R-10317City Council Meeting 6-24-08 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER10317(CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA SUBMITTING TO THE VOTERS
AN INITIATIVE MEASURE PROPOSING TO AMEND THE LAND USE ELEMENT OF
THE GENERAL PLAN OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AT THE GENERAL
MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008, AND
AUTHORIZING CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO FILE WRITTEN ARGUMENTS FOR
OR AGAINST THE PROPOSITION AND DIRECTING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO
PREPARE AN IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS OF THE MEASURE
WHEREAS, on June 10, 2008, the City Council adopted a Resolution calling for
and giving notice of a General Municipal Election on November 4, 2008; and
WHEREAS, California Elections Code Section 9215 authorizes the governing
body of a city to place proposed initiative ballot measures on the ballot; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Santa Monica wishes to place the
following initiative measure on the ballot at the General Municipal Election to be held on
November 4, 2008,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES RESOLVE AND PROCLAIM AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. A General Municipal Election has been called for or November 4,
2008, for the purpose, among other things, of submitting measures and ballot
propositions to the voters.
SECTION 2. At the General Municipal Election called for November 4, 2008, the
following initiative proposition shall be submitted to the qualified electors of-the City of
Santa Monica:
PROPOSITION " ": Shall the City's General Plan be
amended through 2023 to establish aCity-wide annual Yes
limit on commercial development of 75,000 square feet,
which: would apply to the types of projects that required
City Councif or Planning Commission approval on 1/16/08;
would not apply to specified uses such as residential,
parking, hospitals, schools, care and government facilities; No
and would allow. for borrowing from future years if the five-
year average stays within the limit?
SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall transmit to the City Attorney, in accordance
with Elections Code Section 9280, a copy of the initiative measure. The City Attorney
shall prepare an impartial analysis of it, which analysis shall not exceed 500 words in
length each. The impartial analysis shall be filed by the date set by the City Clerk for
the filing of primary arguments. In accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code
section 11.04.190 and California Elections Code Section 9295, not less than 10
calendar days before the City Clerk submits the official election materials for printing,
the City Clerk shall make a copy of all applicable elections materials available for public
examination inthe City Clerk's office.
SECTION 4. The City Council authorizes its members, as follows, to file written
arguments for or against the measure described above and which is contained in
Exhibit 1 to this Resolution, which Exhibit is incorporated by reference herein:
FOR: Councilmembers Robert Holbrook and Pam O'Connor
AGAINST: Councilmember Kevin McKeown
All written arguments filed by any person in favor of or against any measure,
including any rebuttal arguments, shall be accompanied by the names and signatures of
the persons submitting the argument as required by applicable law, and any names,
signatures and arguments may be filed until the time and date fixed by the City Clerk in
accordance with applicable law, after which no change may be submitted to the City
Clerk unless permitted by law.
SECTION 5. The City Clerk shall cause the text of the initiative measure, which
is contained in Exhibit 1, together with the City Attorney impartial analysis, and any
arguments for or against the measure, as well as any rebuttal, to be mailed to all
qualified voters with the sample ballot. In addition to other notices and publications
required by law, the City Clerk, not less than forty (40) days and not more than sixty (60)
days before the General Municipal Election, shall cause the text of the measure to be
published once in the official newspaper and in each edition thereof during the day of
publication. The City Clerk is authorized to give such notices and. to fix such times and
dates as are required by law or which are appropriate to conduct properly the election.
SECTION 6. The provisions of Resolution Number 10299 (CCS) are referred to
for more particulars concerning the General Municipal Election to be held on November
4, 2008 and in all respects the election shall be held and conducted as provided for by
applicable law. The City Clerk is authorized and directed to procure and furnish any
official ballots, notices, printed materials and all supplies or equipment that maybe
necessary in order to properly and lawfully conduct the election.
SECTION 7. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
M RSHA J ES MOUT IE
Ci Attorne
Adopted and approved this 24th day of June, 2008.
