AGENDA ITEM
TO:
HONORABLE CHAIR
AND MEMBERS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
FROM:
CARLOS LUIS
PLANNING MANAGER
SUBJECT:
title
PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 23-02 ALLOWING A CHURCH USE ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3300 EAST WILLOW STREET WITHIN THE COMMERICAL INDUSTRIAL (CI) ZONING DISTRICT AND FINDING THAT SAID ACTION IS CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PURSUANT TO STATE CEQA GUIDELINES SECTION 15301
summary
Summary:
Form of Notice: Notice was published in the Signal Tribune newspaper per Government Code §65091(a)(4) on January 24, 2025; was mailed to property owners within a 300’ radius of the subject site on January 24, 2025; and was posted in accordance with Signal Hill Municipal Code (SHMC) Section 1.08.010 at City Hall, Signal Hill Library, Reservoir Park, and Discovery Well Park on January 24, 2025.
The applicant, Robert Chavez, is requesting approval of a Conditional Use Permit for a church use on property located at 3300 East Willow Street. The church proposes to offer services Tuesdays - Fridays consisting of Bible Study, Marriage/Family Support, Music/Vocal Classes, Small Group meetings, Young Adult Meetings, and Substance/Anger Management Groups. Group service hours start at 6:00 p.m. The church also offers weekly worship services on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. and Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., which can be considered off-peak business hours, when surrounding businesses are closed.
Strategic Plan Goal(s):
None.
recommendation
Recommendation:
Adopt a resolution recommending City Council approval of Conditional Use Permit 23-02 allowing for a church use, entitled:
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SIGNAL HILL, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL OF CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 23-02 ALLOWING A CHURCH USE AT 3300 EAST WILLOW STREET WITHIN THE COMMERICAL INDUSTRIAL (CI) ZONING DISTRICT AND FINDING THAT SAID ACTION IS CATEGORICALLY EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PURSUANT TO STATE CEQA GUIDELINES SECTION 15301.
body
Background:
In October of 2022, the City’s Code Enforcement Division received a report of a church operating within the existing building located at 3300 East Willow Street. Upon reviewing Planning files and Business License records, the Code Enforcement Officer confirmed that the church had not received approval from the City to operate at the location. As a result, a Code Enforcement case was opened. Property management and church operators were contacted informing them of the violation.
On November 11, 2022, Pastor Robert Chavez contacted the Planning Division to obtain information on the necessary requirements to obtain permits and approvals from the City to operate a church use at the location. Staff informed Pastor Chavez to submit a written business operation plan and architectural plans for preliminary review.
On January 12, 2023, Pastor Chavez and church representatives met with staff to review conceptual plans. Pastor Chavez was provided comments and was informed that a written business operation plan was required. The church representatives were also informed that a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) was required in order to establish a church use at the location. Staff explained the application and review process.
On January 25, 2023, church representatives submitted revised preliminary plans to the Planning Division for review.
On January 27, 2023, City comments were provided to representatives of the church that required revisions to the conceptual plans and clarification on the business plan. Subsequently, J2Architects contacted Planning staff informing them they would be the new designers for the project and would be assisting the church in processing their CUP application.
On August 23, 2023, Pastor Chavez submitted a Conditional Use Permit Application to allow the church to continue to operate at the current location. According to Pastor Chavez, the lapse in submittal time was due to challenges with obtaining the property management’s notarized signature on the application. At the time of submittal, Pastor Chavez was informed that a Developer Deposit payment and the business operation plan were required in order to deem the application complete and process the application. On August 29, 2023, Pastor Chavez submitted payment and on September 13, 2023, a business operation plan was submitted.
On October 23, 2023, comments were provided to the applicants requiring revisions or clarification on the plans. In addition, staff recommended the applicants prepare a Parking Study for the project given the business operation plan identified the assembly component (worship service, group services) taking place in the evening hours and on Sundays.
On March 15, 2024, the applicant resubmitted revised plans and a Parking Study; on April 2, 2024 the applicant submitted a separate deposit to cover the review costs and review was initiated.
On May 17, 2024, staff met with Pastor Chavez and J2Architects to discuss the parking concerns for the project. Staff informed them that based on parking requirements in the SHMC, the site was not in compliance with the appropriate number of parking spaces which is largely determined by the size of the worship area proposed. The worship area is 6,806 square feet and would require 170 parking spaces. As a result, Pastor Chavez and J2Architects were provided with options, which included (1) revising plans to reduce the size of the church in order to comply with the required parking of the SHMC or (2) moving forward with the CUP application in its current floor plan configuration. Pastor Chavez was informed that proceeding with option 2 may result in an unfavorable recommendation from staff, given the off-street parking requirements.
The options, above, were provided to the applicant prior to the applicant being aware of Assembly Bill (AB) 2097. AB 2097, effective January 1, 2023, generally provides development projects that are located within a half mile of public transit with relief from the City’s Municipal Code parking requirements. After reviewing AB 2097, it was determined that the CUP application to allow a church use is eligible for the relief from required parking. The applicant has requested their project be reviewed pursuant to AB 2097.
