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city council Meeting 11-26-91
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Santa Monica, california
STAFF REPORT
DEe 3 1991
TO:
Mayor and City council
FROM:
City Attorney
SUBJECT:
Ordinance Extending the Citywide Moratorium
on Non....ResidentiaL and. HoteL Development
At its meeting on November 12, 1991, the city council
introduced for first reading an ordinance extending the Citywide
moratorium on non-residential and hotel development. The
ordinance is now presented to the City Council for its
consideration.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying
ordinance be adopted.
PREPARED BY: Robert M. Myers, city Attorney
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City council Meeting 11-26-91 Santa Monica, Californla
ORDINANCE NUMBER 1610 (CCS)
(Clty Councll Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA EXTENDING THE CITYWIDE
MORATORIUM ON NON-RESIDENTIAL AND HOTEL DEVELOPMENT
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA 110NICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
Findings and Purpose.
The City Council finds
and declares:
( a)
In
recent years,
the pace
of
non-residential
development in the Clty has accelerated dramatically, adversely
affecting the capacity and quallty of the City'S street and
highway system, the jabs/housing balance within the City, and the
quality of life in the communlty, lncluding environmental quality
and nelghborhood character.
(b) In 1987, a bUl1ding permlt was lssued for only one
non-residentlal project totaling 1,014,546 square feet. In 1988,
building
permlts
were
issued
for
twenty-three
(23 )
non-residential projects totaling 2,835,940 square feet. In
1989, discretlonary plan~lng approvals were granted for 17
non-residential projects totallng 1,077,402 square feet. In
1990, discretionary planning approvals were granted for 13
non-residentlal proJects totallng 776,987 square feet. In
addltion, of the 17 dlscretionary projects approved in 1989, nine
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(9) of the proJects, totaling 577,910 square feet, have not yet
been lssued building permlts and begun construction.
(c) Since the non-residential development moratorium was
ini tlally adopted by the Cl ty Council in May 1989, and through
November 1990, a total of 203,308 square feet of non-residential,
non-discretionary development has been approved under the
provisions of the moratorlum ordinance.
(d) Based on population and employment proj ections, the
Environmental Impact Report on the city's Land Use and
Circulation Element, adopted on October 23, 1984, projected that
there would be a demand for an additional 5,800,000 square feet
of non-resl.dential development by the year 2000. As of 1989,
development ln the city has already exceeded the proJected amount
of development for the year 2000.
(e) A review of recent Initial Studies and Envlronmental
Impact Reports prepared for the Cl ty reveals that there are at
least thirteen intersectlons in the City where the existing level
of service ("LOS") falls below "D'I. These reports further reveal
that with the impact of approved and proposed projects within and
outside the City, the future level of serVlce of at least
thirty-three (33) intersections across the City is projected to
fall below LOS "011.
(f) According to the City of Los Angeles, the eXlsting
capacity of the Hyperion Treatment Plant, where wastewater from
the City of Santa Monica t S public sewer system is treated and
dlsposed of, is operating at or near its current full capacity,
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necessitatlng regulation of the rate of wastewater lncrease
handled by the City's sewer system. The urgency of the
wastewater treatment and disposal problem is illustrated by the
adoption or Ordinance Number 1451 (CCS) on July 26, 1988.
(g) The pace of non-residential development has far
outstripped the pace of residential development in the city,
further increasing the imbalance between the number of Jobs in
the city and the availability of housing for persons employed In
the city.
(h) Al though revisions to the Zoning Ordinance lowered
heights and floor area ratios In most non-residential districts,
these reductions do not control the rate, location or character
of development in those areasl and do not adequately address the
infrastructural and envlronmental problems currently facing the
City.
(i) According to the Envlronmental Impact Report on the
Zonlng ordinance, there lS a maXlmum theoretlcal capacity of
between 62,924/000 and 75/916/000 square feet for office
commercial, and industrlal development in the Clty. The maximum
build-out potential needs to be re-examined as do the mechanisms
for limlting and mitigating the impacts of that bUlld-out on the
City'S infrastructure.
(j) The increase in development activity in the City poses
a threat to the public healthl safety and welfare of the
residents.
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(k) The City's zonlng, plannlng, subdivision, and building
regulations require reVlew as they pertaln to the non-resldentlal
development activlty within the Clty in order to ensure that
development is consistent with the public health, safety and
welfare.
