O2011
f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\rental housing moratorium-1.wpd
City Council Meeting 5-22-2001
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2011 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCil OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF
AND CONVERSION TO SHORT-TERM HOUSING; DECLARING
THE PRESENCE OF AN EMERGENCY
THE CITY COUNCil OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOllOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings and Purpose. The Council finds and declares:
(a) The proliferation of short-term rental housing can have a significant, detrimental
impact on the quality of life in the community.
(b) Short-term housing, also known as corporate housing, provides temporary
accommodations in fully furnished apartments complete with furniture, appliances,
housewares, and other furnishings.
(c) Short-term housing projects typically afford an array of conveniences and
services such as maid and linen service, laundry and dry cleaning service, on-site
conference or meeting rooms, business centers, and Internet access, Most short-term
housing facilities also offer a full health club, spa, large pool and tennis court. Projects
that do not offer these facilities on-site, often offer membership to area facilities.
1
(d) The average length of stay in short-term housing in the Los Angeles region is
eighty days. Nationally, the average is seventy-one days.
(e) The typical occupants of these facilities include: relocating executives requiring
temporary accommodations until a permanent residence is established, corporate recruits,
attorneys trying cases, and relocating families. This housing is also increasingly utilized
by vacationers. The occupants of these units do not intend to make these units their
permanent place of residence, but view these premises as interim abodes.
(f) The short-term housing inventory increased by 13% nationally in 2000 and is
anticipated to increase by an average of 10% over the next four years, if current economic
conditions persist.
(g) Short-term housing is also growing exponentially in Santa Monica. Some of the
recent major housing developments in the City that offer or will offer short term housing
include the Arboretum project with 253 units (excluding the 97 units deed restricted to
affordable housing), the Sea Castle with 133 units (excluding the 45 units deed restricted
to affordable housing), and Citrus Suites with a combined 171 units available at two
separate locations.
(h) One of Santa Monica's primary housing goals is to preserve the quality and
character of its existing single and multi-family residential neighborhoods. Santa Monica's
prosperity has always been fueled by the area's many attractive features including its
cohesive and active residential neighborhoods and the diverse population which resides
therein. In order to continue to flourish, the City must preserve its character and charm
which result, in part, from the cultural, ethnic, and economic diversity of its resident
population
2
(i) The City must also preserve its unique sense of community which derives, in
large part, from residents' active participation in civic affairs, including local government,
cultural events, and educational endeavors. Occupants of short-term housing do not and
cannot have the same involvement and ties to the community and to neighborhoods in
which they reside as occupants who treat the City and their neighborhoods as their home.
Short-term occupants are less likely to become active in civic, neighborhood, and
community affairs and events.
U) The City has adopted numerous regulatory measures intended to promote the
development of multi-family housing and ensures that this development is occupied by
individuals as their principle residence. The City never envisioned that these measures
would facilitate the development of short-term housing.
(k) The proliferation of short-term housing in the City is a recent phenomenon and
the City needs time to adequately assess the full impacts of the form of housing and its
appropriate scope and location within the City.
(I) For the reasons described above, the City Council finds that a moratorium on the
development of and conversion to short-term housing is necessary because the continuing
development of this form of housing in the City prior to the City's review of its housing and
land use policies and regulations presents a current and immediate threat to the public
peace, health, safety, and welfare. If urgent action is not taken, this form of development
activity will continue unabated, thereby committing scarce land resources to development
that is not in the best interests of the residents of the City. The approval of additional
development of and the conversion to short-term housing in the City pending the City's
completion of its review of its housing and land use policies and regulations would result
3
in a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare. Consequently, this ordinance
establishes .a forty-five day moratorium on this form of housing extending up to and
including July 6, 2001, to provide the City sufficient time to further evaluate and undertake
appropriate actions to address impact of short-term housing,
SECTION 2. Moratorium.
(a) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, a moratorium is hereby plQced on the
acceptance for processing of any applications for approval oftentative tract maps, tentative
parcel maps, administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional use
permits, design compatibility permits, zoning conformance, and building permits for any
residential building or structure that will be utilized as short-term housing in any district in
the City.
