REPORT TO THE ZONING ADMINISTRATOR
SUBJECT
Title
Proposed Project:
USE PERMIT to allow a community-serving place of assembly for Buddhist Community Center in the Industrial and Service/Places of Assembly (M-S/POA) zoning district.
Location: 1211 E. Arques Avenue (APNs: 216-44-116 and -117)
File #: PLNG-2024-0463
Zoning: M-S/POA (Industrial and Service/Places of Assembly)
Applicant / Owner: Evan Sockalosky (applicant) / 1211 E. Arques LP (owner)
Environmental Review: Class 1 Categorical Exemption relieves this project from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provisions.
Project Planner: Wendy Lao, 408-730-7408, wlao@sunnyvale.ca.gov
Report
BACKGROUND
The project site consists of two parcels that are currently developed with a 20,287 square-foot commercial building (formerly 24-Hour Fitness), surface parking, and mature landscaping along the street frontages and throughout the site. The project area is 1.79 acres in size, located at the northeast corner of Lawrence Expressway and E. Arques Avenue. There is a shopping center to the north, an office building to the east, and shopping centers across Lawrence Expressway to the west and across E. Arques Avenue to the south.
The project site is zoned Industrial and Service with Places of Assembly combining district and located in the Industrial General Plan land use designation. Surrounding land uses include various commercial and industrial buildings. Multi-family residential homes as well as U.S. Highway 101 are located further north of the project site.
Description of Proposed Project
The proposed project includes a request to allow a community-serving place of assembly for Buddhist Community Center in the existing building. As described in the Project Description Letter (Attachment 5), the center would offer religious services and activities within the building premises. The proposed use would occupy approximately 15,712 square feet of the existing building. The remaining 4,688 square feet would be used for storage and would not serve as a gathering space. No significant exterior changes to the existing building are proposed as part of this request.
Per Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC) Table 19.22.030, a Use Permit is required for community-serving places of assembly in the M-S/POA zoning district.
See Attachment 1 for a map of the vicinity and mailing area for notices.
Previous Actions on the Site
In 1977, a retail stationary/office supply store was approved on the subject site. A retail use had continued to operate in the building until 1992 when the business vacated the premises. In 1993, the City approved a Design Permit to allow an athletic club (24-Hour Fitness), who occupied the building until March 2023. Multiple permits have been granted to allow modifications to landscaping, signage, and parking. There are no other previous planning projects related to the proposed use and no open Neighborhood Preservation complaints.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A Class 1 Categorical Exemption (15301) relieves this project from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provisions. The Class 1 exemption applies to the operation, maintenance, or minor alterations of an existing building, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. The project proposes a change of use which would not require or result in major physical alterations.
DISCUSSION
Proposed Use
The proposed use would consist of religious services and activities including but not limited to group prayer, study sessions, faith dialogues and youth development activities within the building premises. The largest meetings would be held in the sanctuary room on the first Sundays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the sanctuary would be open on the remaining Sundays of the month from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. There are five smaller meeting rooms that would be most utilized Mondays through Fridays 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sundays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. by appointment and when the sanctuary is not in use. The other rooms including a conference room, offices, bookstore, exhibit room, and quiet room would have limited use, as they are accessory space or would be used on an as-needed basis. (See Attachment 5 for Project Description letter.) A condition of approval prohibits the storage room from being used as a gathering area. The storage room will not have interior access to the main building and would only be accessible to authorized staff and emergency personnel through a KnoxBox, a key safe, or similar mechanism. (See Attachment 3 for Conditions of Approval.)
Development Standards
The project does not propose any changes to the building footprint. As such, the project maintains existing building setbacks, building square footage and floor area ratio, lot coverage, and height. Minor improvements to the building include a KnoxBox to the storage area at the rear of the building. The proposed project complies with all applicable development standards, as set forth in the Sunnyvale Municipal Code.
Site Access, Circulation, and Parking
The existing parking lot would be restriped to provide a total of 93 parking spaces, including 89 standard spaces and four accessible spaces. The proposed 3,092 square-foot sanctuary, which is the largest primary gathering area, would require 78 parking spaces during peak hours. In addition, the five meeting rooms which are also classified as primary gathering areas but would be utilized during the sanctuary’s off-peak hours, total 2,735 square feet and would require 69 parking spaces. In both cases, the proposed 93 parking spaces would exceed the minimum parking requirements.
The project requires five bicycle parking spaces. The project proposes two secured, long-term bicycle parking spaces inside a bicycle storage room and four short-term bicycle parking spaces outside the building entrance, exceeding the minimum requirement.
The parking lot can be accessed through an existing two-way driveway from E. Arques Avenue. There is also a driveway from Lawrence Expressway through the adjacent site’s parking lot to the north. The project includes minor site improvements for a trash enclosure and curb ramps.
Trees and Landscaping
The project involves the removal of a Coast Redwood tree due to its poor condition. The tree would be replaced with a California Coast Live Oak tree along the E. Arques Avenue frontage. In addition, several trees in the parking lot, which have either not been property maintained or have deteriorated, will be replanted to comply with the landscape plan approved in the original 1977 planning application.
Staff finds that the proposed use of a community-serving place of assembly meets the required Use Permit findings, as the use meets the General Plan policies that encourage a mix of uses that serve neighboring residential properties and complies with all development standards. See Attachment 2 for required Use Permit findings.
NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS/COMPATIBILITY:
The proposed Buddhist Community Center meets the General Plan policies that encourage a mix of uses that serve neighboring properties. The proposed use is compatible with the surrounding uses including the shopping center to the north and does not conflict with the offices to the east during peak hours. The project complies with all development standards. No outdoor activity is proposed, and no exterior noise is anticipated that would exceed the existing ambient noise levels. In addition, the application represents a positive repurposing of a sizable commercial area that has remained unoccupied since March 2023. For these reasons, staff finds that the proposed use is compatible with the neighborhood and would not significantly impact neighboring uses.
See Attachment 5 for the Project Description Letter and Attachment 2 for the required Use Permit findings.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Consistent with the city’s noticing policy, a notice of the public hearing was mailed to 79 property owners and residents in the surrounding area, a notice board was posted at the project site and the notice was also published in the Sun newspaper. Additionally, public contact was made by posting the agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board at City Hall at 456 W. Olive Avenue and on the City’s website.
Staff has received no comments on the item as of the time of staff report production.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve the Use Permit with recommended Findings in Attachment 2 and recommended Conditions in Attachment 3.
2. Approve the Use Permit with modifications.
3. Deny the Use Permit.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 1. Approve the Use Permit with recommended Findings in Attachment 2 and Conditions in Attachment 3.
Staff
Prepared by: Wendy Lao, Associate Planner
Approved by: Julia Klein, Principal Planner
ATTACHMENTS
1. Vicinity and Noticing Maps
2. Recommended Findings
3. Recommended Conditions of Approval
4. Site and Architectural Plans
5. Project Description Letter
6. Use Permit Justification Form
7. Arborist Report
8. Approved 1977 Landscape Plan
9. Parking Management Plan