CITY OF MENIFEE
SUBJECT: Shoppes at the Lakes - Mister Car Wash and Day Care MEETING DATE: February 28, 2024
TO: Planning Commission
PREPARED BY: Brandon Cleary, Associate Planner
REVIEWED BY: Orlando Hernandez, Deputy Community Development Director
APPROVED BY: Cheryl Kitzerow, Community Development Director APPLICANT: Trevor Buhl, Mister Car Wash
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Determine the Project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15332 (“In-Fill Development Projects”) and direct staff to file a Notice of Exemption; and
2. Adopt a resolution approving Major Conditional Use Permit (PLN22-0288) and Major Plot Plan (PLN22-0289) for the Mister Car Wash and Day Care Development located in the existing Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Major Conditional Use Permit (CUP) PLN22-0288 and Major Plot Plan (PP) PLN22-0289 proposes the construction of a new 5,434 square foot Express Car Wash (Mister Car Wash) with associated vacuum stalls and an 11,992 square foot Day Care with a 21,300 square foot play area (Project) within the existing Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center on the southeast corner of Newport Road and Menifee Road.
LOCATION
The Project site is located in the existing Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center within Planning Area (PA) 1 of the Menifee East Specific Plan No. 247 (SP-247) on the southeast corner of Newport Road and Menifee Road (APN’s: 364-390-009, 364-390-012, 364-390-010, and 364- 390-011.
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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The proposed Mister Car Wash and Day Care buildings will be located in the southeast corner of the Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center adjacent to the existing retention basin and south of the CVS and Del Taco buildings.
Project Location
GENERAL PLAN/ZONE
General Plan
The General Plan designation for this project site is SP-247, PA 1, Commercial. PA 1 is intended for a mix of commercial uses intended to serve the community such as grocery, clothing, drug store, eating and service commercial establishments. Within the existing commercial center, a grocery store, drug store and multiple eating establishments are already constructed and in operation. The Project is consistent with SP-247 and the City of Menifee General Plan.
Zoning
The Zoning designation for PA 1 ties back to Riverside County Zoning Ordinance 348, Article IXb Scenic Highway Commercial. In this zone, a car wash use requires a CUP while a day care is a permitted use with approval of a PP. To the north and west, is the existing Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center within the same PA 1. To the east and south are existing single-family tracts within PA 4 and 2 respectively.
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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General Plan Land Use Map
DISCUSSION
Background
The proposed Project is to be constructed within the existing Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center. This shopping center was originally approved under PP No. 2014-092 on June 29, 2015 by the City of Menifee and included two phases of construction. Phase one included a Stater Bros grocery store, two Shops buildings, and five pad buildings of which four have drive-thrus (two are fast food, one is a coffee shop and one is a pharmacy). The Shops one building, intended for retail and restaurant uses, was not built and is currently a vacant pad. The second Shops building is attached to the Stater Bros building and constructed along with four of the five pad buildings.
Pad A includes a Starbucks and dental office. Pads B, C and D include a McDonald’s drive-thru, CVS Pharmacy and Del Taco drive-thru respectively. Pad E, located in the northeast corner of the center, is intended for retail and restaurant uses has not been constructed.
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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Original Site Plan
Phase two, located in the southeast corner of the Shoppes at the Lakes, originally included two additional shops buildings (Shops 3 at 14,440 square feet and Shops 4 at 9,706 square feet) and associated parking on the same parcels as the proposed Project. The anticipated uses were to include retail shops and restaurants.
Phase 2 Original Design (not constructed)
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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As part of the processing of the entitlement application, staff requested a market study on the area’s capacity to have an additional car wash. The market study determined that the east side of I-215 was underserved with this type of commercial development and a car wash was a service needed in this area of the City. Furthermore, the addition of a car wash use and a day care will contribute to the development of the remaining vacant pad areas (Shop Building 1 and Pad E) as the uses will bring in additional foot and vehicular traffic to the overall center.
Site Plan, Access and Circulation
The Project will have access from Laguna Vista Drive to the east. The Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center provides access to Newport Road to the north, Menifee Road to the west and Rockport Road to the south. The Project is conditioned to provide reciprocal access to the rest of the center.
The proposed 5,436 square foot express car wash building is located north of the existing retention basin on the southeast corner of the center and will include 12 vacuum stalls (including one ADA compliant stall), three parking spaces and a three-lane drive-thru queue. The drive-thru queue will also include an employee kiosk and a traffic arm barrier to control vehicle traffic within the drive-thru lane. The express car wash is in compliance with the City of Menifee Municipal Code (MMC) as the Project will be located more than 150 feet from existing residential to the east and south. The building is proposed to be located a total of 206 feet from the nearest residential structure.
