DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING APPEAL RECOMMENDATION REPORT South Valley Area Planning Commission Date: December 10, 2020 Case No.: DIR-2020-1859-SPP-1A Time: After 4:30pm CEQA No.: ENV-2020-1860-CE Place: Virtual Meeting Incidental Cases: None Related Cases: None Public Hearing: Required Council No.: 2 - Krekorian Appeal Status: Not further appealable Plan Area: Sherman Oaks-Studio City- Expiration Date: December 28, 2020 Toluca Lake-Cahuenga Multiple Approval: No Pass Specific Plan: Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan, River Improvement Overlay Certified NC: Studio City GPLU: Neighborhood Office Commercial Zone: C1.5-1VL-RIO Applicant: Steve Yaymayan Representative: Nareg Khodadadi Appellant: Margaret Kurkian PROJECT 12614 – 12618 W. Ventura Boulevard and APN # 2384022028 LOCATION: (Project Address: 12616 W. Ventura Boulevard, Suite A) PROPOSED A request for a Project Permit Compliance Review for a change of use and remodel of an PROJECT: existing 1,300 square foot retail space to a restaurant use which results in a parking deficiency of six parking spaces, on a 19,016 square foot lot. The owner/applicant have opted to pay the in-lieu monthly parking deficiency fee for six spaces pursuant to Section 7.F.2 of the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan. REQUESTED Appeal of the entire Director of Planning’s Conditional Approval of a Project Permit Compliance ACTIONS: for the project, pursuant to Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 11.5.7 C.6., and the Categorical Exemption, ENV-2020-1860-CE, as the environmental clearance for the project. RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: 1. Deny the appeal of DIR-2020-1859-SPP-1A. 2. Determine that, based on the whole of the administrative record, the Project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 and there is no substantial evidence demonstrating that an exception to a categorical exemption pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, Section 15300.2 applies. 3. Sustain the action of the Director of Planning in approving DIR-2020-1859-SPP and approve the Project Permit Compliance. 4. Adopt the Findings, Conditions of Approval, and “Exhibit A” of the Director of Planning. VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP Director of Planning Digitally signed by Blake Lamb 11/30/2020 Blake Lamb, Principal City Planner Claudia Rodriguez, Senior City Planner Andrew Jorgensen, City Planner Marianne King, City Planning Associate TABLE OF CONTENTS Project Analysis………………………………………………………………………………....A-1 Project Summary……………………………………………………………………...………A-1 Background……………………………………………………………...………….……..…..A-1 Appeal Analysis…………………………………………………………………….……..…..A-2 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..………A-4 Exhibits: Exhibit A: Plans Exhibit B: Appeal Application Exhibit C: Director’s Determination Exhibit D: Categorical Exemption ADVICE TO PUBLIC: * The exact time this report will be considered during the meeting is uncertain since there may be several other items on the agenda. Written communications may be mailed to the Commission Secretariat, Room 272, City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Phone No. 213-978-1300). 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DIR-2020-1859-SPP-1A A-1 PROJECT ANALYSIS Appellate Decision Body Pursuant to Section 11.5.7 C,6 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (“LAMC”), appeals of Project Permit Compliance Review cases are heard by the Area Planning Commission. The appellate decision of the Area Planning Commission is final and effective as provided in Charter Section 245. Project Summary On September 28, 2020, the Director of Planning issued a Determination that approved the project (see Exhibit “C”) subject to Conditions of Approval for a change of use of a 1,300 square foot retail space to a restaurant, including some interior and exterior renovation, and to pay a monthly in-lieu fee for a parking deficiency of six parking spaces, on a 19,016 square foot lot. Background The property consists of two parcels of land, with a combined area of 19,016 square feet. The site has a street frontage of 125 feet on Ventura Boulevard and a varying lot depth of 146 feet to 160 feet. The front half of the site is level and developed with a two-story, 5,240 square foot commercial building (built in 1948), which includes an existing take-out restaurant, the vacant proposed restaurant space, and storage space on the ground floor and offices on the second floor. A total of seven surface parking spaces