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PLN19-0089 - 1716 Lincoln Ave - Applicant: Donna Chang. Public hearing to consider a use permit to allow the operation of an existing acupuncture facility with incidental retail of natural supplements and wellness workshops. The facility includes a waiting room and small library along the building frontage and the treatment area in the rear. The property is located within the C-1 (Neighborhood Business) zoning district. Pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-4.8 professional office uses occupying street-frontage retail space require the approval of a use permit to operate in the C-1 district
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CITY OF ALAMEDA
PLANNING, BUILDING AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
ADMINISTRATIVE USE PERMIT
ITEM NO: 3-A
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION: PLN19-0089 - 1716 Lincoln Ave - Applicant: Donna Chang. Public hearing to consider a use permit to allow the operation of an existing acupuncture facility with incidental retail of natural supplements and wellness workshops. The facility includes a waiting room and small library along the building frontage and the treatment area in the rear. The property is located within the C-1 (Neighborhood Business) zoning district. Pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-4.8 professional office uses occupying street-frontage retail space require the approval of a use permit to operate in the C-1 district.
GENERAL PLAN: Medium Density Residential
ZONING: C-1, Neighborhood Business District
ENVIRONMENTAL
DETERMINATION: Categorically Exempt from State CEQA Guidelines, Sections 15301 - permitting use of existing structures that involves negligible expansion of existing use.
PROJECT PLANNER: Linda Barrera, Planner II
PUBLIC NOTICE: A notice for this hearing was mailed to property owners and residents within 300 feet of the site, published in local newspapers and posted in public areas near the subject property. Staff has not received any public comments on this proposed project.
EXHIBITS: 1. Plans
RECOMMENDATION: Approve the project with conditions.
PROPOSAL SUMMARY:
On February 28, 2019, Donna Chang submitted a use permit application to permit an existing acupuncture facility with incidental retail of natural supplements and wellness workshops within the C-1 (Neighborhood Business) zoning district. The facility is approximately 1,500 square feet and was established previously without the benefit of a use permit. The retail activity and waiting room are located in the front 20% portion of the commercial space fronting Lincoln Avenue. The acupuncture services and wellness workshops are conducted in the rear portion of the facility. The business is open from 9:30 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. daily. The project does not include any exterior modifications to the building.
The subject property is zoned C-1, Neighborhood Business District. Pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-4.8 professional office uses occupying street-frontage retail space require the approval of a use permit to operate in the C-1 district. Although retail sale is also part of this proposal, it is incidental to the acupuncture use. The scope of the retail sale does not meet AMC 30-4.8(b)(2)(q), which requires fifty (50%) percent of the ground floor space nearest the building frontage to be reserved for retail sales and is therefore subject to a use permit.
USE PERMIT FINDINGS:
1. The location of the proposed use is compatible with other land uses in the general neighborhood area, and the project design and size is architecturally, aesthetically, and operationally harmonious with the community and surrounding development. The property at 1716 Lincoln Avenue is located within a node of properties on Lincoln Avenue and Grand Street that are zoned C-1, Neighborhood Business District. Adjacent to the C-1 district are residences zoned R-5, Neighborhood Residential. The acupuncture facility has been a compatible use with the existing commercial and residential uses in the area as the use is low-intensity. Like other medical and treatment office, this acupuncture use has not generated heavy traffic, noise or other public nuisance, and approving of this use permit will not cause any new operational changes. Overall, the proposed acupuncture facility use is consistent with the C-1 zoning classification in providing a convenient service to the adjacent residential neighborhood.
2. The proposed use will be served by adequate transportation and service facilities, including pedestrian, bicycle and transit facilities. The property is already fully developed and does not require additional service facilities. The project site is served by AC Transit bus routes 51A, 314, 851 and O on Santa Clara Avenue, which stop approximately one block south of the site. And AC Transit bus routes 19 on Buena Vista Avenue and Grand Street, which stops approximately two (2) blocks from the site.
3. The proposed use, if it complies with all conditions upon which approval is made contingent, will not adversely affect other property in the vicinity and will not have substantial deleterious effects on existing business districts or the local economy. The acupuncture use provides the community with access to acupuncture treatment and nutritional support. Acupuncture offices are a low-intensity use and will not affect the surrounding properties, hurt existing business districts or the local economy. The hours of operation are between 9:30 A.M. and 7:30 P.M. daily are within the City’s standard hours of operation for businesses in the C-1, Neighborhood Commercial Business District, which are between 7:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. per Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-4.8(b)(2). The acupuncture office use will not have adverse impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.
