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Minor Exception No. 2011-02 January 30, 2012 Page 2 Pro'ect Descri tion The National Holistic institute (NHI} is seeking approval of a minor exception #o operate a new massage school in Santa Ana. If approved, the school will be located within a vacant, 9,200 square foot tenant space on the ground floor of an existing office building. Tenant improvements will be made to the space to meet the needs of the school. No other expansion or construction is proposed for the project. Three classrooms, each consisting of 1,400 square feet, will be provided for the school. The remaining 5,000 square feet of floor area will be devoted to common area, faculty offices and administrative functions. Operating hours of the school will be from 8:00 a.m, to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week. A total of 120 parking spaces are required for the massage school (105 for the classrooms and 15 for the office uses} while 70 are proposed (Exhibits 3 and 4}. Proiect Background The National Holistic Institute is one of the largest massage schools in the nation. NHI was established over 30 years ago to provide massage therapy training to students seeking to enter the massage field. NHI offers a comprehensive Massage Therapy Training program that prepares their graduates for a career in massage therapy. NHl currently operates six campuses in California, five in Northern California and one in the Los Angeles area. The Santa Ana campus is slated to be NHI's seventh massage school location. General Plan and Zoning Analysis The General Plan land use designation for the site is District Center (DC). District Centers are characterized by a variety of commercial, residential, retail and educational uses such as high-rise office towers and multi-family residential developments. The massage school project is consistent with this General Plan land use designation as it is consistent with the characteristics of a District Center. The subject site is zoned Specific Development No. 76 (SD-76}. This designation was created for the MacArthur Place South developments and allows for a variety of uses such as office, multi- family dwellings, retail and school uses. This project is consistent with the zoning for the property. Protect Analysis The applicant is requesting approval of a minor exception from Section 41-1402 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC} to allow a reduction in parking for a proposed massage school. Per Section 41-1402, one parking space is required for each 40 square feet of classroom area, plus one space per each 333 square feet of office use, resulting in a requirement of 120 spaces.