(I) Following the initiation or ordinance Number 1481 (CCS)
creating a ten month and fifteen day morator.lum, three public
workshops were held to help famillarlze and involve the public
with issues to be addressed as part of a citywide growth
management strategy. In addition, three reports were released, a
background report which discussed the existing condition of the
City, a fiscal analysis WhlCh dlscussed the flscal lrnpact of new
development on the Clty, and a Cltywlde Trafflc study which
analyzed the operatlon of the Clty'S street system.
(m) Since the lnitiation of ordinance Number 1512 (CCS)
extending the moratorium for an additional ten months and fifteen
days, a draft Growth Manage~ent strategy Implementation Plan was
released which proposed a plan to control the rate, lntensi ty,
and types of uses in new commercial development projects.
Following two Planning Commlssion public hearings and one meeting
for Commlssion discussion and del.lberatlon, the Commisslon
recommended that the strategy be pursued in greater depth and
that a comprehensive plan to manage growth in the city, rather
than a plan d.lrected prlmarlly at controlling the pace of
commercial development, be prepared.
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(n) Following the lnitiation of Ordlnance Number 1570 (CCS)
extending the moratorlum for one year, a study session was held
with the Planning CommlSSlon and city Councl1 to compare and
evaluate traffic methodologies. On May 14, 1991, the City
Council directed staff to use the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM)
delay approach to analyzing lntersection capacities and traffic
flow rates in the Clty for all future trafflc studies. The HCM
methodology requires. extensive- field work gathering information
on queue lengths, lane wldths, percentage of heavy vehicles and
presence of pedestrians and/ or bicyclists. For these reasons,
the HCM methodology is much more labor and data intensive than
the previously used Critical Movement Analysis (CMA) approach.
The one year moratorium work program schedule was based upon
using the CMA methodology. USlng the HeM approach and
incorporatlng July/August summer counts requlres an extension of
three months to the Moratorlum Work Program, as acknowledged by
Council on May 14, 1991.
(0) Explration of the ordlnance would pose a current and
immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the
residents as set forth in these flndlngs, and the approval of
addi tional subdivisions, use permits, variances, building
permits, or any other applicable entitlement for use which is
required in order to comply with a zoning ordinance would result
in a threat to public health, safety, or welfare.
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SECTION 2. Moratorium.
(a) Subj act to the exemptions set forth in Section 3 of
this Ordinance, a moratorium 15 hereby placed on the acceptance
for processing of any applications for approval of tentative
tract maps, tentative parcel maps, administrative approvals,
development review permits, conditlonal use permits, or any other
City permits for the. erectionr construction, moving, conversion
of, and excavation and grading for, any non-residential bUllding
or structure, including any hotel or motel, in the City of Santa
Monica.
(b) Subject to the exemptlons set forth ln section 3 of
this ordinance, the Planning Comrnlssion and City staff are hereby
dlrected to disapprove all appl1catlons filed after May 2, 1989,
for approval of tentative tract maps, tentatl ve parcel maps,
administrative approvals, development reVlew permits, conditional
use permlts, or any other City permits for the erection,
construction, moving, converSlon of, and excavation and grading
for any non-residential bUllding or structure, lncludlng any
hotel or motel, in the City of Santa Monica.
SECTION 3. Exemptlons. The following applications are
exempt from the provisions of section 2 of this Ordinance:
(a) Applications for approval of permits involving proposed
developments of structures or uses for governmental, educatlonal,
or public recreational purposes on land owned, operated or
controlled by the City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica College, the
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Santa Mon1ca School Distrlct, or the State of California and
applicatlons for approval of permlts lnvolving development on
land owned, operated, or controlled by the city of Santa Monica
and intended for development of 415 Pacific Coast Highway, the
pler, parking for the pier, or an aquarium.
(b) Applications for approval of permits for proposed
developments in the Third Street Mall Specific Plan Area and ln
the Hospital Specific Plan Area.
