Chapter 17.22
ACCESSORY BUILDINGS, STRUCTURES AND USES
Sections:
17.22.025 Cargo/storage containers.
17.22.030 Detached accessory building—Conformance required.
17.22.040 Accessory buildings—Setbacks—Dimensions.
17.22.050 Fences, hedges, walls—Requirements.
17.22.060 View obstruction prohibited.
17.22.010 Purpose.
This chapter provides regulations for activities which are located on the parcel of the primary use and incidental to such primary use. (Ord. 923 § 1 (part), 2012: Ord. 689 § 1 (part), 1997. Formerly 17.69.010).
17.22.020 Generally.
In any R district, recreation shelters, storage shelters, covered patios, private garages, carports and similar structures are permitted as accessory structures. (Ord. 923 § 1 (part), 2012: Ord. 689 § 1 (part), 1997. Formerly 17.69.020).
17.22.025 Cargo/storage containers.
(a) Buses, cars, RVs, trucks, vans, or mobile homes are prohibited from being used as storage containers.
(b) Cargo/storage containers or similar containers originally or specifically used or designed to store goods or merchandise during shipping or hauling by a vehicle, including but not limited to rail cars of any kind, truck trailers or multi-modal shipping containers, are prohibited in all residential zones within the city limits without a temporary placement building permit. A temporary placement building permit may be obtained by submitting an application with the appropriate fee prior to the arrival of the container on the site.
(1) An application for a temporary permit shall be submitted along with a site plan to a standard scale showing the location and dimensions of the container and the building to which it is appurtenant.
(2) Where a temporary permit has been granted, the following minimum conditions shall be met:
(A) The cargo container shall be used as an appurtenance to the primary use, such primary use being situated in an enclosed adjoining building;
(B) The cargo containers shall not be stacked;
(C) The cargo container shall abide by all setback requirements applicable to the zone in which they are located;
(D) The placement of the container shall not exceed one hundred eighty days. The applicant shall specify the placement dates in the application for the temporary permit.
(E) The applicant may request an extension by submitting a new temporary placement building permit application along with the appropriate fee.
(c) Violation of this section shall be designated a civil infraction and is subject to penalties in accordance with Section 1.04.010(b). (Ord. 1006 § 1 (Exh. A) (part), 2020).
17.22.030 Detached accessory building—Conformance required.
Accessory buildings which are detached or connected by a breezeway must comply with this chapter. Accessory buildings which are an integral part of or have a common wall with the main structure must comply with all provisions of this title applicable to the main structure. (Ord. 923 § 1 (part), 2012: Ord. 689 § 1 (part), 1997. Formerly 17.69.030).
17.22.040 Accessory buildings—Setbacks—Dimensions.
Accessory buildings must comply with applicable setback dimensions. Except in A, C, I and PF districts, the accessory building shall not exceed twenty-one feet in height. In all R districts, no accessory building may be closer than ten feet from any building on the same lot unless the accessory structure is constructed in accord with the International Building Code, in which case the separation can be reduced to four feet. In addition, no accessory structure may be within a radius of ten feet from the vertical center line of a window in a dwelling on the same or an adjacent lot. It may not be within five feet of a side or rear property line but it may abut a rear property line adjacent to an alley, canal right-of-way or railroad right-of-way. (Ord. 970 § 12, 2017: Ord. 949 § 1, 2014).
17.22.050 Fences, hedges, walls—Requirements.
(a) Fences, hedges, walls and the like must not be higher than forty-eight inches above curb grade in a required front yard. Fences for side and rear yards shall be limited to six feet. Hedges are not restricted to height in rear yards. Chain link fences over six feet high are permitted around basketball courts, tennis courts and similar activities if all setback requirements are met.
(b) On sloping lots, retaining walls or terraces may be constructed with a combined total elevation no greater than that of the adjacent foundation or existing grade of the lot line, whichever is higher. Walls, fences and hedges may be added to this height if they do not exceed the height limits of this section as measured from the established finish grade.
(c) If a retaining wall is sixty inches or more above the adjacent grade and is located along a lot line, a rail or fence not less than thirty-six inches in height must be placed along the top of the wall.
(d) Fences may be constructed of wood, masonry, iron, wire fence, or grown as hedges. All construction is to be done in such manner as to leave no sharp or protruding ends, barbs, or projections. Fences shall not be made of used materials such as pallets, conveyor chain, tin siding, rusted pipe, vehicle bodies, wheel rims, tires, tarps and/or sheet plastic, bed springs, multi-colored materials (except colored materials manufactured specifically for fencing, i.e., slats of chain link fences), corrugated sheet metal, and similar or like materials not traditionally manufactured or used for fencing purposes.
(e) Electric, barbed, and razor wire fencing is prohibited in all residential areas.
(f) No deviation may be made from these regulations except with the written approval of the city planning commission, with the right of appeal to the city council. The following criteria shall be established as grounds for deviation from the regulations set forth in this chapter:
(1) Special circumstances applicable to the property in question or to the intended use that do not apply generally to other properties or classes of use in the same vicinity and zoning classifications;
(2) A deviation is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of a substantial property right or uses possessed by other property in the same vicinity and zoning classification which because of special circumstances is denied to the property in question;
(3) The granting of a deviation will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to other property improvements in such vicinity and zoning classification in which the subject property is located;
(4) The granting of a deviation will not conflict with the general intent of this chapter. (Ord. 985 § 1, 2018: Ord. 923 § 1 (part), 2012: Ord. 689 § 1 (part), 1997. Formerly 17.69.050).
17.22.060 View obstruction prohibited.
Whenever streets intersect, or a driveway intersects a street, walls, fences, sign faces, foliage, rocks, mounds, parked vehicles, boats, campers or similar view obstructions must not be higher than twenty-four inches nor lower than eighty-four inches above curb grade within a triangular area as determined by the city engineer to assure vehicle and pedestrian visibility. (Ord. 923 § 1 (part), 2012: Ord. 689 § 1 (part), 1997. Formerly 17.69.060).
17.22.070 Dwelling groups.
Each building in a dwelling group of connected townhouses or rowhouses must be separated by at least ten feet. Buildings over thirty feet high must be separated by at least an additional one foot for each three feet of building height in excess of thirty feet. (Ord. 1006 § 1 (Exh. A) (part), 2020: Ord. 923 § 1 (part), 2012: Ord. 689 § 1 (part), 1997. Formerly 17.69.070).