Planning commission upholds staff: nonconforming outdoor storage at 4990 Traffic Way expired

The Atascadero Planning Commission voted 5-1 on May 5 to deny an appeal that sought to preserve a legal nonconforming outdoor vehicle-and-equipment storage use at 4990 Traffic Way.

Staff case and recommendation: Planner Eric Gomez told commissioners the property is a 1.42-acre industrial parcel with a roughly 3,200-square-foot building and about 45,000 square feet of paved yard. The city's records show an RV-storage use permitted in 2012; a 2020 zoning update made outdoor storage a conditional use and converted the earlier outdoor-storage operation into a nonconforming use that requires reestablishment if discontinued for more than six months. Staff said the long-term tenant left in June 2022, the property lacked a continuing business license for a similar land use, and periodic site visits and other records failed to show reestablishment of the outdoor-storage use; staff recommended the commission deny the appeal and uphold staff's determination that the nonconforming status had expired.

Appellant's case: Appellant counsel Beth Collins argued the owners purchased the site in 2020, continued leasing activity and that SoCalGas used the yard to park vehicles and equipment into 2023. Collins said the property retained site improvements from the 2012 permit and that the owners pursued a conditional-use-permit (CUP) process with staff rather than litigating, which she said demonstrates intent to continue the legal use. She warned commissioners that taking a vested nonconforming use without an evidentiary hearing could pose due-process and takings concerns.

Legal framing: The city attorney's office (Taylor) told the commission the municipal code authorizes a time-based discontinuance determination under Atascadero Municipal Code Chapter 9-7 (section 9-7.106 referenced) and distinguished the present case from court decisions the appellant cited, which involved immediate mandatory cessation and different procedural facts.

Commission discussion and ruling: Commissioners focused on two narrow factual questions: whether the outdoor-storage land use had, in fact, been discontinued for six months and whether the record showed evidence of ongoing use. Staff said the business license had lapsed in 2022, routine site visits showed the yard remained vacant for the intervening period, and temporary uses (utility staging) did not amount to reestablishment of the specific nonconforming storage use. After deliberation and a roll-call vote, the commission adopted the staff-recommended resolution to deny the appeal; the action is appealable to the City Council within 14 days.

Vote: The motion to deny the appeal carried 5'to'1 (Commissioner Jones cast the lone no vote).

What it changes: The ruling means that the specific outdoor-vehicle-and-equipment storage use at 4990 Traffic Way would require a new discretionary permitting process (a CUP) to operate going forward; staff noted an active CUP pathway and that the city previously prepared conditions should the owners pursue a new permit.

"Our determination is based on the record," Eric Gomez said, summarizing staff's reliance on business-license records, site visits and applicant communications. Appellant counsel Beth Collins responded: "We did not abandon the use; we pursued the permit process and have not been lawfully stripped of a vested right without a hearing."