Retail Pad Space in Laguna Beach

What to diligence before LOI

1. 01

   Drive-through permit path: the code treats any restaurant where the transaction happens from the vehicle as a 'drive-in restaurant' (Chapter 25.08). It is allowed only by conditional use permit in the C-1 Local Business District (Section 25.20.006(G)) and is expressly not permitted in LBP (25.18.004(J)), C-N (25.19.002(E) and 25.19.006(B)) or South Laguna Village (25.25.006(A)). The Planning Commission reviews every CUP (25.05.030(E)) and must find that the streets serving the site can carry the traffic the use generates (25.05.030(F)(2)).

2. 02

   Parking for pad uses (Section 25.52.012(G)): food service, including drive-thru and fast food, is 1 space per 100 sq ft including outdoor seating or 1 per 3 seats, whichever is greater, with a minimum of 10 spaces for a drive-thru restaurant; stalls in the drive-thru lane can count. Banks are 1 per 250 sq ft, and that count includes any drive-up lane spaces. Changing a building to a use with a higher requirement means adding stalls or buying in-lieu certificates (25.52.004(E)).

3. 03

   In-lieu parking limits: Section 25.52.006(E) allows up to three in-lieu certificates per site without a parking demand study, never more than 50 percent (rounded up) of the required spaces for one use, and each issuance needs a coastal development permit. A 2,500 sq ft quick-service building needs 25 spaces, so no more than 13 could be covered by certificates even with a demand study.

4. 04

   C-1 site standards for a freestanding building: a front yard open space equal to 5 feet times the lot frontage (Section 25.20.008(C)(2)), open space equal to 25 percent of nonresidential floor area, no side yard unless the lot abuts a different zone (25.20.008(C)(3)), and design review of all buildings and improvements (25.20.008(B)).

5. 05

   Traffic on the two state highways (Caltrans 2024 AADT): Pacific Coast Highway (SR-1) carries 37,900 at Mountain Road, 38,800 at the SR-133 junction, 38,500 at Cliff Drive and Aster Street and 36,800 at the north city limit, with peak-month volumes of 39,500 to 43,000. Laguna Canyon Road (SR-133) carries 22,900 just north of PCH, 26,000 to 31,400 around Cliff Drive, 33,800 at Canyon Acres Drive and 38,700 just south of El Toro Road. Ask whether a new driveway or curb cut on either route will need Caltrans review as well as city approval.

6. 06

   Tenant-space splits: an interior division of an existing commercial building cannot create more than three additional tenant spaces or any space under 500 sq ft without a CUP and, where required, a coastal development permit, and the City may require an engineered parking impact assessment (Section 25.52.012(A)). Carving a pad-style endcap out of an older building runs into this rule.