O1481
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CA:RMM:11625jhpc
city council Meeting 5-23-89
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 148l(CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA CREATING A CITYWIDE MORATORIUM
ON NON-RESIDENTIAL AND HOTEL DEVELOPMENT AND
DECLARING THE PRESENCE OF AN EMERGENCY
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findinqs and Purpose.
The City Council finds
and declares:
( a)
In recent years,
the pace of non-resldential
development ln the city has accelerated dramatically, adversely
affecting the capacity and quality of the city's street and
hlghway system, the jobs/houslng balance within the Clty, and the
quality of life in the community, including environmental quality
and neighborhood character.
(b) In 1987, a bUllding permit was issued for only one
non-residential project totaling 1,014,546 square feet. In 1988,
bU11ding
permits
were
issued
for
twenty-three
(23)
non-residential projects totaling 2,835,940 square feet. As of
May 10, 1989, planning approvals have been granted for twelve
(12) non-residential projects totaling 436,304 square feet and
there are thirty-one (31) non-residential projects pending
Planning comrnission review totaling 3,467,689 square feet. In
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addit1on, plannlng approvals have been granted for four (4) more
non-resldential proj ects totaling 302,296 square feet in 1987,
and for nine (9) more non-resldential projects totaling 235,681
square feet in 1988 for which building permits have not yet been
lssued.
(c) Based on population and employment project1.ons, the
Envlronmental Impact Report on the city's Land Use and
Circulation Element, adopted on October 23, 1983, projected that
there would be a demand for an additional 5,800,000 square feet
of non-residential development by the year 2000. As of 1989,
development ln the City has already exceeded the projected amount
of development for the year 2000.
(d) A reVlew of recent Initial Studies and Environmental
Impact Reports prepared for the City reveals that there are at
least thirteen intersections in the city where the existing level
of service (ltLOS") falls belo"" "0". These reports further reveal
that with the lmpact of approved and proposed projects wlthin and
outside the Clty, the future level of service of at least
thlrty-three (33) intersections across the City is projected to
fall below LOS "D".
(e) According to the City of Los Angeles, the existing
capacity of the Hyperlon Treatment Plant, where wastewater from
the C1ty of Santa Monica's public sewer system is treated and
dlsposed of, 1S operating at or near its current full capacity,
necessitatlng regulation of the rate of wastewater increase
handled by the Clty'S sewer system. The urgency of the
wastewater treatment and disposal problem is illustrated by the
adoption of Ordlnance Number 1451 (CCS) on July 26, 1988.
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(f) The pace of non-residential development has far
outstripped the pace of residential development in the city,
further increasing the imbalance between the number of jobs in
the City and the availability of housing for persons employed in
the city.
(g) Al though revisions to the Zonl.ng Ordl.nance lowered
helghts and floor area ratlos ln most non-residentlal districts,
these reductions do not control the rate, location or character
of development in those areas, and do not adequately address the
infrastructural and environmental problems currently facing the
Clty.
(h) Accordlng to the Envlronmental Impact Report on the
Zoning Ordinance, there is a maximum theoretical capacity of
between 62,924,000 and 75,916,000 square feet for office,
commercial, and industrial development in the city. The maximum
build-out potential needs to be re-examined as do the mechanisms
for llmltlng and mitigating the impacts of that build-out on the
Clty's infrastructure.
(i) The increase in development activity in the city
poses a threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the
residents.
(J) The City's zonlng, planning, sUbdivision, and
building regulatlons require review as they pertain to the
non-residentlal development activity within the City in order to
ensure that development is consistent with the public health,
safety and welfare.
(k) Pending completion of this review, it is necessary to
establish an interim control measure that will preserve the
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existing character of the city and prevent any further worsenlng
of the traffic situatlon, jobs/housing imbalance, and
environmental quality and will not further stress the existing
infrastructure.
SECTION 2. Moratorium.
(a) Subject to the exemptions set forth in Seetlon 3 of
thls Ordinance, a moratorium is hereby placed on the acceptance
for processing of any applications for approval of tentative
tract maps, tentative parcel maps, administrative approvals,
development reVlew permits, conditlonal use permits, or any other
City permlts for the erection, construction, moving, conversion
of, and excavation and gradlng for, any non-residential bUlldlng
or structure, lncluding any hotel or motel, in the city of Santa
Monica.
(b) SUbJect to the exemptions set forth in Section 3 of
this Ordinance, the Plannlng Commission and city staff are hereby
directed to disapprove all applications filed after May 2, 1989,
for approval of tentative tract maps, tentative parcel maps,
administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional
use permits, or any other City permits for the erection,
construction, moving, conversion of, and excavation and grading
for, any non-residential buildlng or structure, including any
hotel or motel, in the City of Santa Monica.
