The General Plan details the goals, objectives and policies for the City's commercial zones, including provisions for a range of retail and office uses necessary to support the daily needs of residents of and visitors to San Clemente. It is the purpose of this chapter to implement the General Plan's vision for the commercial zones through development regulations that allow for a variety of retail and office uses, while creating distinct commercial areas that are compatible with their surrounding environment.

A.

Neighborhood Commercial (NC) Zones. Neighborhood Commercial Zones are intended to be less intense than community or regionally oriented commercial zones in San Clemente. There are five neighborhood commercial zones: NC 1.1, NC 1.2, NC 1.3, NC 2, and NC 3. The General Plan restricts the intensity of the Neighborhood Commercial Zones primarily through the floor area ratio limit for the zones. The maximum floor area ratio limits for these districts range from 0.35 to 0.75. The uses prescribed by the General Plan for the Neighborhood Commercial Zones are essentially the same as those prescribed by the General Plan for the Community Commercial Zones, which are described below.

B.

Coastal and Recreation Serving Commercial (CRC) Zone. The Coastal and Recreation Serving Commercial Zone provides particular standards to support retail commercial activities, recreation, dining and lodging oriented to San Clemente's beaches and visitor areas. It is applied in the Specific Plans within the Coastal Zone (CZ).

C.

Community Commercial (CC) Zones. Community Commercial Zones are more intense than Neighborhood Commercial Zones. The General Plan allows for this additional intensity by allowing higher floor area ratio limits in the Community Commercial Zones. There are four Community Commercial Zones: CC 1, CC 2, CC 3, and CC 4. The maximum floor area ratio limits for these districts range from 0.5 to 0.7. The General Plan allows the same uses in the Community Commercial Zones as it allows in the Neighborhood Commercial Zones, with the exception of additional medical related uses.

D.

Regional Commercial (RC1) Zone. The Regional Commercial Zone is applied to an area in which the scale of the site, its access and location provide an appropriate setting for regional serving retail commercial, entertainment, dining, and financial and professional offices. This site is located within the Marblehead Coastal Specific Plan area.

E.

Regional Medical Facilities (RMF) Zones. The Regional Medical Facilities Zone is designed to allow regional general hospital uses. The site in San Clemente receiving this designation is large and can accommodate an intensity of development required for a regional oriented-serving hospital use. There is one Regional Medical Facilities Zone regulated by the Zoning Ordinance: RMF1. The General Plan primarily distinguishes this site by the uses allowed. The RMF1 zone provides for the continued use and development of the existing general hospital facilities at 654 Camino De Los Mares.

(Ord. No. 1609/1610, § 4(Exh. B, 1), 11-17-2015; Ord. No. 1616, § 4, 2-2-2016; Ord. No. 1652, § 4, 5-15-2018)

A.

Permitted and Conditionally Permitted Uses. Tables 17.36.020, Commercial Zone Uses, list uses which shall be the primary uses allowed to occur on a property. All uses except for those provided for in Sections 17.28.210, Outdoor Display Areas, and 17.28.300, Temporary Uses and Structures, of this title shall be conducted within enclosed structures. The primary uses identified in Table 17.36.020, Commercial Zone Uses, shall be permitted or conditionally permitted as indicated:

B.

Prohibited Uses. The following uses are prohibited:

1.

Uses that are listed in Table 17.36.020 but that are not identified as either permitted — "P" — or conditionally-permitted — "MC" or "C"; and

2.

Uses that are excluded from Table 17.36.020, unless they are found by the City to be similar to permitted or conditionally-permitted uses.

3.

Uses where a blank cell appears in Table 17.36.020.

4.

As indicated in Table 17.36.020, the following uses are not permitted in any commercial zone:

a.

Marijuana Cultivation.

b.

Marijuana Manufacturing.

c.

Marijuana Testing Laboratory.

d.

Marijuana Delivery.

e.

Marijuana Dispensary.

5.

The cultivation of industrial hemp, as defined in Section 11018.5 of the California Health and Safety Code, is not permitted in any commercial zone to the fullest extent allowed by state law.

Table 17.36.020
Commercial Zone Uses

Footnotes:

1. Refer to Chapter 17.28, Special Uses, of this title for special provisions for the referenced land use.

2. Refer to Section 17.28.220, Parking Lots, of this title, for special provisions for single-use parking lots.

3. Refer to Section 17.28.090, Bed and Breakfast Inns, of this title, for special provisions for bed and breakfast inns.

4. Refer to Section 17.28.110, Congregate Care Facilities of this title for special provisions for congregate care facilities.

5. Refer to Section 17.28.100, Child Day Care Facilities, this title, for special provisions for day care facilities.

6. Small-family and large-family day care homes are permitted in a detached single-family dwelling, a townhouse, a dwelling unit within a dwelling, or a dwelling unit within a covered multi-family dwelling in which the underlying zoning allows for residential uses, or a legal non-conforming single-family dwelling unit in a nonresidential zone. Small-family and large-family day care homes only shall operate in buildings that were lawfully constructed.

7. A group-counseling use is conditionally permitted in an RMF 1 zone only if it is integrated into, and secondary in nature to, a Hospital facility. The group-counseling use must serve the primary use of the site as a general Hospital that serves the broader community.