are located along the west side of the site. A driveway apron, drive aisle, and eight parking spaces are located in front of the site within the public right-of-way. The site plan shows one driveway from Ventura Boulevard. The rear half of the site is a steep upslope hill covered with shrubs and trees. Per Section 7.F.1.c of the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan, restaurants require one parking space for each 100 square feet of floor area. For a commercial/retail use, one parking space for each 250 square of floor area is required. When a change of use is proposed, the required parking is the difference between the required parking for the proposed use and the required parking for the existing use. For example, 1,300 / 100 = 13 spaces for the restaurant use, minus the parking credit for the retail use 1,300 / 250 = 5.2 rounded down = 5 spaces, thus 13 - 5 = 8 required spaces. The applicant is replacing two required parking spaces with bicycle parking as permitted per LAMC 12.21 A.4, which is proposed within the subject parking lot area at the rear of the site. As there is no additional room on site for additional parking spaces, the change of use will result in six deficient parking spaces for the site. Per Section 7.F.2. of the Specific Plan, the applicant has chosen to pay an in-lieu fee of $100 per month for each deficient parking space. The site is located in the Sherman Oaks-Studio City-Toluca Lake-Cahuenga Pass Community Plan Area and is zoned C1.5-1VL-RIO with a land use designation of Neighborhood Office Commercial. The site is also located within the designated Neighborhood and General Commercial land use area of the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan which is intended as a focal point for surrounding residential neighborhoods and to contain a diversity of land uses, such as restaurants, retail outlets, grocery stores, child care facilities, small professional offices, community meeting rooms, pharmacies, religious facilities and other similar services. The subject south side of the boulevard has similar topography as the subject site consisting of undeveloped steep hillside at the rear with the front of the properties developed with commercial DIR-2020-1859-SPP-1A A-2 buildings. Likewise, the property frontages include driveway aprons, drive aisles, and surface parking, approximately 42 feet in depth, all located in the public right-of-way. The properties are zoned C1.5-1VL-RIO. The north side of Ventura Boulevard is also zoned C1.5-1VL-RIO; however, it is comprised of larger level lots and developed with larger commercial buildings. The east adjoining property (appellant’s property) is developed with a one-story, 5,178 square foot commercial building (built in 1955) and includes a pharmacy, beauty salon, and wellness spa. The site has nine parking spaces located in front of the commercial building with the drive aisle located closer to the street frontage, and currently has one driveway from Ventura Boulevard at the east end of the site, all within the public right-of-way. On October 13, 2020, within the required 15-day appeal period, an appeal was filed for the entire decision of the Director of Planning (see Exhibit “A”). The appellants’ appeal points are addressed below: Appeal Statements and Staff Responses The following is a summary of the Appellant’s appeal points and corresponding responses by staff. A. Appeal Statement: The Appellant contends that the Director of Planning erred and abused his discretion by granting the Project Permit Compliance to permit a more intense use than previously existed, including a waiver of parking, without analyzing the environmental impact of the project on this unique site. This unique circumstance creates an exception that prohibits the City from utilizing a Categorical Exemption as the required CEQA clearance. Staff Response: The project was issued a categorical exemption pursuant State CEQA Guidelines Section 15301. Section 15301 “Existing Facilities,” Class 1, in summary, is considered for projects that include minor alterations, involve negligible or no expansion of use, and examples include interior or exterior alterations; new signage; additions up to 2,500 square feet or 50 percent of the floor area before the addition, whichever is less; etc. Environmental review includes determining if any of the exceptions to a categorical exemption (CE) apply; if so, a Class 1 CE cannot be used. The exceptions include cumulative impact, unusual circumstance/significant effect, scenic highways, hazardous waste sites, and historical resources.