Mayor Pro Tem Bloom
I, Maria Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify
that the foregoing Resolution No. 10317 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of
the Santa Monica City Council held on the 24th day of June, 2008, by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Genser, Holbrook, McKeown, O'Connor
Mayor Pro Tem Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Shriver
Mayor Katz
ATTEST:
._----
Maria M. Stewart, C y Clerk
The Residents' Initiative to Fright Traffac
January I6, 2008
To the Honorable Registrar of Voters of the City. of Santa Monica: We, the
undersigned, registered and qualified voters of the City of Santa Monica, hereby propose
an initiative measure to amend the Santa Monica General Plan. We petition you to
submit this measure to the City Council of the City of Santa Monica for adoption or
submission of the measure to the voters of the City of Santa Monica at the earliest
election for which it qualifies.
The measure provides as follows:
The Residents' Initiative to Fight Traffic
The people of the City of Santa Monica do hereby ordain as follows:
Section 1. Findings and Purpose.
A. Santa Monica is only 8 square miles, yet it is one of the most densely populated and
traffic congested cities in Southern California. Excessive development and an explosion
of new office and commercial buildings have brought in too much traffic and threaten to
change the very nature of our beach community. For example:
• Between 1980 and 2007, our city witnessed an unprecedented expansion in
commercial development, adding more than 9,000,000 square feet of new office,
retail, and industrial space. This is the square footage equivalent of adding over
16 Santa Monica Place malls.
• This flood of development has negatively impacted our city, our neighborhoods,
and Santa Monica residents by increasing traffic congestion, parking problems,
pollution, and demands on our infrastructure.
• Commercial development typically generates at least three to four times the
amount of traffic as residential.
• The vision of the 1984 General Plan to promote commercial growth has been met
and exceeded by this unprecedented pace of development.
• Since 1995, growth in commercial space (office, retail, and industrial. uses such as
studio and post production facilities) has averaged 160,000 square feet per year,
the square footage equivalent of adding one new Santa Monica Place mall to our
city every three and a half years.
• Growth is expected to continue at this pace for the next 20 years, adding
approximately 3,200,000 square feet of new commercial development, or the
square footage equivalent of almost six new Santa Monica Place malls, to our
already congested city.
• Continued unsustainable development at this level-will have dire impacts on
traffic and on Santa Monica residents' quality of life.
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B. This measure will put residents back in control of our city by putting a reasonable,
common sense limit on future non-residential development. Specifically:
• This measure will cut Santa Monica's projected commercial growth in half.
• This measure exempts residential; schools, and other uses vital to the well being
of our community.
• By capping annual commercial development at a level that allows a reasonable
rate of growth, this measure will ensure that our city has the time to develop the
physical, economic, and social infrastructure to keep pace with development.
• This measure will give our city the opporhmity to create a competitive selection
process for potential commercial development, resulting in high-quality.projects
that best meet our community's goals and objectives.
• This measure will prevent the massive over-development of our neighborhoods
and ensure that residents have a'say in the future of our city.
Section 2. General Plan Amendments.
This initiative hereby amends Part 1.0 of the Land Use Element Objectives and Policies
of the Santa Monica General Plan adopted October 23, 1984, as amended through
January 16, 2008, to add the following new policies immediately following Policy 1.1.1
on page 84:
Policy 1.1.2. The total amount of commercial development approved citywide each
calendar year shall be limited to 75,000 square feet of floor area as set forth below.
A. For the purposes of this policy, "commercial development" means a
building or portion of a building approved for ang use other than
residential, parking, schools, child or adult day care facilities, hospitals,
rest homes, residential care facilities for the elderly, places of worship,
government facilities, or neighborhood-serving goods, services, or retail
uses that aze located on the ground floor of an affordable housing
development in which one hundred percent.of the dwelling units are
designated for affordable housing in a manner approved by the City.
B. The annual limit on total commercial development approvals does not
apply to approval of any project that, pursuant to State law does not
require, or pursuant to the Santa Monica Municipal Code in effect January
16, 2008 would not have required, approval of either thePlanning
Commission or the City Council.
