Planning and Building Agency
www.santa-ana.org/planning-and-building
Item # 37
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
November 21, 2023
TOPIC: Anchor Stone Christian Church: 2938 South Daimler Street
AGENDA TITLE
Appeal No. 2023-07 Appealing Planning Commission Denial of CUP No. 2023-18 for Anchor Stone Christian Church to Allow a Proposed Assembly Use at 2938 South Daimler Street
Legal notice published in the OC Reporter on November 8, 2023 and notices mailed on November 9, 2023.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
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.
RESOLUTION NO. 2023-XXX entitled A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA DENYING APPEAL NO. 2023-07 AND UPHOLDING THE
DETERMINATION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO DENY CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 2023-18 TO ALLOW AN ASSEMBLY USE TO OPERATE AT 2938 SOUTH
DAIMLER STREET
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Steven Lee, representing Anchor Stone Christian Church (Applicant and Property Owner), is requesting approval of Conditional Use Permit (CUP) No. 2023-18 to allow the operation of a church located at 2938 South Daimler Street. The property is located within the Professional (P) zoning district and has a General Plan Land Use Designation of Industrial/Flex-Medium (Flex-3). Pursuant to Section 41-313.5(n) of the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC), churches located in the P zoning district require approval of a CUP. Moreover, pursuant to SAMC Section 41-638(a)(1), approval of a CUP is contingent on all five of the specified findings of fact contained therein being satisfied.
Due to the inability to satisfy all five findings of fact required by the SAMC, among which includes the subject property’s General Plan land use designation of Industrial/Flex- Medium (Flex-3) that does not allow community assembly uses such as the subject
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church, City staff is unable to make the findings supporting the approval of the application.
Planning Commission Action & Background
At its regular meeting on September 11, 2023, the Planning Commission received a report and staff presentation, as well as public comments, on the subject CUP application. Following staff’s presentation, the Planning Commission took comments from the public, including the applicant’s legal counsel, on the proposed project. The Commission voted 6:1 (Ayes: Commissioners Benninger, Escamilla, Leo, Oliva, Pham, and Woo; Noes: Ramos) to adopt a resolution denying CUP No. 2023-18.
On September 14, 2023, appellant Anchor Stone Christian Church (Applicant) filed Appeal No. 2023-07, pertaining to the Planning Commission’s denial of CUP No. 2023-
18. Pursuant to SAMC Section 41-645, the City Council is authorized to review appeals of Planning Commission decisions and may, after holding a public hearing, affirm, reverse, change, or modify the original decision, and may make any additional determination it shall consider appropriate within the limitations imposed by the SAMC.
DISCUSSION
Project Description
The proposed church is located within a 5.43-acre site that contains an office complex with 18 buildings. The site is generally bounded by Deere Avenue to the east, Garry Avenue to the south, Pullman Street to the west, and Daimler Street to the north. The church is proposing to occupy a 3,843 square-foot unit that is part of an existing 8,250- square-foot building. The project proposes to occupy the aforementioned unit for worship services, religious education, and video production. Additionally, the project proposes to have summer bible school during one week of the summer. The proposed floorplan includes the lobby, social hall, auditorium, restrooms, meeting rooms, nursery to be used during worship services, and storage rooms. Proposed hours of operation would be Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; church services will be Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Interior tenant improvements include demolition of nonbearing walls and construction of new interior partitions, construction of a stage for an auditorium, upgrades to the electrical wiring, new plumbing fixtures, new mechanical equipment, and fire sprinklers.
There are no exterior changes proposed with the project.
Table 1: Project Location and Information
Item Information
Project Address & Council Ward 2938 South Daimler Street (Ward 4) Nearest Intersection Daimler Street & Garry Avenue
General Plan Designation Industrial/Flex-Medium (Flex-3) Zoning Designation Professional (P)
North Professional officesSurrounding Land Uses
East Professional offices
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Item Information
South Professional offices
West Professional offices
Property Size The entire office building complex is 5.43 acres, and the unit is 3,843 square feet.
Existing Site Development The site is developed with an 18-building office complex.
Use Permissions Allowed with approval of a CUP
Development Standards Section 41-314 – 41-319Zoning Code Sections Affected Uses Section 41-313.5 (n)
Table 1: Development Standards
Standards Required by SAMC Provided
Building Height Maximum 35 Feet Complies; 25 Feet
Minimum 15 Feet (Front) Complies; 81 Feet
Minimum 5 Feet (Side Interior) Complies; 200 Feet
Setbacks
Minimum 10 Feet (Rear) Complies; Over 200 Feet
Parking 1 space per 50 SF of floor area
without fixed seats (The
number of parking spaces
required for the church is 77
and the total number of parking
spaces required for all onsite
uses is 505)
Complies with SAMC
requirements (The total number
of parking spaces available on
site is 560. However, the
application materials provided by
the applicant indicate that there
are 34 parking spaces available
due to lease restrictions).
