SR-082096-8A
A~v 1 3 199Il
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city Council Meeting 8-13-96
Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and city Council
FROM: city Attorney
SUBJECT: Revised Emergency Ordinance Amending Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 3.12.350 By Deleting The
Existing Prohibition Against standing On Public
sidewalks And Replacing It with A Prohibition
Against sitting Or Lying On Public Sidewalks
In The Bayside District And The Third street
Promenade Roadway During Specified Hours
Introduction
At its meeting of July 30, 1996, the City Council resumed its
consideration of changing conditions on the Third street
Promenade and surrounding areas. At that meeting, a proposed
emergency ordinance was before the council which would have
prohibited sitting or lying on public sidewalks in the Promenade
during specified evening hours on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Council heard public testimony on the proposed ordinance,
concluded that it was insufficient to meet current problems, and
directed legal staff to make certain revisions to the proposed
ordinance. This staff report and the accompanying revised,
proposed ordinance are presented to the Council in response to
that direction. The ordinance would prohibit sitting or lying
on sidewalks and the Promenade roadway during daytime and certain
nighttime hours and would delete an old, unconstitutional
prohibition against standing on sidewalks.
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AUG 1-S 1996
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Discussion
At the Council meeting of June 11, 1996, members of the public
expressed their concerns about changing conditions on the
Promenade. Those concerns are summarized in a staff Report to
the Council prepared for meeting on July 30th. The concerns
included pedestrian congestion and anti-social behavior by
individuals and groups.
In response to this public input the Council directed staff to
consider various alternatives for improving conditions on the
Promenade, including an ordinance -- similar to the City of
Seattle's -- which would prohibit sitting and lying on public
sidewalks.
At the Council meeting of July 30th, staff presented a proposed
ordinance which would have prohibited sitting and lying on public
sidewalks in the Promenade during specified, peak evening hours.
During the hearing on that ordinance a number of speakers
complained that the proposal was insufficient to address
deteriorating conditions for various reasons. Speakers noted
that the proposed ordinance would not address the safety hazards
and other problems created by individuals and groups sitting or
lying on public sidewalks during daytime hours when persons jog,
stroll and skate on the sidewalks and when maintenance personnel
clean the Promenade. Additionally, speakers explained that
persons sitting and lying on sidewalks create safety hazards and
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other problems throughout the entire Bayside District, not just
in the Promenade. Some speakers warned that strict measures are
necessary in order to protect the economic viability of the
Bayside District because present safety hazards and deteriorating
conditions discourage City residents and visitors from
patronizing the business establishments in the area.
Other speakers cautioned against adopting any measure which might
unlawfully discriminate against certain groups of people such as
youths or homeless people. After hearing public testimony, the
Council deliberated and ultimately directed staff to revise the
proposed ordinance.
In making proposed revisions, legal staff has been guided by the
Councilfs directive and by general principles of constitutional
law, including Due Process and Equal Protection. Due Process
requires that a law must reasonably or rationally relate to a
legitimate governmental purpose and that, if the ordinance
impacts a fundamental right (such as the right of speech or
assembly), the ordinance must advance a compelling state interest
in the least restrictive method available to effectuate that
interest. Equal protection requires the government to treat
impartially all persons who are similarly situated. This
requirement means that a law which is, or even may be, enforced
in a discriminatory manner -- such as a law prohibiting
"loiteringU -- will be adjudged unconstitutional.
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As revised, the proposed ordinance would prohibit sitting or
lying on sidewalks in the Bayside District and in the Promenade
Roadway during both daytime and nighttime hours. However, it
would not prohibit such conduct during late night and very early
morning hours when very few pedestrians use the sidewalks and
virtually all businesses are closed.
At its meeting of July 13th, the council considered prohibiting
sitting or lying on sidewalks only during daytime hours.
However, such a prohibition would not address those times when
the area is most crowded and most hazardous. Therefore, a day-
time only prohibition might appear to a court to be unreasonable
or arbitrary and therefore unconstitutional. Consequently, staff
cannot recommend such a prohibition.
staff considered proposing a prohibition which would be in effect
during different hours on weekdays and weekends to reflect
differing conditions. Such a distinction might strengthen the
ordinance by tailoring it more closely to exact factual
circumstances. On the other hand, enforcement and any necessary
signage would be more complex. Nevertheless, the Council may
wish to consider this option.