SECTION 3. Exemptions. The following applications are
exempt from the provisions of Section 2 of this Ordinance:
(a) Applications for approval of permits involving
proposed developments on land owned, operated or controlled by
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the city of Santa Monlca, Santa Monica college, the Santa Monica
School Dlstrict, or the State of California.
(b) Applications for approval of permits for proposed
developments ln the Third street Mall Specific Plan Area and in
the Hospital Specific Plan Area.
(c) Appllcations for approval of permits for proposed
developments that fall at or below the following square feet of
floor area for the district in which the development is located:
C-2 Neighborhood Commercial 8,000
C-3 Downtown 22,000
C3C Dmvntown Overlay 22,000
C-4 Highway Commerclal 18,000
C-5 Special Office 22,000
C-6 Boulevard Commercial 22,000
CM Maln street 11,000
CP Commercial Professional 16,000
Ml Industrial Conservation 22,000
To the extent that a project contains both residential and
non-residential components, this moratorium applies only to the
non-residential component of such project. A project that
contalns both residential and non-residentlal components may
proceed with an applicatlon only if the square footage of the
non-residential portion of the proJect falls below the threshold
set forth in this subsection.
(d) Applications
proposed developments
applications have been
for
for
filed
approval
which
on or
of permlts
development
before May 2,
involving
agreement
1989 and
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proposed developments for WhlCh development reVlew appllcations
have been flIed and deemed complete on or before May 2, 1989.
(i) An appllcation shall be deemed complete for
purposes of this Ordinance within fifteen (15) days for
subdivision Maps and parcel maps, and thirty (30) days for all
other permits, after the Planning Division receives a
substantially complete applicatlon together with all information,
reports, drawings, plans, filing fees, and any other materials
and documents required by the appropriate application forms
supplied by the city. If, within the specified time period, the
Planning Division fails to advise the applicant in writing that
his or her application is incomplete and to speclfy all
additional information requlred to complete that applicatlon, the
application shall automatically be deemed complete. An
application ~s "substantially complete" ~f the missing
lnformation is supplied within two (2) working days of the City's
request.
(li) If an application for approval of a proposed
development has been deemed complete by the City on or before May
2, 1989, an amended application for the same project shall be
deemed complete as of May 2, 1989, so long as the Planning
Director determines that the changes to the project do not
increase the size or substantially alter the scope of the
proposed project. This section shall not apply for purposes of
deeming an application complete under the Permlt Streamlining
Act.
(e)
Applications
construction,
for approval of permits
enlargement, demolition,
invol ving the
or moving of,
erection,
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and excavation and grading for, projects which have been granted
development permits by the Planning Commisslon or Planning
Division on or before May 2, 1989.
SECTION 4. ThlS Ordinance shall be of no further force and
effect ten months and flfteen days from its adoptlon, unless
prlor to that date, after a public hearing, notlced pursuant to
Section 9131. 5 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code, the city
Council, by majority vote, extends the interim ordinance pursuant
to section 9120.6 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code.
SECTION 5. This ordinance is declared to be an urgency
measure adopted pursuant to the provisions of section 9120.6 of
the Santa Monica Munlcipal Code and section 615 of the Santa
Monica City Charter. It is necessary for preserving the public
peace, health and safety, and the urgency for lts adoption is set
forth in the findings above.
SECTION 6. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of
this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no
further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 7. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid
or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent
jurisdiction, such decislon shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each and
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every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalld or unconstltutional without regard to whether
any portion of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 8.
The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall
attest to the passage of this Ordinance.
The City Clerk shall
cause the same to be published once in the officlal newspaper
within 15 days after its adoption.
This Ordinance shall become
effective upon adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
(l'\.rt~........... ~
ROBERT M. MYERS 0
City Attorney
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Adopted and approved this 23rd day of May, 1989.
U'" I M~
I hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 1481(CCS)
was duly and regularly introduced at a meeting of the city
Council on the 23rd day of May 1989; that the said Ordinance was
thereafter duly adopted at a meeting of the City council on the
23rd day of May 1989 by the following Council vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers: Abdo, Finkel, Jennings, Ka t z , Reed
Mayor Zane
Noes: Councilmembers: None
Abstain: Councilmembers: None
Absent: Councilmembers: Genser ~ -
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ATTEST:
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C~ fAj-.
Deputy Cit~ Clerk