Project Background
The project site was developed in 1978 with the existing office complex that encompasses 18 office buildings, on-site landscaping, and surface parking with a ratio of 3.8 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space. The existing building is comprised of two units (2938 and 2932 South Daimler Street). The immediately adjacent unit at 2932 South Daimler Street is currently occupied by an office use. In May of 2023, Anchor Stone Christian Church applied for a certificate of occupancy for an administrative office space only, which is a use allowed by right in the P zoning district.
Anchor Stone Christian Church currently operates at a separate location in the City of Irvine. On January 23, 2023, the applicant submitted a development project application to the City of Santa Ana for the change of use from office to a church. During the Development Review Project (DP) process, the Development Review Committee (DRC) identified that the proposed use was not consistent with the Industrial/Flex-Medium (Flex-3) General Plan land use designation.
On February 21, 2023, staff and the applicant met to discuss the project, during which staff informed the applicant of the identified inconsistencies between the proposed use and the General Plan. As a result, the applicant was provided 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 and the resulting denial recommendation.
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Subsequently, additional meetings were held between staff and the applicant so that the applicant could learn more about the site’s General Plan land use designation. On May 2, 2023, the applicant indicated intent to proceed with the subject application. The applicant subsequently submitted the CUP application on July 24, 2023.
Analysis of Appeal
Pursuant to Section 41-645 of the SAMC an appeal from a decision of the Planning Commission can be made by an interested party, individual, or group. An appeal application was received by Anchor Stone Christian Church appealing the Planning Commission’s decision to deny CUP No. 2023-18.
The appellant is requesting that the City Council overturn the Planning Commission’s decision and approve CUP No. 2023-18 based on five factors. These include concerns related to the General Plan consistency and statements regarding Federal law violations.
The Planning Commission agenda packet prepared for the project contains all necessary information for the Planning Commission to evaluate the applicant’s request and is provided as Exhibit 2 to this report. A copy of the submitted appeal application is provided as Exhibit 3, and a detailed analysis of and response to the five claims made in Appeal No. 2023-07 is provided as Exhibit 4.
Planning Commission Determination Supporting Denial
CUP requests are governed by Section 41-638 of the SAMC. CUPs may be granted when it can be shown that the proposed project will not adversely impact the community and General Plan. If these findings can be made, then it is appropriate to grant the CUP. Conversely, the inability to make one or more of the requisite findings results in a denial.
The proposed church, Anchor Stone Christian Church, currently operates in the City of Irvine. The applicant’s request would allow the church to expand to the City of Santa Ana. The church would occupy a 3,843 square-foot tenant space previously occupied by an office use. The project site is located within an integrated professional office complex that is approximately 0.54 miles (2,851 feet) from the nearest sensitive land use.
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 subject site’s General Plan land use designation is Flex-3, which allows office/industrial flex spaces, research and development, and manufacturing corporate headquarters/campuses, and does not permit community assembly uses (e.g., churches) as a permissible use.
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Background on the General Plan
The General Plan Update (GPU) was adopted in April 2022 after a seven-year effort of extensive community participation. In the pursuit of updating the General Plan, a comprehensive and inclusive approach involving numerous engagement efforts and interactions with the community was taken. The initiative began with over 60 community meetings and workshops, where residents, business leaders, and community stakeholders provided perspectives for the future vision of the community, including its land use plan in the Land Use Element. Individual community workshops were organized for the Five Focus areas identified, attracting the participation of hundreds of individuals.
In addition, an online survey was circulated and received over 650 individual responses collecting input for the General Plan. The outreach effort also involved sending approximately 44,000 direct mailers to property owners and tenants in the Focus Areas, multilingual videos, and a dedicated webpage, providing ongoing updates on the process, related documents, and resources on Environmental Justice. Furthermore, engagement with the Planning Commission and City Council involved multiple study sessions and one-on-one meetings providing in-depth discussions and insights facilitating discussions at the municipal level and allowing for an informed and inclusive decision-making throughout the GPU process.
These engagement efforts resulted in the crafting of the land use plan within the Land Use Element that reflects the community’s visions for Santa Ana’s growth and development citywide. The updated Land Use Element of the General Plan reflects and sets the community’s land use and development policies and a vision for future development of the City. When considering projects of a discretionary nature, such as a CUP required for the proposed use, consistency with the General Plan must be established in order to satisfy the finding of fact that proposed uses will not have an adverse effect on the General Plan.
