On Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Seal Beach Planning Commission approved a resolution recommending that the City Council amend the Zoning Code to eliminate “height variations” above the 25-foot (two-story) height limits for so-called “dog houses.”
The proposed Zoning Code amendment will now go to the City Council for consideration.
“The proposed amendment specifically applies to covered access to roof decks,” wrote Mark Persico, director of Development Services, in his report to the commission.
“If the proposed amendments are adopted, ‘Height Variations’ for covered access to roof decks would no longer be permitted. However, the amendment will not change current provisions regarding height variations for other identified architectural features,” Persico wrote.
The current Zoning Code allows for a “variation” of up to 7 feet above the height limit for certain building features, such as covered rooftop access structures—“dog houses.”
A variation is not a variance. A variance is an exception to the rules. A variation is built into the rules.
The new ordinance would still allow a height variation for spires, towers, belfries and parapets.
A property owner who wants to include such features in a planned building would need approval from the planners following a conditional use permit hearing.
Persico told the Sun Newspapers that seven members of the public spoke about the proposed amendment. According to Persico, all seven favored the amendment to the Zoning Code. However, they also told planners that they want all features above the 25-foot height limit to be eliminated.
In other news
That same night, the commission adopted operating guidelines.
The new guidelines include having staff “maintain a map indicating the location of properties in which members of the Planning Commission have an interest that must be reported on an FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) Form 700, and showing a 500-foot radius around such property,” according to the staff report.
The Fair Political Practices Commission is a state agency.
The new guidelines recommended changing the starting time of Planning Commission meetings from 7:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and changing the nights of commission meetings to the first and third Wednesday of each month.
“These changes require an ordinance change by the City Council because the Municipal Code establishes meeting dates and times,” according to the staff report.
Planners approved an indefinite extension of a conditional use permit for the Pei Wei restaurant in the Shops at Rossmoor shopping center.