4. The proposed use relates favorably to the General Plan. While the property is designated Medium Density Residential, the proposed project does not involve any new construction and therefore does not raise issues with General Plan consistency. Instead, the proposed use in the existing building is consistent with several policies in the General Plan regarding the provision of neighborhood-serving business in existing business locations. The proposed acupuncture use is consistent with General Plan Policy 2.5.a, which supports providing business service space to expand the City full range of business services to Alameda residents. Furthermore, the proposal is consistent with policy 2.5.g, which supports maintaining existing neighborhood business districts for small businesses, especially for providing personal services for surrounding residential neighborhoods at the City’s neighborhood corner business
1. Compliance with Plans. Any modification on this site shall be in substantial compliance with the use permit application submittal dated February 28, 2019, by Donna Chang, on file in the City of Alameda Planning, Building and Transportation Department, except as modified by the conditions listed in this report.
2. Changes to Approved Plans: This approval is limited to the scope of the project defined in the project description and does not represent a recognition and/or approval of any work completed without required City permits. Any changes to the approved scope of the project shall be submitted to the Planning, Building and Transportation Department for review and approval.
3. Building Permit Plans: The plans submitted for building permit shall be in substantial compliance with plans prepared by Donna Chang, received on February 28, 2019 and on file in the office of the City of Alameda Planning, Building and Transportation Department, except as modified by the conditions listed in this letter. The project shall comply with all Building Code requirements.
4. Vesting: The Use Permit approval shall expire two (2) years after the date of approval or by April 1, 2021 unless authorized construction or use of the property has commenced. The applicant may apply for a time extension, not to exceed two (2) years. An extension request will be subject to approval by the Zoning Administrator and must be filed prior to the date of expiration.
5. Approved Uses: This Use Permit approves an acupuncture office and associated acupressure massage on the first floor of an existing commercial space within the C-1, Neighborhood Business District at 1716 Lincoln Avenue. The Use Permit also allows incidental retail sales of nutritional supplements and wellness workshops as well as other professional office uses in the AP, Administrative Professional category set forth in AMC Section 30-4.7.
6. Storefront: The business shall maintain a transparent storefront presence consistent with the C-1 zoning district goal to maintain pedestrian-oriented establishments. The storefront windows and doors shall not be obscured during business hours with privacy tint film, closed blinds or curtains, or other visual barriers. Any retail display for the business shall utilize space immediately behind the storefront to the maximum extent practicable.
7. Revocation: This Use Permit may be modified or revoked by the Zoning Administrator, pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-21.3d should the Zoning Administrator determine that: 1) the use or conditions under which it is being operated or maintained is detrimental to the public health, welfare or materially injurious to property or improvements in the vicinity; 2) the property is operated or maintained so as to constitute a public nuisance; or 3) the use is operated in violation of the conditions of the Use Permit.
8. Indemnification. The Applicant shall defend (with counsel reasonably acceptable to the City), indemnify, and hold harmless the City of Alameda, the Alameda City Planning Board and their respective agents, officers, and employees from any claim, action, or proceeding (including legal costs and attorney’s fees) against the City of Alameda, Alameda City Planning Board, and their respective agents, officers, or employees to attack, set aside, void or annul, an approval by the City of Alameda, the Planning, Building, and Transportation Department, Alameda City Planning Board, the City of or City Council related to this project. The City shall promptly notify the Applicant of any claim, action, or proceeding and the City shall cooperate in such defense. The City may elect, in its sole discretion, to participate in the defense of said claim, action, or proceeding. No judicial proceedings subject to review pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.5 may be prosecuted more than ninety (90) days following the date of this decision plus extensions authorized by California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1094.6
Environmental Determination
The Zoning Administrator has determined that this project qualifies for a Class 1 Categorical Exemption and no additional environmental review is necessary pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 - Existing Facilities because the project consists of permitting of existing private structures involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that which exists.
Use Permit
The Zoning Administrator hereby approves the Use Permit with conditions.
The decision of the Zoning Administrator shall be final unless appealed to the Planning Board, in writing and within ten (10) days of the decision.
Approved by: Date: April 1, 2019___
Allen Tai, Zoning Administrator