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Garden Grove council advances zoning rules for substance-abuse treatment centers
Summary
Council introduced an ordinance to require conditional permits and 500-foot buffers for substance-abuse treatment centers, approving the first reading unanimously; staff identified about 29 industrial parcels that could qualify under the proposed rules.
The Garden Grove City Council on Tuesday introduced and gave first reading to an ordinance that would regulate substance-abuse treatment centers as a conditionally permitted use in the city’s M-1 (limited industrial) zoning.
City planning staff said the change would require centers to obtain a conditional use permit, impose a 500-foot buffer from residences, schools, parks and other sensitive uses, and set operational and parking standards. "Because of potential public health, safety, and welfare impacts," staff recommended the standards after studying calls for service and site visits, Mary Medrano told the council.
The proposed ordinance would limit dispensing of medication to an enclosed building (no drive-through), require security measures such as lighting and cameras, allow private security and monitoring of parking, and set parking at five spaces per 1,000 square feet. Medrano said the draft locational criteria would allow these centers in an industrial area north of Westminster Avenue and west of Harbor Boulevard; staff identified about 29 industrial parcels in that area outside the proposed 500-foot buffers.
The City Council previously adopted an urgency moratorium on these uses (Urgency Ordinance No. 2949) in December 2023 to allow study of potential impacts as housing designations in the city changed. Medrano told council the moratorium and research informed the draft ordinance; Planning Commission recommended the amendment on Aug. 21 by a 5–1 vote.
Council members expressed support for the policy’s emphasis on protecting nearby housing and children. After public testimony was opened and no members of the public spoke on the item, a council motion to introduce and read the ordinance passed on a 6–0 roll call vote.
If adopted after the required hearings and the second reading, the rule set will require any new substance-abuse treatment center to obtain a conditional use permit and comply with the operating, security and locational conditions specified in the city code update. The ordinance as transmitted to council would not immediately change operations of facilities already in existence without further action tied to permit approvals.
The city did not set a final adoption date at Tuesday’s meeting; councilmembers moved to introduce the ordinance and return for the mandatory second reading and adoption vote.
