O1171
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CA:SSS:BB:bl
Council Meet~ng 07-08-80
Santa Mon~ca, Cal~forn~a
ORDINANCE NO.
1171
(City Council Series)
A~ ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA N1ENDING CHAPTER 1
ARTICLE IX OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE RELATING TO REMOVAL OF HAZARDOUS
VISUAL OBSTRUCTIONS
WHEREAS, fences, walls, hedges, trees, plantings, and
other visual obstructions located on private property In many
areas of the City ~mpair the vis~bllity of drivers of
automobiles entering or eXlting alleys, driveways, streets,
or other vehicle accessways and constitute an unreasonable and
unnecessary hazard to persons, especlally ch~ldren, us~ng
public sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, there are currently no provlslons for the removal
or correctlon of such fences, walls, hedges, trees, plantlngs,
and other obstructions; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendments would provlde the means
to remove or correct vlsual obstructlons by establishlng
procedures whereby the Dlrector of General Servlces ~ay assess
hazardous conditions and attaln modification of structures or
materials ~n order to improve V1S1bllity between persons and
vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendMents are in the publlc necesslty,
convenience, general welfare, in accordance with good zonlng
practice, and should be adopted; and
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WHEREAS, a publlC hearing was held before the Plannlng
Commission on the proposed amendments on January 25, 1980, and
the Plann~ng Commission consldered and recommended the amend-
ments to the Clty Councl1 on March 25, 1980i and
WHEREAS, the Clty Council, after a public hearing concurs
with the recommendatlons of the Planning Commisslon
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN:
SECTION l. Section 9127 of the Santa rlonlca Municlpal
Code is amended to add four new sectlons to read as follows:
Section 9127K. Hazardous Vlsual Obstructions.
This sectlon shall be known as the Hazardous V~sual
Obstructlon Ordlnance.
Its purpose is to provlde for the
removal of fences, walls, hedges, trees, plantings, and other
vlsual obstructions on private property whlch impalr the
vlsiblllty of drivers of automobiles entering or exiting alleys,
driveways, streets, or other vehicle accessways and which con-
stitute an unreasonable and unnecessary hazard to persons,
especially children, uSlng adJacent publlc sldewalks.
Sectlon 9127Kl. Hazardous Vlsual Obstructlons, Re~oval
~~quired.
Other sections of thlS Chapter notwithstandlng, any fence,
wall, hedge, tree, plantings, or other visual obstructlons, wlth
the exceptlons of any building or structure constructed under
a valid bulldlng perMit or ln accordance wlth plannlng and
zoning regulations, found by the Dlrector of General Services
to obscure or block the visibillty of drlvers of automobiles
enterlng or eXlting an alley, drlveway, parking lot, or other
vehlcle accessway and to constitute an unreasonable and unnecessary
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hazard to persons lawfully uSlng an adjacent sldewalk, alley,
street, or other right of way shall be removed or altered so as
to ellminate such hazard.
Section 9l27K2. Procedure.
1. Notification. Whenever the Director of General
Services finds an obstructlon wlthln the Meanlng
and intent of this sectlon, the property owner
shall be notified in wrlting of the nature of the
obstructlon, the mlnimuro corrective measures
required and a speclflc date by which the
corrections are to be completed.
2. Request for Hearing. Withln 15 days of recelpt of
such notice, the owner may request in writlng a
waiver or modiflcation of the order. Upon recelpt
of such request, the Dlrector of General Services
shall schedule a hearing on the request, glvlng at
least 15 days wrltten notice to the owner and any
other persons known to have an interest or concern
~n the action.
3. Determination. Withln 10 days of the hearlng, the
Director of General Services shall issue a deterrn~n-
atlon afflrmlng, reversing or modlfying the orlglnal
order. Written notlce of such determlnatlon shall
be glven to the app~icant, all other lnterested persons,
the Director of Plannlng, and each member of the
Planning COmMlssion. The determlnatlon of the
Director of General Services shall become effectlve
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