24-hour UFC Gym wins approval in Costa Mesa
A former car dealership on Harbor Boulevard will soon be home to a 24-hour mixed martial arts gym following a unanimous vote by the Costa Mesa Planning Commission on Monday night.
UFC Gym plans to use 14,755 square feet of building space at 2860 Harbor Blvd. for a gym, a children’s gym, a workout area, bathrooms and showers. Plans also call for a mezzanine and 148 parking spaces.
The facility could open in November, said Bill Fancher, the project’s applicant. It will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The gym will move into a building that once housed a Mitsubishi dealership that closed and moved to another site on Harbor.
“I give gold stars to applicants when they reuse and repurpose buildings,” Commissioner Colin McCarthy said.
Commission Chairman Robert Dickson agreed, calling the gym proposal a “really cool use” of the building.
UFC, which stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a mixed martial arts promotion company. UFC Gym is an extension of that brand.
The Costa Mesa gym plans to offer strength training, cardio machines, battle ropes, agility ladders, a bag room and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu studio, according to the company.
Fancher said he thinks the gym could help diversify some foot traffic in the area, which is home to several other car dealerships.
“If you’re not looking for a car, you kind of sail through there — at least I do,” he said.
The biggest hang-up for commissioners was a request from Fancher to allow the gym to play music late at night and early in the morning.
City staff had recommended that the commission require UFC to turn off music between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. in a portion of the building planned as a partially enclosed weight room.
Fancher asked commissioners to allow music to be played at a lower volume during those hours. Having the gym “dead quiet,” he said, is “not really our business model.”
“We understand keeping noise down, but turning the music completely off is not something that we like,” he said.
Commissioners and some members of the public raised concerns about how late-night music could affect residents in the area. Though the closest homes are more than 200 feet away, the partially enclosed weight area doesn’t have a roof, meaning sound could escape.
Commissioners eventually decided to allow the music during the overnight hours but require it to be at a low enough volume so it won’t be audible to neighbors. The city will revisit the matter if it receives noise complaints, commissioners said.
The commission’s decision is final unless appealed to the City Council.
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
