San Jose, California · District

CN

CN Commercial District

Dimensional standards

CN lot requirementsSTREETbuildable areaRear 0 ftMIN LOT AREA5,000 sq ft
Plan view of the district’s stated lot requirements. Solid line: the property line. Dashed: the setback lines the ordinance imposes; a building must stay inside the tinted envelope. Drawn from the figures extracted below — illustrative, not a survey.

Uses

Permitted by right57

Conditional / special use50

Accessory5

Extracted standards

24 individual requirements pulled out of this section’s prose, each with the sentence it came from.

Height

Lighting

Noise

  • Maximum noise level adjacent to commercial60 dB

    Table 20-105: Commercial or PQP use adjacent to a property used or zoned for commercial or other non-residential purposes: 60.

  • Maximum noise level adjacent to residential55 dB

    The sound pressure level generated by any use or combination of uses on a property shall not exceed the decibel levels indicated in Table 20-105 at any property line, except upon issuance and in compliance with a special use permit. Table 20-105: Commercial or PQP use adjacent to a property used or zoned for residential purposes: 55.

Other

  • Air emissions threshold

    Total emissions from any use or combination of uses on a site shall not exceed the emissions and health risk thresholds as established by the director of planning.

  • Short-term Bicycle Parking Facilities that meet the following requirements: ... Maintenance of a minimum of a five (5) foot Front Setback Area that is open, unobstructed, and unoccupied.

  • Hours of operation restriction

    No establishment other than office uses, in any commercial district shall be open between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. except pursuant to and in compliance with a conditional use permit.

  • any portion thereof situate in the required setback area from abutting public streets shall be not more than four feet.

  • In all commercial districts, the minimum area of a lot, whose area as shown on a final subdivision map approved by the city, is less than the minimum required but not less than five thousand square feet, shall be the area shown for such lot or parcel on such subdivision map.

  • The screening required hereby shall be a masonry wall or a solid wooden fence five feet in height.

  • Outdoor activity hours restriction

    No outdoor activity, including loading, sweeping, landscaping or maintenance shall occur within one-hundred fifty feet of any residentially zoned property between the hours of 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m. except pursuant to and in compliance with a conditional use permit.

  • No use, which in whole or in part, consists of, includes, or involves any outdoor activity or sale or storage of goods, products, merchandise or food outdoors shall occur on any lands if any part of such lands or any part of the lot on which such buildings are located is situated within one hundred fifty feet of residentially zoned property situate within or outside the city except with a special use permit.

  • Permanent structure required

    No use shall be deemed to be a permitted use on a site in any commercial district unless it is being conducted as part of a business which maintains on that site a permanent, fully enclosed building erected pursuant to a valid building permit issued for that site, excepting only those uses specifically permitted, under this part or this title, to operate without a permanent building on site.

  • Residential use cannot serve nonresidents

    No residential use which includes the provision of service to residents may offer services to nonresidents.

  • No perceptible vibration

    There shall be no activity on any site that causes ground vibration that is perceptible without instruments at the property line of the site.

Setback

  • Architectural features projection2 ft

    Sills, eaves, belt courses, cornices, canopies, and other similar architectural features may project horizontally for a distance of not more than two (2) feet into the air space above the surface of the ground in any Setback Area.

  • Basement window projection2 ft

    In addition to projection into the Setback Area allowed under Subsection B., wells for Basement windows or stairs of up to ten (10) feet in length each, not occupying in the aggregate more than twenty percent (20%) of the length of the side of the Building on which they are located, may project horizontally for a distance of not more than two (2) feet into the Side and Rear Setback Area, provided that such extensions maintain a minimum Setback of three (3) feet.

  • Bay window projection2 ft

    Any portion of a building (including but not limited to bay windows, chimneys, or architectural elements that project out from the primary surface of the Building Facade) not occupying in the aggregate more than twenty percent (20%) of the length of the side of the Building, may project horizontally for a distance of not more than two (2) feet into any Setback Area, provided that such extensions maintain a minimum Setback of at least three (3) feet.

  • Where lots situate on one side of a street between two intersecting streets are situate partly in a commercial district and partly in a residence district, the front setback requirements applicable to such residence district shall apply to all lots in the Commercial District, except that where a lot or lots situate within a Commercial District are located on one side of a street between an intersecting street and a lot located in a Residence District, the front setback requirements of the Residence District shall apply only to that portion of the lot or lots situate in the Commercial District that is located within twenty feet of the lot situate within a Residence District.

  • there shall be no rear setback for property situate in any commercial district whenever the entire rear property line of such property abuts property situate in any commercial district or less restrictive district.

  • Tankless water heater projection2 ft

    Tankless water heaters, heat pumps, and power inverters may project horizontally for a distance of not more than two (2) feet into any Setback Area provided such extensions maintain a minimum side setback of three feet.

From the ordinance

Commercial district exceptions and standards.
20.40.230-20.40.600