Parks and Recreation Use Update

During a General Plan Update Work Session on November 6, 2018, the Board of Supervisors directed Planning staff to allow more flexibility when establishing park and recreational facility uses on vacant land within Existing Communities. On September 15, 2020, the Board of Supervisors adopted the 2040 General Plan which contained a new Parks and Recreation land use designation and a new Recreation (REC) zone that was intended to allow more flexibility when establishing park and recreational facility uses. This designation was useful for the Open Space – Parks and Recreation (OS-REC) zone project described below, but Urban Parks may not need to apply for a General Plan amendment, a zone change, and the applicable planning entitlement in order to be developed. The recently approved amendments streamlined this process by only requiring a planning entitlement for Urban Parks. The amendments allow for the creation of urban parks and recreation facilities that serve all residents of Ventura County and fulfill the General Plan directive while also reducing applicant processing time and costs for rezoning.

The ordinance amended Articles 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 19 of the NCZO to establish a new Urban Parks use category and to make other amendments to simplify the permitting process for existing parks. The amendments are summarized as follows:

• Article 2 was amended to establish a new definition to distinguish “urban parks” from the existing “parks” definition by allowing parks that contain less than 75% landscaping and natural areas. The existing “parks” definition and use category was also modified to “natural parks” to further distinguish between the two types of parks.
• Article 3 was amended to establish an exception to the minimum lot area is proposed to allow urban parks to be located on lots within Existing Communities that do not meet the minimum lot size requirements, on remnant parcels, or as part of new subdivisions.
• Article 5 was amended to include the Urban Parks use category in both the Open Space, Agricultural, Residential, and Special Purpose Zones Use Matrix and the Commercial and Industrial Zones Use Matrix. The amendments included the following:
  • Renamed the “Recreational, Sport, and Athletic Facilities” category in Section 8105-4 is proposed to be renamed to “Recreation and Parks.”
  • Changed the permit type for the “athletic fields,” “natural parks and “County-initiated recreation projects” use categories from Conditional Use Permits to a Planned Development Permit.
  • Added the “Urban Park” use category to both matrices and be allowed within the Rural Exclusive (“RE”), Single Family Estate (“RO”), Single Family Residential (“R1”), Two-Family Residential (“R2”), Residential Planned Development (“RPD”), Residential High Density (“RHD”), Commercial Office (CO), Neighborhood Commercial (C1), and Commercial Planned Development (CPD) with the approval of a Planned Development Permit authorized by the Planning Director.
  • Allow a supporting “gymnasium” use within urban parks but with a Conditional Use Permit authorized by the Planning Director.
• Article 7 was amended to add a new section that imposes development standards for “urban park” uses, including setback, safety, lighting, signage, and application requirements.
• Article 8 was amended to modify the parking requirements for parks and recreational facilities by requiring parking standards only apply to principal buildings that are within parks and open to the public. Additionally, if a proposed park is less than 1-acre in size then no vehicle parking is required.
• Article 19 was amended to ensure consistency between the uses allowed in the Old Town Saticoy Development Code and the NCZO amendments for urban parks.

These amendments were approved along with the following General Plan amendments:

• The Parks and Recreation Land Use Designation and the Recreation Zone was repealed because it was not necessary.
• General Plan Goal LU-12 and Policy LU-12.1 were repealed because they were in the section establishing the designation. Goal LU-16 was amended to support parks a new Policy LU-16.11 was added to incorporate the repealed text in the designations section of the Land Use Element.