The subject site is an existing 6.97-acre Industrial Planned Unit Development (PUD) located on the northwest corner of Knott Street and Acacia Avenue.  Currently, the site is improved with an existing industrial building that is approximately 119,836 square feet in area and is currently vacant.  The building was previously occupied by Next Level Sports Complex, which operated an indoor sports facility.  The indoor sports facility closed its operation in 2018.

Since the closure of the prior indoor sports facility, the subject property was sold to, and acquired by, the applicant/property owner, Rexford Industrial.  The applicant proposes to renovate, revitalize, and improve the existing site with parking lot improvements, landscape installations and rehabilitation, interior and exterior façade improvements, along with the proposed industrial building addition at the north end of the existing building.   

Shortly after acquiring the subject property, Rexford Industrial contacted the City to inquire about acquiring the Brady Way cul-de-sac, which due to the dead end at the 22 Freeway, was not utilized except for access to the subject property and vandals that used it for illegal dumping and other illegal activities.  Acquisition of the cul-de-sac would facilitate expansion of the industrial building and installation of a fence to keep vandals out of the property.  City staff and adjacent property owners supported vacation of the cul-de-sac for disposition to Rexford.  On August 15, 2019, the City of Garden Grove approved a General Plan Consistency Determination for Street Vacation No. SV-001-2019, determining that the contemplated vacation of the southern portion of Brady Way, south of Stanford Avenue, and disposition of the vacated street is consistent with the General Plan.  Subsequently, on September 24, 2019, the City of Garden Grove approved Street Vacation No. SV-001-2019 ordering vacation and abandonment of the southern portion of Brady Way, south of Stanford Avenue, and reserving thereon a public service easement for existing public utility facilities.  The intent of the street vacation was to expand the usable area of the site to facilitate the expansion of the existing industrial building, to accommodate new landscaping, on-site vehicular maneuvering, and parking.  The City Council approved a purchase and sale agreement for the disposition of the vacated portion of Brady Way to Rexford Industrial at its November 26, 2019, meeting. 

The applicant, Rexford Industrial, has requested the City take various land use actions necessary for it to facilitate an expansion of the existing 119,836 square foot industrial building with the construction of a 45,335 square foot one-story addition of industrial space, along with associated site improvements.  On December 5, 2019, the Planning Commission held a public hearing to consider Planned Unit Development No. PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) and Site Plan No. SP-079-2019 for approval of an expansion of the existing 119,836 square foot industrial building with the construction of a 45,335 square foot one-story addition of industrial space, along with associated site improvements.  One (1) speaker from the public came forward to speak in favor of the project, but also noted potential concerns with noise.  By a vote of 7-0, the Planning Commission adopted Resolutions (5973-19 and 5974-19) to approve SP-079-2019, and to recommend that the City Council adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the project, and to approve PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019).  The approval of SP-079-2019, along with the related Conditions of Approval, are contingent upon City Council’s adoption of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Project and approval of Planned Unit Development No. PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) to amend the City’s official Zoning Map to change the zoning of the project site to PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) zoning, with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning, and to extend and cover the now vacated portion of Brady Way (that southerly portion of Brady Way, which fronts along the westerly property line of the property) with PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) zoning, with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning.

Project Summary

The project site (“site”) also includes that vacated southerly portion of Brady Way, which fronts along the westerly property line of the subject property.  Including the now vacated portion of Brady Way increases the overall site/developable area to 347,385 square feet (7.97 acres). 

The site will maintain and utilize two (2) existing driveway approaches off of Knott Street.  All regular vehicular access for ingress and egress to and from the site will occur only from these two (2) driveway approaches off of Knott Street.  There will be no regular vehicular access from Brady Way.  The northwest corner of the site (the terminus of the Brady Way public street) will include an emergency only vehicular access gate, which will remain closed/locked.  Said vehicular access gate will be fitted with a Knox box only for emergency (i.e., Orange County Fire Authority) access.

The site is currently improved with an existing 99,836 square foot one-story industrial warehouse building, which includes an attached 20,000 square foot two-story office building.  The Project proposes a 45,335 square foot one-story industrial warehouse building addition attached to the north side of the existing industrial warehouse building.  The new gross floor area of the building will be 165,171 square feet.  The new building addition will maintain setbacks of 54’-10” to the northerly property line, between 125’-0” to 150’-0” to the residential property lines to the west (the west side of the vacated Brady Way street), and at least 66’-9” to the easterly property line, facing Knott Street. 

To accommodate the new building addition, the site plan layout has been modified to provide adequate vehicular access (for standard motor vehicles and larger truck/commercial vehicles) with new drive aisles, parking spaces, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant parking and handicap loading areas, electric vehicle charging parking stations/stalls, and new landscape installations. 

