That the City Council provide direction to the Director of Community and Economic Development to prepare a draft ordinance to amend the La Habra Municipal Code to further streamline the approval process for outdoor dining areas.

In 2020, in an effort to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 on local restaurants, the Community and Economic Development Department approved over 41 temporary outdoor dining permits citywide. These outdoor dining areas provided local restaurants the opportunity to remain open during the beginning of the pandemic, in accordance with state and county public health orders. These temporary outdoor dining permits were administrative permits with general guidelines not involving any processing fees or design standards. 

On May 2, 2022, the City Council, at its regular meeting, adopted Ordinance No. 1839, as part of the City's Code Streamlining and Improvement Program, to bring the Zoning Code into compliance with recent State legislation, streamline project processing, remove unnecessary regulations in order to be more supportive of local businesses, and clarify requirements to make the Zoning Code easier to implement. As part of this Code amendment, Council approved modifications to La Habra Municipal Code (LHMC) Section 18.12.140 (Outdoor Seating Area) to streamline the approval process for outdoor dining areas. These amendments were intended to help local restaurants with temporary outdoor dining areas, replace these areas with permanent dining areas, and encourage new outdoor dining areas.

The adopted ordinance allows outdoor dining areas that are less than or equal to 25 percent of the restaurant’s total floor area to be subject to the approval of an Administrative Adjustment; and, outdoor dining areas that are larger than 25 percent of the restaurant’s total floor area to be subject to the approval of a modification to a restaurant’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP Modification). This amendment changed the threshold between an Administrative Adjustment and a CUP Modification from a set size of 250 square feet to a percentage of the total floor area. An Administrative Adjustment is subject to the approval of the Director of Community and Economic Development; a CUP Modification is subject to the approval of the Planning Commission at a noticed public hearing. The Fiscal Year 2022/23 (FY22/23) fee to process an Administrative Adjustment is $334; the fee to process a CUP Modification is $3,956 and the associated environmental review is $412, for a total cost of $4,368. In addition, if the request is for an area larger than 25 percent of the total floor area, a parking study is required to show that there is adequate parking to support in increase in dining area. No additional parking or analysis is required for outdoor dining areas that are less than 25 percent of the restaurant's total area, unless the outdoor dining area would be constructed over existing parking spaces. Finally, if the restaurant would like to serve alcohol within the proposed outdoor dining area, depending on the conditions of approval for the restaurant's CUP, this request may also require an additional CUP Modification, for an additional fee of $3,956. This information is summarized in the table below.'

Of the temporary outdoor dining areas that were approved for restaurants during the beginning of the pandemic, only four remain. If these restaurants were to replace their temporary outdoor dining areas with permanent areas, staff's preliminary analysis has determined that two restaurants would be subject to an Administrative Adjustment and two would require a CUP modification. If the threshold were to be increased to 50 percent of the restaurant's total floor area, all would likely be able to be processed with an Administrative Adjustment; however, outdoor alcohol service may still require approval of a CUP Modification.

In order to further streamline the approval process for outdoor dining areas, staff is seeking direction from the City Council on the following:

The Fiscal Year 2022/23 (FY22/23) fee to process an Administrative Adjustment is $334; the fee to process a CUP Modification is $3,956 and the associated environmental review is $412, for a total cost of $4,368, as identified in the Master Fee Schedule.

This request implements the following FY2022/23 City of La Habra Goal and Objective:
Goal 5 - Development Activity and Business Assistance
Objective B: Identify underutilized commercial properties that have sales tax generating potential and work with property owners and the brokerage community to develop land to its highest and best use.
Objective C: Work closely with commercial and residential property owners to improve and maintain the appearance of their properties.
Objective D: Continue to improve the City's development review process and continue to foster a "business friendly" environment with all City departments.
Objective Q: Analyze the need for amendments to the La Habra Municipal Code that would facilitate the creation of additional outdoor dining opportunities.
Objective R: Review the Zoning Code on an ongoing basis and process amendments that ensure compliance with recent State legislation, streamline project processing, remove unnecessary regulations, and/or make the Zoning Code easier to implement.