The project site is an existing tenant space in the West Covina Shopping Center, located on the west side of N. Azusa Avenue between Rowland Avenue and Workman Avenue. The site is adjacent to the Neighborhood Commercial (N-C) zones on the north and east, and Single Family Residential (R-1) zones on the south and west. 

 

ITEM	DESCRIPTION
ZONING AND GENERAL PLAN	"Service Commercial" (S-C) and "Commercial" (C)
SURROUNDING LAND USES AND ZONING	North: "Service Commercial" (S-C)  East: "Neighborhood Commercial" (N-C), "Service Commercial" (S-C), "Office Professional" (O-P) South: "Neighborhood Commercial" (N-C), "Residential Single Family" (R-1)  West: "Residential Single Family" (R-1)
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT	Game arcade / Indoor jumping / kids entertainment
LEGAL NOTICE	Legal notice was published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, and was mailed to 187 owners and occupants of the properties located within 300 feet of the subject site.

 

The applicant is requesting approval of a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to allow the use of a game arcade within an existing 5,600 square foot tenant space. Jumper's Jungle is an indoor jumping facility for children between the ages of five (5) and twelve (12) years old. A toddler area will be available, which will include learning blocks and age-appropriate toys. The facility provides various game machines and multiple jumpers for children to enjoy. The facility will also provide game tables, basketball baskets and multiple jumpers. The facility's target is to host private parties with groups of 15. The facility does not prepare any food.  All snacks and drinks that are sold will be prepackaged in plastic containers. 

The facility is family-owned and will have three (3) employees. The proposed hours of operation are: 12:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (except for Wednesdays when the business will be closed), and 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.


Parking

On September 13, 1994, Variance 997 was approved to allow a 117 parking space deficit. The parking requirement at the time was 1,097 parking spaces based on the uses. The approved variance reduced the required parking to 980 spaces.

The West Covina Municipal Code states that the parking requirements are to be determined per the CUP depending on the type of main use, location or if it is a main use arcade. Therefore, the Planning Commission can establish the parking requirement for the proposed use. Planning staff have used the parking requirements for an indoor recreation facility as a guideline, since it is a similar use. As a result, the staff is recommending that the required parking for Jumper’s Jungle be established as 51 parking spaces. The previous tenant operated as a game arcade, similar to the proposed use.

The shopping center has a variety of uses, including a trade school, restaurants, medical offices, and retail. The trade school (UEI) utilizes/occupies most of the parking on the south side of the shopping center. The parking requirement for the trade school is 299 spaces. The trade school operates Monday through Friday with day and evening classes. Planning staff confirmed with the trade school that no classes occur on weekends. Uses such as restaurants and retail have vehicular traffic circulating for short periods of time. In addition, retailers and medical offices are typically closed after 6:00 p.m. resulting in less vehicular traffic in the evenings and weekends. Because the proposed use has peak activity on nights and weekends, there is a reduced likelihood of conflict or consistent parking issues. Based on the surrounding uses, parking will be adequate during the proposed hours of operation, given that some of the neighboring uses are primarily daytime use.

 

Jumper's Jungle  Floor Area	Square feet	Parking Requirement	Parking Needed
Game Area with New Commercial Grade Carpet Tiles	1,655	One (1) for every forty (40) square feet of assembly area not occupied by seats	1,655/40 = 42
Birthday Party Area with New Commercial  Grade Laminate wood flooring	530	One (1) parking space for each two and one-half (2.5) seats	18/2.5 = 8
Office / Employee Area	235	One (1) parking space for each two hundred fifty (250) square feet of gross floor area.	235/250 = 1
Other area	3,180	Inflatable games and restrooms, etc.	N/A
Total	5,600	TOTAL PARKING REQUIRED	51

a. That the proposed use at the particular location is necessary or desirable to provide a service or facility which will contribute to the general well-being of the neighborhood or community.
b. That such use will not, under the circumstances of the particular case, be detrimental to the health, safety, peace or general welfare of persons residing or working in the vicinity or injurious to property or improvements in the vicinity.
c. That the site for the proposed use is adequate in size and is so shaped as to accommodate said use, as well as all yards, spaces, walls, fences, parking, loading, landscaping, and any other features necessary to adjust said use to the land and uses in the neighborhood and make it compatible therewith.
d. That the site abuts streets and highways adequate in width and improvements to carry traffic generations typical of the proposed use and that street patterns of such a nature exist as to guarantee that such generations will not be channeled through residential areas on local residential streets.
e. That the granting of such a conditional use permit will not adversely affect the general plan of the city, or any other adopted plan of the city.

The City's General Plan Land Use Element designates the subject property for Commercial Uses. The project is consistent with the following General Plan policies:

Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the proposed project is considered to be categorically exempt, pursuant to Section 15301 (Class 1, Existing Facilities) in that it consists of minor alterations of the existing structure in order to operate the requested use.