What Fountain Valley is about to decide

The commission meets Wednesday at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers, 10200 Slater Avenue, Fountain Valley, with Zoom participation available for public comment. Two public hearings are scheduled; the consent calendar, new business, and unfinished business sections are empty. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.

Source: official agenda packet (PDF) · meeting page · Next regular meeting: October 14, 2026

🏘️ Development & zoning: a dental office on Talbert Avenue

• What is proposed: demolition of an existing 816-square-foot building "previously used as a nursery and gift sales" and construction of a new ±2,980-square-foot dental office and parking lot at 9080 Talbert Avenue, "to be occupied by the property owner for the operation of Chew Chew Dental." The applicant is VT Design Specialties, Inc. of Midway City. Proposed hours are 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Saturday, with four employees. The site is zoned C1-Local Business with a Local Commercial General Plan designation. Item 1
• The site plan: the building sits near the northeast corner of the 13,057-square-foot lot with a 20-foot front setback on Talbert, 10 feet to Third Street, 22 feet to the residential use to the south, and 71 feet to commercial uses to the west; access is from Talbert with a one-way trash-truck exit to Third Street. Staff's compliance table shows 2,980 square feet against a maximum FAR of 6,528, 24 feet and one story against a 50-foot/four-story limit, 3,570 square feet of landscaping against a 1,959 minimum, and 14 parking stalls, the minimum. Eleven 15-gallon fern pine trees would go in a new 10-foot planter along the south edge (eight are required) with the block wall raised from 6 to 8 feet, and six 15-gallon cypress trees along the west. The building is described as contemporary, with stone veneer, porcelain tile accents, white stucco, grey canopies, and heights varying from 14 to 24 feet. Staff estimates roughly 108 daily trips (seven AM peak, ten PM peak), which screens the project from a traffic impact analysis and a VMT analysis. Item 1
• Conditions and fees: beyond standard conditions, staff proposes parking-lot light poles no taller than 10 feet and bollard lights no taller than 42 inches, photometric measurements extended 5 feet past each property line and verified by an engineer before occupancy, raised parapets to hide rooftop equipment, deliveries limited to 7:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. weekdays and 9:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. Saturdays with none on Sundays or holidays, no trash service 10:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m., signage along the south line asking employees and customers to be mindful of neighbors, security cameras, and a Sign Program application. Public Works conditions include a Traffic Impact Fee of $0.44 per square foot for commercial use, $4.65 per front foot for the existing Talbert Avenue waterline, and a Median Beautification Fee of "8.54 per front foot." The approval would run 24 months, expiring September 9, 2028. Staff notes a dental office is permitted by right, and that the conditions are meant to hold up if a different by-right tenant later occupies the building; more intense uses such as large-format restaurants, off-sale alcohol, or drive-thrus would need their own CUP. CEQA: Class 3 categorical exemption (Section 15303, small structures). Notices went to owners and tenants within 1,000 feet and ran in the Orange County Register. Item 1

🍽️ Alcohol & restaurants: a full liquor license at Callens Corner

• The request: Que Vida Taqueria, "a modern Mexican restaurant providing a full-service dining experience" at 18517 Brookhurst Street (southwest corner of Brookhurst and Ellis Avenue, APN 157-033-33, C1 zoning), seeks a Conditional Use Permit for a Large Format Restaurant with a Type 47 "On-Sale – Eating Place" ABC license. Per the staff report, the 3,160-square-foot restaurant has 74 interior seats and 24 patio seats; under FVMC 21.90.020(18), 76 seats or more makes it "large format," which requires a CUP in the C1 zone, and a CUP is also required for small-format restaurants serving alcohol other than beer and wine. The restaurant was approved for a Small Format Restaurant Permit with beer and wine (Type 41) on April 10, 2025. Proposed hours are 10:00 am to 10:00 pm, seven days a week. The semi-enclosed front patio, originally approved for Rubios under Resolution 99-40, extends about 27 feet from the storefront. Staff says the restaurant is roughly 200 feet from multi-family homes to the east and 650 feet from single-family homes to the west and finds "sufficient buffer space." Item 2
• Conditions: alcohol may be served inside and on the patio, but service must stop 30 minutes before closing with signage noting 9:30 pm as last call; quarterly alcohol sales may not exceed food sales; regular menu food service is required whenever open; no exterior alcohol advertising; "No Alcoholic Beverages Beyond this Point" signs at the patio edge and exits; LEAD-certified staff; no speakers on the patio; no drinking or loitering in the parking lot or within 100 feet; security cameras inside and over the front and rear parking; no video or arcade games; and "three or more sustained complaints within any one-year period" to police may be grounds for revocation. Loss of the ABC license would also be grounds to revoke the CUP. The permit would run 12 months, expiring September 9, 2027. CEQA: Class 1 categorical exemption (Section 15301, existing facilities). Prepared by Contract Planner Thomas Carter. Item 2

🪑 Also on the agenda

• Roll call as printed: Vu, Brothers, Azcona, James, Vice-Chair Huebner, and Chair Langer. Both staff reports are approved by Omar Dadahboy, Deputy City Manager/Community Development Director. The agenda notes it is customary for commissioners to visit applicant sites and that no contact with applicants or neighbors is made during those visits unless disclosed.
• Comments from staff and from commissioners, then adjournment to the next regular meeting on October 14, 2026. Per the agenda, items with final approval by the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council within 10 calendar days by the applicant or any property owner within 1,000 feet (Chapter 21.60 FVMC).

Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the commission may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.