O2276F:\atty\muni\laws\barry\hedgeordinanceamend 10-28-08ord2d
City Council Meeting: October 28, 2008 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2276 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS
9.04.02.030.305, 9.0402.030.395, AND 9.04.10.02.080 TO MODIFY FENCE, WALL,
AND HEDGE STANDARDS; TO GRANDPARENT EXISTING NONCONFORMING
FENCE, WALL, AND HEDGE THAT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY REGISTERED; TO
CLARIFY/ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR THE REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT OF
REGISTERED NONCONFORMING FENCES, WALLS; AND HEDGES; TO
ESTABLISH ADMINISTRATIVE AND DISCRETIONARY HEIGHT MODIFICATION
PROCEDURES; TO REQUIRE THE MAINTENANCE OF HEDGES; AND TO SPECIFY
A SELF-HELP REMEDY FOR OVERHANGING HEDGES
WHEREAS, commencing in approximately 2002, the- City received numerous.
complaints regarding fences and hedges that exceeded the City's height limits and the
lack of enforcement of these regulations; and
WHEREAS, in response to these complaints, the City's Code Enforcement staff
began a program to encourage compliance and increase. enforcement; and
WHEREAS, in 2003-04, the City initiated hundreds of complaints for fences;
hedges, and walls violations; and
WHEREAS, the enforcement procedures undertaken by the City and the number
of violations that the City pursued resulted in a significant public negative response; and
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WHEREAS, based on this public reaction, at City Council direction, enforcement
of fence, hedge, and wall height violations, except safety-related violations, was
stayed until the regulations and enforcement practices could be reevaluated; and
WHEREAS, on October 12, 2004, the City Council heard extensive public
testimony and discussed current regulation and enforcement practices pertaining to
wall, fences, and hedges; directed staff to consider a number of issues including
alternative wall, fence and hedge height limits, opportunities to seek height adjustments,
appropriate standards for design elements such as pergolas, and enforcement of
nonconforming- hedges; and also directed staff to review regulations in neighboring
cities and conduct a public workshop; and
WHEREAS, City staff held the public workshop on March 9, 2005 and the
Planning Commission addressed these issues at a public hearing on April 6, 2005; and
WHEREAS, on May 10, 2005, the City Council reviewed regulations from other
cities and results from a public workshop and received extensive public testimony; and
WHEREAS, many people testified that the excessive regulation of hedge heights
raise issues of paramount importance including infringement on personal security and
privacy while' others residing adjacent to nonconforming hedges testified that these
hedges impede their access to light and air and. create detrimental shade and shadow
impacts with this testimony highlighting the significant concern in the community
regarding the appropriate standards that should govern walls, hedges, and fences; and
WHEREAS, at the May 10th hearing, the City Council directed staff to return with
an interim ordinance which would retain certain existing regulations but authorize
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greater hedge heights in side and rear yards, allow decorative features in front yards,
grandparent existing hedges,. and establish a low cost height- modification process; and
WHEREAS, in light of the above-mentioned concerns, the City Council
concluded that the existing fence, wall and hedge zoning regulations posed a current
and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents and
required revision and that pending completion of this revision, in order to protect the.
public health, safety, and welfare, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number
2161(CCS) on July 26, .2005 changing the fence, wall, and hedge standards in the
Zoning Ordinance, including changing the hedge definition, allowable hedge heights,
defined front yard area, front yard ornamental structures, front yard safety guardrails,
and terraced wall; grandparenting existing nonconforming hedges, walls, and fences
subject to neighbor objections; and establishing administrative and discretionary height
modification procedures; and
WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2169 (CCS) on
September 13, 2005 which extended Ordinance Number 2161 (CCS); and
WHEREAS, on February 27, 2007, the. City Council adopted Ordinance Number
2219 (CCS) which extended Ordinance Number 2161 (CCS) and Ordinance Number
2169 (CCS) up to and including September 30; 2007 and at .that time, the City Council
requested that the interim ordinance be amended in several ways, including but not
limited to: clarifying the criteria for evaluating pending objection appeal applications,
requiring property owners to register nonconforming fences, walls, and hedges with the
City in accordance with modified. administrative procedures to be adopted by the City
Manager, and requiring property owners to maintain their hedges and providing
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adjoining property owners with the right to remove those .portions of the hedge that
encroach on his/her property; and
WHEREAS, on August 14, 2007, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2236
(CCS) which extended Ordinance Number 2161 (CCS), Ordinance Number 2169
(CCS), Ordinance Number 2219 (CCS) up to and including January 9, 2010 with the
requested amendments; and
WHEREAS, in order to facilitate the timely resolution of pending appeals taken
under this ordinance and to protect the Planning Commission's ability to timely complete
its other significant work, the City Council recently adopted Ordinance No. 2268 (CCS)
to provide that the administrative appeal hearings shall be conducted by an independent
hearing examiner rather than by the Planning Commission; and
WHEREAS, on November 7, 2007, the Planning Commission held. a public.
