Laguna Hills / South Orange County
Pads in Laguna Hills cluster at the two I-5 interchanges. At El Toro Road, In-N-Out (24001 Avenida de la Carlota) and Raising Cane's (23971 El Toro Road) sit where Caltrans counted 216,200 to 268,300 vehicles a day on I-5 in 2024. At Alicia Parkway (154,900 to 163,800 on I-5), four drive-thru or quick service users line the road between 24761 and 24896: Wendy's, Dutch Bros, Taco Bell and Starbucks. Farther down Alicia, El Pollo Loco holds a spot at Alicia Plaza Shopping Center. The next supply is the former Laguna Hills Mall: the owner's 2026 proposal shows five restaurant pads of 5,000 to 8,000 SF and four retail and service pads of 1,200 to 8,000 SF, on top of three restaurants already operating on the site.
Population
30,740
Median HHI
$128,851
Median age
41.7
Homeownership
70%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Alicia Parkway · El Toro Road · La Paz Road · Paseo de Valencia · Moulton Parkway
Specific shopping centers in Laguna Hills that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
25381 Alicia Parkway
Anchors / key tenants: 7-Eleven, El Pollo Loco, Pizza Hut, Yogurtland
Size: 61,000 SF
Convenience-tilted neighborhood center across from Laguna Hills High School. Mix includes Bagel Me!, Nutrition Zone, U & I Sushi, Antojito's Market, Kabo Cantina, and Healthy N Tasty. Strong daytime school/family traffic.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Laguna Hills rents. These are publicly visible retail pad space businesses currently trading in the market.
In-N-Out Burger (Laguna Hills, El Toro), store 170
24001 Avenida de la Carlota, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Drive-thru and dining room, both 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., opened January 30, 2003, per In-N-Out's own store data. No In-N-Out lists an Aliso Viejo or Mission Viejo address.
Raising Cane's
23971 El Toro Road, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Listed on Raising Cane's own locator. The page does not say whether it has a drive-thru.
Taco Bell
24888 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Taco Bell's locator lists a drive-thru at this address.
Starbucks (Alicia & Bentley)
24896 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Company-operated store with a drive-thru per Starbucks' locator, open 4:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Dutch Bros Coffee (Alicia)
24791 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Drive-thru stand with a walk-up window, opened June 13, 2025, per the stand data behind Dutch Bros' locator.
Wendy's
24761 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Listed on Wendy's own locator. A drive-thru is not confirmed from the store page.
El Pollo Loco
Alicia Plaza Shopping Center, 25371 Alicia Parkway, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Listed on El Pollo Loco's locator at 25371 Alicia Parkway. Owner K&M Asset Group names El Pollo Loco as a tenant of Alicia Plaza Shopping Center (about 61,000 SF at Alicia Parkway and Paseo De Valencia).
01
Drive-thru permit: 'Drive-thru' and 'Restaurant, fast food/drive-thru' each need a conditional use permit in CC (Table 9-28.020), FC (9-26.020), NMU (9-29.020) and MXU (9-30.020), and 'Drive-thru' is a CUP in Table 1 of the Urban Village Specific Plan. The Planning Agency hears CUPs with notice to owners within 300 feet (Table 9-92.030); the city's handout estimates 60 to 90 days after a complete application. Chapter 9-44 has no numeric stacking count for restaurant lanes, so ask Planning and the City Engineer for their queue expectation early; Table 9-44.D sets a 9-foot minimum clearance over the lane.
02
New pad building: most development needs a site development permit (9-92.080.G), approved by the Community Development Director by letter for nonresidential projects of 20,000 sq ft or less and by the Planning Agency above that. In CC, Table 9-28.040 sets a 20-foot front building setback (10 feet for parking lots), 15% minimum landscaping, 50% maximum lot coverage and a 40-foot height limit. Section 9-44.060.A.2 bars driveways within 40 feet of the intersection of two public streets, and 9-44.030 allows the city to require a parking and traffic study when a lot change touches 10% or more of its spaces.
03
Parking in Table 9-44.A: fast food needs 10 stalls or 1 per 50 sq ft of gross floor area, whichever is greater (a 3,000 sq ft QSR needs 60 stalls); dine-in restaurants under 4,000 sq ft need 1 per 100, and at 4,000 sq ft or more 40 stalls plus 1 per 50 above 4,000; financial services 1 per 250; gas stations 2 stalls plus 1 per 800 sq ft of convenience store. Outdoor seating over 16 seats adds 1 stall per 150 sq ft of patio. Sharing a center's lot takes a joint use parking plan and a parking use permit from the Planning Agency (9-44.070).
04
Other pad uses: 'Finance institution' takes a site development permit in CC, FC and MXU and is permitted in NMU; 'Car wash', 'Gas station' and 'Vehicle repair' need a CUP in CC, and vehicle repair in FC carries special requirements under Chapters 9-11 and 9-40. The code's definition of 'Drive-thru' includes ready tellers as well as food windows, so ask Planning whether a bank drive-up lane triggers the same 'Drive-thru' CUP.
05
Village at Laguna Hills (former mall, about 68 acres at El Toro Road and I-5): the April 21, 2026 fiscal impact analysis for MGP Fund X Laguna Hills, LLC lists Pads 1 to 5 as restaurants of 7,500, 8,000, 6,000, 6,600 and 5,000 SF and Pads 6 to 9 as retail and service of 7,600, 5,400, 8,000 and 1,200 SF (case USE-0239-2025, July 2026 joint hearing). These are planning assumptions, not leases. The site is in the Village Commercial district governed by the Urban Village Specific Plan, which caps development intensity by a trip budget keyed to Level of Service D at its intersections.
06
Speaker boards: Section 9-40.190 says no loudspeaker or other communication device tied to a use may be discernible beyond the parcel's boundary line. Every tenant also needs a Certificate of Use and Occupancy ($250.10 without construction) since the city issues no business license.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.