O2032
f:\atty\mu n i\laws\mjm\promenade moratorium-3. wpd
City Council Meeting 1-8-02
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER2032 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA EXTENDING A MORATORIUM ON NEW OR EXPANDED
RETAIL USES ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE THIRD STREET
PROMENADE WITH LIMITED EXCEPTIONS; 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 City Council finds and declares:
(a) In 1965, the City Council sought to revitalize its declining downtown business
district by closing three blocks of Third Street to vehicular traffic in order to create a
pedestrian shopping mall pursuant to the Pedestrian Mall Act.
(b)The Third Street Mall did not attract shoppers; and, as a result, retail businesses
on the mall failed, and the downtown business district continued to decline,
(c) In 1986, the City Council again acted to save its downtown by adopting the Third
Street Mall Specific Plan to provide a framework for reviving the Third Street Mall and
surrounding areas,
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(d) The Specific Plan made diversity the foundation of the mall's future, mandating
a mixture of uses and activities sufficient to ensure that the mall would attract a diverse
group of residents and visitors,
(e) Thereafter, the City embarked upon a substantial effort to transform the
moribund Third Street Mall into a new kind of public space which would serve as a
community gathering place, attract visitors from near and far and define the City's
municipal character. The redesign included numerous improvements to the pedestrian
street: retail pavilions, landscaping, water elements, public benches, street lamps, and
topiary dinosaur sculptures in the central landscaped area of each block, The area was
also renamed the Third Street Promenade,
(f) This space was, from the time of its conception, distinguished from other
shopping areas, by the carefully planned and unusual mix of opportunities it afforded,
including street performers, sidewalk dining, cinema, bookstores, special events, clothing
stores, specialty shops, and night clubs,
(g) As conceived, the Third Street Promenade was not simply a shopping mall; it
was a place to go for entertainment, company, relaxation, strolling; a place where one
could one could watch jugglers and dancers, dine outdoors, argue politics, listen to music,
browse a bookshop, take in a movie and more,
(h) Moreover, the Third Street Promenade was planned as a gathering place for
all segments of society: children, the elderly, and people from all cultural and economic
groupso
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(i) The plan succeeded, and the Third Street Promenade became a resounding
success as a favored destination for local residents, Southern Californians and
international travelers alike,
U) As such, it became, and still is, an engine which drives Santa Monica's economy,
However, this success has had its costs.
(k) The influx of visitors to the Third Street Promenade has brought significant traffic
and parking problems.
(I) At present, these problems are being addressed by a downtown parking task
force; however, the problem is significant and the options are limited because the area is
very small, has been built out for decades and features a mixture of uses, including
residential, which is inconsistent with simply building larger and larger parking structures.
(m) Also, maintaining the delicate balance of entertainment, restaurants and retail
which is the foundation of the Third Street Promenade's success has been an ongoing
challenge.
(n) Overthe years, marketforces have threatened the mix many times; and the City
has responded to preserve the Third Street Promenade's unique character through the
adoption of laws and polices which promote the general welfare by maintaining the
Promenade's eclectic character.
(0) In 1996, the City revised the Third Street Mall Specific Plan through the adoption
of the Bayside District Specific Plan. A critical objective of this plan remained to "[a]ttract
and accommodate a mix of uses" serving residents, visitors and tourists during both
daytime and evening hours, To this end, the specific plan established a ten-year
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projection and plan for the controlled growth of retail outlets on the Third Street
Promenade.
(p) However, the actual growth of retail has far outstripped the planned growth to
the point that the ten year projection is already met, just five years into the planning period.
(q) Today, there is already approximately 530,000 square feet of retail on the three
block Third Street Promenade and more is on the way.
(r) The massive influx of retail establishments has displaced restaurants and
sidewalk dining.
(s) Five restaurants have been lost in the last two years and four more are at or
nearing the end of their leases; frontage devoted to sidewalk dining has shrunk.
(t) As reflected by these changes, the balance of uses on the Third Street
Promenade is once again threatened; this time by a loss of restaurants and influx of
additional retail. If left unchecked, this trend will deprive the Third Street Promenade of its
unique character and vitality by rendering it simply a standard shopping mall.
(u) The influx of retail not only impacts the mix of establishment located on the Third
Street Promenade, it also exacerbates parking and traffic problems,
(v) Residents and visitors come to the Third Street Promenade for dining and
entertainment, typically for many hours. In contrast, persons who are simply shopping,
stay for shorter periods of time. The result is more people making more trips and thereby
placing ever-increasing demands on the downtown's already overtaxed traffic and parking
capacities.
