Lecture 3-Cities, Zoning and Land Use

Cities, Zoning, and Land Use

What is a City?

  • A city is a state-sanctioned corporation that provides municipal services.

  • Cities can provide:

    • Police

    • Fire

    • Utilities

    • Zoning management enforcement

    • Land Use Plans

    • Schools

    • Waste Disposal

    • Libraries

    • City Management and more

Unincorporated Areas

  • If you live where there is no city, you live in an "Unincorporated Area."

  • Services are usually provided by the County or other cities.

  • Reasons for choosing to be unincorporated:

    • Cities need to generate revenue to provide services.

    • Successful cities have income not derived from taxing residents.

      • Anaheim – Disneyland

      • Long Beach – Port of Long Beach and oil revenue

      • San Diego – Tourism

    • Most Cities use business taxes for additional revenue.

    • "Bedroom" communities are at a disadvantage.

    • Residents are not pushing for city status, as attaining city status can be an expensive, time-consuming, and complex process.

What is Zoning?

  • Zoning is a set of local laws that control how land can be used in a specific area.

  • Zoning laws establish a pattern of development for a city or neighborhood by regulating the types of buildings that can be constructed and where they can be built.

  • Examples of Bad Zoning:

    • Allowing residential home construction downwind of a slaughterhouse.

    • Allowing a Bar to open immediately adjacent to a residential neighborhood.

    • Building a 100 unit apartment building in a residential neighborhood.

  • Who determines zoning? City or county management

What is Land Use?

  • Land use planning is a system for managing future growth in a city or other recognized government areas.

  • Broken down into two classifications:

    • Existing land use – classification of current land use

    • Planned land use – Defined in the "General Plan". Lays out the city plan for “build-out”

      • Breaks down residential type, business types, public spaces, etc.

Irvine Zoning Codes

  • 1.1 Exclusive Agriculture

  • 1.2 Development Reserve

  • 1.3 Conservation Open Space Reserve

  • 1.4 Preservation

  • 1.5 Recreation

  • 1.6 Water Bodies

  • 1.7 Landfill Overlay

  • 1.8 - Golf Course Overlay

  • 2.1 Estate Density Residential

  • 2.2 Low Density Residential

  • 2.3 Medium Density Residential

  • 2.4 Medium-High Density Residential

  • 2.5 High Density Residential

  • 3.1 Multi-Use

  • 4.1 Neighborhood Commercial

  • 4.2 Community Commercial

  • 4.3 Vehicle-Related Commercial

  • 4.4- Commercial Recreation

  • 4.5 Regional Commercial

  • 4.6 Retail Office

  • 4.7 Urban Commercial

  • 4.8 Irvine Center Garden Commercial

  • 4.9 - LPC Regional Commercial

  • 5.0 IBC Mixed-Use

  • 5.1 IBC Multi-Use

  • 5.2 IBC Industrial

  • 5.3 IBC Residential

  • 5.4 General Industrial

  • 5.5 Medical and Science

  • 5.6 Business Park

  • 6.1 Institutional

  • 8.1 Trails and Transit Oriented Development

General Plan Designation Zoning District

  • (1111) AGRICULTURE/Exclusive Agriculture

  • (1113) AGRICULTURE/Conservation & Open Space Reserve

  • (1413) PRESERVATION/Conservation & Open Space Reserve

  • (1513) RECREATION/Conservation & Open Space Reserve

  • (1517) RECREATION/Landfill Overlay

  • (1613) WATER BODIES/Conservation & Open Space Reserve

  • (2112) ESTATE DENSITY/Development Reserve

  • (2212) LOW DENSITY RES/Development Reserve

  • (2412) MEDIUM DENSITY RES/Development Reserve

  • (2512) MEDIUM-HIGH DENSITY RES/Development Reserve

  • (2712) HIGH DENSITY RES/Development Reserve

  • (3112) MULTI-USE/Development Reserve

  • (4712) NEIGHBORHOOD COMMERCIAL/Development Reserve

  • (4812) COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL/Development Reserve

  • (5412) RESEARCH & INDUSTRIAL/Development Reserve

  • (6912) INSTITUTIONAL-PUBLIC FACILITIES/Development Reserve

  • (7011) INSTITUTIONAL-EDUCATIONAL FAC./Exclusive Agriculture

  • (7012) INSTITUTIONAL-EDUCATIONAL FAC./Development Reserve

  • (7112) MILITARY/Development Reserve

Other

  • City Boundary

  • 1.9 Orange County Great Park

  • Irvine Sphere of Influence

  • Planning Areas

  • Railroad Line