The Santa Clarita Planning Division’s staff is recommending the Santa Clarita City Council uphold a Planning Commission ruling, while a Cerritos developer hired a city-registered lobbyist and paid the appeal fee to make his case Tuesday.
The plans under scrutiny involve a developer trying to turn a long-vacant space in his shopping center at Lyons Avenue and Orchard Village Road into something he can rent to a prospective business owner.
The business in question is a self-storage center, which seems to be a growing business opportunity based on applications in front of the city.
However, city planners have recommended a denial due to the way that conflicts with the area’s current zoning.
The developer has been working with planners since January 2022 on the application, according to city staff, who indicated during the initial submission that it’s not a permitted use for the Lyons Corridor Plan, and permitting such a business would require changing the city’s code.
“The staff was not supportive for this type of use at this location,” said Andy Olson, during a Planning Commission hearing on the project in December, adding that the staff said approving it would be inconsistent with the council’s “prior policies on limiting storage facilities on major corridors.”
The city currently has self-storage facilities on several major corridors, including: Sierra Highway; near the Cross Valley Connector by Golden Valley Road; and along Soledad Canyon Road, near Centre Pointe Parkway.
After that discussion, the applicant submitted the plan in March, Olson said, which brought several possibilities, including changing the zone plan to remove the property. That would also require rezoning the property as a business park, which Olson called “spot zoning,” as none of the surrounding properties allow such a use.
The Planning Commission would otherwise have to change its zoning regulations to accommodate the request, which city staff indicated was not allowed under the city’s code. He mentioned that city officials have had the rule in place regarding self-storage facilities on major roads since 2003.
That city decision is what prompted the first appeal to the Planning Commission.
Planning Commissioner Nathan Keith, in voting to deny the project, shared the same concern as planning staff, mentioning the appearance of spot zoning, as to a certain degree the practice makes surrounding zones arbitrary.
Property owner Phillip Lee said he’s been trying to find a tenant for his empty space on the northeast corner of Orchard Village Road and Lyons, which shares a parking lot with Aldi and CVS.
When his company acquired the property in 2014, Ralphs was the anchor tenant. When Aldi took its place two years later, there was about 26,000 square feet unused.
Fitness centers, discount stores and a variety of retail options have all refused the space, he said, adding up to more than 40 formal rejections, with most citing that parking would be an issue.
Lee acknowledged that there are a few self-storage projects in the city; however, the demand remains really high for what he called “Class A, climate-controlled facilities,” like the one being considered in his appeal.
The city received four comment letters in opposition to the project.
During his argument on behalf of the Planning Commission appeal, Hunt Braly, who was hired by Lee to represent the project, mentioned a previous project on Valley Center Drive that dealt with a similar issue.
In 2020, the City Council approved a 156,060-square-foot, 1,200-unit three-story, self-storage facility at the southwest corner of Valley Center Drive and Golden Valley Road, which received a conditional-use permit.
