What Brea considered
The commission convened at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, with a teleconference location at 350 W. Central Ave. #455. It was the commission's first meeting since July 28 — the August 11 meeting was cancelled for lack of a quorum. These are the items the commission was scheduled to consider from the posted agenda — official results are pending; as of this writing, Brea had not posted minutes for this meeting. Every item links to the official record.
Source: official agenda packet (PDF) · meeting page
✅ What actually passed (per the draft minutes): The commission's draft minutes — which state they are "a draft of the minutes and not the official approved minutes" — record that after the public hearing, at which applicant Thong Van spoke and no members of the public addressed the commission, "a motion was made by Commissioner Schlotterbeck and seconded by Commissioner Madden, to approve the project. The motion passed 4-0-1, with Chair Perez recused." That approves Precise Development No. 2026-02 and Conditional Use Permit No. 2026-06 for Brea Towne Centre. The July 28 minutes were approved as corrected, 5-0 (Gribble/Schlotterbeck), after Chair Perez noted the item was mis-titled "August 25, 2026." In project updates, City Planner Tinio said the September 8 meeting would take up cancellation of the Mercury residential development agreement (our brief). Adjourned 6:45 p.m. We will update this when the commission adopts the minutes.
The headline: the lone public hearing was the Brea Towne Centre request at 1000-1080 East Imperial Highway, continued from July 28 when Chair Perez recused himself and the remaining commissioners lacked a quorum to act. Owner KKC Imperial asked to replace the shopping center's 1979 approved-use list with the permitted uses of the new Brea Core Specific Plan, drop a 5,801-square-foot cap on restaurant space dating to 1983, and obtain a parking modification for a 3,714-square-foot restaurant that, under a strict reading of the city code, leaves the center 54 stalls short. Staff recommended approval on the strength of a shared-parking study.
🏘️ Brea Towne Centre: a restaurant cap and a parking shortfall
- Precise Development No. 2026-02 would amend PD No. 19-78, the 1979 approval (Resolution No. 30-79) for four commercial buildings totaling 39,314 square feet, as amended in 1983 (Resolution No. 68-83) to allow a second restaurant and set the aggregate restaurant limit at 5,801 square feet. The applicant, Jon Adams on behalf of KKC Imperial, asked to replace that use list with the permitted uses of the Brea Core Specific Plan's Mixed-Use 50 zone — adopted by the City Council on June 2, 2026 as part of the Brea 2050 General Plan Update — and remove the restaurant size limit. Proposed Condition 1 would rescind the 1979 use list outright and let the city code and underlying zone govern. Staff said every current tenant is already a permitted use under the BCSP. Item 3.A
- Conditional Use Permit No. 2026-06 would modify off-street parking requirements under Brea City Code Section 20.08.040G. The center's six buildings (about 39,285 square feet, 16 tenant spaces, four vacant) share 191 parking stalls, and the applicant proposes no changes to the lot. Converting Suites A2 and A3 into a 3,714-square-foot restaurant, with no exterior expansion, would require 37 stalls under the code, pushing the center's total requirement to 245 — a 54-stall deficit. The applicant's parking study, using a shared-parking methodology built on on-site counts, projected peak weekend demand (noon to 2 PM) of 177 occupied stalls, leaving a surplus of about 14, and a weekday peak of 144. Observed peaks today are 97 stalls on weekdays (51% utilization) and 147 on weekends (77%). Proposed Condition 4 would require the owner to provide remedies — sound attenuation, operational changes, an updated parking study, or parking management — if noise, nuisance, or parking problems arise. Item 3.A
- Staff recommended finding the project exempt from CEQA under Guidelines Section 15301 (Class 1, Existing Facilities), since the work is limited to interior renovation. Notice went to property owners within 500 feet, on site, and in the Brea Star-Progress; staff reported receiving no public comments as of the report, including at the July 28 hearing. Planning Commission decisions may be appealed to the City Council within 10 calendar days. Item 3.A
🪑 Also on the agenda
- Approval of draft meeting minutes. The attached draft covers the July 28, 2026 meeting, which records the Brea Towne Centre continuance for lack of a quorum and City Planner Maribeth Tinio's confirmation that the August 11 meeting was cancelled due to planned absences. Item 2.A
- Committee reports and informational and project updates, to receive and file. Items 4.A–4.B
Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.
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