LOS ALAMITOS : City Reverses Its Office-Space Bar

Afraid of harming business park property owners, the City Council has changed its mind about an ordinance that restricts office space in areas zoned for light industrial businesses.

Rescinding the ordinance, which the council had passed just two weeks ago, requires the approval of both the council and the Planning Commission. City Manager Robert C. Dunek said he expected the commission to go along with the council’s decision.

Though the ordinance was adopted with the intent to “maintain the integrity” of the light industrial zone, as Mayor Alice Jempsa described it, the council decided this week that the law would hurt several business parks operating in that zone.

Many of the buildings in those complexes were designed--after receiving the city’s approval--with space available for offices such as those of accountants and doctors.

Under the adopted ordinance, each time an office business wanted to expand or a new business wanted to lease office space, a special permit would have to be obtained from the city.

That conditional-use permit in Los Alamitos costs $500 and takes a minimum of 30 days from filing to win approval, according to Dunek.

Jean Smith, president of Bixby Land Co.--which owns the Los Alamitos Business Park on Los Alamitos Boulevard--told the council that she had already lost one prospective tenant because of the adopted ordinance.

“The (conditional-use permit) process is too lengthy. . . . It will scare people away,” Smith said.

Once the ordinance is rescinded, the council will consider a new ordinance that would regulate only the new construction of office space in the light industrial zone.