A. This chapter: General Provisions

B. Chapter 24.590: Hansen Trust Property Specific Plan Development Code.

C. Chapter 24.595: Midtown Corridors Development Code.

D. Chapter 24.600: Victoria Avenue Corridor Development Code. (Formerly 24.2A.100.010)

A. Input from community stakeholders, including city staff;

B. The findings and recommendations of the relevant analyses prepared by members of the UC Hansen Trust Property design team;

C. Application of the planning principles identified in Chapter 2 of this specific plan (Form and Character); and the 2005 Ventura General Plan;

D. An analysis of present and anticipated future market conditions;

E. Planning direction and priorities expressed in the city’s Saticoy and Wells community plan process;

F. Application of the agricultural buffer policies of the county agricultural commissioner and the county agricultural policy advisory committee;

G. Policies, priorities, and requirements of the University of California and the UC Hansen Trust. (Formerly 24H.102.2)

A. Neighborhood General 1 (T3.3). The T3.3 zone is applied to areas appropriate for a mix of house and lot sizes, characterized by detached single-family houses on larger lots.

B. Neighborhood General 2 (T3.4). The T3.4 zone is applied to areas appropriate for a variety and mix of detached single-family houses on a variety of lot sizes.

C. Urban General (T4.7). The T4.7 zone is applied to portions of the specific plan that are intended for rowhouses and quadplexes (note: quadplexes are allowed in the farmworker housing overlay only).

D. Farmworker Housing Overlay (FH). The FH overlay zone is applied to the portion of the T4.7 zone that fronts Blackburn Park and allows for the use of the quadplex building type. See Title 25 (Inclusionary Housing Plan).

E. One and One-Half Story Maximum Building Height Overlay. The one and one-half story maximum building height overlay applies to the T3.3 zoned parcels along the eastern boundary of the specific plan area and provides height and privacy restrictions for all parcels within its boundary. Please refer to Section 24.590.140.

F. Parks and Open Space (POS). The POS zone identifies areas reserved for outdoor recreation, community parks, squares, greenways and other urban open spaces. Allowable structures in this zone are limited to those necessary to support the specific purposes of each individual open space site.

A. Allowed Land Uses. A parcel or building within the specific plan area shall be occupied by only the land uses allowed by Table 24.590-1 within the zone applied to the site by the regulating plan. Each land use listed in Table 24.590-1 is defined in Article 10 of this chapter (Development Code Glossary).

B. Permit Requirements. Table 24.590-1 provides for land uses that are:

C. Standards for Specific Land Uses. Where the last column in Table 24.590-1 (“Specific Use Regulations”) includes an article or section number, the regulations in the referenced article or section also apply to the use. Requirements in other articles of this development code may also apply. (Ord. No. 2021-017, § 89 (Exh. E), 12-13-21. Formerly 24H.200.2)

A. Additional City Approval Requirements. Any land use identified as allowed by Table 24.590-1 may require other city permits, licenses, and approvals, including but not limited to a building permit per the municipal code.

B. Initiation of Nonresidential Use. The initiation of a nonresidential use shall require that a business license first be obtained from the city of Ventura. (Formerly 24H.200.3)

A. Building Placement.

B. Building Profile. Each proposed building shall comply with the following building profile requirements:

C. Parking.

D. Allowed Lot and Building Types. The building types allowed within the T3.3 zone shall be limited to those shown on the below table, which shall be placed on lots with the minimum lot widths shown, for the type in the T3.3 zone. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards) for detailed standards for each building type. The minimum lot depth required in the T3.3 zone shall be 90 feet. The minimum lot area required in the T3.3 zone shall be 5,000 square feet, except that all lots along Saticoy Avenue shall be at least 6,900 square feet in area.

E. Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements. The following land uses may occur within the T3.3 neighborhood general 1 zone, subject to the noted permit requirements:

A. Building Placement. Each proposed building shall comply with the following building placement requirements:

B. Building Profile. Each proposed building shall comply with the following building profile requirements:

C. Parking.

D. Allowed Lot and Building Types. The building types allowed within the T3.4 zone shall be limited to those shown on the below table, which shall be placed on lots with the minimum lot widths shown, for the type in the T3.4 zone. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards) for detailed standards for each building type. The minimum lot depth required in the T3.4 zone shall be 90 feet. The minimum lot area required in the T3.4 zone shall be 4,000 square feet.

E. Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements. The following land uses may occur within the T3.4 neighborhood general 2 zone, subject to the noted permit requirements:

A. Building Placement. Each proposed building shall comply with the following building placement requirements:

B. Building Profile. Each proposed building shall comply with the following building profile requirements:

C. Parking.

D. Allowed Lot and Building Types. The building types allowed within the T4.7 zone shall be limited to those shown on the below table, which shall be placed on lots with the minimum lot widths shown, for the type in the T4.7 zone. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards) for detailed standards for each building type. The minimum lot depth required in the T4.7 zone shall be 85 feet.

Please see Section 24.590.130 (Farmworker housing overlay zone standards) for additional building and lot type requirements.

E. Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements. The following land uses may occur within the T4.7 urban general zone, subject to the noted permit requirements:

Please see Section 24.590.130 (Farmworker housing overlay zone standards) for additional land use and permit requirements. (Formerly 24H.202.5)

A. Building Placement. Each proposed building shall comply with the following building placement requirements:

B. Building Profile. See T4.7 urban general zone standards (Section 24.590.120).

C. Parking.

D. Allowed Lot and Building Types. The building types allowed within the farmworker housing overlay zone shall be limited to those shown on the table below, which shall be placed on lots with the minimum lot widths shown, for the type in the farmworker housing overlay zone. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards) for detailed standards for each building type.

E. Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements. The following land uses may occur within the farmworker housing overlay zone, subject to the noted permit requirements:

A. Building Placement. See T3.3 neighborhood general 1 zone standards (Section 24.590.100).

B. Building Profile.

C. Parking.

D. Allowed Lot and Building Types. See T3.3 neighborhood general 1 zone standards (Section 24.590.100). The minimum lot width required in the one-and-one-half-story maximum building height overlay zone shall be 50 feet.

E. Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements. See T3.3 neighborhood general 1 zone standards (Section 24.590.100). (Formerly 24H.202.6.2)

A. Frontage Types Allowed by Zone. The following table identifies the frontage types allowed in each zone established by Article 1 of this chapter (Regulating Plan and Zones).

B. Frontage Type Standards.

1. Common Yard. The building facade is set back substantially from the front property line. The front yard (the area between the front property line and the primary street setback) created remains unfenced and is visually continuous with adjacent yards, supporting a common landscape. The deep setback provides a buffer from higher speed thoroughfares.
2. Porch and Fence. The building facade is set back from the front property line with an attached porch that is permitted to encroach into the setback. A fence at the property line maintains the demarcation of the yard. Each porch shall be no less than seven feet deep.
3. Stoop. The building facade is aligned close to the front property line with the first story elevated from the sidewalk sufficiently to provide privacy for the windows. The entrance is usually an exterior stair and landing. This type is recommended for ground floor residential use.
4. Dooryard. Dooryards are elevated gardens or terraces that are set back from the frontage line. This type can effectively buffer residential quarters from the sidewalk, remove the private yard from public encroachment, and provide an effective means of mitigating a sloping site.

C. Frontage Types and Slope.

1. Common Yard. If the natural slope of a front yard is less than 5:1, the front yard may slope directly to the sidewalk.	Example of sloped common yard.
2. Dooryard. If the natural slope of a front yard exceeds 5:1, the slope must be mitigated through the use of a dooryard wall located at the front property line that is at least 12 inches high.	Example of dooryard. Example of dooryard.

