75A - PH KARA GRANT APPEAL - Laserfiche WebLink

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at the highest efficiency, and with the highest possible return on the considerable investment required to develop a state -of -the art express carwash." SAMC Section 41-638 provides that the Council and Planning Commission may grant variances from provisions of the Municipal Code when it appears that all of the following have been established: (i) That because of special circumstances applicable to the subject property, including size, shape, topography, location or surroundings, the strict application of the zoning ordinance is found to deprive the subject property of privileges not otherwise at variance with the intent and purpose of the provisions of this chapter; (ii) That the granting of a variance or minor exception is necessary for the preservation and enjoyment of one (1) or more substantial property rights; (iii) That the granting of a variance or minor exception will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to surrounding property; (iv) That the granting of a variance or minor exception will not adversely affect the general plan of the city. The City has interpreted SAMC Sectin 41-638 to have the same meaning as Government Code Section 65906 as interpreted by our Supreme Court in Topanga: "The zone variance procedure is intended to provide relief from zoning ordinance regulations that result in unintended inequities or hardships when applied to specific properties and must not be a grant of special privilege." (See Exhibit H, § III.) "[T]he critical issue [is] whether a variance was necessary to bring the original real party in interest into substantial parody with other parties holding property interests in the zone." (Topanga Assoc. v. County of Los Angeles, supra, 11 Cal.3d at 520.) "In the absence of comparative information about surrounding properties," the data that the Commission purported to rely on to grant the variance "lack[ed] legal significance." (Id.) The Commission may not "assume without evidentiary basis that the character of neighboring property is different from that of the land for which the variance is sought." (Id. at p. 521.) "Since there has been no affirmative showing that the subject property differs substantially and in relevant aspects from other parcels in the zone ... the variance granted amounts to the kind of `special privilege' explicitly prohibited by [SAMC Section 41-638 and] Government Code - Section 65906. (Id. atp. 522.) The Variance Amendment for the Russell Fischer Car Wash Project is only necessary for development of the massive express car wash on 301 N. Tustin Avenue and so Russell Fischer can maximize the operational efficiency of the car wash and its profit; it was not sought by the Applicant for development of the retail center and drive-thru restaurant on the same site one year ago. Moreover, 21. 75A-31