20.06.020 - Purpose of districts.
A. Residential Districts.
1. Light Residential Districts. The purpose of these districts is to promote and preserve residential development within the city to create basic neighborhood units. It is intended that the district regulations maintain a low density of dwelling units supporting a suburban-urban interface that permits developments utilizing varying lot configurations. The regulations of the districts will permit primarily single-family and two-family residential areas, and recreational and institutional uses incidental to and serving the neighborhood.
2. Medium Residential Districts. The purpose of these districts is to promote and preserve residential development within the city associated with a landscape more urban in appearance and permitting a mixture of housing types. It is intended that the district regulations allow for medium densities of dwelling units supported by higher intensity land uses located at the periphery of single-family neighborhoods providing that the overall character and architectural integrity of the neighborhood is preserved. The regulations of the districts will permit building types designed for transition from areas of low density residential neighborhoods to other residential areas, and certain nonresidential uses and support facilities.
3. High Residential Districts. The purpose of these districts is to promote and preserve a diversity of residential dwelling types at the highest densities within the city and to provide for the integration of compatible business and professional office uses to complement the areas. It is intended that the district regulations allow for concentrations of population through the use of multi-story facilities. The regulations of the districts will permit site diversification for high-density residential development in which adequate public facilities are available for present and future needs.
B. Commercial Districts.
1. Neighborhood Commercial Districts. The purpose of these districts is to serve the needs of surrounding residential neighborhoods by providing compatible neighborhood convenience goods and services that serve day-to-day needs. The regulations of the districts will permit location of business and professional offices and retail category uses within adjacent residential areas of medium and high densities.
2. Community Commercial Districts. The purpose of these districts is to accommodate establishments providing goods or rendering services which are used in support of the community's trade and service establishments and serving multi-neighborhoods within a planning area of the city. The regulations of the districts will permit intensities designed to be compatible with each other and to provide for a wide range of types of commercial activity, including light automobile related uses.
3. Regional Commercial Districts. The purpose of these districts is to provide for locations for the most intensive commercial uses intended to serve the entire city. It is intended that the district regulations permit heavy commercial uses characterized by automotive and light warehousing. The regulations of the districts are intended to provide a transition from general business areas to industrial and manufacturing uses, and to accommodate major locations of commerce, service and employment activities. Within the central business district, more intensive commercial uses are allowed, the predominant of which are retail trade and service uses, providing less restrictive height and area regulations.
C. Industrial Districts.
1. Light Industrial Districts. The purpose of these districts is to provide locations for light-intensity industries involving manufacturing, assembling, distribution and warehousing. It is intended that the districts will serve the entire city and will permit supporting commercial uses. The regulations of the districts are intended to preserve a light industrial nature particularly with regard to noise, smoke, odors, dust, vibrations and other noxious conditions.
2. Heavy Industrial Districts. The purpose of these districts is to provide for the most intensive of industrial uses which may be characteristic of nuisance or hazardous conditions. It is intended that the districts will serve the entire city. The regulations of the districts will require reasonable standards for the protection and preservation of the compatibility of such uses and adjacent areas.
D. Special Purpose Districts.
1. "R-F" Ranch-Farm District. The purpose of this district is to provide for primarily fallow or agricultural areas within the city and to protect and conserve these areas within and adjacent to urban development. It is intended that this district afford areas where semi-rural (very-low density) residential and agricultural uses can be maintained without impairment from higher density residential, commercial or industrial development. The regulations of this district are designed to protect, stabilize and enhance the development of agricultural resources and to prohibit those activities that would adversely affect the urban-rural characteristics of this district.
2. "PMD" Planned Mountain Development District. The purpose of this district is to preserve and protect the significant natural features of the mountain development and hillside area within the city. It is intended that the regulations of the district provide design alternatives which help to minimize disturbances to the natural character of the area and which enhance the open space and aesthetic qualities of the land. The regulations of this district are designed to protect, stabilize and enhance the development of these environmentally sensitive lands and to preserve them from the encroachment of more intensive forms of development.
3. "S-D" Special Development District. The purpose of this district is to provide an opportunity for mixed-use projects, integrated in design, in certain older residential areas where there is a desire to permit a variety of nonresidential uses while maintaining the established residential appearance and landscaping of the area. The regulations of this district are designed to ensure compatibility with existing uses in the district; to permit the production, exhibit or sale of goods and the providing of services to the public in such older residential areas; to protect the traffic capacity of streets serving such older residential areas; to encourage flexibility by prescribing general performance standards for such older residential areas; and to protect the environment of adjacent areas. For the purpose of this district, older areas of the city shall be deemed those areas where development has existed for at least twenty-five years.
4. "U-P" Union Plaza District. The purposes of the Union Plaza District are: (1) to create a unique mixed-use environment with the provision of standards and guidelines designed to encourage the preservation of existing building architecture; (2) to ensure that reconstruction of existing buildings or new construction projects is consistent with the architectural and design guidelines adopted for the Union Plaza District; and (3) to encourage a variety of commercial and residential uses that coexist in a mixed-use area.
