REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 01/04/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Conditional Use Permit 2022-0008 to operate a 7,856 square foot Sports Training/Performance Enhancement Facility at 2410 Wardlow Road, Suite 104, in the Westgate Specific Plan (SP87-1).
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to consider Conditional Use Permit 2022-0008 (CUP2022-0008). CUP2022-0008 establishes a Sports Training/Performance Enhancement Facility within an existing multi-tenant commercial building located at 2410 Wardlow Road. The proposed use will occupy 7,856 square feet within Suite 104 and will provide an indoor sports agility training and performance enhancement facility that includes physical therapy. The organization will provide private one-on-one training, semi-private, and group session trainings ranging from 5-10 members per group.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission’s action granting CUP2022-0008 and find the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).
OR
b. Set the item for review at a subsequent meeting.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The property is developed with an existing 67,360 square foot commercial building that is currently divided into 9 commercial condominium suites. The applicant is currently negotiating to purchase the 7,856 square foot suite from the current owner. The property is located within the Westgate Specific Plan (SP87-01), which zones the property Industrial/Commercial Development District (ICDD). While sports training and performance enhancement centers are allowed by right in the M-1 (Light Manufacturing) and M-4 (Industrial Park) zones, which are governed by the City’s Zoning Ordinance within Title 17 of the Corona Municipal Code, the Westgate Specific Plan’s ICDD zone does not specifically identify sports training/performance enhancement facility or similar sports recreational training as a permitted, conditionally permitted, or prohibited land use. However, Section 17.92.030 of the Corona Municipal Code (CMC) permits commercial recreation facilities in any zone in the City with an approved Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The applicant’s use will provide personalized training and instruction, which is consistent with a commercial recreation facility because it requires a large indoor space to accommodate physical activities.
ANALYSIS:
The proposed facility will provide private one-on-one, semi-private, and group sessions ranging from 5-10 members per group. The sessions include speed, agility and strength training, corrective maintenance, and preventative and recovery care. Customers will range from elementary school-aged students to professional athletes. Physical therapy services are proposed for patients involved with sports injuries and recovery, work and personal injuries, corrective maintenance, preventative care, and orthopedic care.
The facility will employ 16 employees and include up to eight interns/volunteers. The proposed hours of operation are:
• Monday to Friday - 6:00 am to 8:00 pm
• Saturdays - 7:30 am to 6:00 pm
• Sundays - 10:00 am to 2:00 pm (No therapy sessions on Sundays)
The peak hours of operation are:
• Monday to Saturday - 8:00 am to 11:00 am & 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
o Maximum therapy patients - 10 per hour
o Maximum agility training clients - 10 per hour
o Maximum persons during peak hours - 33 (employees, therapists, interns/volunteers & clients)
o Maximum persons per day - 180 (employees, therapists, interns/volunteers & clients)
Operations associated with the facility will be conducted indoors. Therefore, no on-site exterior impacts affecting the adjacent businesses are anticipated with the proposed use.
Parking
The City’s Off-Street Parking Ordinance in Chapter 17.76 of the Corona Municipal Code (CMC) does not have a specific parking requirement for a sports training/performance enhancement facility. Pursuant to CMC § 17.76.030(F)(8), Team Sports Facilities greater than 3,500 square feet requires a parking demand analysis that is based upon nationally recognized standards. The analysis serves to determine: (a) what parking ratio is appropriate for the proposed sports training/performance use; and (b) whether the site has sufficient parking to meet the parking needs of the proposed and existing uses on-site. The parking demand analysis must be approved by the Planning and Development Department Director.
The Parking Demand Analysis prepared by Linscott, Law and Greenspan Engineers determined the parking requirement for the sports training facility based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Parking Generation Manual, 5th Edition, which contains nationally recognized parking ratios for various land uses. The use in the ITE Parking Generation Manual most like a sports training facility is “Health/Fitness Club”. This use has a parking demand ratio of 4.73 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area. Based on the size of the sports training facility (7,856 sf), the use would require 38 parking spaces.
The existing commercial uses within the building, excluding the sports training facility, require a 160 parking spaces. This is based on a 1990 Code requirement of 1 space per 375 square feet of commercial floor area, which was in effect at the time the building was constructed.
In total, the existing uses within the building and the proposed sports training facility require 198 parking spaces. The site currently contains 205 parking spaces, which are shared among the tenants within the building. Therefore, the site has sufficient parking to accommodate the parking required for a sports training facility. The facility is anticipated to have no more than 33 persons onsite during peak hours of operation, and not all training sessions will occur simultaneously. Based on the actual operations of the facility, the site will likely have a surplus of 12 parking spaces.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $7,813.14 to cover the cost of the Conditional Use Permit.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 3.06 of the City of Corona adopted Local Guidelines for Implementing CEQA, the project is a commonsense exemption because the project consists of a change of use to a sports training/performance enhancement business within an existing commercial building. The business operations will be contained entirely inside the building, does not increase building occupancy, and no expansion to the building footprint is proposed. Therefore, there is no possibility of significant environment effect associated with this project.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of December 12, 2022, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Meza/Sherman) and carried unanimously that the Planning and Housing Commission find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), adopt Resolution No. 2600 granting CUP2022-0008, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 4.
REVIEWED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Locational and zoning map
2. Exhibit 2 - Site plan for CUP2022-0008
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission staff report
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of December 12, 2022