31C - 2230 N TUSTIN - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Variance No. 2007-09 Minor Exception No. 2007-04 January 28, 2008 Page 5 on the site; the concerns expressed by adjacent property owners regarding general parking issues in the area; and the need to hear the minor exception and variance together since they are inter-related actions. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the Zoning Administrator determined that, based on the above concerns and that the minor exception is of such magnitude as to be of special interest to the people of Santa Ana, the minor exception was referred to the Planning Commission for action. As a result of the concerns expressed by the Zoning Administrator, the applicant requested a continuance to revise the plans to address the four issues. First, in order to analyze whether or not the parking lot would be adequate enough to support the proposed use, a parking study was prepared by Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., a traffic engineering firm, for the project. The study was completed using actual parking counts of the site as well as the Shared Parking analysis using the methodology of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The methodology used for conducting the parking analysis was the completion of actual parking lot counts for a similar existing land use plus assigning a parking demand for the vacant tenant spaces per the actual code requirements as well as the use of shared parking analysis data from the ULI. The ULI methodology considers the various uses within a center and allows for a reduction in parking based on customers parking once on the site and visiting multiple tenants, which effectively reduces to parking demand of the center. Both the actual parking count and ULI methodology concluded that sufficient parking will be provided to meet the parking demands of the retail center. The number of on-site parking spaces provided is 206, while the maximum number of parking spaces expected to be occupied during the peak weekday hour (1:00 p.m.) is 202, with 199 spaces during the peak weekend hour of 6:00 p.m. (Exhibit 5). Second, the applicant modified the plans to improve pedestrian circulation. Parking spaces and landscape planters were moved to allow direct links between the buildings on the site. Finally, the applicant has agreed to plant 18 Italian Cypress trees in the landscaped setback that separates the parking lot for the new restaurant from the child care center to the west. This additional landscaping will assist in screening the parking lot from the child care center. 31 C-6