(c) Applications for approval of permits for proposed
developments that fall at or below the following square feet of
floor area for the distrlct in WhlCh the development is located:
C-2
C-3
C3C
C-4
C-5
C-6
CM
CP
M1
BCD
RVC
Neighborhood Commercial
Downtown
Downtown Overlay
Highway Commercial
Special Office
Boulevard Commercial
Main street
Commercial Professional
Industrial Conservatlon
Broadway Commercial
Resldential-visitor Commerclal
The Promenade 7,000
All other parts of the Distrlct 15,000
7,000
15,000
15,000
12,000
15,000
15,000
7,000
11,000
15,000
11,000
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For purposes of calculating floor area as it relates to this
ordinance, covered at grade and above grade parking shall be
exempt from the floor area calculation.
To the extent that a project contains both residential and
non-resldential components, this moratorlum applles only to the
non-resldential component of such project. A project that
contains both resldential and non-residential components may
proceed with an application only lf the square footage of the
non-residential portion of the project falls below the threshold
set forth in this subsection.
The reductions in square footage made on February 26, 1991,
shall apply to any proJect for Wh1Ch an appllcation was filed on
or after February 27, 1991.
(d) Appllcations for approval of permits involving proposed
developments for which development agreement applications have
been filed on or before May 2, 1989 and proposed developments for
which development review appllcat10ns have been filed and deemed
complete on or before May 2, 1989.
(1) An applicatlon shall be deemed complete for
purposes of this Ordinance within fifteen (15) days for
subdivision maps and parcel maps, and thirty (30) days for all
other permlts, after the Plannlng Divlsion receives a
substantially complete applicatlon together with all information,
reports, drawlngs, plans, filing fees, and any other materials
and documents required by the appropriate applicatlon forms
supplied by the city. If, wlthin the specified time period, the
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Planning Divislon falls to advlse the applicant ln wrlting that
his or her appllcatlon is lncomplete and to speclfy all
addltional informatlon required to complete that appllcation, the
application shall autornatlcally be deemed complete. An
application is "substantially complete" if the missing
information is supplied wlthin two (2) working days of the city's
request.
(ii) If an application for approval of a proposed
development has been deemed complete by the city on or before May
2, 1989, an amended application for the same proJect shall be
deemed complete as of May 2, 1989, so long as the Plannlng
Director determines that the changes to the project do not
increase the size or substantlally alter the scope of the
proposed project. This Sectlon shall not apply for purposes of
deeming an application complete under the Permit Streamlining
Act.
{e} Applications for approval of permlts involving the
erection, construct~on, enlargement, demolit~on, or moving of,
and excavatlon and grading for, proJects WhlCh have been granted
development permlts by the Planning Cornmisslon or Plannlng
Division on or before May 2, 1989.
(f) For applicatlons involving the demolitlon and
replacement of eX1stlng single purpose, slngle tenant,
neighborhood serving grocery stores and pharmacies, only the net
new floor area to be added shall be subJect to the floor area
Ilmitations contalned in section 3 (c) of this Ordinance.
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Demoli tion and replacement of the existing floor area shall be
exempt from the square footage lim1tat1ons.
(g) Applications for approval of a proposed single purpose,
single tenant grocery store, at or below 25,000 square feet, so
long as they apply for and recelve a development review permit.
SECTION 4. This Ordinance shall be of no further force and
effect as of August 26, 1992.
SECTION 5. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendlces thereto lnconsistent wlth the provisions of
this ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencles and no
further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ord1nance.
SECTION 6. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this Ordinance lS for any reason held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by a dec~sion of any court of any competent
jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remalnlng portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each and
every section, subsectlon, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstltutional without regard to whether
any portion of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 7. The Mayor shall slgn and the city Clerk shall
attest to the passage of thlS Ordinance. The city Clerk shall
cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper
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within 15 days after its adoptlon. ThlS ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from the date of adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
-F -......----.....~ \_""'----........
ROBERT M. MYERS ~
CITY ATTORNEY
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~
Adopted and approved this 3rd day of December, 1991.
I hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 16l0(CCS)
was duly and regularly introduced at a meeting of the city
.
council on the 12th day of November 1991; that the said Ordinance
was thereafter duly adopted at a meeting of the City Council on
the 3rd day of December 1991 by the following Council vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers:
Abdo, Holbrook, Katz, Olsen,
Vazquez, Zane, Mayor Genser
Noes: Councilmembers:
None
Abstain: Councilmembers:
None
Absent: Councilmembers:
None
ATTEST:
/~~~62~
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