General Plan Land Use Designation
In reviewing the proposed discretionary approval request, staff evaluates the project against the five findings of fact codified in SAMC Section 41-638(a)(1), including consistency with the General Plan. Requiring consistency of a CUP with a local jurisdiction’s general plan is well established by California case law. The California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal have consistently found that the discretionary approval of a CUP must be consistent with a general plan (Neighborhood Action Group v. County of Calaveras, 156 Cal. App. 3d 1176, 1185 (1984)), and that the general plan is atop the hierarchy of local government land use law, acting as a constitution for all future developments. (DeVita v. Cty. of Napa, 9 Cal. 4th 763, 773 (1995); citing Neighborhood Action Group, 156 Cal.App.3d at 1183.).
The General Plan Land Use Element land use designation describes the site’s Flex-3 and allowable uses are as follows:
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The Industrial/Flex designation is intended to provide context-appropriate development in areas with existing industrial uses. When adjacent to existing residential neighborhoods, this designation can provide a buffer between homes and traditional industrial uses. When adjacent to urban- scale mixed-use development, this designation is more free to emphasize significant employment opportunities.
Industrial/Flex allows for clean industrial uses that do not produce significant air pollutants, noise, or other nuisances typically associated with industrial uses, including office-industrial flex spaces, small-scale clean manufacturing, research and development and multilevel corporate offices, commercial retail, artist galleries, craft maker spaces, and live- work units1. Adaptive reuse of buildings to accommodate live-work units is encouraged. Standalone residential is not permitted. Building form and height should reflect the existing context and, if inside a Focus Area, communicate the envisioned character for the area.
Based on the land use designation and development policies and allowable uses within the Flex-3 designation, the subject site is not suitable for the operation of community assembly, nor does it list community assembly-type uses as permissible under the land use designation. Conversely, land use designations such as General Commercial (GC) and its accompanying zoning districts allow for “retail and service establishments; recreational, cultural, and entertainment uses; business and professional offices; and vocational schools,” among which “recreational, cultural, and entertainment uses” provide for community assembly such as religious facilities.
General Plan Focus Area Designation
In addition, the subject site is part of one of the five Focus Areas adopted by the General Plan also known as 55 Freeway and Dyer Road Focus Area. The various land use designations within each Focus Area work together to ensure consistency and diversity of land uses achieving development policies to balance developing goals and land use consistencies within the City. The five Focus Areas were identified by the General Plan Advisory Committee and refined through a seven-year community engagement process as the areas of the City most suitable for new development. The five Focus Areas are geographically distributed throughout the City, and each allows the City to meet its diverse needs. The purpose and intent, specific objectives, and custom land uses for each focus area were defined to facilitate new types of urban development and further embody the City’s core values.
The General Plan Land Use Element describes the purpose and intent of the 55 Freeway and Dyer Road Focus Area as follows:
1 Table LU-A-1 in the Santa Ana General Plan Land Use Element does not permit live-work units in the Flex-3 designation within the 55 Freeway and Dyer Road Focus Area Anchor Stone Christian Church: 2938 S. Daimler Street
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The 55 Freeway and Dyer Road Focus Area will transition from a portion of the city that is almost exclusively focused on professional office jobs to one that supports a range of commercial, and industrial/flex development.
The intent is to create opportunities for a truly urban lifestyle with easy access to Downtown Santa Ana, multiple transit options, and the new investments and amenities in adjacent communities.
The 55 Freeway and Dyer Road Focus Area contains three General Plan land use designations at four intensities. Among these is the Flex-3 designation, which provides for the following land uses: “Office/industrial flex spaces, [research and development facilities], clean manufacturing, corporate headquarters and campuses. Live-work units are not permitted.” The subject Focus Area contains various portions north of the project site, near the interchange of the 55 Freeway and Dyer Road, that are designated GC.
This GC land use designation would allow for findings to be made that the subject CUP application does not adversely affect the General Plan, while the subject site’s Flex-3 designation would render the Planning Commission unable to make this required consistency finding.
General Plan Goals and Policies
The subject project will not be consistent with the goals and policies of the General Plan, including those from the Land Use Element (LU) and the Economic Prosperity Element (EP). An analysis of these inconsistencies is provided in Table 3 below.
Table 3: Project Location and Information
General Plan Goal or Policy Analysis
LU-1.1, which encourages
compatibility between land uses to
enhance livability and promote healthy
lifestyles.