As revised, the proposed ordinance does not contain a mandatory
warning provision. This changes fulfills Council direction given
at the meeting of July 30th after a representative of the Police
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Department explained that the Police Department's general
practice would likely be to give warnings.
As revised, the proposed ordinance explicitly prohibits sitting
or lying in the Promenade roadway, as well as on sidewalks. This
change was also made pursuant to Council direction.
As revised, the proposed ordinance would permit sitting on
sidewalks to watch parades and other special events. Such events
occur infrequently and special safety arrangements are usually
made by the city. However, as revised, the proposed ordinance
would not permit sitting on sidewalks to watch street performers.
At the July 13th meeting, the Council expressed its hope that
sitting to watch street performers could be permitted, even
though sitting for other purposes would not be. Unfortunately,
it appears that drawing this distinction would likely subject the
ordinance to a constitutional challenge. In ruling on such a
challenge, a court might well find no rational basis for the
conclusion that sitting to associate with friends poses a greater
threat to public health and safety than sitting in a group
watching a street performer. Therefore, we recommend against
exempting sitting to watch a street performance from the
prohibition. For the same reasons, we would recommend against
exempting sitting while in a movie line.
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RECOMMENDATION
If the Council determines that the pUblic health, safety and
welfare will be promoted by prohibiting sitting and lying on
sidewalks in the Bayside District, it is recommended that the
accompanying ordinance be adopted as an urgency measure.
PREPARED BY:
Marsha Jones Moutrie, city Attorney
Barry Rosenbaum, Deputy City Attorney
Claudia Thompson, Legal Admin. staff Asst.
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f:\atty\muni\laws\mjm\sit3.ord
City Council Meeting 8-13-96
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA DELETING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE SECTION 3.12.350, RELATING TO THE USE OF PUBLIC
SIDEWALKS, AND REPLACING IT WITH A PROHIBITION
AGAINST SITTING OR LYING ON SIDEWALKS IN THE
BAYSIDE DISTRICT AND ON THE PROMENADE ROADWAY
AND DECLARING THE PRESENCE OF AN EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, sitting or lying on the public sidewalks interferes
with the primary purposes of the public sidewalks, threatens public
safety, and damages the public welfare; and
WHEREAS, public sidewalks are created and maintained for the
primary purpose of enabling pedestrians to safely and efficiently
move about from place to place; and
WHEREAS, ensuring the free f low of pedestr ian traffic on
sidewalks promotes public safety by minimizing the risk that
pedestrians will jostle one another, collide, trip, or fall, and
ensuring that persons may move safely away from dangerous
situations which may occur on or near public streets and sidewalks;
and
WHEREAS, ensuring the free flow of pedestrian traffic is
particularly important to the safety of the elderly, the very
young, the disabled, vision-impaired persons, and others who are
less able to navigate through crowds and around obstacles or
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hazards and who are particularly jeopardized by having to navigate
off and onto curbs when sidewalks are blocked; and
WHEREAS, any hindrance of the free flow of pedestrian traffic
on sidewalks may interfere with the work of public safety personnel
seeking immediate access to emergency situations and with other
work vital to the public health and safety such as cleaning and
maintenance; and
WHEREAS, blockage of public sidewalks poses serious safety
hazards because pedestrians who cannot pass freely along the
sidewalk frequently step into the street where they may be struck
by vehicles or cause collisions between vehicles; and
WHEREAS, public sidewalks are not safe places to sit or lie
down because physical injury may occur from trampling; and
WHEREAS, disease may transmitted to persons lying on
sidewalks because people or animals expectorate, urinate or
defecate on sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, the public sidewalks in the Bayside District of the
City are particularly busy and prone to significant crowding and
congestion in part because of the concentration of theaters,
restaurants, clubs and other businesses located there and because
the Third street Promenade attracts large numbers of people to the
area; and
WHEREAS, in the Bayside District, crowded and congested
conditions on public sidewalks and the number of persons sitting
and lying on the sidewalks has significantly increased in recent
months and continues to increase; and
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WHEREAS, public sidewalks in the Bayside District facilitate
the delivery of goods and services, and provide potential customers
with convenient access to goods and services; and
WHEREAS, the public welfare is promoted by economically
healthy commercial areas in the City which attract people to shop,
work and recreate; and
WHEREAS, economically healthy commercial areas provide easily
accessible goods and services, employment opportunities, the tax
revenues necessary to support essential public services, and the
economic productivity necessary to maintain and improve property
within these areas; and
WHEREAS, people sitting or lying on sidewalks can impair
commercial acti vi ty and undermine economic viability by, among
other things, inconveniencing patrons; and
WHEREAS, undermining the economic viability of an area
contributes to business failures and relocations which result in
vacant storefronts, and this, in turn, contributes to a spiral of
deterioration and blight which harms the public health, safety and
welfare; and
WHEREAS, there are numerous other places within the City where
sitting or lying down can be accommodated during daytime and
evening hours without unduly interfering with the flow of
pedestrian traffic, impairing commercial activity, threatening
public safety or harming the pUblic welfare; and
WHEREAS, these numerous other places in the City include city
parks, beaches, common areas open to the public, and generally on
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private property with the permission of the property owner,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
Santa Monica Municipal Code section 3.12.350 is
amended to read as follows:
3.12.350.
