The purpose of the small lot single-family floating zone designation is to allow for the building of houses (in-fill) on existing undersized platted lots that were created prior to 1950 in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 zones. A secondary purpose is to encourage the more efficient use of city services that are already in place (streets, sewer and water lines).

(Code 2020, § 17.23.010; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013)

The following uses are permitted in the small lot single-family option zone: all uses permitted to the underlying zone. The minimum lot size permitted to exercise the small lot development option is 2,500 square feet. Property owners of lots originating from Kalama Old Town, Imus 1, Imus 2, Imus 3 and Columbia plats or properties that are entirely surrounded by the aforementioned plats may be permitted to develop lots less than 5,000 square feet if they meet the criteria specified in section 17.23.050D.

(Code 2020, § 17.23.020; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013)

All secondary uses allowed in the underlying zone shall be allowed, unless otherwise restricted by this chapter.

(Code 2020, § 17.23.030; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013)

Any use prohibited in the underlying zone to which this floating zone attaches, shall likewise be prohibited in the area of the floating zone. The parking of recreational vehicles, boats, or trailers shall not be allowed on an undersized lot (small lot) within the small lot single-family floating zone unless parked inside an enclosed structure.

(Code 2020, § 17.23.040; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013)

All development on small lots (a lot having dimensions less than the required standard for the residential zone of location) must meet with the following requirements:

A.

All residences constructed on small lots within the small lot single-family floating zone must be single-family; each house may have an attached or a detached garage; provided, however, for an owner who proposes three or more contiguous small lots, a minimum of 50 percent of the residences constructed on these small lots within the area of a single-family floating zone, are required to have no garage door facing the frontage street within the front one-half area of the lot. Lots that receive primary access from an alley and do not otherwise have frontage upon a dedicated public street beyond that necessary for a flag lot may be exempt from this requirement, subject to city review and approval.

B.

A preliminary site development plan must be presented for approval by the city planner after an application conference as per subsection E of this section. The site development plan must show the following information:

1.

The overall lot dimension clearly and accurately shown. The illustration shall show the lot width at front-lot line; the width at the center-of-lot and the width at the rear-lot line plus overall length of the lot;

2.

All adjacent streets and sidewalks shown with street names on streets;

3.

Outline of building location on the lot;

4.

Identification of garage and driveway or garage access route;

5.

Dimensions of all front, side and rear yard areas.

C.

Minimum development standards for lots 5,000 to 7,500 square feet.

1.

To encourage the introduction of human scale (rather than automobile scale) features on the fronts of houses, the following elements will be allowed to project into the front yard setback a maximum of six feet:

a.

Unenclosed porches;

b.

Stairs not over six feet above finished grade;

c.

Single story sunrooms;

d.

Bay windows;

e.

Other one story architectural projections.

2.

Front yard setback: with garage facing street equals 20 feet.

3.

Front yard setback: without garage facing street equals ten feet.

4.

Side yard setback: five feet.

5.

Rear yard setback: five feet.

6.

Minimum lot street frontage. All lots shall have a minimum of 12½ feet fronting onto an improved public street. Flag lots are permitted, subject to city review and approval.

7.

Driveways must be separated from existing driveways by at least 20 feet of yard space measured at street frontage. Driveways may be constructed without the 20-foot separation requirement if the proposed driveway is constructed of a product which is composed of approximately 60 percent solid material and 40 percent vegetative material at grade level or a ribbon driveway, each composed of two solid strips, with vegetation between.

8.

If houses have garage access per an alley, the alley must be paved. Alleys shall be a minimum of 20 feet in width.

9.

Minimum lot area. The minimum lot area is 5,000 square feet.

10.

Minimum lot width and depth. A standard small lot is characterized by a lot width of 50 feet and a lot depth of 100 feet. The flag stem on a flag lot is not included in the minimum lot width and length measurement. Variations to the standard lot width and depth are permissible where terrain or lot orientation make strict adherence impractical, provided that each lot area is a minimum of 5,000 square feet.

11.

The city shall retain the authority to attach conditions to any site plan approval necessary to further this chapter and protect the public health, safety and welfare. Particular emphasis shall be placed on acceptable means of ingress and egress to a dedicated public street to the satisfaction of the public works director. The public works director may require street improvements in accordance with the public works standards or subdivision standards when deemed necessary to serve the public interest.

12.

Unless otherwise approved by the city, a stormwater drainage plan and report shall be reviewed and approved by the city, prior to site plan approval. Required improvements shall be constructed prior to building permit issuance.

13.

The city may require recording of a deed restriction, covenant or other acceptable legal document to ensure compliance with the above standards.

14.

Supplementary standards outlined in section 17.18.070 shall apply to any development.

D.

Minimum development standards for lots greater than 2,500 square feet up to and including 4,999 square feet. The standards below shall apply in addition to those in subsection C of this section. In the case of conflicting standards the more stringent standard shall apply.

1.

Clear building entries. Dwellings shall provide a clearly defined building entrance that faces the street and provide weather protection that is at least four feet deep along the width of the building entry. A porch may serve to comply with this provision.

2.

Garages.

a.

The garage shall be located in the rear with rear access if suitable access is available, such as abutting right-of-way that is or can be practicably developed.

b.

Where vehicular access is not available from an alley or side street, garages or carports shall be setback at least five feet behind the front façade of the house or the front of a covered porch (where the porch is at least 48 square feet and contains no dimension less than six feet). In addition, vehicular doors and carports (measurement based on width of canopy) shall not occupy more than 50 percent of the width of the front façade.

3.

Façade transparency. At least 15 percent of any façade facing a street shall be transparent. The façade shall include all vertical surfaces of the façade of the dwelling.

4.