8. Refer to Section 17.28.220, Parking Lots, of this title, for special provisions for parking lots.

9. Refer to Section 17.28.230, Public Park Facilities, of this title for review requirements for parks.

10. Refer to Section 17.28.240, Public Utilities, of this title, for special provisions for public utilities.

11. Qualified Affordable Housing Developments and Senior Housing Projects are permitted uses in the subject zoning district only if the property is located within the Housing Overlay. Refer to Section 17.56.090, Housing Overlay, for projects in Commercial Zones of this title, for special provisions.

12. Refer to Section 17.28.280, Senior Housing Projects, of this title, for special provisions for senior housing projects.

13. Refer to Section 17.28.260, Restaurants, Drive-In, Drive-Through, of this title, for special provisions for drive-in/drive-thru restaurants.

14. Refer to Section 17.28.040, Alcoholic beverages and motor vehicle fuel, concurrent sale of, of this title, for special provisions for concurrent sales of motor fuel and alcoholic beverages.

15. Refer to Section 17.28.050, Amusement Centers, of this title, for special provisions for arcades/amusement centers.

16. Refer to Section 17.28.130, Grading, of this title, for special provisions for grading requests that are not accompanying development requests.

17. Massage is subject to Section 5.28 of the City of San Clemente Municipal Code. Refer to Section 17.28.185, Massage Establishments, of this title, for special provisions for massage establishments and accessory massage establishments.

18. The provisions for amusement centers shall apply to poolhalls. Please refer to Section 17.28.050, Amusement Centers, for special provisions for amusement centers.

19. Refer to Section 17.28.250, Recycling Facilities, of this title, for special provisions for recycling facilities.

20. Refer to Section 17.28.290, Service Stations, of this title, for special provisions.

21. Refer to Section 17.28.310, Vehicle Dealerships, Rental, and Sales of this title, for special provisions for vehicle dealerships.

22. Refer to Section 17.28.320, Vehicle Service and Repair-Related Facilities, of this title, for special provisions.

23. Refer to Section 17.28.310, Vehicle Dealerships, Rental, and Sales of this title, for special provisions for vehicle dealerships.

24. Refer to Section 17.28.320, Vehicle Service and Repair-Related Facilities, of this title, for special provisions.

25. Qualified Affordable Housing Developments, Senior Housing, and Market Rate Residential projects seal not be allowed to convert existing hotel/motel uses which have provided lower cost visitor serving accommodation in the last five years, unless the project provides equivalent new lower cost visitor serving accommodation or unless required to be approved pursuant to State law.

(Ord. No. 1609/1610, § 4(Exh. B, 1), 11-17-2015; Ord. No. 1613, § 5(Exh. A, 4, 5), 1-19-2016; Ord. No. 1616, §§ 4, 5, 2-2-2016; Ord. No. 1624, § 2, 5-17-2016; Ord. No. 1632, § 3(Exh. A, §§ 5, 6), 11-15-2016; Ord. No. 1652, § 4, 5-15-2018; Ord. No. 1681, § 5, 10-15-2019; Ord. No. 1707, § 3, 2-2-2021; Ord. No. 1720, § 3, 12-21-2021; Ord. No. 1759, § 3(Exh. A), 10-3-2023; Ord. No. 1784, § 4(Exh. A), 12-10-2024)

The following property development standards shall apply to all land and permitted or conditionally permitted buildings located within their respective commercial zones.

A.

Creation of New lots. The creation of new lots within commercial zones following the date of adoption of this title shall conform to the minimum dimensions for lots established within this zone, except in the case of condominium lots or individual lots within a shopping center, in which case minimum dimensions shall be applied to the boundaries around the entire center. Individual lots created within shopping centers are exempt from the site development standards stated herein, as they relate to minimum lot areas and lot width, as long as the following conditions are met:

1.

The commercial center has been processed and approved pursuant to Section 17.16.100, Development Permits and Section 17.16.110, Cultural Heritage Permits;

2.

Easements for reciprocal access, parking and maintenance are recorded in a form approved by the City Attorney and maintained; and

3.

All applicable setbacks adjacent to the exterior boundaries of the shopping center or commercial development are met.

B.

General Development Standards. Tables 17.36.030A—17.36.030K list the site development standards required for projects located in commercial zones.

Table 17.36.030A
Commercial Zone Development Standards

Table 17.36.030B
NC 1.1 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030C
NC 1.2 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030D
NC 1.3 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030E
NC 2 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030F
NC 3 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030G
CC 1 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030H
CC 2 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030I
CC 3 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030J
CC 4 Development Standards

Table 17.36.030K
RMF 1 Development Standards

(Ord. No. 1609/1610, § 4(Exh. B, 1), 11-17-2015; Ord. No. 1616, §§ 6—8, 2-2-2016; Ord. No. 1759, § 3(Exh. A), 10-3-2023)

Chapter 17.24, General Development Standards, of this title includes a number of special provisions affecting commercial properties. Unless otherwise indicated in the referenced sections, or in other City documents regulating commercial development, the development standards listed in Chapter 17.24, General Development Standards, of this title shall apply to all zones described in this chapter.

Table 17.36.040
Special Development Standards for All Commercial Zones

(Ord. No. 1609/1610, § 4(Exh. B, 1), 11-17-2015; Ord. No. 1759, § 3(Exh. A), 10-3-2023)