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SECTION 2.
This Ordinance is declared to be an urgency
measure adopted pursuant to ci ty Charter section 615.
It is
necessary for preserving the public peace, health and safety, and
the urgency for its adoption is set forth in the findings above.
SECTION 3. 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
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hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the
provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. 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 5.
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 l5 days after its adoption.
This Ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
nWA-u.$tu J~~Ii&
MARSHA JONEs MOUTRIE
City Attorney
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AUG 1 3 1996
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August 6, 1996 i L----
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City Council Membel:.S----
1685 Main street
Santa Monica, California 90401
Re: Proposed Ordinance Prohibiting sitting and Lying Down In The
Bayside District
Dear city Council Members:
I work on the Third street Promenade as an onsite manager for
three buildings, and I independently operate janitorial services
for various businesses in the Bayside District. I also provide
security services for the buildings I manage.
I am on the Promenade going from one property to another five to
seven days a week. On weekdnys, I am en the Promenade from 8 or
9 am to midnight and sometimes as late as 2 or 3 in the morning.
I have been working on the Promenade in this capacity
continuously since early 1990.
My wife brings my two daughters, ages three and six, to see me
during the day. When people are leaning against the buildings
with their legs stretched out or lying down, it is hard for her
to get around with the children, and lately I have been
discouraging her from coming down to see me. This situation has
gotten out of hand since early last winter.
I watch the seniors, and it is really hard for them to move
around and rest when they are tired. Often, in the 1300 block,
there are people lying on the benches around the dinosaurs and
grouped on the sidewalk, and the seniors will ask me where they
can sit down.
since I am around so much, I get to know which people are staying
long hours, sitting around on the sidewalks and curbs, leaning
against the buildings. I often see the same people going up on
the roof of one of the buildings I manage to sleep and smoke
marijuana and going behind the building to urinate and smoke
marijuana behind the building. I have had to clean up human
feces in the elevator more than once. When I see them, I
courteously ask them to leave the building, and they go back out
in front of the building and hang out in groups lying and sitting
on the sidewalks and curbs and laying around in the seating
areas.
I am careful not to be tough with these people or turn them into
the police, because I do not want them to take it out on the
building. I have seen that happen in the past. Additionally,
the manager of a neighboring building in the 1300 block advised
me that he repeatedly asked several individuals not to sit on the
sidewalk leaning up against his building with the direct response
of broken windows and a small fire.
ADD T6~X
I urge you to pass an ordinance prohibiting sitting and lying
down in the Bayside District. I think it is important to make
this effective for all hours or at least only excluding the hours
from 2 am to 6 am each morning. It is a problem at night as
well as during the day to have people sprawled on the sidewalks
and against the buildings. Little children, handicapped people
and seniors cannot get by very easily. And, I am concerned about
what would happen if there was a fire on a crowded day or night
with people and their belongings set up the way they often are
now.
I don't see any reason to allow people to sit or lie down on the
sidewalks in movie lines or during performances. Most people
watching performances stand up or sit on the curb around the
dinosaur anyway.