The 11,992 square foot Day Care building will be located west of the existing retention basin and Express Car Wash building, just south of the existing CVS Pharmacy within the Shoppes at the Lakes Center. The site will include the day care building, a 21,300 square foot playground area for the children in the rear of the building adjacent to Rockport Road.
The proposed Project site includes a total of 52 parking spaces not including the vacuum stalls dedicated for the car wash. The car wash site provides three spaces for employee parking along with 12 vacuum stalls for customers. One of the vacuum stalls is ADA compliant per 2022 California Building Code. The day care site includes 49 parking spaces, including two ADA compliant spaces and eight electric vehicle spaces. The day care site is required to have one space per two employees and every five children and is conditioned to provide a statement of operations when a day care user is chosen as attendance will be limited based on the number of spaces proposed.
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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Site Plan
Landscaping and Screening
The Project will incorporate landscaping into the parking lots and areas surrounding each building per the MMC. Additional landscaping is proposed adjacent to the existing retention basin and between the playground area and Rockport Road for screening purposes. Existing landscaping surrounding the perimeter of the Shoppes at the Lakes Commercial Center will remain in place which includes tress, bushes and ground cover along Laguna Vista Drive and Rockport Road.
The Project has been conditioned to provide additional landscaping within the southern parking lot adjacent to the day care playground area and the retention basin consistent with the MMC.
The day care use has also been conditioned to provide fencing material details consistent with the MMC prior to building permit issuance. The Express Car Wash proposes an increase in height to an existing decorative retaining wall (from one foot to 4 feet) between the building and Laguna Vista Road to screen automobile headlights from impacting adjacent residences and traffic along adjacent roads. The retaining wall will be screened by bushes interior and exterior to the project site to limit the visual impact of a block wall and is conditioned to maintain the decorative element of the wall.
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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Conceptual Landscape Plan
Architecture
The Project reviewed for compliance with SP-247 and is compatible with the architecture of the adjacent commercial sites including the Stater Bros grocery store, CVS Pharmacy, Shops building and Del Taco. The structures will have a stucco exterior to match the existing structures while including similar colors, trim materials, roof gables, rock veneer and other decorative features. All rooftop mechanical equipment will be screened from view by a parapet and will not be visible from adjacent right-of-way.
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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North Elevation
South Elevation
East Elevation West Elevation
City of Menifee Planning Commission
Mister Car Wash and Day Care
February 28, 2024
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ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION
The Project is exempt from CEQA per Section 15332 “In-Fill Development Projects”. This exemption is for projects characterized as in-fill development meeting the following conditions: a) the Project is consistent with the applicable general plan designation and all applicable General Plan policies, as well as with applicable zoning designation and regulations; b) the proposed development occurs within city limits on a project site of no more than 5 acres substantially surrounded by urban uses; c) the Project site has no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species; d) approval of the Project would not result in any significant effects related to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality; and e) the site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services. The proposed Project is consistent with the applicable General Plan, Specific Plan and Zoning Designations for the project site along with any applicable development standards. The Project is located within the City of Menifee boundaries and is surrounded on the north and west by an existing commercial center and to the east and south by existing residential developments. The Project will not result in any impacts to traffic, noise, air quality or water quality as a traffic memorandum was prepared noting a traffic study is not required, existing residential is screened from the car wash by landscaping and a perimeter block wall around the adjacent residential sites, no hazardous materials are proposed on site affecting air quality, and the Project has prepared a water quality plan to tie into the existing commercial center’s approved Water Quality Management Plan from when it was approved by the City of Menifee in 2015. Additionally, the site will be served by all required utilities, including power, water, and sewer. Therefore, the proposed Project is categorically exempt from CEQA under Section 15332 “In-Fill Development Projects”.
FINDINGS
Findings for the Major CUP and Major PP are included in the attached Resolutions.
PUBLIC NOTICE
A public hearing notice for the proposed Project was published in The Press Enterprise on February 18, 2024 for the February 28, 2024 Planning Commission hearing. All relevant public agencies, including all interested parties, were notified of the public hearing as were all property owners within a 300-foot radius of the project site. On-site posting was also provided.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Project Exhibits
2. Resolution – CUP and PP
3. Exhibit A – Conditions of Approval
4. Public Hearing Notice
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