Item 37 - Appeal No. 2023-07 Denial of CUP No. 2023-18 Anchor Stone Christian Church: 2938 S. Daimler Street

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CUP No. 2023-18 — Anchor Stone Christian Church (2938 S. Daimler Street) September 11, 2023 Page 3 On February 21, 2023, staff and the applicant met to discuss the project, during which staff informed the applicant of the identified inconsistencies between the proposed use and the General Plan. As a result, the applicant was provided the option to withdraw the DP application or move forward with the CUP application without the supporting findings necessary in the approval of a CUP and the resulting denial recommendation. Following additional meetings between staff and the applicant so that the applicant could learn more about the site's General Plan land use designation, on May 2, 2023, the applicant indicated intent to proceed with the subject application. The applicant subsequently submitted the CUP application on July 24, 2023. Project Analysis CUP requests are governed by Section 41-638 of the SAMC. CUPs may be granted when it can be shown that the proposed project will not adversely impact the community and General Plan. If these findings can be made, then it is appropriate to grant the CUP. Conversely, the inability to make these findings results in a denial. The proposed church, Anchor Stone Christian Church currently operates in the City of Irvine. The applicant's request would allow the church to expand to the City of Santa Ana. The church would occupy a 3,843 square -foot tenant space previously occupied by an office use. The project site is located within an integrated professional office complex that is approximately 0.54 miles (2,851 feet) from the nearest sensitive land use. SAMC Section 41-638(a)(1) requires that all five of the specified findings of fact contained therein are satisfied before the Planning Commission may grant approval of a CUP, one of which is evaluating if the project will adversely affect the General Plan. The subject site's General Plan land use designation is Flex-3, which allows office/industrial flex spaces, research and development, and manufacturing corporate headquarters/campuses and does not permit community assembly uses such as churches as a permissible use. Background on the General Plan The General Plan Update (GPU) was adopted in April 2022 after a seven-year effort of extensive community participation. In the pursuit of updating the General Plan, a comprehensive and inclusive approach involving numerous engagement efforts and interactions with the community was taken. The initiative began with over 60 community meetings and workshops, where residents, business leaders, and community stakeholders provided perspectives for the future vision of the community, including its land use plan in the Land Use Element. Individual community workshops were organized for the Five Focus areas identified, attracting the participation of hundreds of individuals. In addition, an online survey was circulated and received over 650 individual responses collecting input for the General Plan. The outreach effort also involved sending approximately 44,000 direct mailers to property owners and tenants in the Focus Areas, multilingual videos, and a dedicated webpage, providing ongoing updates on the process, 9/11 /2023 Planning Commission 1 — 3