A. Purpose and Applicability. The standards in this article provide direction for the design of all buildings (private houses on private lots and public buildings within the public realm), appurtenances and site elements within the specific plan area. The materials, methods, and forms herein are standard. All other materials, methods, and forms are prohibited, unless explicitly approved in writing through design review, based on a finding that they conform to the design intent of this code.

B. Relationship to Urban Standards. The urban standards in Article 3 of this chapter define the location and massing of buildings and site elements on the lots, focusing on the relationship of the building to the lot, the block and the neighborhood. These architectural guidelines define the permitted range of architectural design possibilities, ensuring a degree of authenticity and cohesion for the overall urban design.

C. Style Precedents. Five distinct architectural styles have been selected as the basis for the architectural standards based on their history and success in the city of Ventura and Ventura County neighborhoods. These styles are:

The drawings in these guidelines are intended to illustrate designs characteristic of the Ventura County variants of these classic American styles. These illustrations convey the level of detail that is to be provided in the architecture of the buildings, but not inclusive of all possible variations of the style.

D. Range of Materials. Within each style, a range of materials – from modest to fine – are permitted. With any combination of building type and architectural style, the skilled architect will be able to design a wide range of buildings, accommodating a broad range of uses, household types and construction budgets.

E. Conflicting Requirements. The materials, configurations and methods in this article apply to buildings, appurtenances and site elements throughout the specific plan area. The following sections concerning specific architectural styles may include requirements that are additive to, or conflicting with, these general requirements, in which case the requirements for that style shall take precedence. (Formerly 24H.208.1)

A. Materials.

B. Configurations.

3. Exterior chimneys shall be finished in brick, stone, or stucco.

C. Methods.

A. Materials.

B. Configurations.

C. Methods.

A. Materials.

B. Configurations.

C. Methods.

A. Materials.

B. Configurations.

C. Methods.

1. Windows on facades shall be double-hung, single-hung, or hinged-casement. On side or rear elevations, windows may be horizontal sliders to be located at least six feet from the facade. Horizontal sliders are not allowed on the side facades of corner buildings.

A. Energy. The built environment is responsible for nearly half the primary energy use in this country, making buildings a leading contributor to global warming, air pollution, and the depletion of fossil fuel reserves. Substantial reductions in energy use can be made by responding thoughtfully to climatic conditions during building design. Additional savings can be achieved through the use of high performance energy systems and alternative energy sources.

B. Landscape and Hydrology. Infrastructure and the landscape should be informed by nature and natural systems. This includes the creation of a “green infrastructure” system to clean and convey stormwater.

C. Indoor Environmental Quality. The indoor environment can be readily designed to promote human health and well-being by minimizing sources of contamination, and providing abundant fresh air and sunlight.

D. Resource Conservation. To address resource conservation issues, the entire life-cycle of building materials should be considered: the effects of extracting raw materials and of manufacturing, performance while in use, including maintenance and durability, and how the materials and packaging will ultimately be disposed of. The primary goal is to encourage the development of “closed-loop” manufacturing which uses waste products as the raw materials of new products.

A. History and Character. The Spanish style is derived from the style of the missions of California, built between 1767 and 1823 during the Spanish Colonial period. The prevailing building material was the local clay adobe, mud mixed with a chopped straw binder and used as plaster or sun-dried in bricks. Today, the style is characterized by wall surfaces that are made of flat austere stucco planes with punched, recessed openings for windows and doors. A greater percentage of the surface is wall than opening, and detail is achieved through the proportional location of openings. Windows occasionally are elaborated with small metal balconies, grilles or awnings, but have no exterior trim. Exterior trim is reserved for main doorways, which have pilasters, columns and capitals. Wood detailing is spare, seen as rafter tails or heavy timber brackets supporting cantilevers or openings. Roofs are always tile, typically barrel mission tile or clay “S” and occasionally flat cement tile. The typical open spaces for this style are patios and courtyards, which can be open to streets and yards via loggias and arcades.

B. Essential Characteristics of the Style.

C. Massing and Roof. Most Spanish style buildings are formed from variations or combinations on simple rectilinear forms capped with gabled or hipped roofs. More complex buildings have rambling, compound plans based on picturesque compositions of these rectilinear forms. In the UC Hansen Trust Property, Spanish style buildings will fall into one of the following categories:

D. Building Height. Spanish style buildings typically have tall first floors and shorter upper floors. In the UC Hansen Trust Property the minimum first floor ceiling height will be nine feet. Second/upper floors may lower ceiling heights to eight feet particularly when cathedral ceilings are used.

Eaves generally fall into two types: open and closed. Open eaves are inspired by Spanish Colonial wood-framing and are characterized by deep overhangs of at least 18 inches and exposed, often decorative, rafters. Open eaves are typically used with hipped roof forms. Closed eaves reflect an adobe masonry tradition and are characterized by simple, stuccoed gable ends, clay roof tiles, and an eight-inch water table in stone or stucco. Closed eaves are typically utilized with gable end or parapetted roof forms.

E. Porches and Exterior Elements. The Spanish style tends to utilize a variety of exterior elements to define outdoor and semi-outdoor spaces, including arcaded and colonnaded loggias, covered balconies, galleries, courtyards, and terraces. Rather than separate entities, these elements tend to be extensions of the principal building forms.

These elements include:

3. Well-detailed structural canopies, such as pergolas and trellises.

Chimneys, often with elaborate tops and small, tiled roofs, are also used as defining special elements in Spanish-style compositions.

Porch and balcony columns are typically square-stock and eight inches in diameter, often with bracketed capitals.

F. Doors and Windows.

G. Materials.

H. Colors.

Cladding:	Stucco may be white, off-white, light gray, cream, or yellow. Stone should be of a similar color and texture to local stone in coastal Ventura County.	Illustrative Color Palette
Roofing:	Clay tiles are typically variegated reds or browns.
Windows:	Sashes and frames to be dark stained or painted white, off-white, cream, light red, light green, or light blue. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Trim:	Dark stained or painted white or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Gutters/downspouts:	Natural copper finish, black, dark red, dark green.
Columns:	Dark stained or painted white or off-white.
Railings:	Wood railings dark stained or painted white or off-white. Wrought iron grilles and rails to be painted black.

A. History and Character. The Victorian style draws from Carpenter Gothic and Queen Anne traditions as seen throughout California, from the 1830s to the turn of the century. In the Carpenter Gothic, cross gables with steeply pitched decorated gables are common. In the Queen Anne, bays and turrets are common with surface shingle patterns gaining importance. In both variants, the porches receive the most details. A variation of the Victorian style, the highly picturesque Stick style is thought to have developed as a resort architecture in the mid-1800s. The Stick style was characterized by bright, contrasting paint colors, ornamental brackets and bargeboards, lacy openwork balconies, overhanging eaves, colored shingles, and the purely decorative crisscross timbers, or stick work. By the 1860s, elaborate Stick style confections were appearing across the country, and the style remained popular in resorts, suburbs, and small towns well into the 1870s. West Coast Stick style houses usually have bay windows with straight sides. In addition, the bay window area most often has a gabled roof above it, and the windows are more likely to have flat tops. The decorative brackets usually line up with the sides of the windows and with the corners of the house and extend down into long vertical strips in these locations. There is sometimes a pattern of short verticals along the cornice line.

