Fitness Space in Aliso Viejo

What to diligence before LOI

1. 01

   Size sets the permit. AVMC Table 15.18.020 makes health clubs and group instruction (which the code defines to include yoga and martial arts studios with five or more people at a time) an administrative use permit under 3,000 sq ft in every nonresidential district. Over 3,000 sq ft, both need a conditional use permit, and health clubs over 3,000 sq ft are not allowed at all in the CN district. Table 15.70.030 has the Planning Director decide AUPs and the City Council decide CUPs at a public hearing, so a 2,800 sq ft studio and a 3,500 sq ft studio are on very different timelines.

2. 02

   Parking is heavier than retail. Table 15.38.040 parks health clubs and group instruction at 1 space per 150 sq ft of gross floor area, with pool area counted as floor area, against 1 per 220 for a shopping center. Section 15.38.110 also asks health clubs for bicycle parking equal to 3% of the required car spaces. A reduction of 15% or less takes an exception permit (15.38.120.B); more than that needs an alternative parking plan, a parking study and a CUP under 15.38.140. Ask the landlord for the center's parking count and how much of it other gyms already use.

3. 03

   The Commons has its own table. It is zoned SP-2, and Table IV-1 of The Commons Specific Plan lists 'Health club, gyms, fitness facility' as a City Council CUP limited to the Northview Planning Area only (note 15), 'Recreation, commercial/indoor' as a CUP, and personal enrichment and instructional classes as a Minor CUP from the Planning Director. Ask Planning which planning area your suite is in and how Sender One and Bowlero were approved before you assume a gym is allowed in any Commons space. The city's copy of the plan is a 2009 scan, so confirm whether it has been amended.

4. 04

   Noise and music. AVMC 8.12.050 limits noise on commercial property to 65 dB(A) from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 60 dB(A) overnight, and to 50 and 45 dB(A) at homes under 10 units per acre, with 5 dB(A) taken off for music or impact noise. Where sound reaches both a commercial and residential property, the average of the two standards applies. Early morning classes with amplified music and dropped weights need a sound plan, especially in second floor suites like those at 26711 Aliso Creek Road.

5. 05

   Get the use class in writing. The code separates health clubs (members paying to use equipment), group instruction (five or more people), tutorial services (four or fewer, parked at 1 per 250 sq ft) and indoor family entertainment centers with climbing apparatus (a CUP in CT and CC, parked at 1 space per 4 guests at maximum capacity). A climbing gym or kids' concept could land in any of these. The city's Zoning Compliance Application (PS-240) is the way to get Planning's call before you sign.

6. 06

   Before you open: Aliso Viejo requires Planning approval before plans go to Building, and a CUP that is denied bars a new application for the same or a similar use on that property for one year (AVMC 15.70.060). Make the AUP or CUP, and any parking exception, a condition of the lease.