HomeMy WebLinkAboutPresentation - #37City of Santa Ana
City Council
November 21, 2023
Slide 1
Anchor Stone Christian Church
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 2
Item 37: Anchor Stone Christian Church CUP
Appeal
•Application: Appeal No. 2023-07 appealing Planning
Commission denial of CUP No. 2023-18
•Address & Council Ward: 2938 South Daimler Street –
Ward 4
•Description: Steven Lee, representing Anchor Stone
Christian Church (Applicant and Property Owner), filed
Appeal No. 2023-07, pertaining to the Planning
Commission’s denial of CUP No. 2023-18 for the property
addressed as 2938 South Daimler Street.
•Recommendation: Adopt a resolution denying Appeal
Application No. 2023-07 and upholding the determination of
the Planning Commission to deny Conditional Use Permit
No. 2023-18.
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 3
Location, Land Use, and Zoning
•General Plan: Industrial/Flex
–Medium (Flex-3)
•Zoning: Professional (P)
•Surrounding Land Uses:
–North: Professional
–East: Professional
–South: Professional
–West: Professional
•Lot Size: 5.43 acres
(236,530 square feet)
•Unit Size: 3,843 square feet
Subject Site
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 4
Project Background
•On January 23, 2023, the applicant submitted a development project (DP)
application for a change of use, during which a review of the General Plan
indicated that the proposed use was not consistent with the Industrial/Flex-
Medium (Flex-3) General Plan land use designation.
•On February 21, 2023, staff informed the applicant of the identified
inconsistencies between the proposed use and the General Plan land use
designation.
•As a result, the applicant was given the option to withdraw the DP application
or move forward with the CUP application without the supporting findings
necessary in the approval of a CUP, thereby resulting in a denial
recommendation.
•At its regular meeting on September 11, 2023, the Planning Commission
voted 6:1 (Ayes: Commissioners Benninger, Escamilla, Leo, Oliva, Pham, and
Woo; Noes: Ramos) to adopt a resolution denying CUP No. 2023-18.
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 5
General Plan Background
•The General Plan Update (GPU) was adopted in April 2022 after completing a seven-year effort of extensive community participation that shaped the entire document, including the Land Use Element.
•The subject project is located within the Flex-3 land use designation and the 55 Freeway and Dyer Focus Area.
•The 55 Freeway and Dyer Focus Area contains three General Plan land use designations at four intensities:
–Flex-3
–General Commercial-Medium High (GC-1.5)
–General Commercial (GC)
–District Center-Medium (DC-2)
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 6
General Plan Background (Cont.)
•The Flex-3 land use designation allows for clean industrial uses, including office -industrial flex spaces, small-scale clean manufacturing, research and development and multilevel corporate offices, commercial retail, artist galleries, and craft maker spaces.
•Based on the land use designation and development policies and allowable uses, approval of the requested CUP would be inconsistent with the General Plan land use designation for the property.
SITE
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 7
Project Analysis
•The Flex-3 land use designation does not allow assembly uses such
as a church, therefore staff is unable to recommend approval of the
applicant’s request.
•Requiring consistency of a CUP with a local jurisdiction’s general
plan is reaffirmed through various legal cases in California, including:
–Neighborhood Action Group v. County of Calaveras (1984), which affirms
that discretionary approval of a CUP must be consistent with a general
plan, and
–O'Loane v. O'Rourke (1965), which affirms that the general plan is atop
the hierarchy of local government land use law, acting as a constitution
for all future developments.
•In Santa Ana, this principle is codified in the Zoning Code.
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 8
Project Analysis (Cont.)
•CUP requests are governed by Section 41-638 of the Santa
Ana Municipal Code (SAMC).
•SAMC Section 41-638(a)(1) requires that all five of the
specified findings of fact contained therein are satisfied before
the Planning Commission may grant approval of a CUP, one of
which is evaluating if the project will adversely affect the
General Plan.
•The inability to make any of the findings results in a denial.
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 9
Project Adversely Affects the General Plan
•The proposed use will adversely affect the General Plan and it
will not be consistent with the General Plan goals and policies.
•The use would introduce sensitive receptors into an area that is
mostly comprised of industrial and office uses and that is
intended to continue to transition to industrial uses over time,
through implementation of the General Plan.
•The use will create irreconcilable land use conflicts by
introducing a sensitive receptor within an area that is presently
and continuing to transition to industrial uses.
•The purpose of the land use plan of the Land Use Element is to
prevent irreconcilable land use conflicts from occurring in the
present and in the future between sensitive receptors and
surrounding industrial uses.
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 10
Staff Recommendation
Adopt a resolution denying Appeal
Application No. 2023-07 and upholding the
determination of the Planning Commission to
deny Conditional Use Permit No. 2023-18.
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 11
Questions?
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 12
Site Photo
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 13
Site Plan
Anchor Store Christian Church
Planning and Building Agency
Item #37
November 21, 2023
Slide 14
Floor Plan