Chapter 18.21 — RR (RURAL RESIDENTIAL) ZONE

It is the intent and purpose of this chapter to provide suitable areas and appropriate environments for low density, single family rural residential and estate type uses where certain agricultural activities can be successfully maintained in conjunction with residential uses on relatively large parcels. The RR (rural residential) zone is intended to be applied to the areas outside the urban communities of Inyo County which are without fully developed services and where individual residences are expected to be largely self-sustaining, particularly for water and sewage disposal. (Ord. 943 § 4, 1994)

The following are the principal permitted uses of the RR (rural residential) zone:

• A. One single-family dwelling on a lot, including single-family mobile homes;

• B. Orchards, vegetable and field crops, nurseries and gardens;

• C. Transitional, supportive and group homes. (Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 1290 § 24, 2022)

The following are accessory uses permitted in the RR zone:

• A. Private garages, parking facilities, and other structures used for storage of equipment appurtenant to a permitted use;

• B. Home occupations complying with the provisions of Chapter 18.78 ;

• C. Signs and advertising for permitted, accessory or conditional uses complying with the provisions of Chapter 18.75 and subject to the provisions of Section 18.21.050 ;

• D. Guest house or cottage complying with the provisions of Chapter 18.78 ;

• E. Animal maintenance complying with the provisions of Chapter 18.78 ;

• F. Rooming and boarding of not more than three persons;

• G. Other uses and buildings customarily appurtenant and clearly incidental to a permitted use;

• H. Accessory structures normally associated with the breeding and raising of game birds;

• I. Transitional housing, in conformance with the policies stated in the housing element of the Inyo County general plan.

• (Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 997 § 6, 1998; Ord. 1007 § 7, 1998)

The following are the conditional uses of the RR (rural residential) zone:

• A. Social halls, lodges, fraternal organizations and community clubs except those operated for profit;

• B. Private noncommercial recreational facilities including country clubs, swimming pools and golf courses;

• C. Public and quasi-public buildings and uses of recreational, educational, religious, cultural and public service nature, excluding corporation yards, exterior storage, repair yards and warehouses;

• D. Residential care facilities, rest homes and sanitariums;

• E. Nursery schools and day care centers;

• F. Commercial kennels;

• G. Commercial cannabis cultivation on parcels greater than twelve acres; such cultivation shall be at least three hundred feet from all parcel lot lines;

• H. Commercial cannabis cultivation on parcels greater than two and one-half acres shall be allowed only in the areas commonly known as Stewart Valley and Charleston View and subject to any design guidelines and other conditions and regulations, including setbacks that may be promulgated or required by the county.

(Ord. 943 § 4, 1994; Ord. 997 § 8, 1998; Ord. 1221 § 9, 2018; Ord. 1290 § 25, 2022; Ord. 1323, 9/23/2025)

The following minimum standards are established for development in the RR (rural residential) zone, except as otherwise provided in this title or as modified for conditional uses:

• A. Maximum height of buildings:

  1. Principal: two and one-half stories or thirty feet,

  2. Accessory: two stories or twenty-five feet;

• B. Minimum parcel size: one acre, except when a greater minimum area is established pursuant to Section 18.78.055 of this title;

• C. Parcel width: one hundred twenty-five feet;

• D. Front yard: fifty feet;

• E. Rear yard: thirty feet;

• F. Side yard: twenty feet;

• G. Distance between buildings on the same parcel: ten feet;

• H. Off-street parking spaces per dwelling unit: two spaces;

• I. Darwin Townsite special yard standards: For nonconforming parcels created prior to the adoption of the ordinance codified in this section which have less area than required under the applicable parcel size requirements of the rural residential zone, the R-1 yard standards may be substituted for the rural residential zone yard standards. Creation of parcels shall not be construed to be the date of merger, if any, but the date of original creation of these parcels.

• (Ord. 943 § 4, 1994)

Pursuant to Inyo County policy as established in the Darwin Specific Plan and as provided for in Chapter 3, Article 1.5 of the Subdivision Map Act, those contiguous parcels under the same ownership which are undersized with respect to the minimum parcel size established in this chapter and one or more of which are undeveloped may be merged or combined upon the approval of the county board of supervisors in accord with the provisions of Chapter 3, Article 1.5 of the Subdivision Map Act. This provision shall only apply to the townsite of Darwin as described and included within the Darwin Specific Plan prepared and adopted in accord with the provisions of Section 65450 of the Government Code. (Ord. 943 § 4, 1994)