Analysis:
Site Description
The site is located on the south side of East Willow Street, between Redondo Avenue to the east and North Palm Drive to the west. The site measures approximately 262,231 square feet and is currently developed with five multi-tenant buildings. Businesses occupying the site include light industrial uses (warehousing, assembly) and commercial uses (contractors office, fitness studios, delicatessen, music lessons). The site also has an existing wireless telecommunication facility located along southeast portion of the property. The existing zoning designations and land uses for the project site and adjacent properties are as follows:
|
Direction |
Zoning Designation |
Existing Land Use |
|
Project Site |
Commercial Industrial (CI) |
Multi-tenant Light Industrial, Commercial, and parking |
|
North |
City of Long Beach |
East Willow Street |
|
South |
General Industrial (GI) |
Oil Tank Farm and Industrial Uses |
|
East |
Commercial Industrial (CI) |
Warehouse and Office |
|
West |
Not Applicable |
North Palm Drive |
VICINITY MAP
Land Use
Pursuant to SHMC Section 20.20.020, Churches are allowed subject to approval of a Conditional Use Permit in the Commercial Industrial (CI) zone.
Church Operations
The church is operated by “Victory Outreach Church” which according to the operation plan (Attachment A), serves the community by offering a variety of programs and services aimed at empowering individuals to realize their possibilities in life. The following are the proposed days and times services and programs are offered:
Tuesday - Thursday: Marriage/Family Support from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. by appointment
Tuesday: Substance/Anger Management from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday: Worship Service 7:00 p.m.
Thursday: Music/Vocal Classes from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday: Young Adult Groups from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Sunday: Worship Service at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
The church’s administrative offices are also open as follows:
Tuesday - Thursday: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The church serves 75 to 140 people from the community and surrounding area. According to the operation plan, services are provided with firm commitment of inclusion, fairness, respect, and the overall well-being of the community members. The sanctuary area where worship services are conducted can include a maximum of 299 attendees. This total includes pastors, assistants, congregation attendees, childcare teachers and children. The CUP allows the City to place conditions of approval on a project to ensure the projects do not create nuisances or issues of concern within the surrounding area. Condition Number 9 has been included requiring church operations to be consistent with the schedule in the submitted operation plan. For purposes of the condition, Marriage/Family, Substance/Anger Management, Music/Vocal Classes, and Young Adult Group services will be referred to as “Group Support Meetings or Group Classes” allowing group support meeting/class topics to be interchangeable should they be needed. Condition Number 10 would also prohibit the church from conducting worship services and/or group support meetings during standard business hours, Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This condition is recommended in order to assist with ensuring sufficient parking is available for existing uses on the site, which operate during traditional business hours.
The church has been in operation since 2022; however, without a required CUP. Upon receiving a report of church operations, staff inspected the property and provided corrective notices to church representatives. In addition to informing the operators to obtain City approval of a CUP for the church use, the notices also required addressing Building Code requirements associated with the change of occupancy type, from a commercial occupancy to assembly. Building Code concerns included Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirements and fire watch requirements. The church expressed their desire to remain open for services as several group and worship services were already scheduled. The Principal Building Inspector informed the applicant that if the church was able to provide temporary measures addressing the ADA and Fire requirements, the operations would be allowed to continue while the CUP application was being processed. The church provided temporary measures addressing ADA and fire concerns to the satisfaction of the Building Inspector. Conditions of Approval Numbers 11 and 12 are recommended in order to ensure permanent measures are implemented requiring submittal of plans for Building and Safety Plan Check and submittal of copies of Los Angeles County Fire Department inspection. Since implementing the temporary measures, the church has offered services consistent with their business operation plan, including worship services on Wednesday evenings and Sundays with no complaints reported to the City. The City’s Code Enforcement also monitors the site regularly and has not observed any concerns with the operation of the church on the property.
Floor Plan
The church occupies a tenant space in the building located at the northeast corner of the property. The building measures approximately 17,600 square feet and is developed as a multi-tenant building. The church space measures approximately 12,100 square feet and consists of a sanctuary, office spaces, a breakroom, restrooms, electrical rooms, and storage room. The area utilized as the sanctuary measures approximately 6,806 square feet. Seating in the sanctuary is non-fixed seating which allows seats to be reconfigured as needed. One worship service on Wednesday evenings and two Sunday worship services are held in the sanctuary on a weekly basis and have an average attendance of 60 worshipers on Wednesdays and 120 worshipers on Sundays.
The office space areas are utilized by two volunteers, who are responsible for processing administrative duties, including managing calendar events, addressing phone inquiries and messages, and scheduling meetings. Group services (marriage/family support, substance/anger management, young adult groups) are also held in the office space area. According to the Pastor, group services are by appointment only, typically include 10 people, and are scheduled so they do not conflict with worship services.