C. iu calculating the amount of commercial development subject to the
annual limit:
1. Floor area shall be calculated in accordance with the standards set
-forth in section 9.04.02.030.3 i 5 of the Santa Monica Municipal-Code
in effect on January 16, 2008 excluding from such calculations any
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non-commercial development {e.g., parking and other uses excluded
from the meaning of the term as defined in paragraph A, above) or
commercial developmen# otherwise not subject to the annual 1nnit,
2. Projects subject to the annual limit that replace or remodel an existing
building may receive credit for some or all of the floor area of the
existing building based on the traffic generated by the new building in
comparison to the original building. The floor azea subject to the
annual limit calculated.pursuant to paragraph C.l, above, shall be
reduced by an amount determined as follows:
Using the most recently available trip generation methodology
and data from the Ins#itute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) or a
compazable source used by jurisdictions of comparable size to
Santa Monica, the City shall ascertain the number of vehicle
trips per week {on a gross basis without adjustments to trip
generation established by the IT'E or other documentation)
associated with (a) the building to be remodeled or replaced
(based on the size, design, and primaryuse of the building for
the last two years) and (b) the new building (based on the
approved size, design, and ali conditions of approval affecting
use of the building).. Each number shall be divided by the
square footage of the building to which it applies to ascertain,
for the purposes of this policy only, the projected trips per
squaze foot for each building.
ii. If the new building will generate the same or fewer trips per
square foot than the original building, then the entire square
footage of the original building shall be subtracted from the
square footage of the new building for the purposes of
calculating the floor area of the building that is subject to the
annual limit. For example, ifa 5,000 square foot building is
replaced by a 7,500 square foot building and the new building
would generate the same amount of traffic per squaze foot as
the original building, then the floor area of the new building
contributing to the annual limit would be reduced to 2,500
square feet.
iii. If the new building will generate more trips per squaze foot
than the original building, then a portion of the square footage
of the original building shall be subtracted from the square
footage of the new building for the purposes of calculating the
floor area of the building that is subject to the annual limit.
The portion to be subtracted shall be in proportion to the
difference in the number of trips per square foot between the
two buildings. For example, ifa 5,000 square foot building
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with one trip per squaze foot is replaced by a 7,500 square foot
building with two trips per squaze foot, then half the square
footage of the original building (2,500 square feet) would be
subtracted from the square footage of the new building and the
area of the new building contributing to the annual limit would
be 5,000 squaze feet.
3. The annual limit for a given calendar year shall be adjusted upwards
by the total square footage of projects approved after January 1, 200$ ,
which have not been built and for which during the preceding calendar
year the Planning Commission or City Council approval expired.
D. The city may borrow commercial development allocations from up to four
years'in the future so that total commercial development approvals in a
single year may exceed 75,000 square feet of floor area. In such cases,
however, the average annual square footage approved over the following
four years must be reduced below 75,000 square feet so that the average
for the five-year period including the first year and'the four following
years may not exceed 75,000 square feet per year.
E. Under no circumstances shall the average square footage of commercial
development approved over'any five-year period exceed 75,000 square
feet per year. To ensure that the city benefits from this policy as quickly
as possible and to offset the effects of commercial development approvals
issued prior to the adoption of this policy, the initial five year period for
calculating the average annual square footage, shall begin January 1, 2008
such that the average squaze footage approved for the period January 1,
2008 through December 31, 2012 shall not exceed 75,000 square feet per
year.
Policy 1.1.3. A cornerstone principle of this General Plan is ensuring that development
is consistent with this General Plan and proceeds at a sustainable pace. In furtherance of
this central goal, the People of Santa Monica, by initia#ive measure, have adopted Policy
1.1.2 and this Policy 1.1.3.
A. The Generat Plan may be updated, amended, or reorganized, and
individual goals and policies may be renumbered or reordered in the
course of ongoing updates of the General Plan in accordance with the
requirements of State law, but. Policies 1.1.2 and 1.1.3 may not be
amended or repealed except by a vote of the people before December 31,
2023. After that date these policies may be amended by the City Council
in accordance with applicable laws.
