(a) The purpose of this Development Code and the intent of the legislative authority in its adoption is to promote and protect the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity and the general welfare of the City by regulating the use of buildings, other structures and land for residences, public facilities, institutions, business and services; by regulating and restricting the bulk, height, design, percent of lot occupancy and location of buildings; by regulating and limiting population density; and, for the aforesaid purposes, to design districts of such number and dimensions to carry out the objectives of the plans of the City and to provide procedures for the administration and amendment of this Development Code.
(b) This Development Code is intended to achieve, among others, the following objectives:
(1) To protect the character and values of residential, institutional and public uses, business and commercial uses; and to insure their orderly and beneficial development.
(2) To provide adequate open spaces for light, air and outdoor uses, and to prevent excessive concentration of population.
(3) To regulate and control the location and spacing of buildings in relation to the site and to the surrounding property.
(4) To regulate the intensity of uses in relation to streets and to reduce the interference with traffic movements so as to improve public safety.
(5) To guide the future development of the City so as to bring about the gradual conformity of land and building uses in accordance with the objectives of the Master Plan of the City.
(6) To accomplish the specific intents and goals set forth in the introduction to the respective Chapters.
(7) Encourage compatibility between different land uses and protect the scale and character of existing development from the encroachment of incompatible uses.
(8) To preserve and strengthen the reasonable balance of commercial activities within the City, so long as they are consistent with the City's residential character and the foregoing objectives, in order to serve the convenience of the inhabitants of the City and provide a strong economic and tax base to assure the City's ability to provide essential services to its inhabitants.