Calimesa planning commission approves Salonstra expansion and conditional use permit

The Calimesa Planning Commission voted to approve a design review and conditional use permit that will allow an expansion of an existing downtown beauty salon and permit a range of personal services at the site, Planning Department staff said.

Senior Planner Celine Sevilla told the commission the project at 569 West County Line Road would join two existing commercial buildings into a single structure and add salon suites. Staff described the addition as about 1,100 square feet (the presentation referenced both 1,134 and later 1,090 square-foot figures) that would result in a combined structure of roughly 2,254 square feet and include five individual salon suites with storage and unisex restrooms.

Sevilla said the applicant seeks approval of Major Development Plan Review DPR‑24‑01 and Conditional Use Permit CUP‑24‑01 to allow personal‑services uses — examples listed by staff included tanning, tattooing, body piercing and massage — in the downtown village commercial zone. Staff recommended adoption of a revised Planning Commission resolution to approve the requests and asked the commission to find the project categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under the cited guidelines (transcript cites '15301 c and 15303').

Commission discussion and staff responses Commissioners raised site‑specific concerns before voting, primarily focused on pedestrian and vehicular circulation, existing landscaping, and access to the trash enclosure. One commissioner who had visited the site described the driveway and a particular parking space as "tight" and questioned whether a refuse truck could safely make the turn into the existing enclosure. Sevilla responded that the site already has an enclosure but that the business currently uses residential bins placed at the curb for pickup; she said staff had received correspondence from hauler CR&R indicating the hauler is "okay with the location and okay with the applicant continuing the use of the residential bins, as long as the city is okay with that."

Sevilla also explained that bicycle parking and landscape shading requirements are municipal code standards, noting a five‑stall minimum for bicycle parking on a commercial site of this size and that on‑site creek vegetation does not count toward required landscape coverage. She said engineering and the city landscape architect reviewed the constrained site, and staff made allowances where appropriate to meet code while accommodating the site's limitations.

Vote and next steps Chair Baron moved to adopt DPR‑24‑01 and CUP‑24‑01 and to adopt the revised PC resolution; the motion was seconded by John and the commission voted in favor with no recorded nays. The commission's approval permits the design review and the conditional use permit as conditioned by staff. Staff said project conditions will require compliance with applicable city, state and federal regulations and that applicant representatives (listed in the staff report as Cammy and Corey Ferguson) were available by phone during the hearing.

Why it matters The approval allows additional personal services in a building within Calimesa's downtown village commercial zoning district, a designation that the city's design guidelines intend to reinforce with pedestrian‑oriented architecture and landscaping. Commissioners asked staff to be mindful of circulation and access on constrained downtown parcels and recommended site visits for similarly constrained projects in the future.

Clarifying details and record notes - Project address: 569 West County Line Road (APN cited in the staff motion language as 41110013). - Project descriptions in the transcript contained inconsistent square‑foot figures (staff referenced 1,134 and later 1,090 square feet for the addition); staff also presented a combined structure figure of approximately 2,254 square feet. Where exact final plan set dimensions are required, staff advised consulting the approved plan set filed with the Planning Department. - Staff cited CEQA categorical exemptions by guideline numbers as read into the record; the transcript lists them as '15301 c and 15303.'

The commission did not schedule any additional hearing on the item; staff will finalize conditions of approval and file the associated resolution and permit documents as part of the planning record.