B. Essential Characteristics of the Style.

C. Massing and Roofs. Victorian buildings are typically characterized by picturesque massing and tall proportions. Massing types are commonly based on combinations of gable-end forms with perpendicular “gable ells.” Some basic ratios include two to one “gable L” types, two to three “gable L” types, and two to three to two “double gable L” types. More formal massing types retain this picturesque character through the application of Carpenter Gothic-styled decorative brackets along porches and eaves. Roofs are typically steeply pitched, with highly detailed eaves.

In the UC Hansen Trust Property, buildings will tend to fall into one of the following massing categories:

1. Single-family townhouse	2. Single-family gable L	3. Multifamily double gable
4. Wide two-story	5. Wide 1.5-story gable L	6. Double gable L

D. Building Height. Victorian buildings are characterized by tall proportions. First floor ceiling heights should be at least nine feet. Second floor ceiling heights may be shorter (eight feet minimum), but nine feet or 10 feet is not uncommon.

Victorian buildings may utilize one of two different eave types. Open eaves are appropriate for more vernacular buildings, particularly in rural settings. Returned eaves are appropriate for formal gable fronts and to facilitate facade material changes.

E. Porches and Exterior Elements. Porches are typically central to Victorian houses. Gable L types typically have side or wraparound porches while centerhall types typically have full-width front porches.

Porches typically exhibit a great deal of variety in detailing, but are usually derived from classical proportions and moldings. Porch columns may be square-stock, square tapered, or turned with brackets and/or fretwork. Porch columns should be six inches minimum in diameter. Porch railings may have square balusters, turned spindles, or decorative panel work.

F. Doors and Windows. Windows and doors are tall and narrow in proportion. On brick or stone houses there is a three-and-one-half-inch-wide brickmould (min) with a brick or stone lintel. On wood sided or shingled houses window and door trim is generally wide around five and one-half inches and there are usually additional trim caps, brackets or other details over the window head.

Doors can be paneled, or a combination of paneled and glazed, and occur single or paired. They can also have sidelights and transoms. In most cases the trim surround is more ornate than the window trim.

Windows are double hung with one over one, and two over two paned divisions. They can have flat, half-round or segmental arched tops.

Specialty windows can be used to accentuate architectural features. Paired and triple windows frequently appear. Box and angled bay windows are also used as accents.

House masses are usually divided into three or five equal bays with the windows, doors, and accents elements centered in these divisions.

G. Materials.

H. Colors.

Cladding:	Primary siding colors may be white, off-white, cream, gray green, gray blue, or brown. Highlight colors should be chosen to match primary siding colors in keeping with historic Victorian color palettes.
Roofing:	Roof shingles are typically dark grey or black. Standing seam metal roofs may be natural, black, dark green, or dark red finish.
Windows:	Sashes and frames may be white or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Trim:	White or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Gutters/downspouts:	Natural copper finish or white, to match primary trim colors.
Columns:	White or off-white.
Railings:	White or off-white.

A. History and Character. The Italianate style was popular in California from the 1830s through the 1880s. Providing square towers, asymmetrical plans, broad roofs, and generous verandas, this style was widely adapted for urban row house architecture in the mid-1800s, characterized by ornate door and window designs, weighty bracketed cornices, and high stoops with robust stair rails. Many townhouses in San Francisco and other northern California cities were built of wood, in the Italianate style. Early in the style the massing was simple with little detailing. The later houses were usually more decorated and had more complex massing, as exemplified by the San Francisco high Victorian Italianates.

The UC Hansen Trust Property Italianate style is intended to be a formal, classically inspired style, appropriate for rowhouses and single-family homes.

B. Essential Characteristics of the Style.

1. Single-Family Rowhouse	2. Single-Family Narrow	3. Wide Gable-L
4. Basic Broad Front	5. Cube	6. Double Gable

C. Massing and Roofs. In more picturesque versions wings project from the mass toward the street with gabled or hipped roof forms. In more detailed examples of the high style towers, cupolas, and projecting bays are added.

Larger Italianate buildings tend to be simple, boxlike forms accented by towers, cupolas, and projected bays.

Large eave projections with cornice brackets are characteristic of the style. Frequently the area between the brackets is detailed with panels. Brackets can occur singly or in pairs, but are always equally spaced across the facade.

D. Building Height. Italianate houses are generally vertically proportioned. First floor ceiling heights should be nine feet; second floor ceiling heights can be eight feet but usually require nine feet to accommodate the detailed cornice. Italianate eaves typically have classical proportions and detailing with deep entablatures, decorative paneling, and substantial brackets.

1. Stoop Porch

2. Full Width Porch

3. Side Porch

4. Wrap-Around Porch

E. Porches and Exterior Elements. There are three basic types of porches that may be added to the house.

Porch details are typically classical in nature and vertical in proportion. Classically correct Tuscan and Ionic columns, and square-stock columns, are common. Entablatures often have deep overhangs with brackets. Railings may have square balusters or turned spindles. Porches typically have a clear depth of seven feet. Porch columns are typically at least six inches in diameter.

Rowhouse	L-Shaped	L-Shaped
Centerhall	Centerhall With Cupola	Multifamily

F. Doors and Windows. Windows and doors are tall and narrow in proportion. On stone or brick houses there is a three-and-one-half-inch-wide brick mould (min) with a brick or stone lintel. On clapboard houses window and door trim is generally wide, around five and one-half inches, and usually there are additional trim caps, brackets or other details over the window head.

Doors can be paneled, or a combination of paneled and glazed, and occur single or paired. They can also have sidelights and transoms. In most cases the trim surround is more ornate than the window trim.

Windows are double hung with one over one, and two over two paned divisions. They can have flat, half-round or segmental arched tops.

Specialty windows can be used to accentuate architectural features. Paired and triple windows frequently appear on tower elements. Box and angled bay windows are also used as accents.

House masses are usually divided into three or five equal bays with the windows, doors, and accents elements centered in these divisions.

G. Materials.

H. Colors.

Cladding:	Siding and stucco colors may be white, off-white, cream, yellow, light blue, dark green, or dark blue. Brick may be red or painted white, off-white, or red.
Roofing:	Roof shingles are typically dark grey or black. Standing seam metal roofs may be natural, black, dark green, or blue finish.
Windows:	Sashes and frames may be white or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Trim:	White or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Gutters/downspouts:	Natural copper finish or white, black, dark red, or dark green.
Columns:	White or off-white.
Railings:	White or off-white.

A. History and Character. The Craftsman style represented an independent western movement in American architecture. Its guiding force was the English Arts and Crafts movement, which favored the beauty and honesty of traditional handcraftsmanship and natural materials. In America, these ideas and the style that derived from them were espoused and disseminated by Gustav Stickley. The style was adapted for countless small houses and bungalows from the 1900s to the 1940s but found its most sophisticated expression in the California work of Pasadena architects Greene and Greene. The Craftsman bungalow became widely popular during that era. Since that time, the Craftsman style has developed various interpretations that have adapted it to multifamily and mixed-use prototypes. Typically, it is a snug one-and-a-half-story home with detailed eaves and a wide overhanging roof, surrounded by deep porches, and simple interior with built-in cupboards and cozy inglenooks.

B. Essential Elements of the Style.

1. Simple Single-Family	2. Simple Single-Family With Dormers	3. Single-Family Gable L	4. Bungalow
5. Two-Story Single-Family	6. Wide Two-Story	7. Double Gable

C. Massing and Roofs. Craftsman buildings are typically compositions of basic squares or rectangles capped by a gable or in some instances hipped roofs. Attic spaces under gabled roof forms and dormers are common. Porch roofs can shed or telescope from the main mass.

In the UC Hansen Trust Property, Craftsman buildings will typically identify with one of the following massing types:

D. Building Height. Craftsman houses are generally low in massing. Porches are usually elevated approximately two feet from grade. First floor ceiling heights should be nine feet, second floor ceiling heights can be shorter (eight feet minimum), but the low character is achieved in part through the broad overhang of the eaves.

1. Stoop porches		2. Full width porch
3. Full width porch with dormer	4. Side porch	5. Wrap around porch

E. Porches and Exterior Elements. Porches tend to be broad, even encompassing the full width of the house. The roofs on porches tend to parallel the roof of the main mass. On a house with a front gable the roof of the porch also tends to be a gable form creating a telescoping mass. Hipped roof houses tend to have hipped roof porches although shed or gable forms would not be inappropriate. Porch eave details are the same as those on the main mass, including exposed rafter tails, overhangs, and braces.

The detailing of the porches support columns can exhibit a great deal of variety. Typically short square columns rest on massive piers or even the solid balustrade. The piers or solid balustrades usually begin at grade and continue unbroken past the porch deck to rail height or even higher to support the columns. Piers and columns frequently have sloped or battered sides. Piers and balustrades can be of the same material as the main mass of the house – stone, brick, stucco, shingle, or clapboard. In some instances they are of a heavier material than the house mass – a stucco house may have stone piers.

Balustrades can be a solid wall or open railing with square balusters.

F. Doors and Windows. Windows and doors are broad in proportion. On stone or brick houses there is a three-and-one-half-inch-wide brick mould (min) with a brick or stone lintel. On shingled and clapboard houses window and door trim is generally wide, around five and one-half inches, and there are usually additional trim caps or other details over the window head.

Doors are broad and can be paneled, or a combination of paneled and glazed, and entries usually occur singly not double. In most cases the trim surround is usually consistent with the window trim, but can be heavier.

Windows are double hung with multiple pane over one divisions being prevalent, while six over six, eight over eight, and other similar paning can occur.

Casement windows can be used as specialty windows which accentuate architectural features. Paired and triple windows frequently occur. Box and angled bay windows are also used as accents.

G. Materials.

H. Colors.

Cladding:	Siding and stucco colors may be dark green, olive green, light brown, light blue, or natural stained. Brick may be red.
Roofing:	Roof shingles are typically dark grey or black.
Windows:	Sashes and frames may be white or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Trim:	White, off-white, dark brown, dark red, or dark green. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Gutters/downspouts:	Natural copper finish or white, black, dark red, or dark green.
Columns:	White, off-white, dark brown, dark green, or natural stained.
Railings:	White or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.

A. History and Character. The Tudor style derives its inspiration from the Storybook, “Normandy,” and Tudor styles that appeared on the American scene in the late 19th century and were popular through the 1940s. This style finds its origins in a variety of late Medieval English prototypes, ranging from humble, thatch-roofed cottages to more elaborate, grand mansions and estates. Although initial buildings built in this style were complex, architect-designed landmarks, by the 1920s and 1930s the style had become immensely popular with the proliferation of unpretentious houses, apartments, and mixed-use structures by builders. In California, developments such as Picardy Village and Normandy Towers are demonstrative of the fine craftsmanship and imaginative interpretations that characterized this period.

B. Main Characteristics of the Style.

C. Massing and Roofs. Most Tudor style buildings are typically formed from combinations of one or two rectilinear masses, capped with steeply pitched gable-end roof forms, and set perpendicular to one another to create picturesque compositions. The addition of elements such as swaybacked roof additions, bay windows, dormers, and elaborated chimneys create finished designs.

In the UC Hansen Trust Property, Tudor buildings will typically fall into one of the following categories:

D. Building Height. Second and upper floors set under steeply pitched roofs characterized by decorative, half-timbered gable ends and dormers are common rather than uniform plate heights. First floor ceilings typically measure nine feet while upper-story ceilings vary.

Two cornice types predominate: a simple rakeboard and a simple return. The rakeboard may have a slight swaybacked profile at the gable end. Cornice returns are typically characterized by steeply pitched roofs in slate, wood shakes, or asphalt shingles.

E. Porches and Exterior Elements. Porches are typically integral to the overall massing form of Tudor style buildings, and are characterized by arched openings in masonry, or trabeated openings with Arts-and-Crafts-inspired bracketing. Stoop entries with one-bay arched openings in brick or rough-cut stone are common. Upper-story balconies are often integral with shed dormers set across steeply pitched roofs.

Common Porch Types

F. Doors and Windows. Windows are typically vertically proportioned casements or double-hung in wood or metal, and ganged sets of two or more windows are common. Special windows with leaded-glass patterns are also often visible. A two-and-one-half-inch brickmould is common in stucco walls around all openings with six-inch cast stone or wood lintels.

Shutters and doors are often characterized by board-and-batten compositions, and rounded-headed doors are also common.

G. Materials.

H. Colors.

Cladding:	Stucco may be off-white, light gray, beige, or other light earth tones. Stone should be of a similar color and texture to local stone in Coastal Ventura County. Brick may be red.
Roofing:	Natural slate or shake color, dark grey, or black.
Windows:	Sashes and frames to be dark stained or painted white, off-white, cream, dark red, dark green, or dark blue. Additional colors conditional upon approval. Shutters may be painted to match sash/frame color.
Trim:	Dark stained or painted white or off-white. Additional colors conditional upon approval.
Gutters/downspouts:	Natural copper finish, black, dark red, dark green.
Columns:	Dark stained or painted white or off-white.
Railings:	Wood railings dark stained or painted white or off-white. Wrought iron grilles and rails to be painted black.

A. Front Yard Landscapes. Plantings in yard areas fronting on streets shall be appropriate to the scale, orientation and purpose of the yard. All trees for front yards shall be a minimum of 24-inch box. Appropriate plant materials and designs for specific frontage yard types are as follows:

B. Other Yards. Rear yards may have one or two trees planted per suggested list. Fruiting trees are especially recommended. Side yards need not be landscaped, except as required to the extent that they affect the quality of the public space. If visible from the public realm, i.e., the sidewalk or street, rear and side yards shall be landscaped and maintained.

C. Acceptable Plant Materials.

1. Plants for the private realm should be selected on the basis of aridity and drought tolerance. Select species that have a Moderate, Low or Very Low water use rating as designated by the Water Use Classification of Landscape Species (WUCOLS) list for Southern California Coastal environments. A partial list of species is suggested here:

4. Low Shrubs and Groundcovers. Cistus salvifolius/Rockrose.

Cotoniaster parneyii/Cotoneaster.

Carpenteria californica/NCN.

Erigeron karvinskianus/Santa Barbara Daisy.

Euryops pectinatus/Golden Shrub Daisy.

Felicia amelliodes/Blue Marguerite.

Heuchera sanguinea/Coral Bells.

Kniphofia uvaria/Red Hot Poker.

Lavandula spp./Lavender.

Pittosporum crassifolium “Nana”/Dwarf Karo.

A. Driveways/Walkways.

B. Parking Space Dimensions.

C. Access to Parking.

D. Parking Lot Design for Quadplexes.

E. Alley Back-Up Area. A back-up area for each alley-accessed garage shall be provided as follows:

For further garage location requirements, please refer to the parking and service standards (Article 3 of this chapter) and the vehicle access, parking, and services standards of each building type (Sections 24.590.190(E), 24.590.200(E), 24.590.210(E), 24.590.220(E) and 24.590.230(E)) of this specific plan.

A. New Land Uses or Structures and/or Changes to Land Uses or Structures. It shall be unlawful, and a violation of this development code, for any person to establish, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, alter, or replace any use of land or structure, except in compliance with the requirements listed below, including those relating to nonconforming uses, structures, and parcels. No building permit or grading permit shall be issued by the city unless the proposed construction complies with all applicable provisions of this development code.

