Conditional Use Permit 24-0451

2024081238

City of Laguna Beach

NOE - Notice of Exemption

8/28/2024

8/28/2024

Louie Lacasella

City of Laguna Beach

Senior Administrative Analyst

Lead/Public Agency

505 Forest Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA 92651

(949) 497-0736

llacasella@lagunabeachcity.net

168 Mountain Road

92651

644-216-04

CA

Laguna

Categorical Exemption

Section 15301, Class 1

In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the recommended actions are categorically exempt from environment91 review under the CEQA pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines, Section 15301 (Class 1 - Existing Facilities). Class 1 consists of the "operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, 11 or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use." The Project consists of a change of use within an existing commercial building to establish a single practitioner massage establishment and no change in land use intensity. I Though the Project occurs within an Olympic cottage that is listed on the City's Historic Register, the use of the cottage for massage services will 'not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of the historical structure. Constructed in advance of the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, the cottage was one of many used to house athletes and was later brought to Laguna Beach after the conclusion of the Garnes. The building has been rehabilitated in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties and the City Council's September 22, 2020, approval that also involved a historic rehabilitation of the Coast Liquor building on the same site. Both buildings at the property have been added to the City's Historic Register. Approval of the Project will not interfere with the preservation of the cottage. As indicated in the application materials, the proposed massage use does not involve any tenant improvements that would alter historic building features, and any future applications for exterior building signage will be reviewed to ensure that the building's historic features are retained. Further, none of the exceptions outlined in CEQA Guidelines section 15300.2 apply. The Project area does not contain any environmentally sensitive areas in that the site is fully developed with existing commercial buildings and a surface parking lot and is surrounded on all sides by public streets and developed properties, and the City's environmentally sensitive reas maps do not identify any such areas on-site or within the immediate Project vicinity. There will be cumulative impact resulting from successive projects of the same type in the same place, over time, becau.s4 the likelihood of successive projects of the same type in the same I place is low. There are no unusual circumstances resulting in a significant impact on the environment, nor will I there be damage to scenic resources, including trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings or similar resources, within a highway officially desi 1 grated as a state scenic highway because the proposed Project would be contained within the interior 6f 1 an existing commercial building. The Project is not located on a hazardous waste site or any other site 1included on a list compiled pursuant to Government Code section 65962.5. Consequently, additional environmental analysis is not necessary to meet the requirements of the CEQA.