Article 2 — Non-Residential Districts — Costa Mesa Zoning Code

§ 13-88. Purpose. ¶

The purpose of this article is to establish parking requirements for all nonresidential zones, nonresidential components of the planned development residential zones and to mixed-use developments in all zones. (Ord. No. 97-11, § 2, 5-5-97)

§ 13-89. Parking required. ¶

The minimum amount of off-street parking as established in Table 13-89 shall be provided at the time:

(a) Any building and/or structure is constructed;
(b) Any building or structure is enlarged or increased in capacity by adding gross floor area, gross leasable area or seats;
(c) A specific use is proposed for a building site; or
(d) An existing use is changed to one which requires additional parking.

At all times, with the exception of the provisions of section 13-98 , Declaration of land use restriction, parking shall be provided according to the requirements of Table 13-89.

TABLE 13-89 NON-RESIDENTIAL PARKING STANDARDS	TABLE 13-89 NON-RESIDENTIAL PARKING STANDARDS
USE	PARKING RATIO PER GROSS FLOOR AREA (except as noted otherwise)
Retail; offces; central administrative offces; individual counseling; group counseling; establishments where food or beverages are served with a maximum of 300 square feet of public area 1	4 spaces per 1,000 square feet with a minimum of 6 spaces 2
Offce buildings exceeding 2 stories in height and 100,000 square feet in area	3 spaces per 1,000 square feet
Banks; savings and loans; credit unions	5 spaces per 1,000 square feet with a minimum of 6 spaces
Medical and dental offces; acupressure; massage	6 spaces per 1,000 square feet with a minimum of 6 spaces
Furniture and appliance stores with foor area greater than 5,000 square feet	2 spaces per 1,000 square feet with a minimum of 20 spaces
Churches; theaters; mortuaries; auditoriums; services and fraternal clubs and lodges; amphitheaters and other similar places of assembly	Within the main auditorium or assembly area: 1 space for each 3 fxed seats or 1 space for every 35 square feet of seating area if there are no fxed seats. 18 lineal inches of bench shall be considered equal to 1 fxed seat.
Racquetball and tennis facilities	3 spaces per court plus parking required for incidental uses such as restaurants which shall be calculated as noted below
Establishments where food or beverages are served with more than 300 square feet of public area 1,4	10 spaces per 1,000 square feet for the frst 3,000 square feet; 12 spaces per 1,000 square feet for each additional 1,000 square feet above the frst 3,000 square feet. 2 2
Health clubs; spas; fgure salons; skating rinks; game arcades	Parking requirement is 10 spaces per 1,000 square feet
Bowling alleys	3 spaces per lane plus parking required for incidental uses such as restaurants which shall be calculated as noted under "Establishments where food or beverages are served"
Trade schools; business colleges; dancing and music academies	10 spaces per 1,000 square feet
Motels	1 space for each rentable unit without cooking facilities. Each rentable unit with cooking facilities shall be governed by residential parking standards
Hotels	1 space for each 2 rentable units plus 10 spaces per 1,000 square feet for the frst 3,000 square feet, and 20 spaces per 1,000 square feet for each additional 1,000 square feet above the frst 3,000 square feet for restaurant, banquet, meeting room and kitchen spaces
Establishments with live entertainment; i.e., go-go dancers, topless dancers, bikini dancers	1 parking space for each person for the frst 100 persons as authorized by capacity signs posted by the fre department; 1 parking space for each 2 persons for every 101 to 300 persons as authorized by capacity signs posted; 1 parking space for each 3 persons for every 301 plus persons as authorized by capacity signs posted by the fre department.
Shopping centers with a minimum of 600,000 square feet of contiguous gross leasable area:
Main structure or group of abutting structures
Retail	5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area
Establishments where food or beverages are served occupying 5% or less of the total contiguous gross leasable area	1 space per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area
Establishments where food or beverages or served in excess of 5% of the total contiguous gross leasable area	5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area
Offce Space occupying 10% or less of the total contiguous gross leasable area	None
Offce Space in excess of 10% of the total contiguous gross leasable area	4 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area with a minimum of 6 spaces
Theaters (cumulative)
750 seats and less	5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area
More than 750 seats	5 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area plus 3 spaces for each additional 100 seats
Uses within freestanding structures
TABLE 13-89 NON-RESIDENTIAL PARKING STANDARDS	TABLE 13-89 NON-RESIDENTIAL PARKING STANDARDS
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USE	PARKING RATIO PER GROSS FLOOR AREA (except as noted otherwise)
Establishments where food or beverages are served	10 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross leasable area
All others	Pursuant to this table
Mixed use developments	When there are mixed uses within a single development which share the same parking facilities, the total requirement for parking should be determined as outlined in "City of Costa Mesa Procedure for Determining Shared Parking Requirements" which are included herein by this reference and which may be amended from time to time by resolution of the city council. A greater reduction in parking than would be allowed under this procedure may be approved by minor conditional use permit where it can be demonstrated that less parking is needed due to the hours of operation or other unusual features of the users involved. For mixed-use developments located in the mixed-use overlay zone, refer to the applicable urban plan for parking rates.
Industrial	3 parking spaces shall be provided per 1,000 square feet of gross foor area for the frst 25,000 square feet of building; 2 parking spaces shall be provided per 1,000 square feet of gross foor area between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet of building; and one and one-half parking spaces shall be provided per 1,000 square feet of gross foor area over 50,001 square feet of building.
Garden centers; plant nurseries	4 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross foor area; and 2 spaces per 1,000 square feet of outdoor display area.
Smoking lounges	17 spaces per 1,000 square feet

