Santa Fe Springs staff outline citywide zoning code overhaul; residents seek clearer explanations on residential impacts

Santa Fe Springs City staff and consultants presented a citywide comprehensive zoning code update at a public meeting and said the work is intended to modernize and streamline regulations citywide rather than change parcel-level zoning.

The update “is 68 years old, in desperate need of an update,” a presenter said, arguing the project will examine what in the code makes projects difficult to approve and whether processes such as Conditional Use Permits or frequent zone modifications could be simplified.

City staff and the consulting team said the project will focus on the regulatory text — what is and is not allowed in each zoning category — rather than on rezoning individual parcels. “This is a comprehensive zoning code update. This is not so much of a zoning map update,” a presenter said, noting the zoning map is already consistent with the recently adopted general plan.

Residents, including one who identified himself as Quan, pressed officials to explain how the code changes would affect residential neighborhoods. Quan asked whether the consultants had examined how larger nearby cities handle parking and whether the update would consider low-density residential areas, open green space, or reduce so-called food deserts by allowing grocery uses downtown.

Staff responded that the code update can change which uses are permitted — for example, to allow grocery stores in certain zones — but cannot require a grocery to locate on a particular site. The presenter said the team can “look at allowed uses … to make sure grocery stores and different things are allowed,” but that requiring a specific use on a given parcel is outside the scope of a code-text update.

To make the code easier for residents to understand, staff said they plan to add graphics and clearer explanations to the zoning text and to provide a summary of the assessment recommendations memo. The presenter said they would consider printed copies and a summarized memo for public meetings and outreach: staff will highlight key problems and a short list of recommended changes to aid communication with residents.

On process changes, the team said they are exploring ways to reduce discretionary approvals that can delay projects, including whether some parking-related decisions now requiring zone modifications could be handled administratively. They also said enforcement issues such as permit-parking disputes are handled outside the code-text project and would be addressed through enforcement channels where appropriate.

Next steps identified at the meeting include staff sharing the assessment recommendations memo and a summary with stakeholders, continuing the consultant–staff collaboration on the draft code, and holding additional outreach to explain how the changes would affect homeowners and neighborhoods.