03-06-17 CUP Communication Workers of America 606 N. Eckhoff St.
TO: Chair Glasgow and
Members of the Planning Commission
THRU: Anna Pehoushek
Assistant Community Development Director
FROM: Vidal F. Márquez
Assistant Planner
SUBJECT
PUBLIC HEARING: Conditional Use Permit (CUP) 3028-16 – Communications Workers of
America, 606 N. Eckhoff Street
SUMMARY
The applicant is proposing to occupy a 4,800 sq. ft. tenant space for an administrative office in excess
of 25% of the total gross floor area in the Light Manufacturing (M-1) zone.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt Planning Commission Resolution No. PC 04-17 entitled:
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE
CITY OF ORANGE APPROVING CONDITIONAL USE
PERMIT NO. 3028-16 ALLOWING AN ADMINISTRATIVE
OFFICE IN EXCESS OF 25% OF THE TOTAL GROSS FLOOR
AREA IN THE LIGHT MANUFACTURING (M-1) ZONE
LOCATED AT 606 N. ECKHOFF STREET
AUTHORIZATION/GUIDELINES
Orange Municipal Code (OMC) Section 17.20.030 and Table 17.08.020 authorize the Planning
Commission to review and take action on Conditional Use Permits for administrative offices in excess
of 25% of the total gross floor area in the Light Manufacturing (M-1) zone.
Planning Commission
Agenda Item
March 6, 2017
Planning Commission Staff Report
CUP 3028-16 CWA
March 6, 2017
Page 2
PUBLIC NOTICE
On February 23, 2017, the City sent a Public Hearing Notice to a total of 126 property owners and
occupants within a 300-foot radius of the project site. The project site was also posted in two locations
with notification on that same date.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Categorical Exemption: The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines 15301 (Class 1 – Existing
Facilities) because the project consists of permitting a use in an existing private structure involving
no expansion.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Applicant: Kenneth Williams on behalf of Communications
Workers of America Local 9510
Property Owner: Meyer Properties, LLC, Orange Industrial Park, LLC.
Property Location: 606 North Eckhoff Street
Existing General Plan
Land Use Element designation:
Light Industrial (LI)
Existing Zoning
Classification:
Light Manufacturing (M-1)
Old Towne: No
Specific Plan/PC: No
Site Size: 4,800 sq. ft. tenant building space of a 28,800 sq. ft.
building on a 6.42 acre lot. The overall site consists of 8
buildings for a total of 141,620 sq. ft.
Circulation: The parcel is located on Echkoff Street, which is
designated as a Secondary Street with an ultimate right-
of-way of 80 feet.
Existing conditions: A single story 141,620 sq. ft. industrial condominium
development consisting of 8 buildings on a 7.9 acre lot
with 363 parking stalls.
Surrounding land uses
and Zoning:
The site is surrounded by M-1 zoned properties on the
north and west and Office Professional (O-P) on the east
and south sides of the parcel.
Previous Applications/Entitlements: TTM No. 16443: In 2003, the City Council approved the
subdivision of existing multi-tenant industrial buildings
to allow the sale of 23 individual tenant spaces.
DRC No. 3810-03: In 2003, the Design Review
Committee approved upgrades to property landscaping
and minor building façade alterations.
Planning Commission Staff Report
CUP 3028-16 CWA
March 6, 2017
Page 3
CUP No. 2880-12: In 2013, the Planning Commission
approved an administrative office in excess of 25% of the
total gross floor area for a construction management
office at 604 N. Eckhoff Street.
Other entitlements have been granted at the industrial
complex, which include a commercial recreational use,
ABC license and a church use.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The applicant, Communication Workers of America Local 9510 (CWA), is a union representing
Orange County members from AT&T, AT&T Mobility, Verizon, Froniter, Avaya, Legacy T and
other communication companies. CWA is currently occupying an administrative office located at 140
S. Flower Street with two full time employees and five part time union officers. The purpose of the
office is to maintain the organization’s records and schedule union meetings with members. CWA is
proposing to relocate to 606 N. Eckhoff Street, a tenant space in a condominium industrial park and
lease a 4,800 square foot office and warehouse space. The space consists of an existing 3,300 sq. ft.
floor area dedicated for office and 1,500 sq. ft. open warehouse. The proposed hours of operation are
Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. There will be two full time employees and five part
time union officers on site. CWA will also have monthly board meetings of up to 25 members after
office hours at 6:30 PM. The applicant’s letter of explanation is included in Attachment 3 of this
report.
