Becerra, Alexis
From: Jennifer Luis < [email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 3, 2026 4:40 PM
To: eComment
Cc: Jennifer Luis
Subject: Zoning Study Session Oct 6: Public Comment
Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links.
Request to Designate 909 N Grand Ave as C- 3 ( Regional Commercial) Tom' s Truck Center KC Heidler ( owner of Tom' s Truck Center) and I met with Ali Pezeshkpour and Ricardo Soto to discuss the Comprehensive Zoning Code Update' s impact on Tom' s Truck Center at 909 N Grand Ave ( APN 398- 111- 25).
We have a follow-up meeting scheduled for October 12, and we're looking forward to it.
I'm writing ahead of that meeting because I understand Planning has agreed to change the proposed designation for Guaranty Chevrolet at 711 E 17th St from C- 1 to C- 3 ( Regional Commercial), recognizing that C- 1 does not accommodate a new car dealership. Given that development and the approaching City Council hearing, I wanted to put our specific request in writing.
Our request: that 909 N Grand Ave be designated C- 3 ( Regional Commercial).
Our situation is the same issue Guaranty raised, in a more restrictive form. The Public Hearing Draft would rezone our site from C- 2 ( General Commercial) to DC- 2/ DC- 2. 1 ( District Center— Medium). Under Table 41- 170A, the only vehicle- related use permitted in any District Center district DC- 1 through DC- 5 is a Vehicle Rental Facility, and even that requires all vehicles to be stored indoors. Vehicle sales and vehicle repair, the core of our business, are not listed as allowed uses anywhere in the District Center districts. Under Table 41- 277, a Vehicle Sales Facility is a permitted use in C- 3, which is why that designation resolves the problem for us just as it does for Guaranty.
Tom' s Truck Center is a full- service franchised dealership for Class 1- 8 commercial trucks sales, service, parts, and rental and leasing. Like any truck dealership, our operation depends on outdoor vehicle inventory and outdoor service capacity, neither of which the District Center districts contemplate.
There' s also a site- specific reason C- 3 fits here: our property sits directly against Interstate 5. The District Center designation is built around housing- capable, pedestrian- oriented mixed use, which does not belong hard against freeway traffic, noise, and air quality impacts. The City's own materials already apply this logic in treating the Dyer Road/55 Freeway area as a commercially oriented growth area rather than a residential corridor. I'd also note that Tom' s Truck Center has accommodated the City' s land use goals once before we relocated from 2nd/3rd/4th Street to our current Grand Avenue site specifically to make way for the City's housing vision for that area.
We are one of Santa Ana's leading generators of local sales and use tax revenue, and a zero- emission vehicle leader selling zero- emission commercial trucks, with eight EV fast chargers installed on site to support that transition.
To be clear about what we are not asking for: we are not seeking a nonconforming-use carve- out or grandfather provision. Legal nonconforming status would restrict our ability to rebuild, remodel, or expand, and would 1 substantially impair the value of the business were we ever to sell it. We are asking that our use be permitted outright, as C- 3 provides.
City staff have always been helpful to our business needs. Thank you, in advance, for your attention to our concern.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Luis
Chief Operating Officer
T: 714- 560- 4172
jluis ttruck. com I www.ttruck. com
Click here for Rental Trucks!
M
I[ M
I 01i &=',
TRUCK CENTER
y
TRUCKS
M
Arsk
4 S HyunoFli
FUSO UDTRUCKs TRANSLEAD
2