Seal Beach planning commission approves St. Anne campus plan and variances, 4–1

The City of Seal Beach Planning Commission on Thursday approved a conditional use permit and associated variances that will allow St. Anne Catholic Church to demolish and replace its parish hall and offices, build a new five‑unit priest residence and reconfigure the site’s parking and landscaping.

The commission voted 4–1 to adopt Resolution No. 25‑10, approving Conditional Use Permit 25‑0004 and Variance 25‑0002 with amended findings and conditions; Chair Wheeler voted no. City staff said the project must still clear a separate California Coastal Commission review before construction begins.

Staff presented the project as a campus‑wide reconfiguration of the church property on the 300 block of 10th Street. The application covers a two‑story parish hall and parish offices, demolition of several existing residential structures and a replacement single residential structure with five single‑room‑occupancy units for clergy. The site is a 41,125 square‑foot lot in the RHD‑20 zone; staff noted the existing church building will remain unchanged.

The applicant sought variances to retain an existing nonconforming rear setback (2 feet 6 inches where the RHD‑20 rear setback would be 9 feet), to reduce the required landscape percentage for the parking area to 6 percent, to waive the requirement to plant trees in the parking lot, to reduce landscape separation between the parking lot and parish buildings, to remove the garage/carport standard for the priest residence…