Details

Title	Kern County, California Zoning Ordinance
Highlights	There was implicit recognition that the zoning ordinance did not offer affordable housing provisions.   Kern County, California’s zoning ordinance allows manufactured housing in residential areas, reconstruction of damaged nonconforming uses, and a density bonus for affordable housing.
Description	The Kern County Zoning Ordinance contains a number of provisions that have an impact on affordable housing. Chapter 19.16 describes the uses allowed in the most restrictive residential zone. In the Estate District, owners can have manufactured homes, secondary residential units and home occupations. Each of these uses must however comply with conditions contained in other sections of the code. In addition, certain other uses are allowed as a conditional use. These include an additional single-family dwelling and manufactured dwellings. Manufactured housing is allowed if it is certified under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Act of 1974, is installed on a specific foundation system, is no older than 10 years old, is more than 16 feet wide, and has other aesthetic attributes that make the unit blend in with the neighborhood. Manufactured homes or mobile homes not meeting all of the installation and architectural requirements may still be allowed but only upon approval of a conditional use permit. The ordinance also contains regulations relating to the creation of mobile home parks. Some of the regulations include a minimum distance between structures of 10 feet side to side, access drives must be at least 25 feet wide, a requirement for recreation areas if the park contains more than 10 spaces, underground utilities and a rule that the park must be completely enclosed with a fence, hedge or a combination of both. There is nothing for minimum lot area requirement per dwelling in the MP district, except that overall project density must comply with the density and intensity standards of the plan land use category. Section 19.26.160 requires owners of mobile home parks to pay a school facilities fee. Kern County also allows the installation of mobile homes with or without foundations in agricultural, resource-related and residential zoned areas. (Section 19.62.010) Section 19.92.020 contains the County’s density bonus ordinance. Among other provisions, they allow a bonus of up to 25 percent if at least 20 percent of the total number of units will be provided for lower income households, 10 percent of the total units will be provided for very low income households, or 50 percent of the total units will be provided for qualifying residents, as defined in Section 51.2 of the Civil Code. The Code (19.94.010) also allows home occupations as long as they meet certain criteria. Some of criteria the occupation must meet include: only residents may conduct the business, it must comprise less than 25 percent of the square feet of the premises, and there should be no exterior alterations of the dwelling. The code specifies a number of occupations that qualify as home occupations. The code also allows some flexibility in the use of nonconforming uses (19.108.030). Nonconforming structures may be reconstructed, if the repair does not exceed 150 percent of the actual cash value of the building. This site was accessed in August 2004.
Publication Date	2004
Organization	Kern County, California
Web Location	http://ordlink.com/codes/kerncoun/_DATA/TITLE19/index.html

Notice: The contents of this record reflect the views of the author and/or promulgating municipality, and should not be construed as representing the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or U.S. HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. No attempt has been made by U.S. HUD or its contractors to verify the accuracy, currency, or validity of the record contents presented herein.