Monterey Zoning Administrator Meeting - October 2, 2025
Monterey Zoning Administrator Meeting - October 2, 2025
The Monterey Zoning Administrator (ZA) meeting was called to order on October 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM by Zoning Administrator Levi Hill, with Principal Planner Fernanda Riveri and Recording Secretary Barrera in attendance. The ZA considered two use permit applications: one for animal services (aviary) at 500 & 528 Foam Street and one for a live-work unit at 528/556 Wave Street. Both applications were approved with conditions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 1 (Foam Street use permit): Maria CNC, a neighborhood resident, submitted written questions and spoke about the exterior appearance of the building on Foam Street, asking if there were specifics about improvements to make it more attractive for the neighborhood and Monterey Bay Aquarium's pride. Michael Hansel asked about the entry point for delivering birds, noting the building's back entrance. The ZA clarified that public comment is not a question period.
- Item 2 (Wave Street live-work unit): No public comments from the audience or online. The applicant, Robert Yates, expressed gratitude for the helpful planning staff. Later, Jeff Javi, representative of the building owner, noted that the building currently has three vacancies and that approving the live-work unit would help fill a vacant space.
Discussion Items
- Item 1: Use Permit UP-25-0195 for Animal Services (Aviary) at 500 & 528 Foam Street – Principal Planner Riveri presented the proposal by the Monterey Bay Aquarium to use a portion of an existing building for bird rehabilitation and staging (aviary services) as part of their operations. The site is currently used for vehicle/vessel parking and storage (approved in 2022). The aviary would occupy a small, windowless corner of the building, with no public access, and would operate concurrently with existing parking. The building would also house administrative and mailing offices (principally permitted). Improvements include ADA access, parking lot repaving, and stormwater/sewer infrastructure. The ZA asked about noise and odors; applicant Arthur Ashbach stated the small shore birds produce only peeps, not loud noises, and odors would be contained. Staff recommended approval. The ZA read additional conditions: (1) animal services limited to aviary only; (2) ambient noise not to exceed 60 dB (55 dB from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.); (3) no objectionable odors perceptible at property lines; (4) revocation procedure for violations. The ZA found the proposal consistent with the Lighthouse Pacific Plan and General Plan, and approved the use permit with conditions.
- Item 2: Use Permit UP-25-0197 for Mixed-Use (Live-Work Unit) at 528/556 Wave Street – Principal Planner Riveri presented a proposal to convert 760 sq. ft. of existing second-floor office space into a residential live-work unit (1,060 sq. ft. total, with 300 sq. ft. retained as professional office). The building straddles two lots (550/556 Wave Street). The project is an interior remodel only, with no addition of floor area or height. One permanent parking space and one storage space are assigned. The parking requirement decreases from four spaces (for full office) to two spaces (for mixed use). Staff recommended approval. The applicant, Robert Yates (structural engineer), spoke positively about the process. The ZA approved the use permit as presented.
Key Outcomes
- Item 1 (UP-25-0195): Approved with four additional conditions of approval as read into the record (animal services limited to aviary; noise limits; odor prohibition; revocation clause). The decision is appealable to the Planning Commission within 10 days.
- Item 2 (UP-25-0197): Approved with conditions as reflected in the draft resolution. The decision is appealable to the Planning Commission within 10 days.
- The meeting was adjourned with no further business.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I hereby called the October second, twenty twenty-five zoning administrator meeting to order. My name is Levi Hill. I'll be serving as zoning administrator for today's meeting. Also in attendance today is Principal Planner Riveri and recording Secretary Barrera. Miss Barera, will you please remind the public how they can participate in today's meeting? Sure. Information on participating in this meeting and providing public comment, including remotely by Zoom or telephone, is on this meeting's agenda, which is online at Monterey.gov forward slash agendas. Remote commenters will be muted until it's their turn to speak, and a timer will be shown on the screen. If you're connected on Zoom, the timer is accurate with no delay. In the chamber, we recommend keeping phones and devices muted to prevent audio interference with the meeting. If there are any members of the public wishing to speak on items that are not on today's agenda, please approach the podium or participating online, use the raise hand function. Seeing none in the chambers, we will move on. My name is Fernanda Riveri, and I will be presenting to you our first item, a public hearing item. Staff's recommendation is that the zoning administrator adopt a resolution approving the use permit application. This is the site 500 and 528 Foam Street. Meaning that it's governed by the Lighthouse Pacific Plan in terms in terms of its land uses and development standards. The two lots, one of them, the one that's unlabeled at the corner, that's 500 foam. So the two lots are owned by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and they're also operated by them. There are existing commercial buildings and the parking lot. The two commercial buildings, one of them at 528 foam faces foam street. The other one is a storage unit at the back. There are residences and apartments and hotels and other businesses nearby. The aquarium acquired this property a few years back, and they applied for a use permit in 2022 to allow the parking lot to be used as a vehicle and vessel parking and storage lot. And the ZA approved this in September of 2022. So it's currently being used as a boat storage yard and parking lot. And they included things like fencing all around the property and landscaping and parking lot improvement. So the project the proposal before you today is a use permit for animal services. So as you saw, um, there's an existing building here facing foam street. That building is proposed to be to house the animal services use. And it would be to um keep birds as part of Monterey Bay operations, Monterey Bay Aquarium operations. They would keep birds here that are in need of veterinary services. Um rehabilitate them and feed them in this nutrition room. And then once they are healthy, they would uh move them out of here. Um would only take up part of that building that I that I'm pointing to here. It would only take up this top left corner of the building. That part of the building would not have any windows. So you know, there shouldn't be any concerns about noise from the birds. Um there would only be one entrance to that part of the building through this door that faces away from foam streets, faces toward the back of the lot. And so this use is proposed to operate concurrently with the vehicle vessel parking storage use. And in addition, the aquarium is also proposing to use this building for mailing services and other administrative office uses, which are principally permitted in the Lighthouse Pacific plan. Importantly, these uses would not be open to the public. So they would be only for Monterey Bay Aquarium staff and up and their operations. The site again is fenced currently and will stay fenced. There's also security cameras and alarms. For accessibility, and um to capture um any um stormwater that is um that includes uh things like that shouldn't go into the the storm drain. So there's gonna be a capture system that would be put on site. And uh findings for approval. The zoning administrator must make three findings in order to approve this use permit. The first one is that the proposed use is in accord with the objectives of this chapter and the purposes of the zone.
openpublica.com