(b) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, all applications which have not been
deemed complete as of May 22,2001, for approval oftentative tract maps, tentative parcel
maps, administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional use permits,
design compatibility permits, zoning conformance, and building permits for any residential
building or structure that will be utilized as short-term housing in any district in the City shall
be disapproved.
(c) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, no person shall convert property to short-
term housing without first obtaining a business license from the City's Business License
Division permitting this use.
(d) For purposes of this Ordinance, "short-term housing" shall be defined as rental
housing which has a combination of some but not necessarily all of the following attributes:
4
~
'aJeJlaM pue '^laJes
'lHlea4 'a:)ead :)!Iqnd aln DU!A.JasaJd JOJ i\JesS8:)au S! a:)ueu!pJO S!4l 'a^oqe SDU!PU!J a4l U!
4lJOJ las S\:f 'JalJe4~ ^K) e:)!uoV\l elues a4l JO 9 ~9 UO!paS JO UO!S!^OJd a4l ollUensJnd
paldope aJnSe8W ^:)uaDJn ue aq Ol paJep8p S! 8:)ueU!pJO S!4.l 'v NOI.l83S
'pafoJd
DU!Sn04 WJal-lJ04s e aleJado JO dOl8^ap Oll4DP palSa^ e 4s!lqelsa ue:) J8UMO a4l4:)!YM U!
^lJadoJd e Ol alqe:)!Idde aq lOU lIe4s a:)ueu!pJO S!4.l 'Sl46!~ palSa^ '8 NOI.l83S
DU!)jJed lale^ (J)
'ssa:):)e laUJalul pue 'SaU!4:)ew xeJ 'SJa^eld 08 'S~8^ 'SOaJalS "Slas
uo!s!^alal ')jJoMlJe 'SI8MOl 'suau!I paq 'saJeMaSn04 'sa:)ue!ldde 'aJnl!UJnJ :DU!MOIIOJ a4l
JO lie ^Ipessa:)au lOU lnq awos JO UO!leU!qwo:)e DU!pnpU! Sl!un P84S!uJnJ ^lInJ (a)
SWOOJ DU!laaW (p)
SJ8lua:) a:)!A.Jas SS8U!Snq (:))
S8!l!lpeJ eaJe Ol sd!4SJaqwaw JO 'slJno:) S!UUal 'Iood 'eds 'qnp 4lle84 (q)
8:)!A.JaS uau!I pue p!ew (e)
:samuawe DU!MOIIOJ a4l JO lie JO awos sapnpu! ^lJadoJd a4.l '8
'8J84Masl8 8:)uap!SaJ JO a:)eld lUaUewJad
e U!elqo JO u!elU!ew II!M 04M suosJad ^q asn JOJ P8PUalU! S! ^lJadoJd a4.l 'G
'i\JeJodwal
aq Ol ^:)uedn:):)o J!a4l PUalU! as!MJa4l0 04M lnq 's^ep 08 lsealle JO ^elS wnw!u!w e JOJ
^lJadoJd 84l uo ap!saJ II!M 04M slenp!^!pu! ^q asn JOJ paUD!Sap S! ^lJadoJd a4.l . ~
SECTION 5. This Ordinance shall be of no further force and effect after forty-five
days from tl:le date of its adoption, July 6, 2001, unless prior to that date, after a public
hearing, noticed pursuant to Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.20,22,050, the
City Council, by majority vote, extends this Interim Ordinance.
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, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to
effect 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 competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions ofthis 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 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 official
6
L
'ry
:V\I~O~ O.l S\:f 03^O~dd\:f
'UO!ldope Sl!
uodn ~M!P8JJ8 8WO:)8q lIe4S a:)ueulpJO S!4.l 'UO!ldope Sl! J8ije s^ep 9 ~ U!4l!M J8dedsM8u
Adopted and approved this 22nd day of May, 2001.
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. 2011 (CCS) was introduced and adopted at the City Council
meeting held on May 22, 2001, by the following vote:
Ayes:
Council members: Genser, McKeown, O'Connor,
Mayor Pro Tem Bloom, Mayor Feinstein
Noes'
Council members: None
Abstain Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Holbrook, Katz
ATTEST: