O1957
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f:\plan\share\council\ord\2-cargarge.doc
Council Mtg: October 12, 1999 Santa Monica, California
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ORDINANCE NUMBER 1957
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTION 9.04.10.08.060(a) OF ARTICLE IX OF THE SANTA MONICA
MUNICIPAL CODE TO ALLOW AN UNOBSTRUCTED INTERIOR WIDTH DIMENSION
OF 18’ FOR EXISTING TWO-CAR GARAGES IN EXISTENCE ON MAY 5, 1999 THAT
SERVE EXISTING SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES
WHEREAS, Section 9.04.08.02.090 of the Comprehensive Land Use and
Zoning Ordinance requires that Part 9.04.10.08’s off-street parking standards apply when
substantial remodels or additions to single family dwellings in the R1 Single Family
Residential District of fifty percent or more additional square footage are proposed; and
WHEREAS, Section 9.04.18.020(b) of the Comprehensive Land Use and
Zoning Ordinance requires that additions to single family dwellings located in other zoning
districts which lack sufficient off-street parking as required by Part 9.04.10.08 provide
additional parking spaces to meet the parking requirement; and
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WHEREAS, Section 9.04.10.08.040 of the Comprehensive Land Use and
Zoning Ordinance requires that detached single family dwellings provide, at a minimum,
two parking spaces in a garage; and
WHEREAS, Section 9.04.10.08.060(a) of the Comprehensive Land Use and Zoning
Ordinance establishes minimum unobstructed inside dimensions for private two car
garages or carports as eighteen feet in length by twenty feet in width; and
WHEREAS, there are existing single family dwellings that have two car garages
with unobstructed inside width dimensions of eighteen feet which have physical or practical
constraints that effectively prohibit the widening of the two car garage to comply with the
standards set forth in Part 9.04.10.08 of the Comprehensive Land Use and Zoning
Ordinance;
WHEREAS, on June 16, 1999, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on
the proposed zoning text amendments which would amend Section 9.04.10.08.060(a) to
allow a minimum unobstructed interior width dimension of 18’ for existing, private two-car
garages which are serving single family residences; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation to the City
Council to adopt a zoning ordinance amendment to allow lawfully existing private two-car
garages to maintain a minimum unobstructed interior width dimension of 18’; and
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WHEREAS, the City Council held a public hearing on the proposed Zoning
Ordinance Text Amendment on October 5, 1999; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and declares that the proposed amendment is
consistent in principle with the goals, objectives, policies, land uses, and programs
specified in the adopted General Plan, specifically Land Use Element Objective 1.1 which
seeks to improve the quality of life for all residents by providing a balance of land uses
while “insuring fair treatment of property owners and residents”; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendment is consistent with this objective since nearly
all variance applications for existing garage width modifications are approved, property
owners and residents would be better served by allowing this minor modification to the
required two-car garage widths than to require a variance application which costs over
$1,000 and takes several months to process; and
WHEREAS, Circulation Element Policy 4.7.1 requires that the “city parking
standards be adhered to, except with respect to parking requirements for hotels,
residential uses and mixed use projects which need further study;” and
WHEREAS, this text amendment is consistent with this policy as it has provided
Transportation Planning Division staff with the opportunity to analyze the interior
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dimension requirements for single-family garages in order to determine the appropriate
minimum interior width dimension for existing garages, and based on this analysis,
Transportation Planning Division staff believes that a minimum 18’ width dimension will
allow for the safe movement of two vehicles in and out of the garage and still provide
adequate space for people to enter and exit the vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and declares that the public health, safety and
general welfare requires the adoption of the proposed Ordinance in that retaining existing
2-car garages which provide adequate off-street parking is consistent with the City’s goals
for a sustainable city by avoiding the demolition of usable garages and eliminate a time
consuming variance process.
NOW, THEREFORE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 9.04.10.08.060 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is
amended to read as follows:
Design standards
9.04.10.08.060 .
All new parking shall be designed to the following standards, unless otherwise
required by the Parking and Traffic Engineer:
Dimensional Requirements
(a) .Minimum parking dimensions shall comply with
the standards approved by the City Parking and Traffic Engineer. An unobstructed inside
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dimension of eighteen feet in length by twenty feet in width shall be provided for a private
two-car garage or carport, except a private two-car garage lawfully in existence on May 5,
1999 may be maintained if the garage serves a single family residence and has an
unobstructed inside dimension of at least eighteen feet in width by eighteen feet in length.
(b) Parking areas provided to meet the requirements of this Part shall be arranged
so as to be safe and convenient. Each space shall be accessible to an automobile of
standard or compact size. No tandem parking shall be permitted in any residential district
in connection with any parking required for any residential use.
(c) Storage areas may be located above the parking space provided that they do not
encroach into the length of a parking space by more than three and one-half feet and
provided that the storage area is at least four and one-half feet above the floor.
(d) The design, location, or position of any parking layout, entry, driveway,
approach, or accessway from any street or alley shall be approved by the Parking and
Traffic Engineer.
SECTION 2. 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, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. 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
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court of competent jurisdiction, such decision 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 every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. 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
official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
S/
MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE
City Attorney
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Adopted and approved this 12th day of October, 1999.
S/
Pam OConnor, Mayor
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State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 1957 (CCS) had its second reading and was adopted on
October 12, 1999, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Holbrook, Feinstein, Bloom, Rosenstein, McKeown,
Mayor Pro Tem Genser, Mayor OConnor
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Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: None
ATTEST:
S/
Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk
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