B. Subdivisions. Any subdivision of land proposed within the city after the effective date of this development code shall enable development of structures consistent with evaluation standards relating to urban standards and building type, including the Thoroughfare Type Diagram (Figure 24.590-5) and Regulating Plan (Figure 24.590-1). A subdivision application shall contain, to the director’s satisfaction, sufficient plans and information to demonstrate existing and/or intended future development upon newly created lots may feasibly conform to the development code.

C. Relationship to Municipal Code.

D. Minimum and Exclusive Standards. The requirements of this development code regarding site development and massing, materials, construction methods, forms and colors are mandatory; standards that do not meet these requirements are not acceptable. The requirements of this development code are also minimum standards for the promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare that may be made more restrictive through use permit or subdivision review by the review authority.

E. Conflicting Requirements.

F. State, County, Local Agency, and School District Sites and Facilities. The requirements of this development code shall apply to all sites and facilities of any school district or other local agency to the maximum extent allowed by law.

G. Other Requirements May Apply. Nothing in this development code eliminates the need for obtaining any other permits required by the city, or any permit, approval or entitlement required by any other applicable special district or agency, and/or the regulations of any state or federal agency.

A. Allowable Use or Function. The land use or function must be allowed by the urban standards in the zone where the site is located. Adult-oriented uses (i.e., Chapter 24.492) are prohibited within the plan area.

B. Permit and Approval Requirements. Any and all planning permits or other approvals required by this development code shall be obtained before the issuance of any required grading, building, or other construction permit, and before the proposed use is constructed, otherwise established or put into operation, unless the proposed use is listed as exempted below.

C. Development Standards, Conditions of Approval. Each land use and structure shall comply with any applicable conditions imposed by a previously granted planning permit and with the following development standards:

D. Legal Parcel. The site of a proposed development or new land use must be a parcel that was legally created or certified in compliance with the Subdivision Map Act and the city’s subdivision ordinance.

E. Design Review. Design review shall be required pursuant to Chapter 24.545. Design review shall be required for any proposed second-story addition to an existing single-story house.

F. Use Permit. A land use identified by Article 2 of this chapter (Land Use Regulations) as a “UP” (use permit) use shall require a use permit. Chapter 24.520 (Use Permit Procedure) specifies the use permit processing procedure.

G. Director’s Permit. Uses or activities of the development code requiring director’s permit approval shall be processed according to the requirements of Chapter 24.505 (Director’s Permit Procedure).

H. Access and Open Space Review. Prior to issuance of building permits, site plans and floor plans may be reviewed by the director to determine that building type access and open space requirements will be met.

I. Consumer Recycling Collection. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, consumer recycling collection is permitted in any zone and shall be located on a site whereby they do not occupy or displace required parking spaces or required landscaped areas. No more than six collection bins, containers, or reverse vending machines, not to exceed a total of 200 square feet in area, shall be located on any one site.

J. Other Review Procedures. Procedural requirements of the zoning regulations shall also apply within the plan area, including, but not limited to, the following:

A. Variation from a standard or guideline require the following as noted in this development code: (DR) = design review, (W) = warrant, (E) = exception.

B. Warrants and exceptions shall be processed pursuant to Chapter 24.537, and as follows:

C. Limitations. The following evaluation standards shall not be eligible for warrants or exceptions:

A. General Requirements for Exemption. The land uses, structures, and activities identified by subsection B of this section are exempt from the planning permit requirements of this development code only when:

B. Exempt Activities and Land Uses. The following are exempt from the land use permit requirements of this development code when in compliance with subsection A of this section:

A. Authority. The director has the authority to interpret any provision of this development code. Whenever the director determines that the meaning or applicability of any development code requirement is subject to interpretation, the director shall issue an official interpretation.

B. Rules of interpretation.

C. Procedure for Interpretations. Whenever the director determines that the meaning or applicability of any requirement of this development code is subject to interpretation generally, or as applied to a specific case, the director shall issue an official interpretation.

“Accessory building” means a building located on the same lot and customarily incidental and subordinate to the primary building on the lot or to the use of land. Where an accessory structure is attached to the primary building, as by a roof or common wall, such structures shall be considered a portion of the primary building. Typically accessory structures are intended for a variety of uses such as vehicular parking, storage of lawn and garden equipment, storage of household items, play house and green house. Accessory structures may include habitable area such as a home office, recreation room, guesthouse, and sleeping room(s).

Adult Business. See Chapter 24.492.

“Adverse impact” means the negative consequences of the use of a building on adjacent lots, usually as a result of noise, vibration, odor, pollution, or socioeconomic disruption. Negative consequences resulting from the use of the building and confined within the lot boundary are not considered to create adverse impact.

“Affordable housing” means a residential unit that is restricted to occupancy by an income eligible household as defined by a local, state or federal program, as may be amended from time to time.

“Allee” means a regularly spaced and aligned row of trees usually planted along a thoroughfare or pedestrian path.

“Alley” means a public way permanently reserved as a means of access to abutting property.

“Bicycle lane” means a dedicated bicycle lane running within a moderate-speed vehicular thoroughfare, demarcated by striping.

“Block” means the aggregate of private lots, passages, rear lanes and alleys, circumscribed by thoroughfares.

“Building placement” means the placement of a building on its lot.

“Building type” means the structure defined by the combination of configuration, disposition and function, including frontage and height but specifically defined by Article 5 of this chapter.

“Child day care” means facilities that provide nonmedical care and supervision of minor children under 18 years for periods of less than 24 hours. These facilities include the following, all of which are required to be licensed by the California State Department of Social Services:

“Civic building” means a building, or building function, owned or leased by a public agency or nonprofit organization, for the primary purpose of providing a service to the general public. Such organizations conduct land uses that are dedicated to arts, culture, education, recreation, government, transit and municipal/public parking. New civic buildings or changes to existing civic buildings shall not be subject to the requirements of Articles 3 through 7 of this chapter. Civic building design shall be approved by design review and requires issuance of a warrant. Changes to existing buildings not previously designed and used for civic functions shall be subject to design review.

“Civic space” means an outdoor area dedicated for public use. Civic spaces are defined by a combination of physical elements that define the relationship between their intended use, size, landscaping and/or enfronting buildings.

“Commercial” is a term defining workplace, office and retail use collectively.

“Director” means the community development director of the city of Ventura, or their designee.

“Dooryard” means a yard between the street and a building, raised at least 18 inches above the grade of the sidewalk adjacent, or bounded by a garden wall, between 18 inches and 36 inches in height built on the frontage line(s).

“Facade” means the exterior wall of a building that is set along a primary street setback line or side street setback line.

“Front porch” means a roofed structure, that is not enclosed, attached to the facade of a building.

“Frontage line” means the property lines of a lot fronting a street or other public way, or a park, green or paseo.

“Frontage type” means site and/or building design feature that interfaces between public (or semipublic) and private spaces. The interface occurs physically according to horizontal and vertical parameters with a principal purpose of identifying and mediating access to a building entry point. Design instruction and diagrammatic examples of permitted frontage types are provided in Article 4 of this chapter.

“General plan” means the 2005 Ventura General Plan.

“Home occupation” means an occupation conducted at a premises containing a dwelling unit as an incidental use by the occupant of that dwelling unit.

“Lot line” means the boundary that legally and geometrically demarcates a lot.

“Lot width” means the length of the principal frontage lot line.

Multifamily. See “Quadplex.”

