Item 153/2025
Final
City of Garden Grove
INTER-DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM
To:
Lisa L. Kim From: Niki Wetzel
Dept:
City Manager Dept: Community Development
Date: 7/8/2025
Subject: Introduction and First Reading of Ordinances approving Zoning Text Amendment Nos. A-042-2025(A) and A-042-2025(B) to amend various provisions of Title 9 (Land Use) of the Garden Grove Municipal Code to comply and conform to changes in State and federal law, and City policies. (Action Item)
OBJECTIVE
To transmit a recommendation from the Planning Commission to the City Council to take the following actions: (i) to introduce and conduct the first reading of an Ordinance approving Zoning Amendment No. A -040-2024(A) to update Chapter 9.54 (Accessory Dwelling Units and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units) to conform to changes in State law and City policies ; and (ii) to introduce and conduct the first reading of an Ordinance approving Zoning Amendment No. A-040-2024(B) updating Chapters 9.04 (General Provisions), 9.08 (Single- Family Residential Development Standards), 9.12 (Multifamily Residential Development Standards), 9.16 (Commercial, Office Professional, Industrial, and Open Space Development Standards), 9.18 (Mixed Use Regulations and Development Standards), 9.32 (Procedures and Hearings), and 9.60 (Special Housing Regulations) to conform to changes in State law and City policies, and to make clarifications and typographical corrections.
BACKGROUND
The proposed Amendment would modify various chapters of the Garden Grove Municipal Code. The proposed Amendment would: enhance enforceability, simplify application, remove typos, clarify existing standards, update out-of-date language, create consistency across Code chapters, reword subjective standards to become objective, and amend existing provisions in a manner consistent with recently-enacted State laws.
The Amendment was originally scheduled for the May 15, 2025, Planning Commission meeting, but was continued to the June 5, 2025, Planning Commission meeting. On June 5, 2025, the Planning C ommission held a public hearing to consider approval of the proposed Amendment. No members of the public spoke regarding the Amendment, and no written comments were received. By a vote of 5 -1, with one Planning Commissioner absent, the Planning Commission adopted Resolution Nos. 6113-25 and 6114-25 recommending that the Item 153/2025
City Council adopt: (i) an ordinance approving Amendment No. A -042-2025(A); and (ii) an ordinance approving Amendment No. A-042-2025(B).
DISCUSSION
Amendment No. A-042-2025(A):
To ensure consistency with the most recent State ADU laws, the State requires cities to update their ADU ordinances. The proposed Code Amendments to the City’s ADU Ordinance fall into the following categories: (1) mandatory updates that the City is required to adopt to comply with State ADU laws and per the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook; and (2) additional updates aimed at clarifying and improving upon existing ADU code provisions. In part, propo sed changes include:
For lots with an existing or proposed primary dwelling unit, the City’s ADU Ordinance currently allows a maximum of one (1) ADU and one (1) JADU per lot. Pursuant to Government Code Section 66323, the State now requires the City to allow an additional third type of ADU, in the form of an ADU conversion. An ADU conversion is typically a conversion of existing space within an existing single -family dwelling or within an existing accessory structure. (GGMC § 9.54.030.A)
For lots with a n existing or proposed multiple -family development, the City’s ADU Ordinance currently allows up to two (2) detached ADUs, or ADU conversions of non - habitable space(s) attached to an existing multiple-family development, up to 25% of the number of existing multiple-family units. Pursuant to Government Code Section 66323, the State now requires the City to allow up to eight (8) detached ADUs for existing multi-family developments (however, the number of detached ADUs allow ed must not exceed the number of existing units on the lot), plus ADU conversions of non-habitable space(s) attached to an existing multiple -family development, up to 25% of the number of existing multiple-family units. (GGMC § 9.54.030.B)
ADU laws have clarified that when the application of a development standard would prohibit the construction of a new ADU of at least 800 square feet, the City shall waive such standards to the extent necessary, to allow the construction of an ADU that is at least 800 square feet in size. (GGMC § 9.54.040.A)
The maximum ADU building height will increase to align with State law. State law establishes a building height of sixteen feet (16’-0”) for detached ADUs, and includes allowances for additional building height increase. D etached ADUs may be up to eighteen feet (18’-0”) in height if located within a half-mile walking distance of a major transit stop or high-quality transit corridor. An additional two feet (2’-0”) is allowed to match the roof pitch of the primary dwelling. In addition, for attached ADUs, the maximum height is twenty -five feet (25’-0”), or the height of the existing primary dwelling, if it is lower than twenty -five feet (25’-0”). Additionally, cities must allow attached ADUs to be up to two (2) stories. (GGMC § 9.54.040.E)
Item 153/2025
When off-street parking spaces are demolished in conjunction with the construction of an ADU, the City cannot require those parking spaces, which includes uncovered parking spaces, to be replaced. (GGMC § 9.54.040.G)
A summary of the proposed changes can be found in Attachment 4. A full discussion of the Amendment is found in the June 5, 2025, Planning Commission Staff Report (Attachment 3).
Amendment No. A-042-2025(B):
The cleanup Amendment would target Municipal Code Chapters 9.04 (General Provisions),
9.08 (Single -Family Residential Development Standards), 9.12 (Multifamily Residential Development Standards), 9.16 (Commercial, Office Professional, Industrial, and Open Space Development Standards), 9.18 (Mixed Use Regulations a nd Development Standards), 9.32 (Procedures and Hearings), and 9.60 (Special Housing Regulations). Within these chapters, the proposed Amendment would align with the following categories: Cleanup and Formatting, Clarification and Consistency, Enforceability, and State Law Compliance. These changes are non-substantive, as they clarify language, fix typographical errors, improve formatting, create consistent standards across zones, and update definitions. In part, key proposed changes include:
Allowing bank uses in the CC-3 (Civic Center Core) zone to correct a typographical error (GGMC § 9.18.020.030 – Table 9.18-1).