The southern end of the now vacated Brady Way street included a cul-de-sac area with existing under-ground and above-ground utilities and associated access easements.  The Project will not be impacted by the existing utilities, and will maintain all existing access easements.  The southern portion of Brady Way, which is now vacated, is not needed for public access or use.  The existing cul-de-sac area has historically been commonplace for criminal and other nefarious activities, as well as dumping.  Through the vacation of the public street (Brady Way), and incorporation of this cul-de-sac area into the project site, the applicant anticipates that these prior issues will no longer occur.  This “cul-de-sac” area will now be within the confines of the project site, with adequate parking lot lighting and on-site monitoring. 

Based on Municipal Code parking requirements for industrial uses, the site is required to maintain a minimum of 166 parking spaces.  The site will maintain a total of 168 parking spaces on-site, which is a surplus of two (2) parking spaces.   Therefore, the Project complies with parking requirements of the Municipal Code. 

As part of the Transportation Section of the Initial Study report prepared for the Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Project, the traffic impact analysis, which was conducted and prepared by a licensed traffic engineering firm, evaluated trip generation, and potential impacts to nearby key intersections in the surrounding roadway system.  Based on the results of the traffic impact analysis, the proposed warehouse improvement project would not significantly impact any of the key intersections analyzed in the surrounding roadway system.  The analysis methodology is based on the City of Garden Grove’s traffic study criteria.  Intersection operating conditions are defined in terms of “Level of Service” (LOS), a grading scale used to represent the quality of traffic flow at an intersection.  Level of Service ranges from LOS “A,” representing free-flow conditions, to LOS “F,” which indicates failing or severely congested traffic flow.  The City of Garden Grove recognizes LOS “D” as the minimum satisfactory Level of Service during peak hour conditions.  All nearby study intersections will continue to operate at acceptable levels of service (i.e., within the range of acceptable thresholds of LOS A through LOS D) during AM and PM peak hours, while the intersection of Knott Street and Garden Grove Boulevard will continue to operate at a deficient level of service (LOS F) during AM peak hours.  A traffic study would typically be required by the City if the trip generation for a project was projected to increase by more than 50 trips during peak times.  The trip generation rates in the report were based on the nationally referenced rates from the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ (ITE) Trip Generation (10th Edition) – commonly referred to as the “ITE Manual”.  The analyses of the report found that the projected trip generation would be 36 trips during the AM peak hour and 42 trips during the PM peak hour.  It should be noted that the site, prior to the Next Level Sports Complex indoor sports facility, had previously operated as an industrial warehouse, which is like-kind to the proposed operation/use as an industrial warehouse.  The traffic impact analysis determined that the project’s off-site traffic impact would not be considered significant at any of the study intersections. Therefore, no off-site intersection mitigation measures were deemed necessary for the development of the proposed Project.  The City’s Traffic Engineering Division reviewed the Initial Study’s traffic impact analysis and concurred with the report’s findings.

Planned Unit Development No. PUD-010-2019:

The existing Planned Unit Development (PUD) currently encompasses the subject property, 12821 Knott Street (APN: 215-014-01).  Approval of a revision to the existing PUD (PUD-104-70) is necessary to change the zoning of the project site to PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019), with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning, and to extend and cover the now vacated portion of Brady Way (that southerly portion of Brady Way, which fronts along the westerly property line of the property) with PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) zoning, with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning, to facilitate the expansion of the existing 119,836 square foot industrial building.  If PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) is approved, the site, along with the vacated portion of Brady Way, would have a zoning designation of Industrial Planned Unit Development zoning, PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019), with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning.  Also necessary is the approval of a Site Plan to allow the construction of the proposed 45,335 square foot industrial building addition to the existing 119,836 square foot industrial building, along with associated site improvements. 

Planned Unit Development No. PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) would permit the development of the property, thereby facilitating the expansion of the existing industrial building, in accordance with the proposed Site Plan (SP-079-2019) for the Project.

Environmental Review:

In conjunction with the proposed Project, the City (through an environmental consultant) has prepared an Initial Study report and Mitigated Negative Declaration (“IS/MND”) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) analyzing the potential environmental impacts of the proposed industrial warehouse improvement project.  In accordance with CEQA Guidelines, the City made the IS/MND available for public review and comment prior to the meeting.   The IS/MND concludes that the proposed Project will have no, or a less than significant, impact on all relevant environmental factors, provided specified mitigation measures are incorporated, as per the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (“MMRP”).  The mitigation measures are included within the MMRP.  The applicant will be required to coordinate with an environmental consultant to implement the mitigation measures in the MMRP, as identified in the Mitigated Negative Declaration, and shall provide updates about the implementation process to the Community and Economic Development Department until completion of the project.  The Planning Commission has adopted a Resolution recommending that the Garden Grove City Council adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and an associated Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Project.

None.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Conduct a Public Hearing;

• Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration and an associated Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Project;

• Introduce and conduct the first reading of an Ordinance approving Planned Unit Development No. PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) to amend the City’s official Zoning Map to change the zoning of the project site to PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) zoning, with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning, and to extend and cover the now vacated portion of Brady Way (that southerly portion of Brady Way, which fronts along the westerly property line of the property) with PUD-104-70 (REV. 2019) zoning, with M-P (Industrial Park) base zoning.

By:  Chris Chung, Urban Planner