Tulare City Zoning Code

   The purpose of the Mixed-Use Overlay (MU) zone is to provide a tool to encourage and facilitate the development of certain areas by allowing a variety of commercial and residential uses that can be developed in a compatible manner within the same building or site. The objectives of the MU Overlay zone are:

   (A)   Provide for a set of regulations to allow for the integration of commercial, office, and residential use in close proximity to one another.

   (B)   Provide for a set of standards that clearly show the relationship of commercial, office, and residential within one developed site or building.

   (C)   Ensure that the mix of uses will be integrated successfully into a desirable, cohesive district.

   (D)   Encourage medium to high-density residential development to occur in areas in close proximity to the downtown area or the redevelopment of aging outlying commercial areas.

   (E)   Establish sites of sufficient size to allow flexibility in achieving the standards of this chapter.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   (A)   The MU Overlay zone may be combined with any R-H, C-2, C-3, or C-4 zone.

   (B)   The requirements of this chapter shall be considered in conjunction with the requirements of any base zone district. If a conflict exists between the requirements of the base zone district and this chapter, the requirements of this chapter shall apply.

   (C)   Any parcel included in the city's housing element sites inventory must be developed with the number of units identified within the housing element.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.

   MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT. A single building containing more than one type of land use or a single development of more than one building and use, where the different types of land uses are in close proximity, planned as a unified complementary whole, and functionally integrated to the use of shared vehicular and pedestrian access and parking areas.

   SPECIAL USE PERMIT. A permit issued to establish conditions of approval for an otherwise permitted or conditional use within a Mixed-Use Overlay zone.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   (A)   Applications for incorporation into the Mixed-Use Overlay zone shall be processed consistent with Chapter 10.86, Zoning Ordinance Amendments.

   (B)   Zone districts that are combined with the Mixed-Use Overlay zone shall be designated on the Official Zoning Map with the base zone district followed by the Mixed-Use Overlay zone notation (MU).

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   A mixed-use development may be approved upon making the following findings:

   (A)   That the site for the proposed development is adequate in size and shape to accommodate the uses, densities, and intensities of development and all yards, open spaces, setbacks, walls and fences, parking areas, loading areas, landscape, and other features required.

   (B)   That the traffic generated by the proposed development and the public services and facilities required can be provided by existing and planned infrastructure.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   (A)   Permitted uses:

      (1)   Townhouses.

      (2)   Apartments.

      (3)   Condominiums.

      (4)   Bed and breakfast.

      (5)   Mixed-use building or development.

      (6)   Open space or plazas.

      (7)   Public parks.

      (8)   All permitted uses in the C-2 and C-3 Zone districts.

   (B)   Conditional uses:

      (1)   All conditional uses in the C-2 and C-3 Zone district.

      (2)   Sale of alcohol, on-sale or off-sale

   (C)   Uses not permitted:

      (1)   Automobile repair.

      (2)   Auto, boat and RV sales.

      (3)   Sale of gasoline.

      (4)   Single-family detached housing.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   Development standards shall be as follows:

   (A)   Minimum site area: none.

   (B)   Minimum lot width: 18 feet.

   (C)   Minimum lot depth: none.

   (D)   Minimum residential density:

      (1)   If housing is a part of a mixed-use development, dwellings are permitted on and above the second floor of commercial uses with no minimum density.

      (2)   Freestanding residential building density of 12 dwelling units per residential acre.

      (3)   Notwithstanding divisions (D)(1) and (D)(2), any parcel proposed for mixed use development which is zoned RH-20 shall develop no less than 22 units per acre.

   (E)   Maximum residential density: 29 dwelling units per net residential acre, either in freestanding residential buildings or in mixed-use buildings on and above the second floor.

   (F)   Minimum front building setback: none for mixed-use, commercial uses, or other. No less than five feet for residential uses.

   (G)   Maximum front building setback: ten feet.

   (H)   Minimum street side and rear building setback: five feet, except where common walls for attached residential or commercial development are proposed, or existing buildings that are already constructed to the property line.

   (I)   Interior side building setback: a minimum of four feet on each side to provide a minimum of eight feet of separation between buildings. Zero lot lines can be approved with an eight-foot separation. An additional two feet of setback shall be provided for each additional story of building height.

   (J)   Building height: the maximum is five stories.

