Public and open space areas are separated into three (3) zoning districts, with specific Use Types, minimum lot area, and other requirements, as described below.
(a) Parks and Recreation (P-R) Zone. The purpose of the Parks and Recreation (P-R) zone is to identify lands that are developed as existing County parks and to designate lands for future parks, including privately owned facilities offering recreation to the greater region. Permitted uses in the P-R zone include a wide range of active recreational activities, whether located outdoors or within recreational or community buildings. Typical development in the P-R zone includes sports fields, tot lots, and public pools. Some P-R zones serve as agricultural buffer areas. Detention basins are an allowed ancillary use in the P-R zone when designed with recreation or sports features. The only retail and service activities allowed in the P-R zone are those that are operated by park personnel or under a concession arrangement (gift stores, restaurants, guides, etc.).
The P-R zone is not usually applied to undeveloped lands that support only passive recreational activities such as hiking or bicycling. These latter lands are zoned Public Open Space (see below). Note that most park uses would normally be required to locate on lands that have been zoned PQP; however, smaller uses of less than five thousand (5,000) square feet of total building space, or one (1) acre in size for a park, may be permitted to locate in other zones, such as commercial and some industrial zones, without a rezoning to PQP. The P-R zone implements the Parks and Recreation (PR) land use designation in the 2030 Countywide General Plan.
(b) Public Open Space (POS) Zone. The purpose of the Public Open Space (POS) zone is to recognize major publicly-owned open space lands, major natural water bodies, agricultural buffer areas, and habitat preserves. The POS lands are characterized by passive or low management uses. Detention basins are allowed in the POS zone if they are designed with naturalized features and native landscaping. The POS zone implements the Open Space (OS) land use designation in the 2030 Countywide General Plan.
(c) Public and Quasi-Public (PQP) Zone. The Public and Quasi-Public (PQP) zone is applied to lands that are occupied or used for public and governmental offices, places of worship, schools, libraries, and civic uses. Other typical uses include airports, water and wastewater treatment plants, drainage basins, and sanitary landfills. As with park facilities, smaller public/quasi-public uses involving less than five thousand (5,000) square feet of building space may be permitted in commercial and some industrial zones. The PQP zone implements the Public and Quasi-Public (PQ) land use designation in the 2030 Countywide General Plan.
(Ord. 1445, eff. August 14, 2014)