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Variance No. 2014 -05 <br />August 25, 2014 <br />Page 3 <br />Since its opening in 1987, Westfield MainPlace has undergone a series of rehabilitations to <br />accommodate new stores and restaurants, as well as exterior fapade enhancements. In addition to <br />several liquor license conditional use permits and sign variances approved during the site's history, <br />Variance No. 1996 -01 established an overall parking supply ratio requirement of 4.1 spaces per 1,000 <br />square feet for all uses at MainPlace. This variance requires a total parking supply of 4,635 parking <br />spaces for the 1,127,836 square feet of floor area for all uses at the site. The current proposed <br />project will maintain a parking supply in excess of that 4,635 total requirement. However, because <br />the SAMC parking standards for a health club are in excess of what the project site currently contains, <br />approval of a new variance is required to allow 24 Hour Fitness to operate at the subject location. <br />The anchor building currently undergoing reconfiguration to accommodate 24 Hour Fitness and other <br />tenants originally opened in 1987 as a Robinson's department store. Since then, the building <br />continued to contain several department stores, including Robinsons -May, which went defunct as a <br />company in 2006. After the nationwide closure of these stores, including the MainPlace location, <br />Macy's opened men's clothing stores in many of the former Robinsons -May buildings. The <br />MainPlace Men's Macy's store closed in 2012, leaving the anchor building vacant. Since then, <br />Westfield has explored many re- tenanting options for the site, including the current reconfiguration <br />option. <br />Founded in 1979, 24 Hour Fitness is a nationwide chain of health clubs with over 400 locations and is <br />the world's largest fitness center chain by membership. All locations feature large physical activity <br />areas with machines and weights, while others offer added services such as basketball courts and <br />swimming pools, which are also proposed at the project site. Most locations comparable to the <br />proposed Santa Ana location range in size from 25,000 to 100,000 square feet. This 24 Hour Fitness <br />would be Santa Ana's first location and would occupy the majority of the third floor of the anchor <br />building. The proposed hours of operation at the Santa Ana location are 24 hours per day, 365 days <br />per year. <br />General Plan and Zoning Consistency <br />The General Plan land use designation for the site is District Center (DC). District Center land use <br />districts provide highly visible and accessible commercial development along the City's arterial <br />transportation corridors and provide important neighborhood facilities and services, such as this <br />health club. The project site is consistent with this General Plan land use designation. <br />The site is located within the General Commercial (C -2) zoning district. The C -2 zoning district <br />allows for retail and service uses such as health clubs, making the proposed use consistent with <br />the zoning designation. <br />Proiect Analysis <br />Variance requests are governed by Section 41 -638 of the SAMC. Variance requests may be granted <br />when it can be shown that the following can be established: <br />31 C -5 <br />