B. Nothing in this Policy or Policy 1.1.2 precludes the City Council from
seeking voter approval for commercial development in excess of the limit
established in Policy 1.1.2.
Page 4 of 9
Section 3. Implementation.
A: Upon the effective date of this initiative, the provisions of Section 2 of the
initiative aze hereby inserted into the Land Use Element Objectives and Policies of the '
Santa Monica General Plan as an amendment thereto, except that if the four amendments
of the mandatory elements of the General Plan permitted by State law for any given
calendar year already have been utilized in the year in which the initiative becomes
effective, this General- Plan amendment shall be the first amendment inserted into the
Santa Monica General Plan on January 1 of the next year. When this General Plan
amendment is inserted into the Santa Monica General Plan, any provisions of the Santa
Monica Municipal Code that are inconsistent with this General Plan amendment shall not
be enforced in a manner inconsistent with this General Plan amendment.
B. ~ The date that the notice of intention to circulate this initiative measure was
submitted to the elections official of the City of Santa Monica is referenced herein as the
"submittal date." The Santa Monica General Plan in effect on the submittal date and the
General Plan as amended by this initiative comprise an integrated, internally consistent
and compatible statement of policies for the City of Santa Monica. In order to ensure that
nothing in this initiative measure would prevent the Santa Monica General Plan from
being an integrated, internally consistent and compatible statement of the policies of the
City, as required by State law, and to ensure that the actions of the voters in enacting this
initiative are given effect, any amendment to the General Plan that is adopted between the
submittal date and the date #hat the General Plan is amended by this initiative measure
shall, to the extent that such interim-enacted provision is inconsistent with the General
Plan provisions adopted by Section 2 of this initiative measure, be amended as soon as
possible and in the manner and time required by State law to ensure consistency between
the provisions adopted by this initiative and other elements of the Santa Monica General
Plan.
C. Policy 1.1.2 adopted by this initiative provides that for the purposes of calculating
floor area subject to the annual limit on commercial development, floor area shall be
calculated in accordance with the standards set forth in section 9A4.02.030.315 of the
Santa Monica Municipal Code in effect on January 16, 200&. A Dopy of that section of
the Code is included in this measure as Attachment A for informational purposes. This
measure does not limit the ability of the City Council to amend the referenced section of
the Municipal Code; provided, however; that the initiafive does require the city to use the
provisions of the Code as presented in the attachment in making the calculations required
by the initiative.
D. .The City of Santa Monica is hereby authorized and directed to amend the Santa
Monica General Plan, all specific plans, the Santa Monica Zoning Ordinance, the Santa
Monica Zoning Map, and other ordinances and policies affected by this initiative as soon
as possible to ensure consistency between the policies adopted in this initiative and other
elements of the Santa Monica General Plan, all specific plans, the Santa Monica Zoning
Ordinance, the Santa Monica Zoning Map, and other city ordinances and policies.
Page 5 of 9
E. Except as provided in Section 4 of this initiative or as otherwise- required by State
or Federal law, upon the date of insertion of the provisions of Section 2 of this initiative
into the Santa Monica General Plan, all General Plan amendments, rezonings, specific
plans, tentative subdivision maps, parcel maps, conditional use permits, building permits
or other ministerial or discretionary entitlements for use not yet approved or issued shall
not be approved or issued unless consistent with the policies and provisions of this,
initiative.
Section 4. Exemntians for Certain Proiects.
A. This initiative shall not apply to prohibit any development projector ongoing
activity that has obtained, as of the effective date of this initiative, a vested right pursuant
to State or local law.
B. -This initiative shall not be interpreted to apply to any land or prohibit any use that,
under State or Federal law, is beyond the power of the local voters to affect by the
initiative power reserved to the people via the California Constitution.