Off-Street Parking
SHMC Section 20.70.030 provides for a parking standard of one space per five permanent seats or one space per 40 square feet of assembly area whichever results in the greatest number of parking spaces for churches. This Code section also provides a parking standard for offices of one space per 250 square feet of gross floor area. Given the church does not utilize fixed seating, the one parking space per 40 square feet of assembly area formula applies to calculate the parking requirement for the assembly (sanctuary) area. All other areas would be calculated utilizing one space per 250 square foot formula. A total of 190 parking spaces would be required for the church use based on the SHMC formulas. When factoring in other existing uses on the site, the total required parking for the comprehensive site is estimated at 428 parking spaces. The site was developed with a total of 273 parking spaces. The site would be under parked by 155 parking spaces.
Pursuant to AB 2097, development projects located within a half mile of public transit are allowed to be processed without imposing or enforcing a minimum number of parking requirements. Under AB 2097, development projects are not limited to new construction but may also apply to existing developments. Public transit is defined as an existing rail or bus rapid transit station, a ferry terminal served by either bus or rail, or the intersection of two or more major bus routes with buses coming at least every 20 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods, or a major transit stop included within the applicable regional transportation plan.
The applicant submitted a request to apply AB 2097 to remove the minimum parking requirement for their project. Since AB 2097 may apply to existing developments, the CUP application is eligible for AB 2097 parking relief. The applicant has identified the intersection of East Willow Street and Redondo Avenue as the intersection of two major bus routes with buses running at least every 20 minutes. The bus lines are operated by Long Beach Transit and run east and west on East Willow Street and north and south on Redondo Avenue. Bus route schedules confirming buses run at least every 20 minutes during peak morning and afternoon hours are included as Attachment B of the staff report.
Although off-street parking requirements are not applicable under AB 2097, the applicant prepared a parking study (Attachment C) for the proposed project. The parking study’s objective was to determine if adequate off-street parking spaces exist for all uses located on the property, including the church. The Parking Study was prepared by a licensed traffic engineer and utilized three methodologies in assessing the parking needs. One of the methodologies included field survey data that was collected through observations over three days (Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday). During the three-day observation, the maximum number of vehicles observed parking in the parking lot was 122 on Sunday, 109 on Wednesday, and 93 on Friday. The study concluded that the existing 273 parking spaces on the site meet the needs for the church and other existing uses. Additionally,
the hours of operation for the church are typically when other businesses on the property are not in operation. This also supports the conclusion of the Parking Study that there are sufficient on-site parking stalls available for the church use.
Taken together, there is sufficient parking for all uses on the site, including the church, and there are no negative impacts in applying AB 2097 to the project.
CEQA Categorical Exemption
This project is categorically exempt from the requirements CEQA pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 Class 1 (Existing Facility). Class 1 consists of the “operation…permitting, leasing…of existing private structures…involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use.” The proposed project qualifies for the Class 1 categorical exemption because the project does not involve expansion of the existing building or require offsite utility improvements and would allow a church use within an existing building located on a lot that is developed with other commercial and industrial buildings/uses, subject to conditions of approval (Attachment D).
Further, none of the exceptions to the exemptions as set forth in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply. Specifically, for the proposed Project:
a. There is no possibility of a cumulative impact of the same type of project in the same place over time. The proposed project involves the use of a church within an existing commercial/industrial building, subject to conditions of approval. Once the Project is completed, the likelihood of a successive project on this site is low and the probability of a cumulative impact is low.
b. No Significant Effect. No adverse environmental impacts will occur as a result of the proposed Project’s continued use of the existing building as a church. The project area is developed and does not contain any environmentally sensitive areas.
c. Would not damage scenic resources, including but not limited to, trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources, within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway.
d. Is not located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code because the project is not located in a hazardous site.
e. Would not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource because there are no historical resources near the proposed project such that project impacts would not have any substantial adverse changes in the significance of a historical resource.
If the project is approved by the City Council, a Notice of Exemption would be filed with the County Clerk’s Office and the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation within five business days of such approval.
Conclusion
The church has operated at the site without any reported issues of concern since the initial report in 2022. Hours of operation for the church tend to be during non-peak business hours, when other businesses are closed, so that there is sufficient parking. Through surveys conducted by the applicant’s Traffic Engineer, the site has been observed to have adequate parking for the church and other existing uses. Further the allowance provided by AB 2097 removes the City’s minimum parking requirement for the church. With the recommended conditions, the church is expected to continue to operate without nuisances or issues of concern. Staff would monitor the site to ensure compliance with conditions and to note any concerns or violations on a regular basis as is done with all CUPs.
Following Planning Commission review and determination of this item, the application will be scheduled for City Council review for final consideration.
Approved:
Colleen T. Doan
Attachments:
A. Victory Outreach Business Operation Plan
B. AB 2097 Request and Long Beach Transit Bus Schedule
C. Parking Study
D. Project Plans
E. Resolution No. XXX-02-06