   (K)   Building height transition: development in the Mixed-Use Overlay zone shall provide for a building height transition when adjacent to an existing single-family residential zone district to provide compatible scale and privacy between developments. Buildings in the Mixed-Use Overlay zone, taller than 22 feet exclusive of any parapet walls, shall provide one foot of separation from the single-family zoned district for each foot of the building height.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   The following design standards shall apply:

   (A)   All ground-floor tenant spaces with at least 25 feet of frontage facing a public, or private streets shall have at least one building entrance oriented to the adjacent street. Such an entrance shall open directly to the outside and shall not require a pedestrian to first pass through a garage, parking lot, or loading area to gain access to the entrance from the street, but the entrance may include architectural features such as arcades, anti-chambers, porticos, and the like without being in violation of this provision. If a building has frontage on more than one street, the building shall provide a main building entrance oriented to one of the streets or a single entrance to the corner where the two streets intersect. Where one single tenant has 200 feet or more of frontage on public or private streets, one additional entrance shall be provided for each 200 feet of frontage on one of the public or private streets. Freestanding banking institutions and restaurants located in the Mixed-Use Overlay zone are exempt from the provisions contained in this division and may locate the primary building entrance on any facade of the structure. A clear internal site pedestrian sidewalk or pathway shall be provided to the building entrance from all public or private street sidewalks. A building may have more building entrances than required by this section oriented to a public or private street and may have secondary entrances facing off-street parking areas and loading areas.

   (B)   Residential dwellings fronting on a public or private street shall have a main entrance to the dwelling opening onto the front of the dwelling at the ground floor lever. Such an entrance shall open directly to the outside and shall not require passage through a garage to gain access to the doorway. The doorway may be above the final grade where a porch, stoop, portico, anti-chamber, wheelchair ramp, or similar architectural feature is included in the design. Ground floor single-family attached housing or townhouse, condominium residential units fronting on a public or private street shall have separate entries directly from the major pedestrian route.

   (C)   Ground floor and upper story residential units in a multi-family building fronting on a public or private street may share one or more entries accessible directly from the street.

   (D)   Residential building facades over 150 feet in length facing a street shall provide two or more main building entrances.

   (E)   Entryways into mixed-use buildings containing residential units shall be clearly marked with a physical feature incorporated into the building or an appropriately scaled element applied to the facade.

   (F)   Bicycle parking spaces shall be sited so as not to occupy space within, reduce the size of, or impede the use of required sidewalks, pedestrian ways, curbside landscape strips, landscape buffers, or unable open spaces. All bicycle parking must be easily accessible and shall be equipped or located so as to allow the bicycle to be conveniently and securely locked to a parking device or within a secured bicycle parking area. Covered bicycle parking shall be provided. Covered bicycle parking may be provided within a parking structure, garage, under a separate roof within a bicycle locker, or in a designated area within a building or residential complex. A covered bicycle structure may occupy two of the required on-site parking spaces.

   (G)   Surface parking areas shall provide perimeter parking lot landscaping adjacent to a street that meets one of the following standards: a five-foot wide planting strip between the right-of-way and the parking area shall be provided for streets designated collector or local. A ten-foot-wide planting strip between the right-of-way and parking area shall be provided for streets designated arterial.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   (A)   The following design standards shall apply:

      (1)   Mixed-use buildings with ground-level commercial or office use shall conform to the design standards in § 10.46.080.

      (2)   All development shall provide ground floor windows on the building facade facing and adjacent to a public street, or facing onto a park, plaza, or other public outdoor space. Required windows shall provide a lower sill no more than three feet above grade; except where interior floor levels prohibit such placement, the sill may be located not less than two feet above the finished floor level to a maximum sill height of five feet above exterior grade.

      (3)   Darkly tinted windows and mirrored windows that block two-way visibility are prohibited as ground-floor windows required under this provision except where the closest face of the building to the nearest edge of the sidewalk within a public right-of-way or private street parallel and adjacent to the building is greater than 50 feet.

      (4)   Building frontages along streets shall break any flat, monolithic facade by including architectural elements such as bay windows, recessed entrances, or other articulation so as to provide pedestrian scale to the first floor.

      (5)   Where ground floor windows are required by this section on public, institutional office, and commercial structures, exterior walls facing a public street, public open space, pedestrian walkway, and/or transit station shall have windows, display areas, or doorways for at least 50% of the length and 50% of the area of the ground level wall area, which is defined as the area to the finished ceiling height of the fronting space or 15 feet above finished grade, whichever is less.

   (B)   Building step-back requirements.

      (1)   Step-back requirements help assure a comfortable street environment by preventing fortress-like facades, providing light and air at the street level, and providing features of interest to pedestrians along streets in mixed-use districts. The following design standards shall apply:

         (a)   Step-back requirements shall be achieved, at the option of the applicant, by one of two methods:

            1.   Floors above the second floor shall be stepped back a minimum of five feet for the first story above two, and an additional five feet for floors above three. The maximum step-back under this method shall not exceed 15 feet.

