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COUNCIL MEETING: November 12, 1991
NO" 1 2 j:j9l
Santa Monica, California
TO:
Mayor and city Council
FROM:
city staff
SUBJECT: Ordinance for Introduction and First Reading Modifying
the City wide Morator ium on Non-Residential and Hotel
Development.
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council introduce for first
reading an ordinance to extend the Citywide moratorium on
non-residential and hotel development for an additional three
months, and modify the Ordinance to exempt above grade parking
structures when calculating square footage thresholds under the
provisions of the Ordinance.
The extension provides the time
required to use the HeM delay traffic methodology and to utilize
July/August summer beach counts for use in the Master
Environmental
Assessment
(MEA) .
In
addition,
staff
is
recommending that the Ordinance be modified to accommodate the
remodel and addition to an existing neighborhood grocery store.
BACKGROUND
On February 26, 1991, the Council adopted Ordinance Number 1570
(CCS) extending for one year the moratorium on commercial
development above specific threshold levels throughout the City.
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On March 19, 1991 the city Council reviewed a one year moratorium
work program with a scheduled completion date consistent with the
moratorium expiration date of February 26, 1992. This one year
work program includes preparing a Master Environmental Assessment
(MEA), analyzing and recommending new heights and floor area
ratios for commercial districts, and evaluating the environmental
impacts associated with the possible rezoning of portions of the
C5 and M1 districts to residential uses. The work program also
includes the selection of a preferred traffic methodology and
definition of a significant traffic impact.
Expiration of the moratorium ordinance prior to the completion of
the MEA using the HCM delay methodology and the evaluation of
revised commercial heights and floor area ratios would be in
conflict with previous Council direction and the goals of the
moratorium work program. This moratorium ordinance will extend
the application of the current interim zoning standards to May
26,1992.
On September 10, 1991 the Council directed staff to modify the
moratorium ordinance or otherwise present an ordinance to exempt
floor area devoted to above grade parking structures in the
moratorium threshold square footage calculation. In addition,
the council requested staff to evaluate a floor area methodology
linked to the parcel size. Such a methodology would involve an
extensive analysis given the multiple zoning districts and
varying floor area ratios in each district. In each zoning
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district, the potential floor area, and the typical lot size
would need to be analyzed to determine the appropriate floor area
ratio. Since this is a temporary ordinance that will expire in
May 1992, staff is recommending that the present method for
calculating floor remain the same, but that above grade parking
be excluded from the floor area calculation.
If the council agrees with the proposed solution, the following
text should be inserted into Section 3(c) of the attached
ordinance:
"For purposes of calculating floor area as it relates to this
ordinance, above grade parking shall be exempt from the floor
area calculation".
The proposed modification will only affect the floor area
calculation as it relates to the moratorium ordinance. Above
grade parking will still count as floor area under the provisions
of the Zoning ordinance. Therefore, this amendment will not
permit buildings to be larger than the standards allowed in the
Zoning ordinance. This amendment only exempts above grade
parking in relation to the moratorium ordinance thresholds.
Should the Council decide that a comprehensive analysis should be
conducted to link floor area to the parcel size, staff will
return at a later date with an amendment to the ordinance. The
analysis would require a substantial analysis which has not been
considered in the staff's current work load and, as stated above,
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would only be in effect until May, 1992. In the event Council
requests this analysis to be conducted, staff recommends the
Council adopt the attached ordinance which addresses the
moratorium extension only and staff will return at a future date
with an amendment dealing with the floor area calculation.
In addition to the above modification, it has come to staff's
attention that a neighborhood grocery store cannot be improved
due to the constraints of the moratorium ordinance.
