El Cajon City Zoning Code

It is the purpose of the airport overlay zone to implement the requirements of the Gillespie Field and Montgomery Field Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans (ALUCP). The ALUCPs regulate non-aviation land use and development on and around the airports. All development projects and land use actions within the airport overlay zone must be consistent with the ALUCPs for Gillespie and Montgomery Fields. The airport overlay zone is a mechanism to ensure that the requirements of the ALUCPs are satisfied for land use and development projects in the City of El Cajon. The ALUCPs address the following specific impacts and issues of compatibility, each of which are defined in the ALUCPs:

The airport overlay zone applies to all properties located within the Airport Influence Areas of the Gillespie Field and Montgomery Field ALUCPs. Those areas are reflected on the El Cajon Zoning Map with designations of "RA1" and "RA2." RA1 represent Review Area 1 of the Gillespie Field ALUCP. RA2 represents Review Area 2 for both the Gillespie Field and Montgomery Field ALUCPs. No part of Montgomery Field Review Area 1 is in the City of El Cajon. Moreover, the only policies of the Montgomery Field ALUCP which apply within El Cajon are the policies related to airspace protection.

The City of El Cajon shall be responsible for reviewing and approving all land use and development proposals within the airport overlay zone except as otherwise provided by state and/or federal law. In reviewing and approving land use and development proposals within the airport overlay zone, the city shall apply the same procedures that would be used outside the airport overlay zone, except as otherwise required by this title and/or the applicable ALUCP. Prior to approval, all land use and development proposals within the airport overlay zone shall be found to be consistent with the applicable policies of the applicable ALUCP.

Prior to approval by the city, certain land uses and development projects within the airport overlay zone require a determination of consistency from the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Those projects include:

ALUCPs include airspace protection policies reflecting both federal and state law. The airspace protection policies are intended to ensure that structures and land uses do not cause hazards to flying aircraft within the airport vicinity. Hazards to flight include but are not limited to:

Projects subject to the Airspace Protection policies described in Section 17.260.050 and Policy 3.5 of the ALUCPs may elect to "self-certify" that the project will not create a hazard to air navigation, thus avoiding the requirement for FAA notification and the corresponding Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation. The City of El Cajon may not require FAA notification and Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation if the project applicant provides certification by a professional, licensed by the State of California to prepare construction documents, that pursuant to Section 77.9 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the proposed structure(s) would be shielded by existing structures of a permanent and substantial character, or by natural terrain or topographic features of equal or greater height, and would be located in the congested area of the city, where it is evident beyond all reasonable doubt that the structure(s) so shielded will not adversely affect safety in air navigation. However, the ability to self-certify is at the discretion of staff on a case-by-case basis, and the director shall have the authority to require FAA notification and a Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation, and a determination of consistency from the ALUC, for any project that exceeds the criteria established in ALUCP Policy 3.5.

The Gillespie Field airport is owned and operated by the San Diego County Department of Public Works. It includes the aviation areas of the airport in addition to adjacent non-aviation areas that are zoned for industrial uses. All proposals for non-aviation-related land use actions and/or development projects on airport land require a determination of consistency from the Airport Land Use Commission prior to their approval by the City of El Cajon.

Uses and developments on portions of the airport land at Gillespie Field are subject to special standards not contained elsewhere within the El Cajon Municipal Code, or the ALUCPs. These special standards are divided among three categories: Aviation Areas, Industrial Parks, and Performance Standards. The special standards supplement the land use, development, and performance standards in this title for development on airport land. The special development standards for Gillespie Field are available at the offices of the Planning Division at City Hall. Wherever a conflict exists between the provisions of this title, and the provisions of the special development standards, the more restrictive standards shall prevail.

Within the RA1 designation, the allowable density of residential uses and the allowable intensity of nonresidential land uses and developments are subject to the safety compatibility policies contained in the Gillespie Field ALUCP. These safety compatibility policies prohibit or restrict certain sensitive or hazardous land uses. They also restrict the residential density and non-residential intensity of land use and development within the safety compatibility zones around the airport. These density and intensity restrictions are in addition to the other land use and development regulations contained in this title. The density and intensity restrictions are summarized in Table III-2 (Safety Compatibility Criteria) of the Gillespie Field ALUCP.

The ALUCPs require notification for potential buyers of new residential units in areas subject to frequent fly-overs by aircraft. As such, new residential development within the area depicted on Exhibit III-4 of the Gillespie Field ALUCP (Compatibility Policy Map: Overflight) shall require the recordation of an overflight notification document as a condition of project approval. A separate overflight notification document is not required where an avigation easement is required, as indicated on Exhibit III-6 (Avigation Easement and Overflight Notification Areas). See Policy 3.6 of the Gillespie Field and Montgomery Field ALUCPs for overflight notification requirements.

The Gillespie Field ALUCP contains policies intended to protect noise sensitive land uses from the sound created by flight operations. These policies are distinct from the performance standards for noise that are contained in Section 17.115.130 of this title. See Policy 3.3 of the Gillespie Field ALUCP for airport noise compatibility policies.

The Gillespie Field ALUCP requires property owners to grant an avigation easement to the airport operator for certain projects in certain parts of the airport influence area. The types of projects requiring avigation easements are listed under Policy 2.11.5, and on Exhibit III-6 (Avigation Easement and Overflight Notification Areas) of the Gillespie Field ALUCP. Exhibit III-6 identifies the areas where avigation easements may be required.

Land uses and developments which may otherwise conform to all the requirements of the El Cajon Municipal Code may not conform to the requirements of the applicable ALUCPs. Chapter 17.120 of this title includes provision for restoring and expanding nonconforming uses and structures. However, those provisions are not applicable to land uses and developments within the airport overlay zone to the extent that those uses and developments conflict with the provisions of the ALUCPs. See Policies 2.11.2 and 2.11.3 of the Gillespie Field and Montgomery Field ALUCPs for policies related to nonconforming uses and developments.

Legitimately established land uses and developments are not subject to the provisions of the ALUCPs unless they are expanded and/or intensified. Moreover, an existing land use can be replaced by a new and/or different land use, which may or may not be in conformance with the ALUCPs, as long as the replacement use is not an intensification of land use beyond that which had previously existed. However, if a land use is discontinued for a period of 24 consecutive months, it may only be re-established in conformance with the applicable ALUCP. See Section 2.2.18 of the Gillespie Field ALUCP for a definition and policies related to existing land uses.

The ALUCPs include "open land" requirements for projects of 10 acres or more in RA1. "Open land," for the purpose of airport land use compatibility planning, refers to areas where light aircraft can make controlled emergency landings. See ALUCP Policy 3.4.9 for open land requirements.