O2238f:\atty\muni\laws\alan\LMSD-M1 Interim Ordinance 8-28-07
City Council Meeting 8-28-07 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 223$ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA MODIFYING THE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS IN THE LIGHT
MANUFACTURING STUDIO DISTRICT (LMSD) AND THE INDUSTRIAL
CONSERVATION (M1) ZONING DISTRICTS TO ONLY AUTHORIZE DEVELOPMENT
THAT DOES NOT EXCEED SEVENTY-FIVE HUNDRED SQUARE FEET OR FIFTEEN
UNITS IN THE LMSD OR FIVE UNITS IN THE M1 UNLESS THE DEVELOPMENT IS
UNDERTAKEN PURSUANT TO A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT OR IS A CITY
PROJECT, TO REQUIRE A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT TO AUTHORIZE
CHANGES OF USE ON PARCELS IN THE LMSD THAT EXCEED 32,000 SQUARE
FEET AND ON PARCEES IN THE M1 THAT EXCEED 15,000 SQUARE FEET, AND
TO ESTABLISH EXCEPTIONS AND DECLARING THE PRESENCE OF AN
EMERGENCY
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings. and Purpose. The City Council finds and declares:
(a) Santa Monica is a small, extremely dense, older, coastal city consisting of
just 8 square miles of land bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on three
sides by the megalopolis of Los Angeles.
(b) Approximately 87,000 people live in the City, on weekdays there are about
300,000 present in the City, and on weekends and holidays the number of persons in
the City soars to between 500,000 and 1 million.
(c) Santa Monica's population density, eleven thousand two hundred persons
per square mile, is the second highest among neighboring and nearby jurisdictions and
is the densest among coastal communities in Los Angeles County.
(d) Santa Monica has been fully built out for over 50 years, much of its
development having occurred during, and immediately after World War II; the facts that
the City is built out and already very dense make land use planning a vital and difficult
challenge.
(e) In the last 25 years, land values within the City have soared due, in large
part, to the land's scarcity and prime location, the excellent climate, and to the
desirability of living and working in a community which offers a vast array of urban
amenities and services, a unique sense of community, pedestrian-oriented scale, and
economic and social diversity.
(f) In the past ten years, escalating land values, economic prosperity, and
changes in state law have fueled a massive increase in development which has
significantly altered the physical and social landscape of the City and necessitated that
land use planning be undertaken with the utmost care to promote and protect the City's
welfare.
(g) In July of 2004, the City began preparing a new Land Use and Circulation
Element of the General Plan (LUCE) and a comprehensive revision of the City's Zoning
Ordinance, a massive project, crucial to the community's long-term welfare, which
remains ongoing at this time.
(h) The work on the LUCE update has included numerous public hearings and
participation by thousands of residents, business owners, and visitors. Participants
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have repeatedly articulated the goal that the City should carefully monitor future
development -particularly large-scale development - to ensure that Santa Monica
remains a livable city.
(i) In these public hearings, the City's manufacturing and industrial area has
been a critical focus and residents have raised concerns about the current development
trends within this area.
Q) The City's current Land Use Element provides that this area, known as the
Industrial Conservation District, "should continue in its role as a valuable location for
industrial 'incubator' uses, existing mahufacturing, and loft space for the performing and
visual arts. In recognition of the need for some artists to reside in their studios,
consideration should be given to this mixed use on a case by case basis. Allowable
intensity should be the lowest in the City consistent with current building intensity, to
protect the area from speculation."
(k) Land Use Element Objective 1.9 addressing the Industrial Conservation
District provides: "Preserve existing and accommodate future industrial and
manufacturing use, particularly to provide employment for the low-skill and entry-level
segment of the Santa Monica workforce."
(I) The City's industrial area is comprised of two zoning districts -the Light
Manufacturing Studio (LMSD) District and the Industrial Conservation (M1) District.
(m) These districts comprise a significant portion of the City -over 400 centrally
located acres.
(n) .The area serves as a vital economic engine for the City because of the many
studios and manufacturers located there.
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(o) Because the industrial zoned lands were planned for industrial use and
consequently, this area does not provide the public infrastructure -streets; sidewalks,
open space, and other amenities -necessary for a significant number of people to both
live and work there.
(p) Instead, the street grid and parcel size in these industrial areas reflect the
industrial pattern of development that supports large industrial uses, with few sidewalks,
limited bike paths, few parks, and limited open space.
(q) The current land uses include studio post production, construction support
services, automobile related uses; warehouse/storage, distribution facilities, private
schools, major utilities, bus and city yards, and limited housing.
(r) These districts also have a substantial amount of entertainment related uses.
included film, radio, TV, visual arts, photography, performing arts, and design services
and publishing.
(s) As reflected by the current Land Use Element, the City's intent for the
industrial area is to provide opportunities for light industrial uses and post production
work with limited discretionary opportunities for artist housing. It has. also long been
envisioned as the principle location of the proposed light rail system.
(t) The City's Land Use Element did not and does not envision that the industrial
zones' existing large blocks would be redeveloped into a dense residential
neighborhood.
(u) Until the past year, this area has been developed according to this vision.
For instance, over the past seven years, the industrial area had approximately 100,000
square feet of production development, 40,000 square feet of office commercial, 30,000
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square feet of industrial, 60,000 square feet of auto related development, and 170
residential units.
(v) However, this pattern has recently changed; and the City is currently
experiencing a dramatic increase in application submittals for large, dense
developments that lack significant amehities for the residents and virtually no services
to support the housing use.
(vv) Within the past year alone, the City has received applications for over 1,000
housing units in or immediately adjacent to the City's industrial area.
