Anaheim Planning Commission meeting for August 28, 2023

The Anaheim Planning Commission has a scheduled meeting on August 28, 2023 at 5:00pm in the city council chambers. The agenda for the meeting is available online.

Unfortunately, I had missed writing about the past couple of meetings, which were the most interesting meetings we’ve had since I came back to Planning Commission. July and the beginning of August had just been too busy with work and travel.

There is just one item on this week’s agenda, and the only interesting thing about it is that it’s the same property we looked at back in January.

Item 1 - CUP - 1010 - 1098 North Euclid Avenue

The only item on this week’s agenda is a request for a Conditional Use Permit for the construction of two drive through restaurants within an existing shopping center. The staff report for this item can be found online.

Back in January, the Planning Commission approved a liquor licenses for a new grocery store in this center. This request would add two new drive through restaurants to the center, in addition to the other improvements associated with the new grocery store. The two new restaurants would include a Starbucks and a Gallo Giro.

This property is zoned for general commercial uses, where drive through restaurants are conditionally allowed subject to the approval of a conditional use permit. To approve a CUP, the planning commission must find that the proposal is consistent with what may be allowed, that it doesn’t adversely affect the surrounding properties, that the size and shape of the site is adequate to accommodate the proposed uses, that the proposed uses won’t create an undue burden on the traffic on surrounding streets.

Personally, I don’t think the City’s zoning code should allow for drive through restaurants anywhere. They contribute to the car-centric nature of Anaheim. We should be working towards moving people without the need for a car, and providing more options for residents to get around. Building new drive throughs will make it that much more difficult, and take that much longer, before we can have truly livable neighborhoods. Unfortunately, there is no plan to transform Anaheim into a livable city, so we’re stuck with deciding these proposed drive throughs on the zoning code we have, not the one I wish we had.