Zoning administrator approves LocoCycle studio with added noise study condition

San Clemente City Zoning Administrator Adam Octavia on May 22 approved a minor conditional use permit to allow group cycling instruction at an existing 1,000-square-foot retail space in Plaza Pacifica and added a requirement for a noise study if the studio exceeds the city's noise thresholds.

The action allows LocoCycle to operate group cycling classes seven days a week with a maximum of 19 clients and two employees on site. City staff had recommended approval of Minor Conditional Use Permit MCP 25-145 and that the project be found exempt from CEQA under Guidelines section 15301 (existing facilities).

Assistant Planner Alexia Braczynski told the zoning administrator the business had been operating without a business license and a minor conditional use permit. Braczynski said the applicant proposed amplified music during classes and that staff omitted an operational-noise condition from the draft resolution. The planner recommended adding the condition to the adopted conditions of approval.

After hearing no public comment or applicant presence, Octavia said he had reviewed the staff report, visited the site and was satisfied the parking analysis showed a surplus of 75 spaces following the studio's addition. He moved to adopt Resolution ZA25-011 approving Minor Conditional Use Permit 25-145 and inserted the missing condition (1.12) into the permit's conditions.

Octavia read the added condition into the record. The condition requires that "in the event noise generated by the cycling studio exceeds the city's noise ordinance thresholds as verified by city code compliance staff, a noise study shall be performed by a licensed professional and use associated with this permit shall discontinue operating until the recommendations of the acoustic report are implemented appropriately as determined by the city planner and/or building official, demonstrating compliance with the city's noise standards as described in San Clemente Municipal Code Chapter 8.48." (Adam Octavia, zoning administrator)

The resolution and conditions as amended appear to close the outstanding code-violation pathway by bringing the operation into the permitting process and adding an enforcement step tied to the city's noise standards.

Staff records show the project is categorically exempt from CEQA per Guidelines section 15301. The file identifies the project address as 979 Avenue To Pico in the Neighborhood Commercial (NC 1.2) zone.

The zoning administrator closed the public hearing on this item after making the determination and instructing staff to finalize the resolution and conditions.

A follow-up compliance check is not specified in the record; the conditions of approval and the city's code-compliance process will govern any future enforcement actions if noise or other operational violations occur.