Planning Commission Denies Variance for 313 West Church Avenue Over Undergrounding, ADA Issues

The Ridgecrest Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny a variance request for 313 West Church Avenue that would have exempted the new single-family construction from the city's underground electrical connection requirement and left two Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility issues uncorrected.

Staff presented the item at a public hearing, saying the request did not meet the five findings required under the city's municipal code for a zoning variance. Staff noted the property is in a multifamily-residential zone with a medium-density general-plan designation and that nearby recently rebuilt homes complied with undergrounding and ADA requirements. The planning staff report recommended denial.

Applicant Toni Rosso told the commission he had submitted building permits beginning in March 2018, that plans were approved in January 2021, and that construction resumed in 2022. Rosso said the original permit showed the house was to be fed by overhead electrical service because the subdivision historically had rear-lot service and that he has already completed roughly two-thirds of the build using those assumptions. Rosso said he faces financial hardship if required to convert service and correct sidewalk/driveway issues, and that he plans to appeal the commission's decision to the City Council.

City staff told the commission Southern California Edison inspected the property in July 2024 and identified an incorrect connection. A written notice listing three problems'the underground utilities, sidewalk accessibility, and driveway cross-slope'was issued in November 2024. When Rosso applied for the variance, he requested relief only for the undergrounding requirement; because the notice cited all three issues, staff included and considered the ADA items in the report.

Staff repeatedly said the code's subdivision-era undergrounding standard (adopted in 1980) is applied broadly to new development and that nearby properties and recent infill builds on the same block had complied with underground utilities and retrofitted sidewalks/driveway approaches for ADA requirements. Staff concluded the required variance findings were not supported: staff found no extraordinary physical circumstances unique to the lot, and that granting the variance would amount to a special privilege inconsistent with other properties on the block.

Commission discussion referenced the permit history, when the property was originally subdivided (the applicant cited a 1945 subdivision), and the practical difficulty Rosso described in reworking a nearly finished home. Commission members clarified that the commission had not already denied the variance prior to tonight's vote and that the commission's role was to make the findings required by the municipal code.

A motion to deny the variance (item 25-1) carried 5-0. Commissioners recorded their votes in the public meeting record as aye, and staff advised Rosso to notify city staff within five days if he intends to appeal to the City Council.

Rosso said he will appeal. The commission closed the public hearing after the vote; no further action was taken on the item at the meeting.

Notes: the staff report and hearing referenced the California Public Utilities Commission regarding undergrounding as a safety measure and referred to ADA compliance standards for sidewalks and driveway approaches.