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Variance No. 2006-01 June 12, 2006 Page 2 Analysis of the Issues In August of 2001, Contreras Mexican Ice Cream obtained permits to open an industrial business specifically for warehousing and preparation of food for mobile vendor carts. This use was approved as a continuation of a legal nonconforming use, as the existing industrial building and associated use were established prior to the property being zoned C2, which does not allow industrial uses. In September of 2003, a portion of the building was destroyed by fire and subsequently, the building was allowed to be rebuilt per section 41-6B2 of the nonconforming code that allows reconstruction of nonconforming buildings damaged by fire. The building was rebuilt to the same square footage as existed before and included approximately 1,400 square foot of second floor ancillary industrial office space that was approved under Variance No. 74-13. Variance No. 74-13 allowed the expansion of a legal nonconforming meat processing plant in the C2 zone even though such enlargement was not permissible per section 41-6B6 of the nonconforming code. Section 41-6B1 states that no enlargement of nonconforming buildings is allowed unless such building and site conform to all provisions of the zoning code. Typically, the project review process involves evaluating proposals for zoning compliance. If a project complies with zoning regulations, it is approved. If a proposal does not comply with applicable zoning provisions, such as the nonconforming code, the proposal would be denied. In this case, the proposal does not comply with parking requirements and section 41-6B6 of nonconforming code, which does not allow additional uses to nonconforming sites. Normally, projects such as this would be denied and would not be reviewed by the Planning Commission as they are noncompliant with local and State of California land use laws. The proposed project was denied, however the applicant wanted to pursue an option to present his proposal before the Planning Commission and explain the circumstances that exist for his site. Staff determined that the only way to present this item before the Commission would be to have the applicant apply for a parking variance. The site is currently nonconforming in parking and the proposed use would further increase the parking demand. Mr. Contreras is requesting approval of 750 square feet of second floor space to be used as independent office space, not ancillary or associated to the existing industrial use. Staff has identified several concerns with the request that have resulted in a negative recommendation of the variance application. 31A-3