(x) At the same time, community input has demonstrated significant interest in
preserving and enhancing the residents' quality of life and the city's economic health
through a variety of means. These include opportunities for industrial uses and support
businesses, improving traffic conditions through the development of the light rail,
significantly revising the existing traffic grid, creating usable open space, supporting
housing at strategic locations and at appropriate scales and densities, and transforming
large blocks into a more pedestrian scaled environment, ensuring the city's economic
diversity.
(y) Continued piecemeal development of the industrial area will significantly
constrain the City's opportunity to adequately plan for the future. It will likely yield large,
dense blocks of a single residential type without adequate infrastructure, amenities and
services, with a lack of adequate roadway structure, lack of neighborhood environment,
increasing conflict between housing and existing uses, and increased speculative
development pressure.
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(z) The City has previously established 7,500 square feet as a development
threshold that preserves the scale and character of existing neighborhoods and protects
residents' quality of life and the environment.
(aa) Since 1998, the average new housing project has contained fifteen units,
excluding two atypically large projects.
(bb) Failure to reduce the development review threshold would. pose an
immediate threat to the existing character of the LMSD and M1 Zoning Districts.
Adjusting the development standards as provided in this Ordinance would ensure that
quality of life, the environment, and the efficacy of the ongoing planning process are
preserved. Because existing educational uses are consistent with the desire to
maintain cultural uses as well as the purpose of existing LMSD and M1 zoning, these
uses should remain subject to the existing Development Review Permit process which
includes public hearing, environmental, and public review.
(cc) Adoption of this ordinance would not prohibit any uses currently authorized
in the LMSD and M1 Districts.
(dd) Adoption of this ordinance would also not materially alter the City's
substantial incentives for residential or mixed use development in non-residential zoning
districts. These ihcentives would be preserved in local law and policy. For example,
residential development in all of the City's commercial districts would remain authorized.
Thus, residential development could still occur in over 80% of the City.
(ee) As detailed above and in the July 24, and August 28, 2007 City Council staff
reports, there exists a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and
welfare should this interim ordinance not be adopted, and piecemeal development of
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this area continue with large, dense blocks of a single type of development without
adequate infrastructure, amenities and services. The continued development of
projects inconsistent with contemplated changes to the City's Land Use and .Circulation
Element and the City's Zoning Ordinance and the approval or issuance of zoning
permits, subdivision maps, building permits, or other any land use permit authorized by
the City's current Zoning Ordinance would result in a threat to public health, safety and
welfare.
(ff) The City's Land Use and Circulation Elements and Zoning Ordinance requires
review and revision as it pertains to the development standards for development
projects in the LMSD and M1 Zoning Districts in the City. That process is underway.
Pending completion of this review and revision, it is necessary on an interim basis to
modify the Zoning Ordinance as set forth in Section 2 of this Ordinance:
SECTION 2. Interim Zoning Regulations.
The issuance of permits for new development or the expansion of an existing
development in the LMSD and M1 Zoning Districts in the City that does not comply with
the interim zoning standards set forth in Section 3 of this Ordinance is hereby
prohibited. Notwithstanding any provision of the City's Zoning Ordinance to the
contrary, no zoning permits or approvals, subdivision. maps, building permits, or other
land use permit shall be approved or issued in the LMSD and M1 Zoning Districts in the
City, except as described in Section 3 below during the pendency of this Ordinance or
any extension thereof.
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SECTION 3. Interim Zoning Standards.
Notwithstanding the development standards specified in Santa Monica Municipal
Code Section 9.04.08.35.050 and Santa Monica Municipal Code Section
9.04.08.34.060, the following development standards shall apply:
(a) Except for City projects and projects developed pursuant to a development
agreement adopted in accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 9.48, a
development project or the expansion of an existing development shall not exceed
seven thousand five hundred (7500) square feet of floor area, or fifteen (15) dwelling
units, artist studio units, or single room occupancy units in the LMSD, excluding density
bonus units, or five (5) dwelling units, artist studio units, or single room occupancy units
in the M1, excluding density bonus units.
(b) Except for City projects and projects developed pursuant to a development
agreement adopted in accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 9.48, no
change of use shall be authorized on parcels in the LMSD that exceed 32,000 square
feet and on parcels in the M1 that exceed 15,000 square feet. However, no
development agreement shall be required for a change of use within an existing multi-
tenant property unless the Director of Planning and Community Development makes a
written determination that the change of use will constitute a substantial change in the
mode or character of operation of the property as a whole. Factors to be considered by
the Director include, but are not limited to, occupancy, hours of operation, intensity of
use, traffic, noise, odor, or other impacts.
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(c) Public or private schools existing before September 1988 shall not be subject
to these interim zoning standards, but shall remain subject to the property development
standards of Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.35.050 and Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.34.060.
(d) Auto dealerships shall not be subject to these interim zoning standards but
shall remain subject to the property development standards in Ordinance Number 2186
(CCS).
SECTION 4. This ordinance shall apply to any application for a development
project that is determined complete on or after August 28, 2007.
SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be of no further force or effect sixty days after
its effective date, 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. This Ordinance is declared to be an urgency measure adopted
pursuant to the provision Section 615 of the Santa Monica City Charter. As set forth in
the findings above, this Ordinance is necessary for preserving the public peace, health,
and safety.
SECTION 7. The Council finds that the adoption and implementation of this
ordinance are exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act
pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15061(c)(3) and 15183.
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SECTION 8. 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 9. 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 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 10. 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.
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APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Approved and adopted this 28th day of August, 2007.
Ri and Bloom, Mayor
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. 2238 (CCS) had its introduction and adoption at the Santa
Monica City Council meeting held on August 28, 2007, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Genser, Holbrook, McKeown, O'Connor
Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Shriver
Mayor Pro Tem Katz
ATTEST:
aria M.' fewart, City Clerk