Also, please include in the ordinance that people are not allowed
to lie down in the ~eating areas. Thi~ just takes up th~ whole
bench, and there is no place for seniors and parents with little
children to sit down. In addition, the same people who lie down
on the benches around the dlnosaurs also have been lying down and
sitting down inside the landscaped areas, and those areas have
degenerated. I think this would be less likely to happen if
people who used the curbs to rest and enjoy the Promenade are not
allowed to lie down in the seating areas.
My telephone number is 576-4969 if you need to reach me with any
questions. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
~~~
Eduardo~ayor
FROM . BAY5IDE DIST CORP
AUG. 2.1996 5:29PM P 2
PHONE NO. : 3103938355
Ms. June B. Thompson
1351 Third Street Promenade #301
Santa Monica; CA 90401
.4~L) To
%/1
August 1, 1996
City Council Members
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Loitering on Promenade
To Whom it May Concern:
I have worked on the Third Street Promenade for four years and ha.ve been
well aware of the (hallenge that we face with the delicate sensitive issue of
the homeless and disadvantaged people who chose to spend their days
loitering and panhandling on the Promenade. However, for the past several
months a new element has come to rest at the Promenade on a daily,
morning until late evening basis. These people do not appear homeless and
many do not especially appear to be disadvantaged. They are a very dissident,
unrnly, socially disruptive group of young people. It appears that the more
offensive they can be In their dress, behavior, language, choice of pets, and
exposed parts of bodies being pierced; the more content they are.
During lunch hours and after work, I have spent considerable time observing
these people and watching the visiting public's reaction to them. A few
examples follow:
Last Tuesday, a visiting family from Pennsylvania was dropped off at Arizona
and walking north on the Promenade when they passed in front of
Woolworth's in the 1300 block. I was at the same location on an office errand.
A pet rat, belonging to one of the above mentioned bizarre people, ran
between the woman's feet and she almost passed out from freight. She had an
elderly lady with her and a young girl about 7 years of age. I grabbed her arm
to steady her, introduced myself, and as she looked at the disarray of 11
bizarre people sitting along the walls of the buildings in that block, I
attempted to teU her about the advantages of the Promenade and the fact that
we were dealing with this cltallenge as rapidly as possible, and that I hoped it
didn't color her visit to our area.
FROM ERYSIDE DIST CORP
RUG 2.1995 5"29PM P 3
PHONE NO 3103938355
The week before, three young moms and their children in carriages, WeTe
attempting to pass that same area, and couldn't comfortably pass with the
people sitting on the SIde walks with their belongings spread out virtually
from one side of the sidewalk to the other. In order to pass they had to take
the carriages over the curbs and pass between the dinosaurs, and I watched
the look of disdain on their faces as they straddled. garbage from the lunches
these people had just finished eatin& including orange peelings, crusts of
bread, a bag of popcorn fed. to the pigeons, paper and cigarette butts and also,
freshly cut long black hair from one of tham giving another a mohawk
haircut; trashcans were within a few feet of this mess.
Just since this new elem.ent has moved into the District I have watched on a
daily basis as the grassed areas arolUld the sitting areas of the dinosaurs has
deteriorated from the abuse that these people have metered out from being
disrespectful and defiant in their habits, including washing themselves, their
clothes and their pet rats, snakes etc. in the fountain water.
On another occasion an elderly citizen called m.e in tears saying, "That was
our Promenade, a place where we could come and spend a relaxing, safe day,
and we feel as though it has been taken away from us. We do not feel safe
anymore and I personally feel uncomfortable for my health sake because of
those "unseemly" young people (referring to those particularly in the 1300
block)/' I let her talk and then assured her that we were not happy with it
either and that we were doing everything possible to remedy it, reminding
her of peoples' Constitutional rights and City ordinances; etc. that we
delicately had to deal with when seeking solutions to these kinds of problems.
She calmed down and said she felt assured that we could and would preserve
this very important area in Santa Monica and thanked the Oty for caring.
I could fill several pages with my o.wn observations and personal experiences.
ThIS element should 1Iot be allowed to cDntinue htlrtlSsing the public with
t~ir presence and behavior. The sidewalks wer/! not made for the purpose of
Ip;ying and sitting and sleeping. When you think of it, they hQ'Ve completely
taken over the middle of the 1300 block in particu.lar. That is one e%pensive
"living room" we are providing for fhis hunch, III no cost to them~ but great
expense to the City and community.
