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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, 1 (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 2 (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 3 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. 4 (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 5 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 6 (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 7 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. 8 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 9 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