SANTA ANA : Plan to Boost Spaces for Parking Tabled

A controversial proposal that would have required future commercial and residential projects built in the city to have more parking spaces was tabled indefinitely by the City Council this week.

The new parking standards, recommended by the Planning Commission and city staff, would not have affected any existing projects in the city with the exception of Mr. J’s, a restaurant at 2101 E. Edinger Ave.

Councilman John Acosta spoke out against the proposed standards because he thought they singled out Mr. J’s, which has been cited by the city for operating illegally as a nightclub.

“My main concern is the approach to this issue,” Acosta said. “I feel that this is targeted at Mr. J’s. I don’t see any dire need for additional parking out there.”

Mr. J’s meets parking requirements for a restaurant but is 111 spaces short of requirements for a nightclub. If the new rules had been imposed, Mr. J’s would have been 196 spaces short as a nightclub, said Robin Uptegraff, executive director of the city’s planning and building agency.

“According to our code, Mr. J’s is providing little more than 50% of what’s required,” Uptegraff said. “They have a substantial parking problem with or without this ordinance.”

Uptegraff said the new requirements would bring Santa Ana in line with other cities in Orange County.

Mayor Daniel H. Young and council members Daniel E. Griset and Patricia A. McGuigan supported the stricter requirements and voted against tabling the matter.

“I just feel that something needs to be done to deal with the problem we have with overflow parking,” McGuigan said. “It’s a major problem. I think we need to deal with this problem before it gets worse.”

Griset was unsuccessful in trying to persuade the council to pass just the residential portion of the ordinance, which would have required that four parking spaces and a guest parking space be provided for every three-bedroom dwelling. He vowed to bring the issue back to the council in 30 days.