Any development or portion thereof having an average slope of fifteen percent (15%) or more.
A. It shall be the purpose of these regulations to provide for the development of hillside and foothill areas in a manner that will protect life and property from hazards due to slope, erodible soils, unstable soils, earth movement and other geologic and hydrologic hazards.
It shall also be the intent of these regulations to promote the following:
1. To use the fullest current understanding of good civic design, landscape architecture, architecture and civil engineering to preserve, enhance and/or promote the existing and future appearance and resources of hillside areas.
2. To preserve or enhance the beauty of the landscape by encouraging the maximum retention of natural topographic features, such as drainage swales, streams, slopes, ridge lines/tops, rock outcrops, vistas and natural plant formations.
3. To promote a safe means of ingress and egress for vehicular and pedestrian traffic to and within hillside areas while at the same time minimizing the scarring effects of hillside street construction. Roads shall follow natural topography wherever possible to minimize cutting and grading; and
4. Imaginative and innovative building techniques should be encouraged to create buildings suited to natural hillside surroundings.
5. Enhancement of neighborhood character.
B. Any request for development of any kind within a hillside area must include an assessment addressing the impact of such development on surrounding properties and on City services. Such assessment must be submitted at the time an application is presented to the City for development and be approved by the City Engineer and City Council. (Ord. 311 § 1, 1999)
Next Doc