Rooflines. Rooflines shall be pitched at a minimum of a four and 12 grade with off-setting gables or a minimum six and 12 grade without off-setting gables. Primary rooflines shall be oriented towards the front of the lot, with the tallest ridgelines running perpendicular to the street or front property line to minimize shade and shadow impacts to adjacent properties. An exception to this standard is allowed for projects involving multiple, adjacent single-family dwellings on small lots where alternating roofline orientation is being used.

5.

Driveways.

a.

The maximum width of driveway shall be 20 feet.

b.

Driveway widths for lots less than 45 feet wide shall be no greater than 14 feet.

c.

In no case shall a driveway occupy more than 50 percent of any lot frontage.

6.

Functional yard space. All lots shall provide at least one contiguous yard space equivalent to at least ten percent of the lot size. (See examples below.) This usable yard space shall:

a.

Feature minimum dimensions of 15 feet on all sides, except for lots that are less than 3,500 square feet, where the minimum dimensions shall be no less than 12 feet.

b.

Not include alleys or driveway space.

c.

Not be located within the front yard.

7.

Individual identity. Home individuality will be achieved by the following:

a.

Avoiding the appearance of a long row of homes by means such as angling houses, varied street setbacks, and varied architectural design features.

b.

Each dwelling unit shall have horizontal or vertical variation that is consistent with the building's architecture within each unit's front building façade and between the front building façade of all adjacent units/structures to provide visual diversity and individual identity to each unit. Upon building permit application, a plan of the entire structure shall be provided by the applicant to show compliance with this requirement. The city administrator or designee shall review and approve or deny the building design, which may incorporate variations in rooflines, setbacks between adjacent buildings, and other structural variations.

c.

The same building plans cannot be utilized on consecutive lots. "Flip-flopping" of plans is not permitted, provided that upon demonstration to the city administrator that the alteration of building façades would provide comparable visual diversity and individual identity to the dwelling units as different building plans, this provision shall not apply. Materials and/or methods which may be utilized to achieve visual diversity include, but are not limited to, use of differing siding material, building modulations and roofline variations.

d.

The following materials are prohibited as exposed exterior material:

i.

Vinyl siding;

ii.

Plywood products such as T1-11 (or any similar panel product including hardi-panel);

iii.

Roll roofing;

iv.

Corrugated metal; and

v.

Exposed raw concrete masonry/cinderblock. (Painting raw cinderblock/concrete masonry units does not allow this class of building product to qualify.) Concrete masonry material is allowed when the materials include integral colored blocks with textured finish (i.e., split face or ground finish).

e.

A color palette consisting of a base, primary trim, and accent shall be used. Neighboring homes shall not be painted with similar color palettes.

f.

Detailed and ornate hardware shall be applied throughout the building design.

E.

Application conference.

1.

Purpose and nature. The application conference is an informal forum at which the tentative concept and design of a prospective site development plan are discussed. The conference is intended to be a means of screening site development plan proposals in their earliest stages of design, taking place before proponents are committed to a particular design and before they have drawn a site development plan. It is also a means for staff and other public officials to convey information needed by the prospective site development plan, to make suggestions, to identify problems and information needs, to determine a proposal's feasibility, to acquaint the prospective applicant with the procedural steps for site development plan reviews.

2.

Participants and their responsibilities. The application conference is intended to be an informal meeting between the prospective applicant or their agents; city staff; planning staff; fire marshal; and representatives of other public agencies and utilities, at their option. The service need not include field inspections or extensive correspondence, and the conference may be repeated as necessary. The applicant will be charged a fee as established by resolution of the city council. Responsibilities of participants shall be as follows:

a.

City clerk-treasurer. The clerk-treasurer shall refer prospective site development plan applicants to the city planner.

b.

Prospective applicants for site development plan approval. In the early concept stage of site development plan design a prospective applicant should meet with the city planner to arrange for a preapplication conference. Prospective applicants participating in a conference shall provide the following at the conference:

i.

At least six copies of a sketch of the site development plan;

ii.

A tentative schedule of construction;

iii.

An indication of contemplated drainage facilities;

iv.

A preliminary soil erosion and stormwater control plan;

v.

A description of existing uses of the subject property and of uses of adjacent properties.

c.

The city planner or designee shall perform the following duties in connection with the application conference:

i.

Inform prospective applicants of the purpose and desirability of an application conference;

ii.

Arrange, coordinate and notify participants of application conferences. In establishing a date and location for application conferences, he shall strive to determine the date of earliest convenience for the participants. The dates ordinarily shall be within one week of a prospective applicant's request for an application conference;

iii.

At the city planner's option or at the applicant's request, the application may be referred for review per the variance procedure in chapter 16.09.

F.

The applicant shall submit the application for site development approval to the city planner who shall grant preliminary approval based on compliance with the standards set forth herein. Final site plan approval shall be given after the applicant records a lot restriction reading substantially as follows:

No recreational vehicle, boats, or trailers shall be allowed to park on the herein described real estate for so long as the same is classified as a small lot single-family residential use under this title unless parked inside an enclosed structure.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the city planner with a copy of the recorded restriction. Construction may not begin until final site plan approval has been granted and any necessary boundary line adjustments or lot combinations recorded with the county.

(Code 2020, § 17.23.050; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013; Ord. No. 1511, § 9, 3-21-2024)

Approval of a small lot concept shall be processed according to the procedures in chapter 16.12. Submittal of a boundary line adjustment as set forth in chapter 16.14 is authorized if necessary.

(Code 2020, § 17.23.060; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013; Ord. No. 1511, § 10, 3-21-2024)

Appeals of administrative decisions follow the process outlined in chapter 17.12.

(Code 2020, § 17.23.070; Ord. No. 1190, § 1, 2006; Ord. No. 1327, § 2, 12-18-2013)