C. This initiative shall not be interpreted or applied to preclude the approval of a
development project that would cause the city to exceed the annual limit on commercial
development specified in Policy 1.1.2 of the GeneraLPlan if each of the following
conditions is satisfied: (i) the City Council, after considering all facts and applicable
legislative and judicial authority in support of conforming to the annual cap, fords by at
least a 6/7 vote following a public hearing that the application of Policy 1.1.2 would
constitute an unconstitutional taking of the landowner's property and that the taking
cannot be avoided by borrowing from future years as authorized by Policy 1.1.2; and (ii)
in approving the commercial development, the City Council allows additional
commercial development only to the extent necessary to avoid said unconstitutional
taking of the landowner's property. .
Section 5. Severability and Interpretation.
This initiative shall be interpreted so as to be consistent with all Federal and State laws,
rules, and regulations: If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence,
clause, phrase, part, or portion of this initiative is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by
a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions of this initiative. The voters hereby declare that this
initiative, and each section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause,
phrase, part, or_portion thereof would have been adopted or passed even if one or more
sections, subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, parts, or
portions are declared invalid or unconstitutional. If any provision of this initiative is held
invalid as applied to any person or circumstance, such invalidity shall not affect any
application of this initiative that can be given effect without the invalid application. This
initiative shall be broadly construed in order to achieve the purposes stated in this
initiative.
Page 6 of 9
Section 6. Amendment or Repeal•
Except as otherwise provided herein, this initiative may be amended or repealed only by
the voters of the City of Santa Monica.
The circulators of the petition (] do [X ] do not request that the measure be submitted
immediately to a vote of the people at a special election.
Page 7 of 9
Attachment A
Attachment A, attached forinfonnational purposes, contains the true and accurate text of
section 9.04.02.030.315 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code in effect on January 16,
2008. Section 9.04.02.030.315 is referenced in Sections 2 and 3 of this initiative.
9.04.02.030.315 Floor area.
The total gross horizontal areas of all floors of a building, including usable
basements and all areas measured from the interior face of exterior walls, or a wail
separating two buildings excluding:
(a) Stairways and stairwells;
(b) Elevators, elevator equipment rooms and elevator shags;
(c) Ramps to a subterranean or semi-subterranean parking structure or ramps
between floors of a patking structure provided the ramp does not accommodate parking;
(d) Unenclosed decks, balconies and platforms not used for commercial or
restaurant activity;
(e) Courtyards, arcades, atria, paseos, walkways and corridors open to the
outdoors whether or not covered by a roof provided they are not used for commercial or
restaurant activity;
(f) The volume above interior courtyards, atria, paseos, walkways and
corridors whether covered or not;
(g) Subterranean and semi-subterranean parking structures used exclusively
for parking and loading and unloading;
(h) At-grade parking not covered by a building, structure or roof;
(i) Loading docks open or covered by, a roof or canopy, but otherwise
unenclosed and used exclusively for loading and unloading;
(j) Mechanical equipment rooms, electrical rooms, telephone rooms, and
similar space, if located below grade;
(k) Enclosures constructed pursuant to Section 9.04.14.050(k) for outdoor
hoists inexistence on the adoption of Ordinance Number 1452 (CCS).
Floor area shall include those areas occupied by the following:
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(a) Restrooms, lounges, lobbies, kitchens, storage areas, and interior hallways
and comdors;
(b) The floor area of interior courtyards, atria, paseos, walkways and corridors
covered by a roof or skylight;
(c) Covered at-grade parking;
(d) Above grade pazking.
Floor area devoted to covered at-grade parking shall be counted at two-thirds of
'the actual area if all of the following conditions aze met:
{a) The floor devoted to pazking does not exceed ten feet in height;
(b) There is at least one level of subterranean or semi-subterranean parking
provided on the parcel;
(c) The at-grade and above grade parking levels are screened from view;
(d) There is no parking on the ground floor within forty feet of the front
property line;
(e} The design of the. parking levels is compatible with the design of the
building as determined by the Architectural Review Board.
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