Retail Pad Space in Orange

What to diligence before LOI

1. 01

   Permit path: Table 17.13.030 (Ordinance 13-18, 2018) makes a drive-through window a C+ use (Planning Commission conditional use permit under Section 17.10.030(C)) in CP/C1, C-TR, C2 and C3 and in the NMU-24, UMU, M1 and M2 zones, P* in CR only as part of an integrated commercial development (Section 17.13.040(VV)), and not permitted in OP or the three Old Towne mixed use zones. In M1 and M2 the window must be inside an integrated industrial or commercial complex (Section 17.13.050(T)(3)). The chapter has been amended many times since 2018, so confirm the current row.

2. 02

   Design standards in Section 17.13.050(T)(1): lanes at least 12 feet wide that do not block site circulation, parking back-up areas or pedestrian walkways, enriched paving or striping at walkways, a parking or queuing study based on similar operations, and Police Department review of the layout. Pads in the NMU-24 and UMU zones add a 40 foot run from lane entrance to the first menu board, 30 feet from any driveway apron, no lane along a street, speakers that cannot be heard at the property line, and a six foot masonry wall when the site touches residential property.

3. 03

   Parking: Table 17.34.060(B) sets a restaurant with a drive-through at 13 spaces per 1,000 SF of restaurant floor area, not counting kitchen, storage and restrooms, plus stacking, against 10 per 1,000 for a stand-alone restaurant and 4 per 1,000 for banks. A 3,000 SF pad with 1,200 SF of kitchen and back of house needs about 24 stalls before stacking. The Community Development Director can approve up to a 20% reduction for a single nonresidential use with a parking analysis, and it ends with that business.

4. 04

   Banks: Banks and similar financial institutions are P in OP, CP/C1, C-TR, C2, C3 and the mixed use zones, and in CR only within an integrated development or as the single tenant of a site of at least two acres (Section 17.13.040(S)). Note 1 on the table sends any bank drive-up lane through the same Section 17.13.050 drive-through rules.

5. 05

   Auto service and former gas stations: service stations are P*/C+ in CP/C1, C-TR, C2 and C3 and not permitted in CR, and car washes are C in those same four zones. Under Section 17.13.040(R)(8), converting an active or idle station to another use goes through minor site plan review, and the Director can require removal of the pump islands, canopy and service bays, which belongs in the demolition budget for a pad conversion.

6. 06

   Tustin Street sites: development in the C-TR zone must also follow the design guidelines for the Tustin Street Redevelopment Project Area (Section 17.18.230). Ask Planning for the current guidelines before drawing a pad on the North Tustin Street row, and check the CC&Rs of the adjoining center for use and drive-through restrictions.