17.80.010 Building setback lines for master plan of streets.
A. Title. This section shall be known and cited as the “official building setback line ordinance” of the city.
B. Purpose—Adoption of Building Setback Lines. This section is enacted to enable adoption of official building setback lines for the city, and to provide for the designation, recording, enforcement of, and appeal from such official building setback lines.
C. Purpose—Protection of Master Street and Highway Plan. The purpose of this section is to protect the master street and highway plan adopted by the city. The street and highway plan has been adopted in order to:
1. Serve as a general guide for the development of streets and highways;
2. Promote the public welfare, safety, and convenience;
3. Provide a comprehensive guide for capital outlay on street and highway improvements in the city;
4. Provide an authentic source of information for residents and investors in the city;
5. Obviate the menace to the public safety and the damage to property values resulting from inadequate provision of traffic thoroughfares.
D. Designation on Maps—Contents of Maps.
1. City Engineer. Official building setback lines shall be designated on maps drawn up by the city engineer at the request of the council or at the request of the planning commission, acting through the council.
2. Scale. The official building setback maps shall show all buildings adjacent to the street, or proposed street, at a scale of one inch equals fifty feet, and they shall show the existing right-of-way widths, if any, as well as any proposed changes in the street. The maps shall be titled “Official Building Setback Lines of (name of street or highway).” There shall be statements of adoption by the planning commission and the council on each map.
E. City Clerk to Keep Up-to-Date Copies of Maps.
1. Up-to-Date Maps. The city clerk is instructed to keep up-to-date maps which shall show the streets or portions of streets upon which official building setback lines have been established.
2. Not Recorded. The maps shall not be recorded.
F. Planning Commission Public Hearing. In order to adopt any additional building setback line maps, the planning commission shall be in receipt of the map from the city engineer and shall hold at least one public hearing thereon. Notice of the hearing shall be as set forth in Chapter 17.122 (Public Notices and Hearings). The planning commission shall submit its findings in writing to the council within 90 days after the notice of the hearing.
G. Council Public Hearing. Upon receipt of the report from the planning commission, the council shall set a date for at least one public hearing and give public notice of the hearing as prescribed in Chapter 17.122 (Public Notices and Hearings). At such time as the hearing is concluded by the council, it may adopt the official building setback line map as an amendment to subsection H (Maps Are Part of Section Provisions) of this section, or resubmit the map to the planning commission for further study.
H. Maps Are Part of Section Provisions. Official building setback line maps and all the notations on the maps are made a part of this section at the time of their adoption by the council, and the maps constitute subsections under this section. The centerline shown on any building setback line map is designated as the official centerline of the street.
I. Laurel Lane. The map adopted by Ordinance 48, 1957 Series, is designated as the “Official Building Setback Lines of Laurel Lane,” dated July 15, 1957, and the building setback line is forty-three feet in nonresidential zones and thirty-eight feet in residential land use districts, on both sides of the centerline shown on the map.
J. Foothill Boulevard. The map adopted by Ordinance No. 56, 1957 Series, is designated as the “Official Building Setback Lines of Foothill Boulevard,” and the building setback line is forty-three feet in nonresidential zones and thirty-eight feet in residential zones, on both sides of the centerline shown on the map, except on Sheets 2A and 3A as amended by Ordinance No. 346, 1966 Series.
K. South Street. The map adopted by Ordinance 85, 1958 Series, is designated as the “Official Building Setback Lines of South Street,” and the building setback line is forty-three in nonresidential zones and thirty-eight feet in residential zones, on both sides of the centerline shown on the map.
L. Johnson Avenue. The map adopted by Ordinance 130, 1959 Series, is designated as the “Official Building Setback Lines of Johnson Avenue,” and the building setback line is forty-three feet in commercial and manufacturing land use districts, on both sides of the centerline shown on the map.
M. Broad Street—Marsh to Southeast City Limits. An official building setback line is established on both sides of Broad Street, from Marsh Street to the southeasterly city limit line, excepting therefrom that portion from Pismo Street to High Street, for forty feet from the existing centerline of this portion of Broad Street.
N. Orcutt Road—Broad to Johnson. An official building setback line is established on both sides of Orcutt Road, between Broad Street and Johnson Avenue, in compliance with the official map designated “Official Building Setback Line for Orcutt Road between Broad Street and Johnson Avenue” dated November 4, 1963, as amended by the council by ordinance on February 16, 1982, and as amended by the council by ordinance on August 16, 1994, on file in the office of the city clerk. The setback line may be amended in the event that the city, at its sole discretion, chooses to construct, or cause to be constructed, improvements which require a reduced area.
O. California Boulevard and San Luis Drive. The map adopted by Ordinance 313, 1965 Series, is designated as the “Official Building Setback Line of California Boulevard and San Luis Drive,” this map being dated May 17, 1965.
P. South Higuera Street. The map adopted by Ordinance No. 313, 1965 Series, is designated as the “Official Building Setback Line of South Higuera Street,” this map being dated June 7, 1965.
Q. Higuera Street—Marsh to Madonna. The official building setback line is established on the west side of Higuera Street from Marsh Street to Madonna Road, in compliance with the official map designated “Official Building Setback Line for South Higuera Street, between Marsh Street and Madonna Road,” dated September 7, 1965, as amended by the council by ordinance on April 21, 1981, and as amended by the council by ordinance on September 18, 2001, on file in the office of the city clerk.
R. Santa Rosa Street—Monterey to Murray. An official building setback line is established along both sides of Santa Rosa Street from Monterey Street to Murray Street and shall be forty-five feet from the centerline of the Santa Rosa Street. No person shall erect or construct, or cause to be erected or constructed, or begin to erect or construct, any building, wall, fence, sign, or other structure within the space between the setback lines described in this section and the line of the street in front of the property on which the setback lines exist.
S. Higuera Street—Prado Road to South City Limit. An official building setback line is established along both sides of Higuera Street from Prado Road to the southerly city limits in compliance with the map dated January 20, 1969, on file in the office of the city clerk, and the line shall be forty-two feet from the centerline on both sides of Higuera Street.
T. Santa Rosa Street—Monterey to Marsh. An official building setback line is established along both sides of Santa Rosa Street between Monterey Street and Marsh Street in compliance with the map dated January 20, 1969, on file in the office of the city clerk and the line shall be forty feet from the centerline on both sides of Santa Rosa Street.
U. Osos Street—Monterey to Higuera. An official building setback line is established along both sides of Osos Street between Monterey Street and Higuera Street, in compliance with the official map dated November 3, 1969, on file in the office of the city clerk, and the line shall be twenty-nine feet from the centerline on both sides of Osos Street.
V. Santa Barbara Avenue—High Street to Broad Street. An official building setback line is established at thirty-seven feet easterly of the existing centerline of Santa Barbara Avenue, from High Street to Broad Street (State Highway 227), along with seventeen-foot radius property returns at the High Street and Roundhouse Avenue intersections, in compliance with the map dated November 6, 2001, on file in the office of the city clerk.
W. No New Structures to Be in Setback Area—Exceptions.
1. Building Setbacks. No building permit shall be issued for and no building or structure shall hereafter be erected or placed within the official building setback line of streets or highways established by this section, nor within the setback areas designated under Article 2 of these zoning regulations, measured from the official setback lines established by this section, except as provided for under subsection X (Appeals from This Section) of this section.
2. Exception for Existing Structures. All buildings or structures as they are presently located and built along streets named in this section, and for which setback lines have been or are hereby established, are expressly excepted from the effects hereof.
X. Appeals from This Section.
1. Council Decision and Findings.
a. Variance Required. The council shall hear and decide appeals through the variance procedures from the strict application of this section for the modification of street setback standards or elimination of the setback ordinance from any property damaged thereby.
b. Planning Commission Findings. In order to make a recommendation contrary to the provisions stated in subsection W (No New Structures to Be in Setback Area–Exceptions) of this section, or to recommend that any property be completely excepted from the building setback line restrictions, the council must find:
i. That the property of which the official building setback line is a part is of such nature that the owner of the land will be substantially damaged by the refusal to grant the permit or exception therefrom; or
ii. That the property will not earn a fair return on the owner’s investment unless the construction involved is authorized; or
iii. That the granting of the application is necessary for the preservation of substantial property rights.
2. Council Hearing for Building Permit. If property which, by the appeal process, has been excepted from the official building setback line otherwise fronting thereon, is sought to be used for improvements that would have been prevented by the effect of the particular building setback line, no building permit shall be granted without the council having first been given sixty days within which it may choose, by resolution, to acquire such property as is necessary for future street widening purposes. If the council chooses not to acquire the property, the council shall then determine whether a permit should be granted to the applicant.
Y. Enforcement—Nonconforming Buildings and Structures Declared Unlawful and a Nuisance—Abatement.
1. Building Official. It shall be the duty of the building official to enforce this section. The building official shall not issue any such permit in conflict with the terms of this section, and any such permit or license issued in conflict with the provisions of this section shall be null and void.
2. Public Nuisance. Any building or structure erected or moved contrary to the provisions of this section shall be and the same is declared to be unlawful and a public nuisance; and the city attorney shall, upon order of the council, immediately commence action or proceedings for the abatement and removal and enjoinment thereof in the manner provided by law, and shall take such other steps and shall apply to such courts as may have jurisdiction to grant such relief as will abate and remove such building or structure. (Ord. 1650 § 3 (Exh. B), 2018)