Representatives from the grocery store located at Broadway and
7th street have approached staff with plans to improve and
enlarge the existing facility (see attachment 1). Under the
terms of the existing moratorium ordinance, the building may not
be demolished and enlarged since demolition and replacement of
the existing square footage by itself would exceed the maximum
permitted square footage threshold. Staff supports modifying the
existing ordinance to enable the existing use to be improved
thereby maintaining the use in the neighborhood. Should the
Council agree that the ordinance should be changed to accommodate
the proposed improvements, staff recommends that the following
language be added to Section 3 of the Ordinance:
(e) For applications involving the demolition and
replacement of an existing single purpose, single
tenant, such as neighborhood serving use, grocery
stores, pharmacies and similar uses. Only the net, new
floor area to be added shall be subject to the floor
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area limitations contained in section 3(c) of this
ordinance. Demolition and replacement of the existing
floor area shall be exempt from the square footage
limitations.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendation presented in this report does not have a
budget or fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council introduce for first
reading the attached ordinance with the addition of the following
language:
Section 3(c):
"For purposes of calculating floor area as it relates to this
ordinance, above grade parking shall be exempt from the floor
area calculation".
Section 3(e):
"For applications involving the demolition and replacement of an
existing single purpose, single tenant, neighborhood serving use,
such as grocery stores, pharmacies, or other similar uses. Only
the net new floor area to be added shall be subject to the floor
area limitations contained in Section 3 (c) of this Ordinance.
Demolition and replacement of the existing floor area shall be
exempt from the square footage limitationsn.
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Prepared By: Paul Berlant, Director of LUTM
Suzanne Frick, Planning Manager
Liz Casey, Associate Planner
Land Use and Transportation Management Department
Program and Policy Development Division
Attachment 1: Letter from the Vons Companies, Inc.
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VONS,
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Compames, Inc
October 16, 1991
Mr. Paul Berlant
DIrector of Planmng
City of Santa MOnica
Santa MOnica Cuy Hall
P O. Box 2200
Santa MOnica, CA 90407-2200
Re: VONS #262
710 BROADWAY (SWC BROAD\V A Y & LINCOLN)
SANT A MONICA, CALIFORNIA
Dear Mr BerIant
As we dIscussed, The Vons CompanIes, Inc. would hke to replace the eXistmg referenced
supermarket on-Site wIth a new 36,000 sq ft Vans supermarket.
As you know, the referenced supermarket was formerly owned and operated by Safeway Stores,
Inc. ThIS facIlIty was ongmal1y constructed by Safeway In 1956. and remodeled In 1974
The Vans Compames, Inc. acqUIred all of Safeway Store's Southern CalIfornIa supermarket
operatIOns In 1988 by a corporate merger, and has been operatmg the referenced facIlIty as a
Vons supermarket
The eXIstmg store SIze IS 22,248 sq. ft., and IS unfortunately too small to add the specIalty and
servIce departments that are consIdered "state of the art" by Industry standards wIthm the cham
supermarkets operatmg wnhm Southern CalIfornia today
The stOre has been under-performmg for Vans based upon our understandmg of the supermarket
consumer's demand wIthm the Clty of Santa MOnica, and we are very mterested m modermnng
thiS store to make It a "first-class" supermarket, to Improve the store's performance and better
serve the communIty of Santa l\.lomca
We understand there IS an adopted Intenm moratOnum wIthm the Cuy of Santa Momca that
prohIbIts any new commercIal bUIlding projects from proceedmg forward at thIS time In
addItIOn, we understand the moratonum Will allow the expansIOn of eXIstmg commercial
structures, to a maXImum of 15.000 sq ft. under certam condItions.
We would like to request the City of Santa MOnIca consider allowmg Vons to replace tJ,e
e~lStmg supermarket \1,Jth a new 36.000 sq ft supermarket that WIll contam all of the modern
amenitIes and serv'ces, to better serve the cOrlmumty of Santa 1-!omca.
.....--e \. on<;. Ccrrparp;:';; l"l( .::= c. B0"1j 3 3]c ~cs ;~geies C -\ 9('C5.
