal plane.
(2)
When permitted in a district, public buildings, community buildings, schools, churches, hospitals, and other institutions, public utilities and public service buildings and those for essential services may be erected to a height not exceeding 75 feet, provided that the side yard width and the rear yard depth shall be each increased one foot over and above the district requirement for each two feet of building height above the height limit.
E.
Restricted parking on residential properties.
(1)
Parking restrictions:
(a)
No person shall keep, store or park any motor vehicle on any portion of a front yard or corner lot side yard facing a street of a property designed or used as a residence, except on an area that is an improved surface.
(b)
No owner, tenant, manager, or occupant of property used as a residence shall allow or suffer another person to keep, store or park any motor vehicle on any portion of a front yard or corner lot side yard facing a street, except on an area that is an improved surface.
(2)
This section shall not prohibit:
(a)
An owner, lessee, or occupant of the property from repairing, washing, cleaning, or servicing personal property that is owned, leased, or rented by the owner, lessee, or occupant of the property, or
(b)
Repairing or servicing of a motor vehicle or part thereof in a lawful manner.
(3)
Improved surface limitations:
(a)
No more than 50% of the required front setback for any lot containing a one- or two-family dwelling or any lot located in any residential district with a frontage width of 40 feet or greater shall contain an improved surface.
(b)
For lots which have frontage width less than 40 feet, improving the surface in the front setback area is limited to 10 feet in width or 50% of the width of the lot at any given point, whichever is greater.
(c)
Notwithstanding Subsection E(3)(a), for lots which have frontage width less than 40 feet, an improved surface area directly contiguous with, and providing primary access to, two side by side required parking spaces, may exceed the 50% limitation as long as it is no more than 25 feet long and 18 feet wide.