75B - PH -2011 N GRAND AVENUE - Laserfiche WebLink

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Amendment Application No. 2013 -01 November 25, 2013 Page 4 The majority of the subject properties were entitled between 1957 and 1970. Four land use variances were granted to allow a variety of commercial uses, including the construction of an animal hospital, office building, auto and tire sales and service, restaurant and expansion of a school. These uses have remained at their locations and have been serving the community since the approval of the use variances. Land use variances are no longer permitted in California, and as such, local jurisdictions may not issue such entitlement to allow uses that might be inconsistent with the zoning code or a land use designation. AutoZone is proposing to construct a retail store to replace the school /childcare use on one of the sites. The current R1 zoning designation prohibits the use of the site for commercial purposes; therefore, an amendment application to change the zoning designation is required to facilitate the proposed AutoZone project as well as any future commercial development on the adjacent properties. Staff recommends approval of the amendment application for several reasons. First, the rezoning of the site will create consistency between the zoning and the General Plan land use designation. The C5 zoning designation will provide property owners clear direction in regards to potential land uses, future development opportunities and development standards for these properties. Secondly, these sites are physically suitable for commercial uses. The majority of the sites are currently developed with commercial uses, These sites are located on Grand Avenue, which is an arterial street that serves as a major commercial corridor in the City and has easy access to the Santa Ana (1 -5) Freeway, which makes commercial uses ideal. Thirdly, the rezoning of these sites will make the majority of the existing land uses conforming to the proposed zoning designation. Currently, the animal hospital, office building, auto and tire sales and service and the restaurant are not permitted in the R1 or R2 zoning districts, which makes these uses legal non- conforming. The rezoning of the site will bring the commercial land uses into compliance with the zoning code and will allow future improvements to be made to these sites. If the residential zoning designation were to remain, these sites would still be occupied by commercial uses, but future developments and improvements would be restricted. The legal non - conforming provision of the code would limit work on these sites to maintenance and would preclude extensive rehabilitation, expansion or new development. Moreover, these SAMC provisions would allow the current residential uses at 2003 and 2011 North Grand Avenue to continue, allowing the property owners to continue to maintain their properties, but would also preclude any residential expansion on their properties. Public Notification The subject properties are located within the boundaries of the Portola Park Neighborhood Association, which was notified of this project. Staff presented the project at their Association meeting on September 18, 2012. At that meeting, the Association and the adjacent property owners expressed support for the proposed project. The individual property owners were contacted regarding the proposed zone change. The project sites were posted with a notice advertising this public hearing, a notice was published in the Orange County Reporter and mailed notices were sent to all property owners within 500 feet of the project site. At the time of this printing, no correspondence, either written or electronic, had been received from any members of the public. 75B -6