~,'.;:......I:..l"!ca -1,..~........::: .lrl;;:ca C-i .:l;IJI~;- 'JjGL; . -'--ee-::t-or--€- .Sla 8~' -:)':/"l
Mr. Paul Berlant
CIty of Santa MOnica
October 16, 1991
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Page 2
We have enclosed colored photos that show the eXistmg and proposed supermarkets for your
mformatlOn and use
We would apprecIate any support that you could provIde us m obtammg approvals to proceed
WIth our proposed new store project.
If I may answer any questIOns or provIde any addItIOnal mformatIon regardmg thIS proposed
project, please contact me at (818) 821-7050.
Very truly yours,
THE ;;;;r/)':' me.
ry pe~rs -
Estate Representative
GSP/tm
262REPL.LGP
Enclosures - Photos
cc. J. Stewart
P Hom
G. Oltmanns
C. Bell
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City council Meeting 11-12-91
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(CCS)
(City Council 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 MONICA 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 City has accelerated dramatically, adversely
affecting the capacity and quality of the city's street and
highway system, the jobs/housing balance within the city, and the
quality of life in the community, including environmental quality
and neighborhood character.
(b) In 1987, a building permit was issued for only one
non-residential project totaling 1,014,546 square feet. In 1988,
building
permits
were
issued
for
twenty-three
(23)
non-residential projects totaling 2,835,940 square feet. In
1989, discretionary planning approvals were granted for 17
non-residential projects totaling 1,077,402 square feet. In
1990, discretionary planning approvals were granted for 13
non-residential projects totaling 776,987 square feet. In
addition, of the 17 discretionary projects approved in 1989, nine
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(9) of the projects, totaling 577,910 square feet, have not yet
been issued building permits and begun construction.
(c) since the non-residential development moratorium was
initially adopted by the city 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 moratorium ordinance.
(d) Based on population and employment projections, 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-residential development by the year 2000. As of 1989,
development in the city has already exceeded the projected amount
of development for the year 2000.
(e) A review of recent Initial Studies and Environmental
Impact Reports prepared for the City reveals that there are at
least thirteen intersections in the City where the existing level
of service ("LOS") falls below "Du. These reports further reveal
that with the impact of approved and proposed projects within and
outside the City, the future level of service of at least
thirty-three (33) intersections across the City is projected to
fall below LOS "0".
(f) According to the City of Los Angeles, the existing
capacity of the Hyperion Treatment Plant, where wastewater from
the City of Santa Monica's public sewer system is treated and
disposed of, is operating at or near its current full capacity,
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necessitating regulation of the rate of wastewater increase
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) Although 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 areas, and do not adequately address the
infra structural and environmental problems currently facing the
City.
(i) According to the Environmental Impact Report on the
Zoning Ordinance, there is a maximum theoretical capacity of
between 62,924,000 and 75,916,000 square feet for office
commercial, and industrial development in the City. The maximum
build-out potential needs to be re-examined as do the mechanisms
for limiting and mitigating the impacts of that build-out on the
city's infrastructure.
(j)
a threat
residents.
The increase in development activity in the city poses
to the public health, safety and welfare of the
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(k) The city's zoning, planning, subdivision, and building
regulations require review as they pertain to the non-residential
development activity within the City in order to ensure that
development is consistent with the public health, safety and
welfare.
(l) Following the initiation or ordinance Number 1481 (CCS)
creating a ten month and fifteen day moratorium, three public
workshops were held to help familiarize 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 which discussed the fiscal impact of new
development on the City, and a citywide Traffic study which
analyzed the operation of the city's street system.
(m) Since the initiation of Ordinance Number 1512 (CCS)
extending the moratorium for an additional ten months and fifteen
days, a draft Growth Management strategy Implementation Plan was
released which proposed a plan to control the rate, intensity,
and types of uses in new commercial development projects.
Fallowing two Planning Commission public hearings and one meeting
for Commission discussion and deliberation, the Commission
recommended that the strategy be pursued in greater depth and
that a comprehensive plan to manage growth in the City, rather
than a plan directed primarily at controlling the pace of
commercial development, be prepared.
