Retail Pad Space in Santa Ana

What to diligence before LOI

1. 01

   Entitlement: eating establishments with drive-through window service need a conditional use permit in C1 (Santa Ana Municipal Code Section 41-365.5(e)), C2 (Section 41-377.5(a)), C4 (Section 41-412.5(c)) and M1 (Section 41-472.5(g)); in C5 the CUP covers drive-through or walk-up windows (Section 41-424.5(e)), and the C-SM South Main Street district excludes drive-throughs (Section 41-521(g)). A restaurant open between midnight and 5:00 a.m. within 150 feet of residentially zoned or used property needs a CUP as well (Section 41-365.5(f)), which matters for a late-night QSR backing onto homes.

2. 02

   Stacking: Section 41-1341(b) requires at least 80 feet from the pickup or pay window back to the menu board and another 80 feet from the menu board to the start of the lane, and the lane may not serve as the entry to parking stalls. A bank drive-in window needs a 120-foot stacking lane under Section 41-1348(b). Lay out the full queue on the pad before the LOI.

3. 03

   Parking ratios: restaurants, including QSRs, are parked at 8 spaces per 1,000 sq ft (Section 41-1341(a)(1)); banks at 4 per 1,000 plus 2 per walk-up ATM (Section 41-1348(a)); automobile repair and servicing at 5 per 1,000 with service bays not counted as stalls (Section 41-1347). A 2,500 sq ft QSR pad needs 20 stalls on its own parcel or through a reciprocal parking agreement.

4. 04

   Pad size and setbacks in C1: Section 41-373 requires each retail or service lot to have at least 15,000 sq ft and 120 feet of street frontage, Section 41-372(a) requires a 15-foot landscaped strip along street frontage (no parking in it), Section 41-368 requires a 15-foot front yard, and Section 41-367 caps height at 35 feet. On a new parcel split for a pad, check these before engineering.

5. 05

   Auto service pads: service stations and automobile servicing are permitted in C1 (Section 41-365(q) and (r)), but no servicing within 300 feet of residential property may happen before 6:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m. (Section 41-366(e)), and Section 41-374 limits a single-frontage site to two driveways of no more than 35 feet each when more than one exists, with a 5-foot landscaped side and rear yard. Body and paint work is a C2 use (Section 41-377(b)), and open-air car washes need a CUP in C2 (Section 41-377.5(b)).

6. 06

   Traffic: the City's Traffic Census 2025-2026 gives segment counts for every major arterial (for example Harbor Boulevard 48,496 between Fifth Street and Hazard Avenue, and Bristol Street 44,182 between 17th Street and Santa Clara Avenue). Use those official numbers rather than a broker flyer when you compare pad sites.