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Inyo County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code

CHAPTER 18

49 C-4 ZONE-HEAVY COMMERCIAL

§ 18.49.010 Purpose.

The intent and purpose of this chapter is to provide a zone for commercial activities which usually are conducted without direct contact with the public. They can be nuisance-producing if located adjacent to residential areas and often require large amounts of space.
(Ord. 943 § 4, 1994)

§ 18.49.020 Principal permitted uses.

The following are the principal permitted uses of the C-4 zone:
A. 
Wholesale business, storage buildings, warehouses and vehicle storage areas;
B. 
Bakery;
C. 
Building material storage yard;
D. 
Lumber yard;
E. 
Contractor's storage yard;
F. 
Cabinet shop;
G. 
Plumbing shop;
H. 
Machine shop;
I. 
Sheet metal shop;
J. 
Welding shop;
K. 
Truck repairing or overhauling, excluding a truck terminal;
L. 
Animal hospitals, commercial kennels and veterinaries;
M. 
Assay business, excluding commercial processing of ores;
N. 
Auto body repair and painting;
O. 
Public and quasi-public buildings and uses of administrative, recreational, educational, religious, cultural, or public utility or service nature;
P. 
Single room occupancy units;
Q. 
Any other use or service establishment determined by the planning commission to be of the same general character as the foregoing uses, and which will not impair the present or potential use of adjacent properties.
(Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 955 § 3, 1995; Ord. 1290 § 37, 2022; Ord. 1323, 9/23/2025)

§ 18.49.030 Accessory uses.

The following are accessory uses permitted in the C-4 zone:
A. 
Accessory buildings and uses customarily incidental to any permitted use when located on the same parcel;
B. 
In a C-4 district, a dwelling unit within a business building may be qualified as an accessory use if it is for occupancy by the owner or lessee of business premises therein, or by a caretaker or watch person, provided that a minimum fifty percent of the usable floor area is being utilized for the principal permitted use;
C. 
Emergency housing, in conformance with the policies stated in the housing element of the Inyo County general plan;
D. 
Signs and advertising for permitted, accessory or conditional uses in compliance with the provisions of Chapter 18.75 and subject to the requirements of Section 18.49.050.
(Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 1007 § 21, 1998)

§ 18.49.040 Conditional uses.

The following are conditional uses in the C-4 zone:
A. 
Petroleum products storage;
B. 
Dismantling or junkyard;
C. 
Wood lot;
D. 
Race track;
E. 
Bottling plant;
F. 
Billboards, combination signs, electronic signs, informational kiosks, off-site directional signs, off-site advertising signs, tall wall signs, and three-dimensional signs in compliance with the provisions of Chapter 18.75 and subject to the requirements of Section 18.49.050;
G. 
Floor area ratio increases;
H. 
Manufactured home sales displays;
I. 
Mixed use;
J. 
Multiple dwellings;
K. 
Non-volatile cannabis manufacturing pursuant to commercial cannabis license classification 6;
L. 
Non-storefront commercial cannabis retailer and delivery, pursuant to commercial cannabis license classification 9;
M. 
Commercial cannabis transportation or distribution facilities pursuant to commercial cannabis license classification 11;
N. 
Commercial cannabis testing facilities pursuant to commercial cannabis license classification 8;
O. 
Cannabis microbusinesses pursuant to commercial cannabis license classification 12 combining only some or all of those uses otherwise permitted by this section.
(Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 955 § 4, 1995; Ord. 1007 § 22, 1998; Ord. 1077 § 3, 2004; Ord. 1108 § 5, 2006; Ord. 1143 § 8, 2009; Ord. 1221 § 13, 2018; Ord. 1248 §§ 7, 8, 2019)

§ 18.49.050 Development standards.

The following are minimum standards for the development in the C-4 zone, except as otherwise provided in this title or as modified for conditional uses:
A. 
Maximum height of buildings:
1. 
Principal buildings, three stories or forty feet,
2. 
Accessory buildings, two stories or twenty-five feet;
B. 
Minimum parcel size, ten thousand square feet, except when a greater minimum area is established pursuant to Section 18.78.055;
C. 
Parcel width, fifty feet;
D. 
Front yard, zero;
E. 
Rear yard, zero (twenty feet if adjacent to an R district);
F. 
Side yard, zero (five feet for each story if adjacent to an R district);
G. 
Distance between buildings on the same parcel, ten feet;
H. 
One parking space shall be provided for each employee plus customer and/or residential parking and loading as determined by the use, or as determined by the planning director;
I. 
Floor area ratio, for properties with a general plan designation of heavy commercial/commercial service, the allowable floor area ratio is 0.4 without a conditional use permit and up to 1.0 with a conditional use permit. For properties with a general plan designation of light industrial or general industrial, the allowable floor area ratio is 0.5 without a conditional use permit and up to 1.2 with a conditional use permit;
J. 
Residential densities shall be 7.6 to twenty-four dwelling units per acre.
(Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 1077 § 3, 2004; Ord. 1143 §§ 9, 10, 2009)