The introduction of a community assembly use and a Bible school to the existing office complex will generate noise, traffic and queuing, solid waste generation and circulation. Moreover, it will introduce assembly uses with youth services in close proximity to existing industrial uses in the area, counter to this General Plan policy.
Additionally, the Flex-3 land use designation allows future developments with clean industrial and office uses in accordance with Table LU-A-2, which specifies interim industrial flex uses.
Community assembly such as churches is not permitted.
Irreconcilable land use conflicts between a sensitive receptor such as the proposed church and its school operations will be generated if the subject application were approved with future industrial uses taking place in the land use designation of the Focus Area. The purpose of the land use plan of the Land Use Element is to prevent these irreconcilable land use conflicts from occurring in the future between sensitive receptors and surrounding industrial uses.
Lastly, the Flex-3 land use designation allows primarily office, industrial, clean manufacturing, research and development, and Anchor Stone Christian Church: 2938 S. Daimler Street
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General Plan Goal or Policy Analysis
similarly-natured industrial/production-oriented land uses and does not allow community assembly such as churches. This land use principle of preventing inconsistent land uses from locating in the same areas is currently codified in the City’s Light and Heavy industrial (M1 and M2) zoning districts. The Flex-3 General Plan use designation points to the M1 land uses in Table LU-A-2 as examples of clean industrial uses commensurate with the General Plan land use designation, reaffirming this principle of not locating sensitive receptors such as community assembly uses within or in proximity to industrial areas of the City.
LU-4.1, which supports complete
neighborhoods by encouraging a mix
of complimentary uses, community
services, and people places within a
walkable area.
The site is surrounded by professional and industrial uses, and the nearest residential community is approximately 0.3 miles away. As such, the introduction of a religious institution in this site would not be compatible with the surrounded uses and will not encourage development of place-making within a walkable area.
Moreover, as detailed above, the purpose of the land use plan of the Land Use Element is to prevent irreconcilable land use conflicts from occurring in the future between sensitive receptors and surrounding industrial uses. However, irreconcilable land use conflicts between a sensitive receptor such as the proposed church and its school operations will be generated if the subject application were approved with future industrial uses taking place in the land use designation of the Focus Area.
EP-1.9, which seeks to avoid potential
land use conflicts by prohibiting the
location of sensitive receptors and
noxious land uses in close proximity.
Establishing uses such as community assembly, coupled with youth services and Bible school, would introduce sensitive receptors into an area that is mostly comprised of industrial and office uses and that is intended to transition to industrial uses over time, through implementation of the General Plan.
The purpose of the land use plan in the Land Use Element is to prevent these land use conflicts from taking place through goals, policies, and zoning practices designed to create “a physical environment that encourages healthy lifestyles, a planning process that ensures that health impacts are considered, and a community that actively pursues policies and practices that improve the health of our residents,” as listed as an adopted Core Value of the Land Use Element. Approval of the subject
application would be contrary to the Land Use Element and this adopted Core Value.
EP-2.3, which encourages the
development of mutually beneficial
and complementary business clusters
within the community.
As promulgated by the adopted General Plan Land Use Element, introducing community assembly does not support the
development of mutually beneficial and complementary business clusters at the subject site. To the contrary, it will create irreconcilable conflicts by introducing a sensitive receptor within an area that is presently and continuing to transition to industrial uses. Approval of the requested application would lead to present and future land use conflicts stemming from noise, traffic, vibrations, queuing, solid waste generation, and circulation.
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General Plan Goal or Policy Analysis
Moreover, community assembly uses are not listed as
permissible within the subject site’s General Plan land use designation, as the use is not considered among those that foster development of mutually beneficial and complementary business clusters within the community. The land use would be
incompatible with surrounding uses and approval of the CUP would be contrary to the General Plan.
Public Notification and Community Outreach
Public notifications were posted, published, and mailed in accordance with City and State regulations. There are no established Neighborhood Associations in the vicinity as the property is surrounded by industrial and commercial uses within the 1,000-foot radius. At the time this report was printed, no issues of concern were raised regarding the proposed CUP.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Denial of Appeal No. 2023-07 would result in upholding the Planning Commission’s September 11, 2023, denial of the requested entitlement, thereby resulting in no project.
Therefore, there is no environmental impact associated with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Resolution
2. Planning Commission Agenda Packet with Public Comments
3. Appeal Application
4. City Response to Appeal Application
Submitted By: Minh Thai, Executive Director of Planning and Building Agency Approved By: Steven A. Mendoza, Acting City Manager