hearing to adopt a Resolution of Intention which stated the Commission's intention to
recommend modifications to the City's Zoning Ordinance to effectuate the modifications
specified above; and
WHEREAS, on January 9, 2008 and September 3, 2008,: the Planning
Commission held public hearings on the proposed ordinance and after its September 3`a
hearing, recommended that the City Council approve the proposed ordinance with
certain specified modifications; and
WHEREAS, the City Council considered the proposed ordinance on October 14,
2008; and.
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WHEREAS, the proposed amendments are consistent in principle with the goals,
objectives, policies, .land uses and programs specified in the adopted General Plan, in
that Land Use Element Objective 1.2 seeks to "ensure compatibility of adjacent land
uses, with particular concern for protecting residential neighborhoods;" Land Use
Element Objective 3.3 states that the City's land use policies should seek to "enhance
the pedestrian scale and character of streets and public spaces," and Land Use
Element Policy 3.4.7 states that the City should attempt "in multiple family residential
areas...to reinforce the continuity of the residential streetscape...and to ensure safety of
children."
WHEREAS, the proposed text amendment will establish clear and objective
standards to ensure the compatibility of fences, walls, and hedges within residential
neighborhoods; and
WHEREAS, the public health, safety, and general welfare require the adoption of
the proposed amendment, in that the existing fence, wall, and hedge standards have
resulted in issues and impacts related to personal security, access to light and air,
privacy, neighborhood character, and aesthetics and the proposed ordinance will
provide additional standards to mitigate these concerns and impacts to the public
health, safety, and general welfare,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.02.030.305 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.02.030.305 .Fence height.
The vertical distance between the ground and
top of a fence measured from the lowest adjacent
grade. The height shall be measured in a continuum
at each point along the fence.
SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04:02.030.395 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.02.030.395. Hedge.
A boundary or barrier of plant material formed
by a row or series of shrubs, bushes, trees, or other
similar vegetation that enclose; divide or protect an
area or that prevent a person from passing between
any combination of individual shrubs, bushes, trees,
or other similar vegetation.
SECTION 3. .Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.10.02.080 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.10.02.080 .Fence, wall, hedge, flagpole.
Subject to the hazardous visual obstruction
requirements of Section 9.04.10.02.090, any fence,
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wall, hedge or flagpole shall comply with the following
standards:
(a) Maximum Heights in Front Yard Area.
(1) Hedges, fences and walls shall not
exceed forty-two inches in height.
(2) One pergola or similar feature limited to
eight feet in height and width, and three feet in depth
shall be permitted. Gates or doors shall be permitted
within the frame of pergolas or similar features.
(3) Ornamental attachments atop a fence,
wall, or hedge shall be permitted up to twelve inches
above the maximum height limit .with a maximum
width of twelve inches for each attachment and a
minimum distance of five feet between each
attachment.
(4) A guardrail may exceed the maximum
height limit for a fence or wall, but only to the
minimum extent required for safety by the Building
Code. Safety guardrails must be at least 50% visually
transparent above the fence or wall height limit.
For the purpose of regulating the height of
fences, walls, and hedges, the front yard area shall be
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considered to be the area between the front property
line and the nearest building wall or front setback line,
whichever is the shorter distance.
(b) Maximum Heights in Side and Rear
Yards.
(1) A hedge shall not exceed twelve feet in
height, except that there shall be no height limit for
hedges adjacent to and located within 10 feet of an
alley, measured perpendicularly from the side or rear
property line that is adjacent to the alley.
(2) Fences and walls shall not exceed eight
feet in height.
(3) A guardrail may exceed the maximum
height limit for a fence, but only to the minimum extent
required for safety by the Building Code. Safety
guardrails must be at least 50% visually transparent
above fence height limit.
(c) Measuring Heights. The height of a
fence, wall, or hedge shall be measured from the
lowest finished grade directly adjacent to either side
of the fence, wall, or hedge. Each terraced fence,
wall or hedge, or combination thereof, shall be set
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back a minimum distance .from each other equal to
the height of the nearest fence, wall or hedge.
(d) Height Modifications -Administrative
Process. A property owner may request that the
Zoning Administrator administratively grant a
modification to the height limit of a proposed side or
rear fence, wall, or hedge provided the height
modification does not extend more than four feet
above the height limit established in subsection (b) of
this Section. The Zoning Administrator may grant this
modification request if the following findings of fact
are made:.
