The Laguna Beach Planning Commission on Nov. 5 approved an amendment to the conditional use permit for Rygoods, a bakery and café at 384 Forest Avenue, allowing the business to expand into the adjoining Suite 5 and to continue alcohol sales under its existing Type 41 authorization. Staff presented the request and recommended approval, finding the change consistent with the downtown specific plan and the city’s general plan; commissioners unanimously adopted the amended resolution and found the action exempt from CEQA.

Staff said the expansion would add about 847 square feet to the cafe’s leased space and would be used for dry-goods storage, expanded beer-and-wine retail displays, refrigerated retail, and a second point-of-sale counter. “The project is located at 384 Forest Avenue within Suite 4 of the Lumberyard Mall in the downtown commercial district,” the staff report said, describing the proposal and its proposed floor-plan changes.

Commissioners asked about parking, outdoor seating and whether adding indoor seats would change parking requirements. Planning staff said the property’s required parking is calculated on square footage in the downtown blended parking formula and would not change if the tenant adds nonfixed indoor seating; building code review would govern seating charts and egress. To reduce follow-up hearings, commissioners instructed staff to add a project-specific condition that allows the applicant to submit a seating plan to the Community Development Department for administrative review rather than returning to the commission.

Applicant Jason House said the expanded space will allow Rygoods to relocate retail shelving and expand packaged grab-and-go offerings; he also described a pinch point between the existing and new spaces and said the opening had been maximized to limit construction costs. A public comment period produced no objections.

Commissioners praised the business’s track record downtown and approved a revised resolution that includes a new condition permitting the submittal of an indoor seating plan for staff approval. The motion passed on a unanimous roll call vote.

What’s next: The resolution adopted by the commission includes a condition requiring any indoor seating plan for Suite 5 to be submitted to the Community Development Department for review and approval; building plan check remains required for any seating layout and for compliance with building-code access and egress standards.

Sources: Staff presentation to the commission and applicant testimony at the Nov. 5, 2025 Planning Commission meeting; commission roll call vote recorded on the meeting agenda.