Notes:

1 Establishments limited to seating for 12 or fewer persons prior to June 4, 1997, shall remain at that seating limit unless additional parking is provided pursuant to this Zoning Code.
2 The outdoor patio seating area(s) shall not be included in the floor area calculations for purposes of determining the required parking.
3 The final review authority may apply a maximum credit of one parking space due to the provision of bicycle racks. This credit shall only apply to the overall parking supply and not to multiple uses.
- When the approval of a use permit is required, the final review authority may require additional parking spaces at a ratio not to exceed 30 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area of the entire building. Factors that may warrant additional parking include, but are not limited to, the provision of entertainment and/or dancing, or substantial ratio of floor area devoted to bar as compared to restaurant use. The maximum parking rate shall be applicable to uses that have substantially maximized the building's occupancy due to design and provision of concentrated uses.
4 When the approval of a use permit is required, the final review authority may require additional parking spaces at a ratio not to exceed 30 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area of the entire building. Factors that may warrant additional parking include, but are not limited to, the provision of entertainment and/or dancing, or substantial ratio of floor area devoted to bar as compared to restaurant use. The maximum parking rate shall be applicable to uses that have substantially maximized the building's occupancy due to design and provision of concentrated uses.
5 The square footage of electrical and mechanical equipment and the surrounding three feet for clearance shall be excluded from the calculation of gross floor area for the purpose of determining parking requirements

(Ord. No. 97-11, § 2, 5-5-97; Ord. No. 98-5, § 16, 3-2-98; Ord. No. 02-4, § 1j, 3-18-02; Ord. No. 06-9, § 1g., 4-18-06; Ord. No. 12-4, § 1, 5-15-12; Ord. No. 15-10, § 2C, 9-15-15; Ord. No. 21-20, § 1, 12-7-21; Ord. No. 2024-01, 1/16/2024; Ord. 2025-07, 10/21/2025)

§ 13-89.5. Reduction in parking requirements. ¶

Where it can be shown that the required parking for a nonresidential land use will substantially exceed the demand of the actual use, the zoning administrator may, by minor conditional use permit, allow a reduction in the amount of required parking. The zoning administrator may place the following conditions on the approval of the minor conditional use permit:

(a) Allow such excess parking to be provided as landscaping, plazas, courtyards, or similar open space feature.

(b) Require recordation of a land use restriction that restricts the future use of the property to ensure adequate parking availability. (Ord. No. 99-15, § 2, 11-16-99)

§ 13-90. Parking for uses not specified. ¶

The parking requirements for the uses not specified in Table 13-89 shall be determined by the planning division. The determination shall be based upon the requirements for the most comparable use specified in this chapter or other appropriate sources. (Ord. No. 97-11, § 2, 5-5-97)

§ 13-91. General development standards. ¶

General development standards for parking areas applicable to the nonresidential zones are contained in Article 3, Development Standards, of this chapter. (Ord. No. 97-11, § 2, 5-5-97)