Allow “thrift retail stores” as a by-right use in commercial and mixed use zones pursuant to Assembly Bill 2632 (2024), which prohibits local agencies from treating thrift retail stores differently from non-thrift retail stores for zoning, development, or permitting purposes. The Amendment would add a definition for “thrift retail stores” and allow them by-right in the C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial), C-2 (Community Commercial), C-3 (Heavy Commercial), GGMU-1, 2, 3 (Garden Grove Boulevard Mixed Use 1, 2, and 3), CC-1 (Civic Center East), CC-2 (Civic Center Main Street), CC-3 (Civic Center Core), NMU (Neighborhood Mixed Use), and AR (Adaptive Reus e) zones (GGMC §§
9.04.060.C, 9.16.020.030.A Table 1 & 9.18.020.030 Table 9.18-1)
Removing outdated orientation and access requirements for tattoo shops and arcade uses in mixed use zones, which require the entrance to face a principal, major, or primary street. The City originally established orientation and access requirements for tattoo shops and arcade uses in response to concerns related to these uses by the Police Department. Over time, the concerns have lessened since these types of uses no longer tend to be problematic. The sentiment from the Police Department is that these standards have become outdated. Therefore, the proposed Amendment would remove these standards. (GGMC §§ 9.18.020.030 Table 9.18-1 & 9.18.030.040.A.2)
Removing the one-acre minimum lot size requirement for religious uses. The minimum acreage requirement would be removed by the Amendment for religious uses in single- family, multiple-family, commercial, and mixed use zones since it is considered outdated has been challenged a s being inconsistent with the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). (GGMC §§ 9.08.020.050.A, 9.12.020.050.A,
9.16.020.050.K, & 9.18.030.120)
Item 153/2025
Removing the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) requirement for fortunetelling uses.
Fortunetelling implicates free speech and free exercise of religion rights. Fortunetelling is listed as a permitted use in the GGMU (Garden Grove Mixed Use) zones, but is still listed as subject to a CUP in the C-2, C-3, and NMU zones. The proposed Amendment would eliminate the CUP requirement in these zones. (GGMC §§ 9.16.020.030.A Table 1 & 9.18.020.030 Table 9.18-1)
Establishing shared parking agreement procedures and standards for the sharing of underutilized parking spaces by different sites to comply with Assembly Bill 894 (2023), which allows separate sites to share parking if one site has excess parking capacity and a shared parking agreement is approved by the City. The Amendment would add shared parking procedures and standards for multiple -family, commercial/industrial, office professional, and mixed use zones, consistent with AB 894’s provisions. (GGMC §§ 9.12.040.200.A, 9.16.040.170.A.1, 9.18.140.050.C, & 9.18.140.060.H
Updating entitlement appeal provisions to clarify the intent and make appeal periods more consistent with neighboring cities. The Amendment would add specific procedural language for both the appealing party, and for City Staff, and update the appeal period from 21 days to ten (10) days. (GGMC §§ 9.32.110, 9.32.120, 9.32.130, & 9.32.150)
Requiring public hearing notices to be sent to residential tenants, in addition to property owners. In surveying adjacent cities, Staff has found that six (6) adjacent cities notice both owners and tenants. (GGMC § 9.32.060)
Updating public noticing procedures for entitlement projects, including to address state law changes for noticing for Amendments. The Code currently requires a ten (10) day noticing period for public hearings upon a proposed Amendment to Title 9. Assembly Bill 2904 (2024) increased the required minimum noticing period for a public hearing to consider a zoning ordinance or Amendment from 10 days to 20 days . (GGMC §
9.32.060)
A summary of the proposed changes can be found in Attachment 4. A full discussion of the Amendment is found in the June 5, 2025, Planning Commission Staff Report (Attachment 3).
Note that the proposed Ordinance approving Code Amendment No. A-042-2025(B) incorporates a few additional non -substantive corrections of typographical and numbering errors in the “Proposed Code Amendment Redlines” reviewed by the Planning Commission.
Environmental Review:
The proposed Amendments to the City’s ADU and JADU Code provisions are statutorily exempt and not subject to California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21080.17 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15282(h).
Pursuant to Section 15378(b)(5) of the State CEQA Guidelines, org anizational and administrative actions of government that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment are not considered a Project under CEQA. Many of the proposed clean - Item 153/2025
up Code Amendments are also categorically exempt from r eview under CEQA because they are or relate to activities that fall within CEQA’s Class 1 and/or Class 3 exemptions (CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 and Section 15303). To the extent not otherwise exempt from review for other reasons, the proposed Code Amen dments are also exempt from CEQA pursuant to the “common sense” exemption because it can be seen with certainty there is no possibility they may have a significant impact on the environment (CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3)).
FINANCIAL IMPACT
None.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council:
Conduct a Public Hearing;
Introduce and conduct the first reading of an Ordinance approving Amendment No.
A-042-2025(A), and pass to second reading; and
Introduce and conduct the first reading of an Ordinance approving Amendment No.
A-042-2025(B), and pass to second reading.
ATTACHMENT(S)
1. Attachment 1: Draft City Council Ordinance for Amendment A-042-2025(A)
2. Attachment 2: Draft City Council Ordinance for Amendment A-042-2025(B)
3. Attachment 3: Planning Commission Staff Report dated June 5, 2025, with associated Resolutions and Minute Excerpt
4. Attachment 4: Summary List of Proposed Amendments for A-042-2025(A) and (B)