Planning commission recommends updated shared-parking procedure, sends revisions to council

On Aug. 25, 2025, the Costa Mesa Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the City Council adopt updates to the City's procedure for determining shared parking requirements (PCTY-25-0001), including a revised shared-parking table and a revised page 5 of Appendix A. The motion was made by Vice Chair Zick and seconded by Commissioner Dixon; Commissioner Martinez cast the sole no vote.

Staff said the update narrows historic categories, adds common modern uses and adjusts hourly factors to reflect current demand. Assistant Planner Caitlin Curley and Economic Development Administrator Dan Enlos told the commission the update draws on the Urban Land Institute's Shared Parking (3rd ed.) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers' Parking Generation (6th ed.). Staff said the zoning code allows the shared-parking table to be updated by council resolution and described how the table is used to calculate peak-hour demand for mixed-use sites.

Why it matters: The revisions aim to reduce overbuilding of parking by aligning municipal requirements with contemporary empirical data and a wider set of use-specific categories (for example, gyms, studios and active-entertainment uses such as escape rooms). Staff told the commission that, in two case studies, the proposed updates reduced the code-required parking for the sites; staff also said they observed a parking surplus on those properties during site visits but did not compute a specific surplus count.

Commission discussion and public comments focused on transparency of the case studies and on particular land-use categories. Vice Chair Zick asked staff to provide addresses for both case-study sites so commissioners could visit them; staff agreed to email those locations. Zick also asked how many surplus stalls staff had observed; staff said the visits were casual observations and that a precise stall count was not calculated due to time constraints. Commissioner Martinez and others asked whether the new table treats compact spaces differently; staff clarified the amendment does not change the City's small/compact-car parking section (section 13-94) and that the shared-parking percentages assume full-size spaces unless otherwise noted.

A Zoom commenter asked whether the study accounts for compact-car parking and suggested eliminating compact-designated stalls; staff answered that compact-space rules are unchanged by this revision.

The motion forwarded the recommended amendments and the revised page 5 of Appendix A to the City Council with a finding that the ordinance is exempt from CEQA under the "common-sense" exemption (CEQA Guidelines —7061(b)(3)). The agenda packet and staff presentation noted the update covers 26 refined use categories (up from 14 in the original 1985 table) and that the methodology and data sources (ULI and ITE) were unchanged from industry standards. Staff said the updates are intended to produce predictable, transparent requirements for applicants and to reduce construction and maintenance costs associated with overbuilt parking.

Next steps: The commission's recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council for consideration; staff said it will provide the requested case-study addresses to commissioners.