“Net floor area” means the enclosed area of a building, excluding unglazed porches, arcades and balconies.

“Noxious” means harmful to health or physical well-being.

“Park” means an outdoor recreation facility that may provide a variety of recreational opportunities including playground equipment, open space areas for passive recreation and picnicking, and sport and active recreation facilities.

Parking Spaces. Off-street parking spaces shall be a minimum of nine feet by 19 feet, except that in off-street parking lots of more than 10 spaces, up to 20 percent of the spaces may be a minimum of eight feet by 16 feet. The parking requirement may be accommodated on the lot and on the street on the corresponding frontage, or on another site by way of a shared parking proposal approved by the director. Pairs of on-site parking spaces for use by employees of a single business, or for use by residents of a single dwelling unit, may be provided in tandem configuration (one behind the other) when approved by the director.

“Primary building” means the main building on a lot, usually located toward the frontage.

“Primary street setback” means building setback distance varying by zone designation that is measured from the property line abutting a street at which point a building must be placed. For corner lot scenarios, the director shall have the authority to determine the applicability of a primary street setback line and/or side street setback line.

“Primary unit” means the larger dwelling unit on a site with a second unit.

“Private frontage” means the privately held layer between the frontage line and the primary building facade. The structures and landscaping within the private frontage may be held to specific standards. The variables of private frontage are the depth of the setback and the combination of architectural elements such as fences, stoops, porches and galleries.

“Prohibited uses” means any use not specified in Table 24.590-1.

“Public frontage” means the area between the curb of the vehicular lanes and the frontage line. Physical elements of the public frontage include the type of curb, sidewalk, planter, street tree and streetlight.

“Public realm” means those parts of the urban fabric that are held in common such as plazas, squares, parks, thoroughfares and civic buildings.

“Quadplex” means a residential structure containing four dwelling units. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards).

“Residential” means premises available for long-term human dwelling.

“Rowhouse” means a building with two or more single-family dwellings located side by side, with common walls, the facades reading in a continuous plan.

“Secondary building” means a building that accommodates the secondary use of the site.

“Setback” means the mandatory distance between a property line and a building or appurtenance. This area must be left free of structures that are higher than three feet excluding streetwalls, except as noted in the urban standards.

“Side street setback” means building setback distance applying to corner lots that varies by zone designation and that is measured from the property line abutting a street at which point a building must be placed. The director shall have the authority to determine the applicability of a primary street setback line and/or side street setback line.

“Single dwelling housing” means a residential structure containing a single dwelling unit. Includes for the purposes of this development code: large lot houses, side yard houses, front yard houses, and rowhouses. See Article 5 of this chapter (Building Type Standards) for definitions of each of these types.

“Single-family” means the use of a site for one dwelling within one building.

“Story” means a habitable level within a building that, depending upon zone location, may extend between nine to 18 feet in height from finished floor to finished ceiling. Attics and raised basements are not considered stories for the purposes of determining building height.

“Story, half-story” means a story under a gable, hip, or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which on at least two opposite exterior walls are not more than two feet above the floor of each story, and the habitable floor area measured at a height of six feet above the floor does not exceed 75 percent of the floor area of the story immediately below it.

“Substantial conformance” occurs when physical improvements to the existing development site are completed which constitute the greatest degree of compliance with current development provisions.

“Terminated vistas” means a location at the axial conclusion of a thoroughfare. A building located at a terminated vista designated on a regulating plan is required to be designed in response to the axis.

“Thoroughfare” means a vehicular way incorporating moving lanes and parking lanes within a public right-of-way.

“Transect” means a system of ordering human habitats in a range from the most natural to the most urban. The Ventura general plan identifies six transect zones that describe the physical character of place at any scale, according to the density and intensity of land use and urbanism.

Transect Zone (T-Zone). Transect zones are administratively similar to the land use zones in conventional codes, except that in addition to the usual building use, density, height, and setback requirements, other elements of the intended habitat are integrated, including those of the private lot and building and the enfronting public streetscape. The elements are determined by their location on the transect scale. The T-zones are: T1 natural, T2 rural, T3 suburban, T4.7 general urban, T5 urban center, and T6 urban core.

“Type” means a category determined by function, disposition, and configuration, including size or extent. There are community types, street types, civic space types, etc. (See also “Building type.”)

“Utility infrastructure” means pipelines for water, natural gas, and sewage collection and disposal; and facilities for the transmission of electrical energy for sale, including transmission lines for a public utility company. Also includes telephone, telegraph, cable television and other communications transmission facilities utilizing direct physical conduits. Does not include offices or service centers, or distribution substations.

“Zoning ordinance” or “zoning regulations” means the city of Ventura zoning ordinance, this title. (Formerly 24H.300.2)

A. Ensure that development is of human scale, primarily pedestrian-oriented, and designed to create attractive streetscapes and pedestrian spaces;

B. Moderate vehicular traffic by providing for a mixture of land uses, pedestrian-oriented development, compact community form, safe and effective traffic circulation, and appropriate parking facilities;

C. Provide standards for the continuing orderly growth and development of the city that will assist in protecting and enhancing the community identity of Ventura;

D. Conserve and protect the city’s natural beauty and setting, including scenic vistas, cultural and historic resources, hills and trees;

E. Ensure that proposed development and new land uses conserve energy and natural resources;

F. Facilitate the development and redevelopment of walkable, complete neighborhoods with a variety of housing types to serve the needs of a diverse population; and

G. Provide for compatibility between different types of development and land uses through effective urban and architectural design. (Formerly 24M.100.010)

A. Requirements for New Structures or Land Uses, or Changes to Structures or Land Uses. It is unlawful, and a violation of this Midtown Corridors Development Code for any person to establish, construct, reconstruct, alter, or replace any structure or land use, except in compliance with the following requirements, and Chapter 24.465 (Nonconformity Regulations). No planning permit, building permit or grading permit shall be issued by the city unless the proposed construction complies with all applicable provisions of this Midtown Corridors Code and all other applicable provisions of law.

B. Subdivisions. Any subdivision of land proposed within the city shall comply with all applicable requirements of this Midtown Corridors Code, Subdivision Map Act and the city’s subdivision ordinance.

C. Minimum Requirements. The provisions of this Midtown Corridors Code are minimum requirements for the protection and promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare. When this Midtown Corridors Code provides for discretion on the part of a city official or body, that discretion may be exercised to impose conditions on the approval of any project proposed in the Midtown Corridors Code, as may be determined by the review authority to be necessary to establish or promote appropriate development and land use, environmental resource protection, and the other purposes of this code.

D. Interface With Other Regulatory Requirements.

A. Allowable Use or Function. The land use or function must be allowed by the urban standards in the zone where the site is located. Adult-oriented uses (i.e., zoning regulations Chapter 24.492) are prohibited within the plan area.

B. Permit and Approval Requirements. Any and all planning permits or other approvals required by this development code shall be obtained before the issuance of any required grading, building, or other construction permit, and before the proposed use is constructed, otherwise established or put into operation, unless the proposed use is listed as exempted below.

C. Development Standards, Conditions of Approval. Each land use and structure shall comply with the development standards of Articles 3 and 4 (Zones and Development Standards and Overlay Zones), 7 (Building Type Standards) and 9 (Mixed Type Development Standards) of this chapter, any applicable standard of this title, and conditions imposed by a previously granted planning permit.

D. Development in Coastal Zone. All development proposals within the coastal zone shall comply with Chapters 24.310 and 24.515. Chapter 24.515 (Coastal Permit Procedure) specifies the coastal development permit processing procedure. The 2005 City of Ventura General Plan is only applicable outside of the coastal zone. The certified 1989 Comprehensive Plan is applicable to all areas within the coastal zone.

