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Seal Beach Planning Commission approves wider garage at 417 Emerald Place
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Summary
The Planning Commission voted 5-0 April 7 to grant a minor use permit allowing a 31-foot-wide garage at 417 Emerald Place after staff found the design met municipal standards and a CEQA categorical exemption.
The Seal Beach Planning Commission unanimously approved a minor use permit April 7 to allow a 31-foot-wide garage on a new single-family residence at 417 Emerald Place.
Associate Planner Patricia Garcia told the commission that Seal Beach Municipal Code section 11.2.05.015 n.2 limits garages within 30 feet of a front lot line to 20 feet in width unless the Planning Commission grants an exception through a minor use permit. Garcia said the proposed garage — a 21-foot two-car bay plus a 10-foot golf-cart bay, totaling 31 feet — would represent about 43.7% of the home's 71-foot residential façade and therefore meets the code’s separate requirement that attached garages not exceed 50% of the front façade.
The subject parcel is an irregular, pie-shaped lot of approximately 9,379 square feet at the end of Emerald Place near the Pacific Coast Highway/Seal Beach Boulevard intersection in the Residential Low Density (LD-9) zone. Garcia said the project will be processed administratively through the Coastal In Concept Review process for other aspects, but Planning Commission approval was required because the garage exceeds 20 feet in width. She also said staff determined the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as a Class 3 categorical exemption for new construction.
Jeff Benson, the project architect, provided the commission with the site coverage figure and answered commissioners’ questions. Benson said the site coverage is 36.58% (3,356 square feet) and thanked staff for their work on the project: "I'd like to thank staff for presenting the project. They've been great to work with." A resident asked whether golf carts can operate on Seal Beach Boulevard or Pacific Coast Highway; commissioners and staff said that question falls under the vehicle code and would be referred to the police department for a later response.
Commission discussion was brief, with no public opposition during the hearing. Commissioner Campbell moved to approve the permit, the motion was seconded, and a roll-call vote recorded five yes votes: Commissioner Campbell, Commissioner Kohls, Commissioner Nolte, Vice Chair Mangione and Chair Wheeler. The motion passed 5-0. Garcia told the commission there is a 10-day appeal period beginning the day after the hearing.
In other business, the commission approved the meeting agenda and the Feb. 18 meeting minutes by roll-call votes earlier in the session. Director's remarks noted a joint Environmental Quality Control Board and Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on April 16 at 6:15 p.m. in Council Chambers to hear a presentation from the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority.
The commission’s formal action for the Emerald Place project was to adopt the staff-recommended resolution approving the minor use permit with conditions and to find the project exempt from CEQA; the resolution number and exact permit file number were stated in staff remarks as "resolution number 20 five-two" and "minor use permit 20" but were not read in a standardized numeric format during the hearing.
