2.3 ZONING

SUMMARY OF ZONING DISTRICTS

As of March 1996, the Sutter County Zoning Ordinance provides for a total of 28 zoning districts. In general, zoning districts are a division of land into districts for the purpose of implementing a set of minimum standards dealing with the use of property and all regulations pertaining to buildings/structures. The Zoning Code includes "combining districts" which are districts not used by themselves, but when added to other zone districts, can provide specific additional uses and/or requirements. For example, adding the A (Agricultural) Combining District to the R-1 (Single Family Residential) District would result in a R-1-A District which would provide for the addition of certain limited agricultural uses such as keeping of animals (i.e. horses and cows) not normally permitted in a straight R-1 District. Table 2.3-1 identifies each zoning district and summarizes the primary uses occurring in each of the districts and the shortened map code used for reference.

Three zoning districts were established in prior years and have not been used to date in the County. The M-L (Limited Manufacturing) District was adopted in 1960 with most of the rest of the Sutter County Zoning Code to be used for business, profession, research and technical manufacturing uses normally found in business parks. The U-A (Upland Agricultural) District was created in the 1970's to apply to the Sutter Buttes area. Also in the 70's the A-3 (Restrictive Agricultural) District was created to apply to those areas in the County with intensive agricultural activities and where urban encroachment was to be discouraged.

In 1995, the R-3 (Neighborhood Apartment) and R-4 (General Apartment) Zoning Districts, which are primarily designed for medium and high density residential uses, were modified to not allow single-family or two-family residences unless parcel size prevents the use of the property for any other residential use. These changes were made to comply with Housing Element language. Specifically, Policy 2.2 and Implementation Measure 2.2.4.

Another significant change to occur in 1995 was to the C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial), C-2 (General Commercial), C-3 (Commercial/Industrial), M-1 (Light Industrial), M-2 (General Industrial), and M-L (Limited Industrial) Zoning Districts. These districts had all contained provisions for residential uses subject to obtaining a use permit; however, now the only residential use allowed is for a caretaker unit as an accessory to a permitted on-site existing use.

As part of the Comprehensive General Plan Update, a new Ranchette (RAN) land use designation was developed. A new consistent zoning district will be developed as part of the County's comprehensive Zoning Code update immediately following the adoption of this General Plan.

TABLE 2.3.1
ZONING DISTRICTS

2.4 EXISTING UNINCORPORATED AREA LAND USE

COUNTY LAND USE

Of the County's 388,358 acres of land, the majority is utilized for agricultural purposes. Table 2.4-1 shows the gradual trend decreasing the total amount of agriculturally zoned land in the unincorporated area since 1985.

Table 2.4-2 shows the percent of total land area zoned for agricultural and non-agricultural uses. This table shows that even with the decrease in land zoned for agricultural use, 96.9% of the total land area in Sutter County and 98.2% of the unincorporated area is still zoned for agricultural use. Note: lands zoned for agriculture are not necessarily used for agricultural production.

TABLE 2.4-1
AGRICULTURAL LAND CONVERSION

Source: Sutter County Community Services Department

TABLE 2.4-2
COMPOSITION OF COUNTY LAND USE
AS A PERCENT OF COUNTY TOTAL

Source: Sutter County Community Services Department

2.5 CITY GENERAL PLANS

As stated in Section 2.1, Sutter County has two incorporated cities, each with its own General Plan to guide development within its boundaries. The following discussion describes the size, character and briefly summarizes the provisions of each City's General Plan and County-wide land use and development issues.

City of Yuba City

The City of Yuba City is located in the northeastern portion of Sutter County, about 40 miles north of Sacramento and 46 miles south of Chico. The City area lies west of the Feather River, straddling State Route 99, which runs in a north-south direction. State Route 20, which runs east-to-west, intersects State Route 99 near the geographic center of the City.

Yuba City was incorporated in 1908 and has served as a rural farm service center until the post-Korean War era. Although still a rural area, suburban growth during the 1950's and 1960's changed the character of the community to the primary urban center surpassing the City of Marysville in population and total annual retail sales. During the Gold Rush days of the 1850's, Marysville had been the population and economic center of the Yuba-Sutter Bi-County region. A summary of Yuba City's population growth is contained in Table 2.5-1.

TABLE 2.5-1
HISTORICAL YUBA CITY POPULATION

Source: U.S. Census and Department of Finance estimate

Yuba City is relatively flat with no significant elevation variations. The City has historically been surrounded by profitable orchards due to its flat topography and good alluvial soils. Expansion of the City boundaries occurs via annexations of land contained within the City's Sphere of Influence established by the Sutter County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). City expansion over the last decade has generally occurred in a north-south direction through the existing orchards; however, 1989 and 1990 LAFCO actions reduced the area for expansion in the north-south directions and could direct future City development westward into non-orchard lands. The current Sphere of Influence, as adopted by LAFCO, is Pease Road on the north, Township Road on the west and Bogue Road on the south except for an area along Garden Highway south to near Stewart Road and the Feather River on the east. (See Figure 2.7-1).

In 1989, the City adopted a new General Plan with a total land area of approximately 18,300 acres and a total holding capacity of about 80,000 people. The Plan contains 35 basic goals, the first two of which are "Preservation of agricultural lands" and "Conservation of resources". The Plan proposes to achieve these and the other 33 goals with the establishment of an urban boundary and to contain non-agricultural development and a requirement that new development inside the boundary is provided with full services. The urban services requirement allows the intensity of development to be maximized and discourages development that would skip over large parcels/areas of land ("leap-frog" development), providing for more orderly and efficient growth.

City of Live Oak

As of January 1995, the City of Live Oak contained 1.8 square miles with an estimated population of 5,312 people. The City is located along State Highway 99 in the northeast section of Sutter County approximately 6 miles north of Yuba City. The City was incorporated in 1947 and served as a rural service center for the surrounding agricultural area and serves the same primary function today. Population growth since incorporation is summarized in Table 2.5-2.

TABLE 2.5-2
HISTORICAL LIVE OAK CITY POPULATION

Source: U.S. Census and Department of Finance estimate

City development has been relatively equal in all four directions (north, south, east, west). Live Oak is flat with less than two percent grade and is within an orchard belt characterized by good alluvial soils which extends westward from the Feather River. As of May 1996, Live Oak's Sphere of Influence extends from the Butte County line on the north, Township Road on the west, Paseo Avenue on the south and the Feather River on the east. (See Figure 2.7-1.)

In 1993 the City of Live Oak completed a new General Plan to replace the 1979 General Plan. By 1993, the City had surpassed the 1979 planning area boundaries on both the east and the west sides of the City though additional area within the planning area boundaries still existed on the north and the south sides. The General Plan projects a total City population of 21,402 by the year 2010 if full build-out of the proposed land use plan were to occur; however, SACOG projects a population of 8,210 by the year 2010 based on current growth rates.