E. New Nonresidential Land Use in an Existing Building or on Developed Site. A land use identified by Articles 3 and 4 (Zones and Development Standards and Overlay Zones) as a “P” (permitted) use, that is proposed on a site where no construction requiring a building permit will occur, shall require a zoning clearance as provided for below to ensure that the site complies with all applicable standards of this development code, including parking, landscaping, signs, trash enclosures, etc. Zoning clearance shall not be granted and the proposed land use shall not be established unless the site and existing improvements comply with all applicable requirements of this development code, except as provided by the nonconformity regulations of Chapter 24.465. No zoning clearance may be issued if the request in question is located on the same site where there are existing violations of this plan, including, without limitation, violations of the terms of a discretionary permit or approval relating to the site. Zoning clearances shall expire 180 days after issuance, unless otherwise indicated on the clearance or unless the use of land or structures or building construction has commenced and is being diligently pursued.

F. Design Review. Design review shall be required pursuant to Chapter 24.545, except for front yard house, side yard house, and accessory dwelling unit.

G. Use Permit. A land use identified by Article 5 (Zones and Development Standards) of this chapter as a “UP” (use permit) use, shall require a use permit. Chapter 24.520 (Use Permit Procedure) specifies the use permit processing procedure.

H. Director’s Permit. Uses or activities of the development code requiring director’s permit approval shall be processed according to the requirements of Chapter 24.505 (Director’s Permit Procedure).

I. Floodplain Overlay Zone Permit. Floodplain overlay zone development permits are required for development or redevelopment within any area of the coastal zone identified on the Official Floodplain Overlay Zone Map as being within the floodplain overlay zone. Zoning regulations Chapter 24.530 (Floodplain Overlay Zone Development Permit Procedure) specifies the floodplain overlay zone development permit processing procedure.

J. Residential Condominium Conversions. In order to regulate development in a manner that provides a variety of housing types and neighborhoods for residents, both renters and owners, the provisions of zoning regulations Chapter 24.425 (Residential Condominium Conversion Regulations) shall apply to all proposed residential condominium conversion projects located within the T4.5 and T5.2 zones.

K. Access and Open Space Review. Prior to issuance of building permits, site plans and floor plans may be reviewed by the director to determine that building type access and open space requirements will be met. This review shall preclude or lessen the possibility that dwellings without compliant access and sufficient open space, including sufficient off-street parking space(s), might be installed during or after construction. During building access and open space review process, additional changes may be required in the placement of exterior doors, windows, stairways, hallways, utility connections, or other fixtures or architectural features when determined by the director to be necessary or desirable to preclude or lessen the likelihood of unlawful dwelling unit creations in the future.

L. Consumer Recycling Collection. Consumer recycling collection is permitted in either zone and shall be located on a site whereby they do not occupy or displace required parking spaces or required landscaped areas. No more than six collection bins, containers, or reverse vending machines, not to exceed a total of 200 square feet in area, shall be located on any one site.

M. Other Review Procedures. By way of example but without limitations, the following procedural requirements of the zoning regulations and state law shall also apply within the plan area:

Alcoholic beverage establishments (Chapter 24.460).

Parking determination procedure (Chapter 24.512).

Design review (Chapter 24.545).

Development agreement procedure (Chapter 24.550).

Specific plan procedure (Chapter 24.555).

Standard procedures (Section 24.500.060).

Warrants and exceptions (Chapter 24.537).

Subdivision regulations (Title 26).

Treatment of potential historic resources (Sections 24.455.125 and 24.545.030(A)(3)). (Ord. No. 2021-017, § 91 (Exh. G), 12-13-21. Formerly 24M.100.045)

A. Variations from a standard or guideline require the following as noted in this development code: (DR) = Design Review, (W) = Warrant, (E) = Exception.

B. Warrants and exceptions shall be processed pursuant to Chapter 24.537, and as follows:

C. Limitations. The following evaluation standards shall not be eligible for warrants or exceptions:

A. General Requirements for Exemption. The land uses, structures, and activities identified by subsection B of this section are exempt from the planning permit requirements of this development code only when:

B. Exempt Activities and Land Uses. The following are exempt from the land use permit requirements of this development code when in compliance with subsection A of this section.

A. Urban Design Intent. The Midtown Corridors Development Code defines development standards for the design of buildings and related site improvements within the areas mapped on the regulating plan, Section 24.595.100.

Generally, the zoning ordinance mainly regulates the intensity and use of development, while this Midtown Corridors Code implements the general plan more closely by defining and regulating the urban form and character of development as well as its intensity and use. The key organizing principle of this Midtown Corridors Code, and of the general plan, is the transect, which is a conceptual and design-oriented device that systematically correlates urban form and character with development intensity and use. Areas of more intense activity and use are required to take on a “more urban” character, while areas of lower intensity activity and use take on a “less urban” or “more rural” character. A summary presentation of the transect concept may be found in Chapter 3 of the general plan and its implementation is the basis for Article 2 (Regulating Plan and Transect Zones) of this chapter.

Many of the standards in this code are similar to those in other zones throughout the city, including setbacks and height limits. However, this Midtown Corridors Code also provides standards for specific “building types” and “frontage types” that ensure an urban form and character that is suitable to Ventura. These “types” have been selected, and are defined herein, to ensure that the form of new buildings, and their location and configuration upon their lot, is specifically appropriate to Ventura, and to these particular Midtown Corridors, as they abut existing neighborhoods.

It is important to note that building types describe the general form, scale, organization and urban character of buildings. This is different from and generally independent of architectural style. The several building types and several frontage types available in a zone may be combined in a virtually unlimited number of ways by a skilled designer to meet programmatic requirements, to respond with sensitivity to the existing surrounding urban context, and to become a seamless part of a varied yet unified streetscape and public realm.

The general plan defines a number of corridors, including Main Street and Thompson Boulevard as they pass through the Midtown Community. The general plan directs that these corridors evolve over time to become active mixed-use environments that include residential and mixed-use buildings with higher densities than in the neighborhood interiors, along with a range of amenities within a pleasant walking distance of the adjoining neighborhoods, in transit-oriented use patterns, intensities and urban character.

In order to define and regulate development that will achieve these goals, while ensuring that it is also compatible with the scale and character of adjoining neighborhoods, two transect zones have been established for the Midtown Corridors. The T4.5 and T5.2 zones describe and regulate the intended scale and character of development for properties fronting Main Street and Thompson Boulevard within the Midtown Community, as mapped on the regulating plan, Section 24.595.100. For a complete description of these zones see Section 24.595.090.

B. How to Use This Code. To find the development standards that apply to a particular parcel of land, the following steps should be taken:

A. Transect Zones Established. The area within the regulating plan boundaries (the “Midtown Corridors Area”) is subject to this Midtown Corridors Development Code, and shall be divided into transect zones that implement the Ventura general plan. The transect zones described in Section 24.595.090 (Transect zone descriptions) are hereby established, and shall be shown on the regulating plan for the Midtown Corridors area.

B. Interpretation Zone Boundaries. If there is uncertainty about the location of any zone boundary shown on the regulating plan, the location of the boundary shall be determined by the director as follows:

C. Transect Zones, Subzones and Overlay Zones. Each of the six basic transect zones represents a spectrum of development characters and intensities. Within T4, for example, these range from the almost exclusively residential, quiet neighborhood interiors, to more active and mixed-use neighborhood activity centers, or neighborhood edges abutting larger, busier streets and transit corridors. Similar systematic variations exist in each zone. In order to describe these important differences, and to create a regulatory structure with some precision, a number of subzones may be defined.

