To: PLANNING COMMISSION
From: SEAN SCULLY, PLANNING MANAGER AND SEAN J. O’ROURKE, ASSOCIATE PLANNER
TITLE
title
Public hearing for consideration of a Zoning Ordinance amendment to Title 10, Chapter 5 (Coastal Land Use Plan Implementing Ordinance) of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code (“RBMC”) pertaining to regulations regarding ground floor professional offices uses within the C-2-PD (RIV) zone.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Open the public hearing and take testimony, receive and file all documents and correspondence on the proposed project;
2. Accept all testimony from staff, applicant, and public and deliberate;
3. Close the public hearing;
4. Adopt the attached Resolution by title only, waiving further reading, recommending that the City Council adopt the CEQA Exemption Declaration, and amend Title 10 Chapter 5 Coastal Land Use Plan Implementing Ordinance of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code pertaining to the regulation of ground-floor professional office uses within the C-2-PD (RIV) Zone:
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL AMEND TITLE 10 CHAPTER 5 COASTAL LAND USE PLAN IMPLEMENTING ORDINANCE OF THE REDONDO BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO THE REGULATION OF GROUND-FLOOR PROFESSIONAL OFFICE USES WITHIN THE C-2-PD (RIV) ZONE.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
At the January 21, 2025, City Council public meeting, the City Council requested city staff to prepare a Zoning Ordinance amendment that would clearly identify that professional offices, a commercial use defined in RBMC § 10-5.402, are prohibited from locating within ground-floor, street-facing tenant spaces within C-2-PD (RIV) zones.
The proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment would clarify the regulation of ground-floor, street-facing tenant spaces within Riviera Village by specifying that professional offices are not permitted to locate in such spaces as either a primary or ancillary use. This would ensure that uses locating within the C-2-PD (RIV) zone more closely align with permitted and conditionally permitted uses and are consistent with the “specific purposes” of the Riviera Village Overlay Zone (RIV), which states, “The specific purpose of the RIV Riviera Village overlay zone is to implement the City's Coastal Land Use Plan by assuring development consistent with the maintenance of the Riviera Village as a primarily local-serving commercial zone with a distinct "village-like" environment characterized by a high level of pedestrian activity.”
Staff requests that the Planning Commission review and recommend that the City Council adopt the proposed zoning text amendment to RBMC Section10-5.621(a)(1) (“Additional land use regulations”) and find that the proposed amendment is consistent with the General Plan and exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”).
BACKGROUND:
Per the General Plan, South Catalina Avenue within Riviera Village is the “primary pedestrian-oriented and scaled core of the Village". With the exception of 1700 - 1704 and 1706 S Catalina Avenue, all lots facing South Catalina Avenue between Avenue I and Palos Verdes Boulevard are zoned C-2-PD (RIV), as are 231 Vista Del Mar, 1715 Via El Prado, and the northern portion of the lot at 1815 Via El Prado. This portion of Riviera Village is characterized by restaurants, retail gift and clothing shops, and neighborhood-scale commercial businesses.
Seeking to establish and maintain Riviera Village as a local-serving commercial zone with a distinct “village-like” feel characterized by a high degree of pedestrian activity, the City of Redondo Beach permits offices within C-2-PD (RIV) zones to locate only on the second floor and/or above of buildings, or on the ground floor to the rear of other permitted retail or service uses provided that the pedestrian character of the corridor is not disrupted.
Staff has identified that despite this regulation, professional offices, including real estate offices, have been previously permitted to locate within ground-floor, street-facing space within the C-2-PD (RIV) zone along Catalina Avenue if the professional office included an “ancillary permitted use”, i.e., a personal convenience service such as a notary. The result is the establishment of a number of “office-like” uses (three real estate offices) on the ground-floor street facing tenant spaces that could be occupied by uses more consistent with the stated purpose in the RIV overlay zone.
At the direction of the City Council, staff is proposing a draft Zoning Ordinance amendment that would clarify the existing regulation within Section 10-5.621(a)(1) and explicitly state that professional offices are prohibited as either a primary or ancillary use on the ground-floor street-facing tenant spaces. Below is the proposed amendment to Section 10-5.621(a)(1). The additional language clarifying the proposed amendment is underlined. The attached resolution includes all the required findings and required recitals.
(1) Offices. Offices are permitted only on the second floor and/or above, or on the ground floor to the rear of other permitted retail or service uses provided that the pedestrian character of the corridor is not disrupted. “Offices, professional” uses, as defined in Section 10-5-402, are prohibited on ground-floor street-facing tenant spaces, as either a primary or ancillary use.
Existing professional offices located within these spaces would be classified as legal nonconforming uses subject to the regulations of RBMC Section 10-5.2002. Generally, legal nonconforming uses can continue to operate provided that there are no structural building changes beyond those required by the Chief Building Official or approved subject to Planning Commission Design Review. A legal nonconforming use may be changed to another nonconforming use if no structural alterations are made, the new use is within the same class of zones as the prior nonconforming use, and the new use is not required to provide a greater number of off-street parking spaces. In the event that a future “conforming” use, i.e., a restaurant or retail use, occupied a tenant space that was previously occupied by ground floor professional office, no future office use would again be permitted on the ground floor at that location.
PUBLIC OUTREACH AND COMMENTS:
In accordance with the requirements of RBMC Section 10-5-12.2504(d), notices of the public hearing before the Planning Commission were published in the Easy Reader newspaper on September 4, 2025, mailed to owners of properties within 300 feet of the areas subject to this proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment, and posted within the area subject to this proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment.
The Planning Division received questions regarding the intent and applicable area of the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment. The questions centered on how the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment would affect individual lots and were answered by the Planning Division. One question asked if the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment was applicable to a lot zoned C-4-PD (RIV). Another question asked if the proposed Zoning Ordinance was related to a Conditional Use Permit application at 1611 South Catalina Avenue. A third question asked whether the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment would affect existing ground-floor, street-facing medical offices within the C-2-PD (RIV) zone. The Planning Division provided responses to each respondent. No public comments were received that responded to the intent, substance, or geographic area of the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment.
ENVIRONMENTAL:
The project is exempt from further environmental review, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(2), as the project is not expected to result in a reasonably foreseeable change in the environment, and Section 15061(b)(3) as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment (common sense exemption), of the Guidelines of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
ATTACHMENTS
1. RESOLUTION NO. 2025-09-PCR-08
2. City Council Admin Report_01.21.25
3. City Council Presentation Business Permitting_1.21.25
4. Public Notice Questions_9.18.25
5. Riviera Village Ground Floor Office Zoning Ordinance CEQA Exemption