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General Plan Amendment No. 2007-02 <br />Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 2007-03 <br />Ordinance Amendment No. 2007-01 <br />June 11, 2007 <br />Page 2 <br />Analysis of the Issues <br />Air space condominiums allow individual ownership of units created by a <br />subdivision map. This type of development has given businesses <br />opportunities to own their own unit instead of leasing a space and <br />paying rent. A condominium unit is enticing to many businesses as it <br />allows them to avoid continually paying rent while at the same time <br />using the property as an investment. Currently, the subdivision of <br />commercial and industrial sites into air-space condominiums is allowed <br />by Chapter 34 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SANG); however, there are <br />no standards in place for non-residential condominium development. <br />Chapter 34 of the SAMC contains standards for residential condominium <br />projects. Without any standards, the City is unable to adequately <br />address issues that may arise from the subdivision of commercial and <br />industrial sites into condominiums. Potential issues include the lack <br />of landscape, building and site maintenance, and insufficient easements <br />and reciprocal rights for access and parking. Without sufficient <br />standards, once viable and attractive centers can fall into a <br />deteriorated condition due to neglected maintenance and landscaping. <br />A significant number of commercial and industrial projects were built <br />many years ago and will not, therefore, comply with today's development <br />standards. These properties do not meet the requirements of Chapter 41 <br />of the SAMC and thus fall into a non-conforming status. The intent of <br />the non-conforming section of the zoning code is to create a system that <br />over time recycles and transforms non-conforming properties into new <br />developments. <br />Older and substandard commercial and industrial centers are typically <br />the primary candidates for condominium conversions. Many of these older <br />developments do not meet the current development standards for parking, <br />landscaping or building setbacks. Once the property is divided into <br />air-space condos, the opportunity to enhance the site and to meet the <br />current development standards is lost. With numerous owners, the <br />ability to consolidate the site is decreased as a developer would need <br />to purchase each unit from an individual owner. This usually results in <br />the site staying as is with no upgrades or enhancements unless there are <br />City standards that require such improvements. <br />75A-3 <br />