The use of subzones enables development standards that subtly increase or decrease the intensity and urban character from one area to the next, encouraging a seamless transition from street to street and block to block. This tool also allows the standards to be calibrated to existing neighborhood characteristics on adjacent land that are intended to be preserved, protected or extended. The two basic zones defined in this code are subzones T4.5 and T5.2, as described in Article 3 of this chapter.

To provide an even finer level of precision and subtlety the technique of “overlay zones” is added. Overlay zones are applied to specific areas of the regulating plan, modifying selected development standards of the underlying transect zone. For instance, such an “overlay zone” would modify some combination of the allowed building height, or allowed frontage types, or specific setback requirements within the overlay area as designated on the regulating plan, while leaving the other standards of that zone intact. Four overlay zones are defined in this code, as described in Article 4 of this chapter. (Formerly 24M.102.020)

A. General Urban Zone (T4.5).

The general neighborhood zone (T4) consists of a balanced mix of residential and neighborhood-serving commercial and civic uses within a walkable setting. This is the predominant existing urban condition in Ventura to the west of Mills Road – specifically the Westside, Downtown and Midtown and Pierpont communities – in which the neighborhoods include walkable streets, reasonably scaled blocks, and building types that generally relate well to the pedestrian. In addition to these mostly pre-1950 neighborhoods, the T4 condition is envisioned by the general plan as the preferred pattern for most future new neighborhood development in the city.

The T4 “base zone” has been identified as T4.0, and is the quiet neighborhood interior environment, prototypically characterized by single-family detached houses, porch and fence frontages, and narrow neighborhood streets with low traffic speeds and volumes. Such conditions are typical of the neighborhoods north and south of Main Street and Thompson Boulevard, from their origins on the west side of town easterly to 5-Points. The T4.0 zone is expected to be formalized as a zone when those areas are coded, as part of a future Midtown community plan and code process.

Because the character of T4 within the Downtown specific plan is unique, T4.1, T4.2 and T4.3 have been used to describe and regulate various Downtown neighborhood areas, and T4.4 to describe the neighborhood edge condition along portions of Thompson Boulevard. Those subzones have been highly customized to the unique conditions of the Downtown, and are thus not well suited to describing future development along the Main and Thompson Corridors as they pass through Midtown. T4.5 is created herein for that purpose, and is applied to portions of the Midtown Corridors with and without overlay zones.

The design intent of the T4.5 zone is to encourage mixed-use and higher density residential infill development within the areas mapped on the regulating plan, to achieve the goals of the general plan, the Midtown By Design plan and the Midtown Charrette plan. Those goals include:

Certain overlay zones are provided to modulate that scale and to ensure compatibility with adjacent neighborhoods; see Article 4 of this chapter.

B. Urban Center Zone (T5.2). The prototypical T5 zone for Ventura is characterized by mixed-use buildings set close to the sidewalk – many with ground floor commercial uses and higher density housing or office uses on upper floors – streets with wide sidewalks and street trees in tree grates, and abundant and managed curbside parking. Building heights will typically be in the two-through-four-story range.

The corridor area near Five-Points, where Main and Thompson meet one another, is identified in key planning documents – including the general plan, and the Midtown By Design and Midtown Charrette documents – as a more intense “activity center” – with a greater emphasis on commercial use. Accordingly, the portion of this area north of Thompson Boulevard is classified as T5, urban center.

The 5-Points corridor area has greater block and lot sizes than the rest of these corridors, and is thus able to accommodate larger buildings and denser parking configurations. It also has preexisting zoning that allows building heights up to six stories, and the adjacent Community Memorial Hospital facilities are of that scale already.

Accordingly, the subzone T5.2 urban center is defined for this area. See Section 24.595.120, allowing buildings and streetscapes that are more urban in character than the rest of the corridors, with buildings up to six stories in height. Certain overlay zones are provided to modulate that scale and to ensure compatibility with adjacent neighborhoods; see Article 4 of this chapter.

A. Building Placement.

B. Building Profile and Frontage.

C. Parking and Services.

D. Building Types.

Only the building types shown in the table above are allowed in the T4.5 general urban zone, on lots of the minimum widths shown. Each allowed building type shall be designed in compliance with Article 7 (Building Type Standards) of this chapter.

E. Allowed Land Uses. Only a land use identified as permitted or conditional by Section 24.595.230 (Land use tables – Table B: Specific Function) shall be established on a lot in the T4.5 general urban zone, in compliance with the planning permit requirements of Section 24.595.210.

A. Building Placement.

B. Building Profile and Frontage.

C. Parking and Services.

D. Building Types.

Only the building types shown in the table above are allowed in the T5.2 urban center zone, on lots of the minimum widths shown. Each allowed building type shall be designed in compliance with Article 7 (Building Type Standards) of this chapter.

E. Allowed Land Uses. Only a land use identified as permitted or conditional by Section 24.595.230 (Land use tables – Table B: Specific Function) shall be established on a lot in the T5.2 urban center zone, in compliance with the planning permit requirements of Section 24.595.210.

Special hospital development standards will warrant city consideration of specific plan proposals for future major hospital developments.

A. Mapping of Overlay Zones. The applicability of an overlay zone to a specific site is shown by the regulating plan (Article 2 of this chapter).

B. Allowed Land Uses, Permit Requirements, Development Standards. Except as may be otherwise provided by this article for a specific overlay zone:

A. Purpose. The residential overlay one (1) is intended to limit the allowable scale of new construction so as to maintain compatibility with existing adjacent development and provide a gradual transition to areas of greater building intensity.

B. Applicability. Buildings in the residential overlay one (1) shall satisfy all of the following requirements:

A. Purpose. The residential overlay two (2) is intended to limit the allowable scale of new construction so as to maintain compatibility with existing adjacent development and provide a gradual transition to areas of greater building height.

B. Applicability. Buildings in the residential overlay two (2) shall satisfy all of the following requirements:

A. Purpose. The shopfront overlay identifies street frontages intended to become or be maintained as areas for retail shops and other pedestrian-oriented businesses at the sidewalk level.

B. Applicability. The street-facing facade of each building within the shopfront overlay shall be designed as the shopfront and awning frontage type, in compliance with Section 24.595.320 (Shopfront and awning), and with ceiling heights no less than 12 feet. (Formerly 24M.202.050)

A. Purpose. The terminated vista overlay identifies locations where streets terminate. Some of the locations identified are civic/school sites and future planning of these sites should include special building or landscape elements, whenever possible.

B. Applicability.

A. Purpose. The intersection height overlay identifies locations at the intersections of major thoroughfares where additional building height and mass is desirable.

B. Applicability. Buildings in the intersection height overlay may include elements, including usable square footage, that do not exceed four stories. For flat roof, the maximum height of the parapet cannot exceed 50 feet; and for sloping roof the maximum height of the roof ridge cannot exceed 55 feet. The fourth story element shall not dominate the building frontage, as determined by the decision-making authority. (Formerly 24M.202.070)

A. Allowed Land Uses.

B. Permit Requirements. Table B provides for land uses that are:

C. Standards for Specific Land Uses. Where the last column in Table B (“Additional Regulations”) includes a section number, the regulation in the referenced section also applies to the use. Requirements in other sections of this development code or the zoning ordinance may also apply.

D. Additional City Approval Requirements. Where the last column in Table B (“Additional Regulations”) includes a section number, the regulation in the referenced section also applies to the use. Requirements in other sections of this development code or the zoning ordinance may also apply. (Formerly 24M.203.030)