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# Commission weighs a 24-hour gym in the old BuyBuy Baby at Freeway Center on Monday
- URL: https://missionviejopost.com/commission-weighs-a-24-hour-gym-in-the-old-buybuy-baby-at-freeway-center-on-monday/
- Published: 2026-11-05T20:32:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T20:32:52.000Z
- Description: The Planning and Transportation Commission votes Monday on a permit that would put a 24 Hour Fitness, open around the clock, seven days a week, in the vacant 36,032-square-foot building at 25322 El Paseo in the Mission Viejo Freeway Center.
- Author: Mission Viejo Post Staff
- Tags: City Hall, Planning Commission Preview

The Planning and Transportation Commission votes Monday on a permit that would put a 24 Hour Fitness, open around the clock, seven days a week, in the vacant 36,032-square-foot building at 25322 El Paseo in the Mission Viejo Freeway Center.

The commission decides this one itself. It is a permit, not a zone change, so there is no recommendation to the City Council. City staff recommend approval. The building was previously occupied by BuyBuy Baby, and the applicant says the business "will operate 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week."

The staff recommendation has two parts: find the project exempt from state environmental review as an existing facility, and approve the permit. Notice of the hearing went to all property owners within 300 feet of the site, ran in the newspaper and was posted.

## Conditions attached to the permit

Staff propose three conditions:

- The permit does not take effect until November 27, 2026, which is 30 days after City Council approval of Ordinance 26-364.
- Recommendations from the applicant's traffic study must be carried out to the satisfaction of Mission Viejo's director of public works, in consultation with Laguna Hills' director of public works.
- The gym must meet the city's interior and exterior noise standards. Any loudspeaker system, bells or music must be adjusted so that all sound stays inside the building.

## Parking and traffic

Staff found the Freeway Center has 1,084 parking spaces. The existing uses plus the gym would need a total of 988, leaving a surplus of 96.

Mission Viejo's traffic engineer reviewed the applicant's traffic study and deemed it to have no significant impact on the study area. The City of Laguna Hills has not fully evaluated it, which is why the traffic condition calls for Laguna Hills' input.

**What to watch:** whether commissioners press on the 24-hour schedule and the late-night noise condition, and how they treat the open Laguna Hills review.

## Also on Monday

The commission approves its October 12 minutes in the consent calendar and receives a staff status report. The report says the Marguerite Aquatics, Recreation & Tennis Center surface parking lot expansion goes to the City Council for a construction award on November 10, 2026\. It also says the city expects to acquire right-of-way from the Mission Viejo Country Club for the Oso Parkway and I-5 northbound on-ramp project after the PD-26 process is completed, which staff anticipate by December 2026.

Commissioners also hear committee reports. The Traffic Committee, made up of Commissioners Disney and Molinari, meets November 6.

## How to weigh in

**The meeting:** Monday, November 9, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber at Mission Viejo City Hall, 200 Civic Center.

Members of the public are limited to three minutes per person. The applicant is the exception. The commission adjourns to its next regular meeting on December 14, 2026, at 6:30 p.m.

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*Sources:* [*Planning and Transportation Commission agenda, Nov 9*](https://dms.missionviejo.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/DownloadFile/Planning%5FAnd%5FTransportation%5FCommission%5FMeeting%5F8680%5FAgenda%5F11%5F9%5F2026%5F6%5F30%5F00%5FPM.pdf?documentType=1&meetingId=8680&ref=missionviejopost.com) *and* [*agenda packet with staff reports*](https://dms.missionviejo.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/DownloadFile/Planning%5FAnd%5FTransportation%5FCommission%5FMeeting%5F8680%5FAgenda%5FPacket%5F11%5F9%5F2026%5F6%5F30%5F00%5FPM.pdf?documentType=5&meetingId=8680&isAttachment=True&ref=missionviejopost.com)*, City of Mission Viejo.*

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