            2.   A building shall be stepped back by an appropriate amount from the plane of the street so as to maintain an angle not greater than 60 degrees between the top of the building facade fronting onto the street and the back of the sidewalk of the opposite side of the same street.

         (b)   Upon petition of the applicant, the Planning Commission may waive the building step-back requirements of this section provided that the applicant clearly demonstrates the proposed project:

            1.   Includes window treatments, entry placement, facade relief, and other architectural treatments to provide visual interest and pedestrian-sensitive design at the street level and to maintain a human scale in the streetscape.

            2.   Extends the same architectural features above the ground floor level through variations in design, detail, and proportion, and by avoiding designs featuring a monolithic street facade.

      (2)   Where step-back requirements are not required, the above design standards shall be adhered to for multi-story buildings.

   (C)   Architectural design requirements. The following design requirements shall apply:

      (1)   Buildings shall promote and enhance a pedestrian scale and orientation on the facade facing the public street. Street side building facades and dwelling units within the Mixed-Use Overlay zone shall be varied and articulated to provide visual interest to pedestrians and avoid a flat appearance. In addition, development proposals shall make provisions and include designs consistent with the following:

         (a)   All new commercial, public/institutional, mixed-use, and residential buildings constructed within the Mixed-Use Overlay zone shall demonstrate that it promotes and enhances a pedestrian scale and orientation on any facade facing a public or private street and it incorporates discernible and architecturally appropriate features; such as, but not limited to, cornices, bases, fenestration, fluted masonry, bays, recesses, arcades, display windows, unique entry areas or other treatments for visual interest, to create community character and to promote a sense of pedestrian scale. The design shall recognize that the simple relief provided by window cutouts or sills on an otherwise flat facade, in and of themselves, does not meet the requirements of this section.

         (b)   All residential dwellings, of any type, constructed within the Mixed-Use Overlay zone shall be constructed with exterior building materials and finishes of high quality to convey an impression of permanence durability. Materials such as, including masonry, stucco, stone, terra cotta, tile, cedar shakes and shingles, beveled or ship-lap or other narrow-course horizontal boards or siding, authentic vertical board and batten siding/articulated architectural concrete masonry units (CMU), and similar durable architectural materials are allowed. Materials such as and including, T-111 siding, plain or plain painted plywood and strandboard sheets, concrete or cinder block, smooth surface concrete panels, and similar quality and non-durable material are prohibited.

      (2)   Commercial buildings and sites shall be organized to group the utilitarian functions away from the public view. Delivery and loading operations, HVAC equipment, trash compacting collection, and other utility and service functions shall be incorporated into the overall design of the building(s) and the landscaping. The visual and acoustic impacts of these functions, along with all wall- or ground-mounted mechanical, electrical, and communications equipment shall be out of view from adjacent properties and public streets, and screening materials and landscape screens shall be architecturally with and not inferior to the principal materials of the buildings and primary landscaping. The visual and acoustic aspects of roof-mounted equipment behind parapets, within architectural screening, roof-top screening, and deadening the sound of such equipment.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   Property owner association, a landscape and lighting district, or other similar mechanism for the maintenance of common open space, private streets, or other improvements shall be set up as a condition of approval.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)

   (A)   A variance may be granted to any development regulation or design standard contained in this chapter provided the Planning Commission finds that by granting the variance:

      (1)   The adjustment will equally or better meet the purposes of the Mixed-Use Overlay zone and of the regulation to be modified.

      (2)   The variance or cumulative variance adjustments result in a project that is still consistent with the overall purpose and intent of the district.

   (B)   The Planning Commission may approve a variance from the architectural standards if the project meets the following criteria.

      (1)   Multiple main building entrances are required to be oriented to the street. Variances may be granted to allow a single secured entrance to an establishment upon a finding that the internal security measures, which are standard operating procedures of the applicant would be irreparably harmed by this requirement; except in no case shall there be less than one main entrance oriented to a public or private street unless otherwise authorized by an exception contained in this section.

      (2)   Ground floor windows. A variance to the percentage of window area required for ground floor windows in building facades where required by this section may be allowed upon findings that:

         (a)   Such windows would unavoidably compromise necessary personal privacy or security within the building (for example, privacy in a clinic examination room, security in a pharmacy storeroom, or security and privacy in a research and development laboratory).

         (b)   Due to the design of the structure or other demonstrable restrictions or constraints, the required personal privacy or security cannot otherwise be provided.

         (c)   The loss of the window area cannot be recaptured elsewhere on the facade.

(Ord. 2025-01, passed 1-7-2025)