(1) The adjacent property owner(s) that
share a common property line nearest to the fence,
wall or hedge have agreed to the proposed increase
in height.
(2) The adjacent property owner(s) have
provided verification of ownership in the adjacent
property, have executed a notarized letter agreeing to
the proposed height modification, and have agreed
that notice of the modification determination can be
recorded on their property with the Los Angeles
County Recorder's Office.
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The Zoning Administrator modification
determination is not appealable and shall be recorded
with the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office on
each property
(e) Height Modification -Discretionary
Process. If an adjacent affected owner does not
agree to a proposed fence, wall, or hedge height
modification in accordance with subsection (d) of this
Section or if a property owner requests a height
modification in excess of four feet in the side or rear
yards or any modification- to the height limits in the
front yard area, the owner may request that the
Zoning Administrator grant a height modification to
allow greater fence, wall, or hedge height in the. front,
side, or rear yard of the subject property based on the
following findings:.
(1) The subject fence, wall, or hedge will be
compatible with other similar structures in the
neighborhood and is required to mitigate impacts from
adjacent land uses, the subject property's proximity to
public rights-of-way, or safety concerns.
(2) The granting of such modification will
not be detrimental or injurious to the property or
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improvements in the general vicinity and district in
which the property is located.
(3) The modification will not impair the
integrity and character of the neighborhood in which
the fence, wall, or hedge is located.
This modification process shall be conducted in
accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code
Section 9.04.20.10.040. However, the variance
application findings set forth in Section
9.04.20.10.050 shall not be required. The decision of
the Zoning Administrator may be appealed to the
Planning Commission within 14 consecutive calendar
days of the date the decision is made in the manner
provided in Part 9.04.20.24, Sections. 9.04.20.24.010
through 9.04.20.24.050.
(f) Registered Existing Nonconforming
Fences, Walls, and Hedges. All existing
nonconforming hedges, fences and walls that were
properly registered with the City by November 15,
2007. in accordance with Interim Ordinance Number
2236 (CCS) and the Administrative Guidelines to
Register Existing Nonconforming Fences, Walls, and
Hedges, adopted thereto; shall be grandparented at
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their height as of August 26, 2005 unless an objection
was granted in accordance with the procedures
established in Interim Ordinance Number 2169 (CCS)
or Interim Ordinance Number 2268 (CCS).
(g) Repairs and Replacements of
Registered Nonconforming Fences, Walls, and
Hedges.
Properly registered nonconforming fences,
walls, and hedges may be repaired or replaced and
still retain their grandparented right to their August 26,
2005 height if the repair or replacement is undertaken
with in-kind vegetation or building material, as
appropriate, and if it is installed or planted within 5
years after the grandparented fence, wall or hedge
has been removed.. Additionally, properly registered
hedges may be trimmed to any height and still retain
their grandparented right to their August 26, 2005
height.
(h) Flagpoles. Freestanding flagpoles may
not exceed the height restrictions of the district in
which they are located.
(i) Encroaching Hedges. The owner of a
hedge shall maintain the hedge so that it does not
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encroach onto the property of an adjoining property
owner. If any portion of a hedge, including its roots,
encroaches onto the property of an adjoining property
owner, the adjoining property owner shall, after giving
thirty days notice and opportunity to cure, have the
right to remove those portions of the hedge that
encroach on his/her property back to the property line
so long as he/she acts reasonably and the removal
does not cause unnecessary injury. The adjoining
property owner shall have the right to file a civil action
to recover all costs reasonably incurred in removing
the encroaching portions of the hedge.
(j) Hazardous Visual Obstructions. To
the extent of any conflict between this Section and the
hazardous visual obstruction requirements of Santa
Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.10.02.090, the
hazardous visual obstruction requirements shall
control.
SECTION 4. Any appeal of a Zoning Administrator objection determination
pending as of the effective date of this Ordinance (CCS) shall be processed and
reviewed in accordance with Ordinance Number 2268 (CCS).
SECTION 5. Nothing in this Ordinance shall preclude any person from seeking
any other remedies, penalties, or procedures provided by law.
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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 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 8. The Mayor shalF 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 30 days from its adoption
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
~(IU ~,
MA SHA NES MOUTRc
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 28th day of October, 2008.
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
Mayor
I, Maria Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2276 (CCS) had its introduction on October 14th, 2008, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on October 28th, 2008, by
the following vote:
Ayes: Council members:
Noes: Council members:
Abstain: Council members:
Absent: Council members:
Censer, Holbrook, McKeown, O'Connor, Shriver
Mayor Katz, Mayor Pro Tem Bloom
None
None
None
A summary of Ordinance No. 2276 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California
Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
Maria Stewart, Ci Clerk