GARDEN GROVE : City Acts to Better Garden Grove Blvd.

The City Council passed several zoning and planning measures Tuesday night aimed at improving Garden Grove Boulevard for nearby residents and increasing its economic viability for business.

By rezoning portions of the thoroughfare and amending the city’s General Plan, the council is trying to phase out narrow, shallow lots and alleviate the effect of heavy commercial uses on adjacent residential areas.

“The quality of life for residents behind commercial lots is impacted by uses such as adult bookstores and automotive repair shops and things like that,” City Manager George Tindall said.

The changes shift some zoning from residential to commercial and others from one type of commercial use to a less intensive use. In addition, some “transitional” zones were created to make commercial and residential areas more compatible with each other.

Under the zoning changes, some businesses on Garden Grove Boulevard which no longer conform to the new zoning will not be allowed to expand and could be phased out or eventually forced to relocate to a more suitable zoning.

City Councilman Frank Kessler said Tuesday that he would like the council to consider an abatement period to phase out certain property uses. Tindall said such a measure is likely to be considered within the next six months. Among the affected businesses would be bars, auto repair shops and four of the city’s adult bookstores.

Several residents spoke in favor of the changes, saying they would help improve the boulevard, but others spoke against them.

“This area has been picked on,” said Nick Cottgias, who rents out his Garden Grove Boulevard property to a bar called Nick’s. He said it is not fair to change the zoning for people who are following the rules.

“I’m not picking on the area, but if there’s an area that needs to be picked on it is that area,” Kessler said.

“This is a very good proposal. It’s long overdue,” said Councilman Mark Leyes.

The council’s vote to change the General Plan, add transitional zones and pave the way for other changes was unanimous.

Council members voted 4 to 1 on the zoning changes, with Councilman J. Tilman Williams casting the dissenting vote. Although he agreed with some of the changes, Williams said he thought other portions of the boulevard should not be rezoned. Since the zoning changes were voted on altogether, he said, he opposed the action.