During the week da}'& when Realtors are showing property in the District;
durina the day when hundreds of women ,Jl1(i men are working and
attempting to relax on their lunch houri in the District; during weekly 9-5
working hoUI'5 when schools are bringing young children on outings; during
the weekdays when young moms and the elderly ~ome to have a day out in
an area that was created for that very thing; d1l1'ing the week 'When people
shop and patronize Nstauunts in the Distrid - this is when we need to 'h"ve
the Promenade sidewalks and roadway fru of this undesil'able elemeftt.
'"
FROM BAYSIDE D,ST CORP
AUG. 2.1996 5:30PM P 4
PHONE NO 3103938355
During the weekends the crowds are so great that there is literally no room
for the unruly to abuse the walkways or to use the Promenade for purposes
other than for what they were intended. People sitting or lying on the
sidewalks and roadways would be trampled.
Besides personally observing the tragedy that is taking place on the
Promenade dally, I also receive the phone calls and complaints from the
members of the community that are alarmed and dissatisfied. There are
many I My plea is for City COlUlcil to take action now and refurbish and
restore what has been damaged before it is too late. We have a jewel and a
sound economic foundation for our downtown in the District and I see it
being eroded before my Vf!fY eyes. I respect the rights of others but sincerely
feel there is a fine line between our Constitutional rights and freedoms and
blatant, defiant abuse of that freedom. We need to do something nowl
Sincerel y,
June B. Thompson
Anne Frank said:
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting
to improve the world!'} (and I might add, our Promenade!)
FROM : BRYSIDE D!ST CORP
RUG. 2.1996 528PM P 1
PHONE NO. : 3103938355
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Bayside pistrict Corporation
1351 Third Street Promenade
Suite 301
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone (310) 393-8355
Fax (310) 4ss..3921
FAX TRANSMITTAL
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REFERENCE~
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Honorable Mayor Rosenstein and CouncIl Members
City Hall
1685 M:nn Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Dear Mayor Rosenstem and Council Members:
As you are aware, I am on the Board of Directors of the Bayside District Corporation
(BDC) and serve as the Chair of the Land-Use and Public Safety Committee. However, I
am writing this letter to you as a private ciuzen that has senous concerns with regard to the
pubhc safety hazards that currently exist as a result of people sitting or lymg on sidewallcs
withm the Bayside District and in the Promenade roadway. I am particularly sensitive to
tins SItuation because as a parent of two blind chIldren I have personally observed the
safety hazards that handicapped, elderly, and others who are less able to navigate through
crowds and around obstacles have to contend while using the sidewalh: within the Thstnct
and the roadway in the Promenade.
I have reVIewed the proposed emergency orchnance and I strongly beheve that this
ordinance is absolutely necessary to preserve the Bayside DIstrict and the Promenade as a
place where all people and groups, incluchng the handicapped, can enjoy without fear for
their personal safety. As a CouncIl member I worked very hard to insure that specific
public improvements, such as park benches and landscape concrete border areas, provided
ample sitting areas for the general publIc. In my mind there exists no justIfiable reason why
any person or group of people have to sit or lay down on the pubhc sidewalks or
Promenade roadway. Therefore, I respectfully request that you pass the emergency
ordinance that would prohibit sittIng or lying on SIdeWalkS in the Bayside District and on
the Promenade roadway. I feel so strongly about this issue that I plan on attending the
August 13th meeting to express my views and to answer any questions that the City
Council may have.
H Katt '~r
2209 Pearl Street
Santa Moruca, CA 90405
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JANSS CORP.~ City COline) I OttICe:~ 1/ 1
JANICE JARDINE JENSE.
13952 Bora Bora Way, #2.23F
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
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August 12, 1996
via Fax: 310-458.1621
The Ron. City Council
City ot Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
U: Thud Street Promenade
Dear Gentleperson8:
Afro a concerned CltJ.Zen who lives and works in the area, I am writing to request action he
taken by the City Coundl in addre!'lsing a sltuaUon along the Thin! Street Promenade
winch has grown increasingly worse over the last few month~. I am concerned about the
safety and general public health of c:hose of us who are exposed to people who loiter
and/or sit and lie on the sidewalks and street in and around the Promenade. Something
need&. to be done before someone trips over bags, backpacks, etc. which these people
leave uIldLLended lying about in the area and which create a general hazard. Today, I
nearly tripped over shoes which were thrown next to backpacks, ete in frOIlt of
Woolworth's.