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(n) Following the initiation of Ordinance Number 1570 (CCS)
extending the moratorium for one year, a study session was held
with the Planning Commission and city council 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 intersection capacities and traffic
flow rates in the city for all future traffic studies. The HCM
methodology requires extensive field work gathering information
on queue lengths, lane widths, 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. Using the HCM approach and
incorporating July/August summer counts requires an extension of
three months to the Moratorium Work Program, as aCknowledged by
Council on May 14, 1991.
(0) Expiration of the ordinance would pose a current and
immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the
residents as set forth in these findings, and the approval of
additional 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) Subject to the exemptions set forth in section 3 of
this Ordinance, a moratorium is hereby placed on the acceptance
for processing of any applications for approval of tentative
tract maps, tentative parcel maps, administrative approvals,
development review permits, conditional use permits, or any other
city permits for the erection, construction, moving, conversion
of, and excavation and grading for, any non-residential building
or structure, including any hotel or motel, in the city of Santa
Monica.
(b) Subject to the exemptions set forth in section 3 of
this Ordinance, the Planning Commission and City staff are hereby
directed to disapprove all applications filed after May 2, 1989,
for approval of tentative tract maps, tentative parcel maps,
administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional
use permits, or any other City permits for the erection,
construction, moving, conversion of, and excavation and grading
for any non-residential building or structure, including any
hotel or motel, in the city of Santa Monica.
SECTION 3. Exemptions. 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, educational,
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 Monica School District, or the State of California and
applications for approval of permits involving development on
land owned, operated, or controlled by the City of Santa Monica
and intended for development of 415 Pacific Coast Highway, the
pier, 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 in
the Hospital Specific Plan Area.
(c) Applications for approval of permits for proposed
developments that fall at or below the fallowing square feet of
floor area for the district in which the development is located:
C-2 Neighborhood Commercial 7,000
C-3 Downtown 15,000
C3C Downtown Overlay 15,000
C-4 Highway Commercial 12,000
C-5 special Office 15,000
C-6 Boulevard Commercial 15,000
CM Main Street 7/000
CP Commercial ProIessional 11,000
M1 Industrial Conservation 15,000
BCD Broadway Commercial 11,000
RVC Residential-Visitor Commercial
The Promenade 7/000
All other parts of the District 15,000
To the extent that a project contains both residential and
non-residential components, this moratorium applies only to the
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non-residential component of such project. A project that
contains both residential and non-residential components may
proceed with an application only if 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 which an application was filed on
or after February 27, 1991.
Cd) Applications for approval of permits involving proposed
developments for which development agreement applications have
been filed on or before May 2, 1989 and proposed dev~lopments for
which development review applications have been filed and deemed
complete on or before May 2, 1989.
(i) An application 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 permits, after the Planning Division receives a
substantially complete application together with all information,
reports, drawings, plans, filing fees, and any other materials
and documents required by the appropriate application forms
supplied by the city. If, within the specified time period, the
Planning Division fails to advise the applicant in writing that
his or her application is incomplete and to specify all
additional information required to complete that application, the
application shall automatically be deemed complete. An
application is "substantially complete" if the missing
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information is supplied within 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 Planning
Director determines that the changes to the project do not
increase the size or substantially alter the scope of the
proposed project. This Section shall not apply for purposes of
deeming an application complete under the Permit streamlining
Act.
(e) Applications for approval of permits involving the
erection, construction, enlargement, demolition, or moving of,
and excavation and grading for, projects which have been granted
development permits by the Planning Commission or Planning
Division on or before May 2, 1989.
SECTION 4. This Ordinance shall be of no further force and
effect as of May 26, 1992.
SECTION 5. 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, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 6. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or
phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or
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unconsti tutional by a decision of any court of any 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 7. 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 30 days from the date of adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
~--Jf ~ ~O
ROBERT M. MYERS
CITY ATTORNEY
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