The subject site is located along the West Orangewood Avenue and North Eckhoff Street industrial
and office district. Industrial uses are permitted by right in the M-1 zoning district with administrative
offices not exceeding 25% of the business gross floor area. The subject site was developed in 1977
with eight buildings that are divided into 23 tenant spaces and 363 on-site parking spaces. In 2003,
the City Council approved the subdivision of the existing multi-tenant industrial buildings to be sold
into 23 individual units. The tenant space is located within building 1, immediately west of Eckhoff
Street. There is one entrance to the office and one exit to the rear of the warehouse. The building is
setback 53 feet to the southerly adjacent commercial property with a 6 foot high block wall between
them.
The subject site also includes Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (C, C, &Rs) and a
condominium ownership association, known as Orange Industrial Park for the purposes of assigning
responsibility for the maintenance of the shared parking lot, landscaping area, and buildings.
Development Standards
No changes are proposed to the lot size, building square footage, building height, or parking as part
of this application. Therefore, a comparison of the building to existing development standards has not
been conducted.
Planning Commission Staff Report
CUP 3028-16 CWA
March 6, 2017
Page 4
APPLICATION(S) REQUESTED/REQUIRED FINDINGS
Conditional Use Permit: The applicant is proposing to occupy a 4,800 sq. ft. tenant space with an
administrative office space in excess of 25% of the gross floor area in an M-1 zone.
Required Findings:
1. A Conditional Use Permit shall be granted upon sound principles of land use and in
response to services required by the community.
2. A Conditional Use Permit shall not be granted if it will cause deterioration of bordering
land uses or create special problems for the area in which it is located.
3. A Conditional Use Permit must be considered in relationship to its effect on the
community or neighborhood plan for the area in which it is located.
4. A Conditional Use Permit, if granted, shall be made subject to those conditions necessary
to preserve the general welfare, not the individual welfare of any particular applicant.
ANALYSIS/STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES
CWA will lease 4,800 sq. ft. of a 28,800 sq. ft. building in a condominium industrial park and is
proposing to use 3,300 sq. ft. floor area dedicated for office and 1,500 sq. ft. open warehouse for
storage. The proposed office would exceed the maximum 25% office allowed as a permitted use in
the M-1 zone, therefore a Conditional Use Permit is requested. The proposed use would result in 68%
of the tenant’s gross floor area being utilized as administrative office space. Approval of such a
request would not result in transforming the industrial complex into a professional office environment
due to the nature of the business being contained in one tenant space and the fact that this is the second
request to occur at this property in the last four years.
Based on the uses located at the subject site the current parking requirement is 330 parking spaces for
the entire condominium industrial park. The subject site contains a total of 363 parking spaces. The
proposed use requires 19 parking spaces for its administrative office and storage use and the total
required number of parking spaces would increase to 339 spaces. This would leave the site overparked
by 24 spaces.
Staff does not anticipate that approval of the applicant’s request will result in negatively impacting
the surrounding industrial and office uses, because other tenants at the property include construction
contractors’ offices, equipment suppliers and general product storage businesses and the additional
parking required by the proposed administrative office use is provided for on the subject property.
Planning Commission Staff Report
CUP 3028-16 CWA
March 6, 2017
Page 5
ADVISORY BOARD RECOMMENDATION
No advisory board review occurred for this application because the Planning Division is the
responsible party for reviewing conditional use permit requests of this nature where no changes to the
site plan or building footprint are proposed.
ATTACHMENTS/EXHIBITS
Attachments to Report:
1. Planning Commission Resolution PC 04-17
2. Vicinity Map
3. Applicant Letter of Justification
Exhibits provided to the Planning Commission:
A. Site and Floor Plan received December 5, 2016
CC: Kenneth Williams
Communication Workers of America
140 S. Flower Street
Orange, CA 92868
Kwilliams9510@yahoo.com
Scott Meyer
Meyer Properties, LLC
1202 West Barkley Avenue
Orange, CA 92868
Smeyer@meyercoatings.com
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Staff Report.Docx