It l~ Important to address this matter Jlsu from the standpoint of public health issue~ --
before someone becomes ill.
Santa Monica IS a w(JI1detfu] place to live and work Please help keep it tbat way.
Sincerely,
08/13/1995 11'31 3103945883
STEP UP ON 2ND
t-'A\::II:. ~l
1 ADo To
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Ste~) Up on 4nd
1328 2nd Street i
Santa 1\.1 onica, CA 904~~ -1122
Phone: (310) 394-6~9
Fa:tC: (310) 394-688$
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DATE; _ August 1 ~~ 19~6 # OF PAGES One' cover sheet): 1
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TO: Mayor paul ~oseJ'stein ~nd City q9u~cil Members
COMPANY: ~ity of S_MDnica
FAX #: 458-1621 PHONE #:
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FROM: "
Susan Demol;av. Executive Director
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~ ME~SAGE ..
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Please copy and distribu~e this ,m4lssag~ to all Santa Mqnica City Council Members.
"
I want to voice my support for an Jlrdinance prohibiting lying or sitting on sidewalks
and/ or roadways. It is unfortuna, e that people cannot use common sense that this
is not a place to "hang out" becau~ ~ of coursej it blocks passage for others, Tht~re-
fore f a public safety lSsue is creat~d. I believe there are adequate benches available
on the Promenade and in our par~5 to accomodate those who need to rest or \o\'ant
to "people watch." l
Thank you,
; i
i I
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The documents ac~ ompan}'l1g thl!; fax transmh~ilon may contain confidential mn.rmatJCIn
~longing to Step U? which IS legally priV11eged il\e mformation is 'intended onl}1 for thl2 uw; of the mdwldual or entity nam~
..bow If you are not the intended te..:tpleJ1t, you areltteJllby notified thai any disdo.ure, COpying or di!!itnbutJon. or thE.' akmg of
,.tty fl('tinn based on the content!! of this lnformation! ~ fitnctly prohibited IF you hlve recelved this fax m error, pleal;c wttfy w;
lmmedJ.al.ely '" (310) 39.(..6889
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RICHARD & NAOMI BRILL
16450 SUNSET BOULEVARD #111 AlE 12 P12 :44
PACIFIC PALISADES. CA 90272
TEL (310) 454 - 0200 SAt; T A Muttl F1 T
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August 9. 1996
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Mayor Rosenstein and Members of the CIty Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica. CA 90401
Re Proposed Ordinance Prohibiting Sitting and LYing Down In Bayslde District
Dear Mayor and Council Members
I am wntlng you to urge passage of the proposed ordinance prohibiting sitting or
reclining on the Sidewalks, curbs and streets In the Bayslde Dlstnct
I work as a consultant with a busIness In the Bayslde Dlstnct and my WIfe and I
also frequent the Third Street Promenade recreatlonally, eating at several of the
restaurants and attending the movie theatres, as well as purchasing at vanous
shops on the Promenade
AddItionally we are part owners of several bUildings on the Promenade As a
result we have occasion to be In the Bayslde Dlstnct at vanous hours of the day
and night. both on weekends and weekdays
Both of us are semor CitIzens and must be careful when walking Last week
when we walked to the Broadway Bar & Gnll for dinner there were so many
people sitting and reclllng on the Sidewalks, and leaning against the bUildings
that we had dlffflculty walking by We had to step on and off the Sidewalk
several times
I believe the ordinance should be In force both day and night and, If there are
hours dunng which It IS not In force. these could be the very early mormng
hours. such as from 2AM to 6 AM
I do not think there should be an exclUSIon In the ordinance for watching street
performers or standmg m theater lines The clearer and simpler the ordinance,
the easier to enforce
Sincerely yours ,
, / /. ~7 /:::'~,~~ /, "
. Richard Bnll
cc Marsha Mootne, Esq