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(w) These increased demands degrade the quality of residents' lives and the
desirability of the Third Street Promenade and the City as destinations and thereby
threaten the City's welfare
(x) Moreover, this threat arises in a time when tourism is in sharp decline and the
State and nation are experiencing an overall economic downtown,
(y) Accordingly, in orderto preserve the City's economic and social welfare, the City
Council must act in order to protect the unique qualities and vitality of the Third Street
Promenade by ensuring the best possible mix of restaurants, retail and entertainment.
(z) In general, the City must ensure the best possible mix of restaurants, retail and
entertainment so that the Promenade remains unusual and attractive and does not become
simply an average shopping mall through the continued expansion of retail at the expense
of other uses.
(aa) Similarly, the City must preserve the outdoor dining opportunities which have
become one of the hallmarks of the Promenade.
(bb) Exactly how best to accomplish this end is a complex question which will
require detailed study, including a review of the specific plan.
(cc) For the reasons described above, the City Council finds that there is a current
and immediate threat to the public health, safety or welfare and that a moratorium on new
or expanded ground floor retail use on the Third Street Promenade is necessary to ensure
that the character of the Promenade is preserved during the study period and that the City
remains able to ensure that best possible mix of restaurants, retail and entertainment is
achieved. The approval of additional permits related to such retail use on the Third Street
Promenade pending the City's completion of its review of its land use policies and
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regulations would result in a threat to the public health, safety, or welfare since these
changes threaten the quality of residents' lives and the desirability of the Third Street
Promenade and the City as a destination. Consequently, this ordinance establishes a two
year moratorium on this type of commercial activity up to and including January 9, 2004
to provide the City sufficient time to further evaluate and undertake appropriate actions to
address these impacts.
SECTION 2, Moratorium.
(a) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, a moratorium is hereby placed on the
acceptance for processing of applications for approval of tentative tract maps, tentative
parcel maps, administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional use
permits, zoning conformance determinations, business licenses, and building permits
related to a new or expanded retail use if that retail use would increase either the total
linear footage or the total square footage of retail uses on the ground floor of any given
block of the Promenade by more than five percent (5%) beyond the total linear retail
footage and total retail square footage that existed on that block of the Promenade as of
the effective date of this Ordinance. A block is defined as both sides of the Third Street
Promenade to the alley and the adjacent sides of adjoining side streets. Portions of the
Third Street Promenade to be designated as a block for purposes of this Ordinance are:
Block 1: 1200 Block of Third Street Promenade
Block 2: 1300 Block of Third Street Promenade
Block 3: 1400 Block of Third Street Promenade
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(b) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, all applications which have not been
deemed complete as of November 27, 2001, for approval of tentative tract maps, tentative
parcel maps, administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional use
permits, zoning conformance determinations, business licenses, and building permits
related to a new or expanded retail use if that retail use would increase either the total
linear footage or the total square footage of retail uses on the ground floor of any given
block of the Promenade by more than five percent (5%) beyond the total linear retail
footage and total retail square footage that existed on that block of the Promenade as of
the effective date of this Ordinance as set forth in Subsection (c) of this Section shall be
disapproved,
(c) The total linear footage and square footage of retail uses on the ground floor of
each block of the Promenade as of the effective date of this Ordinance is hereby
established as follows:
Block 1 961 totallinearfeet/137,980 total square feet
Block 2 654 total linear feet/91 ,220 total square feet
Block 3 820 total linear feet/114, 193 total square feet
SECTION 3. Vested Rights. This Ordinance shall not be applicable if an owner can
establish a vested right to develop or operate commercial property otherwise prohibited by
Section 2 of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. This ordinance is declared to be an urgency measure adopted
pursuant to the provision of Section 615 of the Santa Monica City Charter. As set forth
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in the findings above, this ordinance is necessary for preserving the public peace, health,
safety, and welfare.
SECTION 5. This Ordinance shall be of no further force and effect one year from
the date of its adoption, January 9, 2003, 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.
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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
newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective upon
its adoption
APPROVED AS TO FORM
~u~
M RSHA JONES OUTRIE
City Attorney
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Adopted and approved this 8th day of January 2002.
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. 2032 (CCS) had its first reading and adoption at the City
Council meeting held on January 8, 2002, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Genser, Katz, Bloom, O'Connor,
Mayor Pro T em McKeown
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Holbrook, Mayor Feinstein
ATTEST:
Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk