Planning staff recommends allowing indoor sports and recreation as a similar use in industrial zone; commission discusses use-on-review alternative

Planning staff recommended approving a similar-use determination to allow indoor sports and recreation facilities as a use analogous to existing permitted uses (for example, indoor paintball ranges) in the industrial (I) zone, but commissioners discussed whether the change should be handled as a use-on-review instead of a permitted use by right.

An unnamed planning staff member summarized the request and the rationale: industrial parks commonly feature flex buildings with large open floorplates that can accommodate indoor recreation (soccer, basketball, batting cages, etc.). The applicant cited NAICS classifications for fitness and recreation sports centers; staff noted that indoor paintball ranges already appear in the I zone with supplemental standards (including a minimum floor area and additional agency reviews in some cases). The presenter said typical operating hours for the proposed use might be about 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and that industrial zoning’s location on major roads could suit such facilities.

Commissioners raised governance questions: one commissioner said approving the similar-use determination would effectively add the use across all industrial-zoned properties (making it available countywide by right) and asked whether that was intended. Staff confirmed that approving a similar-use determination would make the use allowable in the industrial district and noted that an alternative would be to require a use-on-review (use on review) to evaluate each location individually. Another commissioner supported treating such requests as a use-on-review to assess site-specific compatibility rather than creating a use by right. Staff also noted that some supplemental regulations for indoor paintball facilities (for example, 25,000-square-foot minimum and agency reviews for hazardous materials) would not necessarily apply to all indoor recreational uses; the presenter emphasized the commission should consider compatibility across the industrial district because the determination would be broadly applicable if approved. No formal vote was recorded in the transcript.