5. "P-R I" Planned Residential District I. The purpose of this district is to encourage planned developments as a means of creating a superior living environment through unified planning and building operations at lower residential densities. The regulations of the district are designed to encourage variety in housing needed to meet changing housing demands and to provide adequate community facilities well-located with respect to needs; to protect the natural beauty of the landscape; to encourage preservation and more efficient use of open space; and to offer an opportunity for design flexibility and encourage innovations which may result in improved relationships between uses of different types and between land uses and transportation facilities.
6. "P-R II" Planned Residential District II. The purpose of this district is to encourage planned developments as a means of creating a superior living environment through unified planning and building operations at higher residential densities. The regulations of the district are designed to encourage variety in housing needed to meet changing housing demands and to provide adequate community facilities well-located with respect to needs; to protect the natural beauty of the landscape; to encourage preservation and more efficient use of open space; to offer an opportunity for design flexibility; and encourage innovations which may result in improved relationships between uses of different types and between land uses and transportation facilities.
7. "P-C" Planned Commercial District. The purpose of this district is to provide for attractive and efficient retail shopping and personal service facilities of integrated design in appropriate locations to serve residential neighborhoods. It is intended that the district shall be laid out and developed as a unit according to an approved plan so that the purpose of the district may be accomplished. The district is adaptable to shopping centers of various sizes, as well as development of general business properties where the use of shared parking and access, together with careful site planning, will produce a stronger commercial area.
8. "P-I" Planned Industrial District. The purpose of this district is to establish an industrial environment for certain types of manufacturing, business or industrial uses which are compatible with any adjacent land use by performance, appearance, and general operating characteristics. The regulations of the district are designed so that all operations and activities, specifically including but not limited to, the storage of materials of all kinds are conducted within a building or appropriately screened.
9. "SRR" Special Residential Revitalization District. The special residential revitalization district (SRR) is established in recognition that developments containing both residential and commercial uses can create an appealing and vital urban environment when carefully designed. Developments approved for this district shall be designed to eliminate potential use conflicts through creative design methods. The SRR district allows for mixing residential environments with workplaces and services. Development in the SRR district must accommodate transportation systems, surrounding environments and pedestrian movements.
10. "R-MU" Mixed Use Residential District. The purpose of this district is to accommodate, encourage and promote innovatively designed developments involving neighborhood-serving residential and commercial land uses, which together form an attractive and harmonious unit of the city. The regulations of this district are intended to allow for developments that are intended by their size and nature of operation to provide service to a neighborhood. It is intended that the district regulations permit uses that are compatible with the residential areas that the uses serve, and allow flexibility and encourage more creative, efficient and aesthetically desirable design and placement of land uses.
11. "G-MU" General Mixed Use District. The purpose of this district is to accommodate, encourage and promote innovatively designed developments involving the combining and mixing of uses allowed in various zoning districts with appropriate regulations, which together form an attractive and harmonious unit of the city. The regulations of this district are intended to allow for large-scale developments that are able to function as individual neighborhoods or an integrated collection (two or more) of individual neighborhoods supported by civic, commercial and recreational uses; as small-scale developments requiring flexibility because of unique design characteristics; or as transitional areas between dissimilar land uses. It is intended that the district regulations permit flexibility and encourage more creative, efficient and aesthetically desirable design and placement of land uses.
12. "I-MU" Mixed Use Industrial District. The purpose of this district is to accommodate, encourage and promote innovatively designed developments involving diverse commercial and industrial land uses, which together form an attractive and harmonious unit of the city. The regulations of this district are intended to allow for developments with good access and high visibility that are designed to create compatibility between diverse uses and adjacent zoning districts. It is intended that the district regulations permit uses serving the entire community, and allow flexibility and encourage more creative, efficient and aesthetically desirable design and placement of land uses.
13. "NOS" Natural Open Space District.
A. The purpose of this district is to preserve and protect natural resources and features including, but not limited to the mountain, hillside, arroyo, bosque and desert flatland areas within the city and to promote the conservation and restoration of these areas within and adjacent to urban and suburban development.
B. The regulations of this district are designed to protect ecologically sensitive lands and to prohibit those activities that would adversely affect the environmental characteristics of the district, while still permitting passive recreational use of the land. This district is also intended to preserve land that, if disturbed, may be susceptible to flooding and soil erosion due to steep slopes and runoff.
C. Property located within this district shall remain undeveloped, except as allowed in accordance with this title.
14. "URD" Urban Reserve District.
A. Urban Reserve District means an area that has development value with open space opportunities. The land may not be available for development either due to a lack of necessary infrastructure to support development or because the land is owned by the city.
B. Land may be zoned URD as a means of preserving the land for sustainable, transit served, form based code development and redevelopment when such land becomes necessary to serve growth in the region. Portions of URD zoned land may have intrinsic value as open space and may contain such features as scenic corridors, view sheds, arroyos, steep slopes, or protected habitat that should remain in its natural state once development occurs.
(Ord. 16915 § 3, 2008; Ord. 16653 § 2 (part), 2007) (Ord. No. 17306, § 3, 4-6-2010; Ord. No. 17490, § 3, 1-25-2011; Ord. No. 17547, § 2, 5-3-2011; Ord. No. 18531, § 3, 6-28-2016)
