To: PLANNING COMMISSION
From: SEAN SCULLY, PLANNING MANAGER
TITLE
title
A public hearing to consider an Ordinance amending Title 10 Chapter 2 Zoning and Land Use of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code pertaining to parking regulations for nonresidential uses located on properties within the Artesia and Aviation Corridors Area Plan.
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 2 Zoning and Land Use of the Redondo Beach Municipal Code pertaining to parking regulations for non-residential uses located on properties within the Artesia and Aviation Corridors Area Plan:
A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL AMEND TITLE 10 CHAPTER 2 ZONING AND LAND USE OF THE REDONDO BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO PARKING REGULATIONS FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL USES LOCATED ON PROPERTIES WITHIN THE ARTESIA AND AVIATION CORRIDORS AREA PLAN.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Artesia and Aviation Corridor Area Plan (AACAP-Adopted December 8, 2020), which was derived from work that occurred on the General Plan update, includes a set of strategies and development standards intended to help incentivize the revitalization of the Artesia and Aviation Corridors.
Included within the AACAP’s multiple revitalization strategies are parking relaxation and/or “rightsizing” options/recommendations aimed at reducing barriers to future redevelopment. In 2023, a number of specific modifications to the City’s parking regulations were reviewed and approved by both the Planning Commission and the City Council which seek to further incentivize future development within the AACAP area. Redondo Beach Municipal Code (RBMC) “Section 10-2.1707 Nonresidential parking standards within the Artesia and Aviation Corridors Area Plan” includes a number of “flexible” parking options, including, but not limited to valet, mechanical lifts, off-site, as well as reductions in parking requirements for restaurants and office uses (preferred uses in AACAP).
To date however the city hasn’t yet realized the revitalization and redevelopment that is intended within the AACAP area. As a result, on August 5, 2025, the City Council held a meeting to discuss the City’s General Plan update with a specific focus on policies related to the AACAP. The City Council discussed, took public testimony, and considered numerous revitalization strategies, including but not limited to, increasing the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for properties within the AACAP area from 0.6 to 1.5, potential mixed-use development within AACAP, development “caps” with increased FAR’s as incentives for early revitalization projects, reduced or eliminated open space requirements, and various additional future parking strategies. At the conclusion of all discussions and public comments, the City Council directed staff to move forward, as a priority item, with an amendment to the City’s Municipal Code (RBMC) eliminating required parking for non-residential uses for properties within the AACAP.
On September 9, 2025, staff presented a draft Zoning Ordinance eliminating parking requirements for new development of non-residential uses within the AACAP area for the City Council’s review and direction. City Council took public testimony, discussed the proposed ordinance, and provided the following direction:
1. Remove the existing language in Section 10-2.1707 that prohibits “restaurant (fast food) and a restaurant with drive-through use” within the AACAP area.
2. Revise the draft ordinance to apply to all nonresidential uses, including restaurant (fast food) and restaurants with drive-throughs.
a. Staff’s original draft ordinance included a “carve out” of the parking elimination regulation for restaurant (fast food) and restaurants with drive-throughs.
3. Incorporate language to encourage parking areas, if provided, to be located to the rear of proposed structures.
a. Include language that addresses potential compatibility concerns with parking areas adjacent to residential and adding additional buffering requirements for parking areas that choose to locate in front of new developments adjacent to Artesia or Aviation Boulevards.
4. Incorporate future and regular progress reports on redevelopment metrics within the AACAP area into the City’s Strategic Plan to measure effectiveness of this revitalization strategy and avoidance of unintended consequences such as impacting the street parking within adjacent residential and private parking on neighboring commercial properties.
5. Present the draft Zoning Ordinance to the Planning Commission at a public hearing for their review, comment, discussion, and recommendation(s).
The Council directives have now been incorporated into the draft Ordinance.
BACKGROUND
In support of the drafting and adoption of the AACAP in 2020 and the follow up amendments to the City’s parking regulations within AACAP in 2023, a number of parking surveys, workshops, studies and analyses were conducted. Below (and attached) are the key studies and documents that have served to inform the City’s past and current parking strategy initiatives.
• Artesia-Aviation Area Plan Parking Utilization Study (February 28, 2019)
o Comprehensive parking utilization study of all on-site and on-street (public) parking in the AACAP area.
• Community Parking Workshop Presentation (April 28, 2022)
• Parking Implementation Plan (July 2023)
A key consideration concerning the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendment to eliminate parking requirements within the AACAP area is contained within the “conclusion” from the 2019 Parking Utilization Study. That survey documents the significant underutilization and availability of existing parking both on private off-street parking lots as well as public on-street parking within the AACAP area.
“The overall parking supply within the Plan Area (AACAP) boundary is more than adequate to accommodate existing demand. Ideally, an efficiently parked area would be around 85% utilized, keeping a 15% vacant space buffer to prevent excessive waiting or vehicles circling around blocks looking for available spaces. The on-street occupancy is at most 68% and the off-street occupancy is at most 50% within the study area. By harnessing the efficiencies of shared parking lots (either public or privately-owned) the study area can accommodate existing demand and some future growth in land uses using the existing supply of parking.”
In addition to the parking specific studies, presentations, and plans noted above, the City Council Administrative Reports (including their attachments) from their public meeting on August 5, and September 9, 2025, are also attached. The August 5, 2025, City Council report in particular includes significant background, analysis, and additional documents that clearly demonstrate the challenges and impediments to future developments within the AACAP area posed by the combination of the small/shallow lots and existing RBMC parking standards. Attached to the August 5, 2025, City Council administrative report is a “Massing and Parking Study” that demonstrates the significant limitations on development of a standard sized property within the AACAP area. Per that study, a future development project that included a typical “surface parking lot” that complies with the city’s currently required parking regulations would result in a project with an FAR of less than 0.4. Below are two slides from that study illustrating this typical scenario on a standard sized property within the AACAP area.
Staff believes that even with the elimination of parking requirements it is likely that future development projects will voluntarily include some parking. The proposed amendment seeks to have the market determine the “right-size” parking to support future development rather than impose parking requirements that may impede future development. Additionally, with regular periodic reviews of the economic metrics along the Boulevards and monitoring for potential “spill over” parking impacts into adjacent residential neighborhoods and neighboring commercial properties as part of the City’s Strategic Plan, in the event of unintended parking consequences, adjustments could be made to the Zoning Ordinance as required.
Attached to this Administrative Report is the proposed Planning Commission Resolution that includes the specific amendments to RBMC “Section 10-2.1707 Nonresidential parking standards within the Artesia and Aviation Corridors Area Plan” as underline and strikethroughs and all the required findings for amending the City’s Zoning Ordinance.
ENVIRONMENTAL
The Planning Commission will also consider recommending that the City Council adopt findings/exemptions that state additional regulations and/or amendments of existing regulations are not subject to CEQA pursuant to CEQA 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.
ATTACHMENTS
1. PC RESOLUTION NO. 2025-09-PCR-09
2. AACAP Parking Utilization Study (2019)
3. Community Parking Workshop Presentation (2022)
4. AACAP Parking Implementation Plan (2023)
5. August 5, 2025 City Council Administrative Report
6. September 9, 2025 City Council Administrative Report
7. AACAP Parking Elimination Ord CEQA Exemption