The City has renewed all of its 54 conditional use permits (CUPs)—which it gives businesses that operate differently to how their land is zoned—which include changes that address resident complaints of insufficient maintenance of some properties.
In a presentation to the Signal Hill City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 8, Associate Planner Ryan Agbayani said all 54 businesses with CUPs are complying with City regulations, though some—such as Costco and Food 4 Less—are making changes following complaints.
Costco submits designs to improve pedestrian access to nearby ATM
The Costco gas station at 2200 E. Willow St. has continued to receive complaints regarding long queues at its pumps, Agbayani said. The lines of cars interfere with pedestrian access to a nearby stand-alone Wells Fargo ATM.
Site owner ShopCore Properties sent the City redesign plans for the lanes leading up to the gas pumps that a Signal Hill traffic engineer is currently reviewing, Agbyani said.
Food 4 Less more sightly after City requires monthly maintenance report
He also said the City is hearing less complaints about the parking lot of a Food 4 Less at 1600 E. Willow St. after requiring the property manager to submit a monthly report on the site’s maintenance, including power washing, landscaping, lighting maintenance and tree trimming.
In addition, Food 4 Less has hidden previously visible trash dumpsters behind a screen and installed a new shopping-cart corral.
The grocery store is also collecting shopping carts more frequently following complaints to the City about stray carts scattered throughout the parking lot, especially near the Willow Street entrance, Agbayani said.
He added that a damaged tree in the parking lot was replaced and that scattered gravel has been swept up to “an acceptable condition.”
“Conditions have improved at the site but continuous and regular oversight is still required,” Agbayani said.
Ten Mile Brewing can serve food and beer, Target construction and related retail development ongoing
In addition to renewing all CUPs for another year, the City amended a CUP for Ten Mile Brewing at 1136 E. Willow St. last July so it could serve food along with its beers, Agbayani said. The brewery is serving food in outdoor tents while its new kitchen is still under construction.
The City also approved two new CUPs, Agbayani said—one for a Target retailer at 950 E. 33rd St. to sell alcohol for off-site consumption, and one for a planned new self-storage facility on the adjacent lot at 3177 California Ave.
Both sites are part of a planned Gateway Center North development that includes remodeling the Target and building a new drive-thru restaurant and three retail pads along with the new self-storage building.
Agbayani said Target is preparing to remodel now and the City is running a plan check on the self-storage building in preparation for its construction.
Signal Hill Petroleum sells former golf driving range, gets renewed permits for oil wells
A CUP was taken off the books last year for a lighted golf driving-range of the former Majestic Golf Land at 2550 Orange Ave. since the site will no longer be used for that purpose, Agbayani said.
Owner Signal Hill Petroleum (SHP) sold the property to developer CenterPoint Properties last year after tearing down the driving range and grading the site for development. CenterPoint plans to construct a new industrial building on the site and has submitted a traffic study to the City, Agbayani said.
The City also renewed for two years SHP’s oil-drilling CUP, which includes seven drill sites, since they are all in good condition, according to Community Development Director Colleen Doan.
The City is working on a longer-term CUP for SHP since the life expectancies of its oil wells has proved much longer than anticipated, Doan said. The City is hiring an environmental consultant to help prepare terms of that CUP.
New mixed-use residential sites inbound
In the meantime, the City is working with SHP on developing new housing and retail, including a planned new Heritage Square mixed-use residential and commercial development at Cherry Avenue and E. Burnett Street and a planned new Town Center Northwest mixed-use development at Walnut Avenue and Willow Street.
Doan said the City is responding to feedback from the State on all its planned new housing developments—which also includes a planned new Walnut Bluff development at Walnut Avenue and Willow Street, and Orange Bluff, planned on Orange Avenue between 27th and 28th streets.
Signal Hill must build at least 517 new dwelling units across different income levels by 2029 to meet its share of California’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, currently in its 6th eight-year cycle.
