SR-10-A (12)
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Santa Monlca, Callfornia, August 17, 1978
TO:
Mayor and City Councll
lOll
SEP 1 2 1978
FROM: Clty Staff
SUBJECT: Proposed Screenlng Ordlnance
Introductlon
ThlS report transmits a Plannlng CommlSSlon recommendatlon re-
quirlng screenlng of certaln commerclal and resldentlal areas.
Background
For the past two years the Plannlng CommlSSlon has been studYlng
and revlewing regulatlons for screenlng parklng and storage areas
In connectlon wlth commercial uses. A number of publlC hearlngs
and study seSSlons have been held wlth lnvolved buslness lnterests,
especially automobile dealershlps, as to the effect of such reg-
ulations. The recommended ordlnance would not apply to automo-
blles dlsplayed for sale, lease or rental.
As proposed, the ordinance would requlre the screenlng of all
areas where automobiles are parked, stored, servlced or repalred
ln one of two ways, elther a 3' hlgh wallar hedge and a 2' land-
scaped strlp or some other deslgn approved by the Archltectural
Revlew Board. Trash and storage areas for other than automoblles
would requlre a 5' wallar an alternatlve deslgn approved by the
Archltectural Revlew Board. No screenlng would be requlred wlthln
5' of any drlveway or vehicle accessway.
The screenlng regulatlons would apply to new developments upon
adoption and to all commerclal propertles after five years. At
the end of the 5 year perlod eXlstlng commerclal propertles without
lOA
$EP 1 '6 \978
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It
Hayor and C1ty Council
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August 17, 1978
screen1ng would have the option of elther providlng the 3' screen
and 2' landscaping requ1rement or request1ng approval of an alter-
nate des1gn by the Arch1tectural Review Board. Acceptable and
attract1ve screenlng of park1ng lots can be accompl1shed 1n a
number of ways other than the r1gld 3' requirement and the Com-
mlssion believes the Arch1tectural Review Board can ach1eve th1S
lntent w1thout reducing efflciency or safety better than a speclfic
and 1nflex1ble requlrement. The proposed screening ordinance would
not apply to parklng or storage area 1n connectlon with either
res1dentlal or industrial uses.
Alternatives
Under the provis1ons of Sect10n 9l49C3 of the Santa Mon1ca Munic1pal
Code the City CounCll may approve, disapprove or mod1fy any recom-
mendat10n made by the Plannlng Comm1SS1on 1n regard to the C1ty'S
ZOTIlng regulations. The Councll has the alternatlves of re]ectlng
further cons1deration of the proposed ord1nance or act1ng favor-
ably upon the Commission's recommendation by request1ng the draft-
ing of an ordinance for formal considerat1on.
Recorrnnendat1on
It is respectfully recommended that the C1ty Council act favorably
upon the Plannlng CommlSSlon recommendatlon by directlng the Clty
Attorney to prepare the requ1red ordlnance and return 1t for con-
slderation 1n the usual course of procedures.
Prepared by: James Lunsford
JL:bt
.
It
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE
SANTA MONICA CITY PLk~ING COMMISSION
IN TEE MATTER OF A PROPOSED AMENDMENT
TO THE Sh~TA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE
RELATING TO THE SCREENING OF PARKING
~~D STORAGE AREAS IN CONNECTION WITH
COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS
SECTION 1. The C~ty Plann~ng Comm~ss~on of the c~ty of Santa
~n~ca hav~ng declared Lts Lntent~on to amend Chapter 1, Art~c1e
IX of the Santa Mon~ca Mun~c~pal Code by the add~t~on a new
Sect~on 9l27J perta~n~ng to the screen~ng of park~ng and storage
areas Ln connectLon w1th cornmerc1al uses and a Publ1c Hear1ng
hav~ng been held on June 19, 1978, the CO~~~ssLon hereby f~nds
as follows:
1. The Mun1c1pa1 Zon1ng Ord~nance presently conta1ns
no regu1at10ns perta1n~ng to or requ1r~ng the screen1ng
of parkLng and storage areas Ln connectLon w~th com-
merc~a1 uses 1n the CLty of Santa ~on1ca.
2. The 1nc1usLon of regulatLons requ~r1ng the screen-
Lng of parklng and storage areas would be 1n the best
lnterests of the C1ty by substant1ally LmprovLng the
aesthetLcs and v~sual qual1ty of the cow~erc~al dlstrlcts
through the prov~slon of addLt10nal landscap1ng or orna-
mental structure ~n l~eu of park~ng and storage areas
adJacent to 5~dewal~s and streets.
3. In order to achLeve the h~ghest degree of 1ndlvldual1ty
and archltectural var1ety, wLthout completely reduclng
V1S1bll1ty for safety and securlty purposes, ~~e Arch1tectural
Rev~ew Board should have the opt~on of approvlng an alternatlve
deslgn ~n 11eu of a rlg1d requ1rement.
4. Automob~les d1splayed for sale, lease or rental where
sales, lease or rental 15 the pr1nc~pal cornmerclal bUS1ness
should be exempt from the screen1ng requ1rements although
encouraged to prov1de some sUltable aest~et1c barrler ad-
jacent to publlC sldewalks.
5. The proposed screenLng ordlnance would lrnprove the
aesthetlc enVlronment of the communlty In accordance
w1th the publ~c necesslty, convenlence, general welfare,
good zon1ng pract1Ce and should be adopted.
SECTION 2. NOW, THEREFORE, the Clty Plann1ng CommLss1on of t~e
Clty of Santa Monlca hereby recommends that Sect10n 9127 of Chap-
ter I Art1cle IX of the Santa Mon1ca Munlc~~al Code be amended
by the add~tlon of Sectlon 9127J to read as-fOllows:
9127J. SCREENING STA-~DARDS ~he regulat10ns set forth
In thlS section shall apply Ln all CommercLa1 DlstrLcts
and 1n adJacent res~dent1al areas In use for parklng,
storage or other use 1n connec~lon w1th any cornmerc1al
operat~on.
9127J.1. SCREENING VEHICLE PARKING AND STOR..!l,.GE AREAS.
All areas devoted to veh1cle park1ng storage, service, re-
palr, equlpment replacement, wash1ng, pol1sh1ng, pa1nt1ng
and slm1lar uses, but not lnclud~ng d1splay for sale, lease
or rental where autornob1le sales, lease or ~ental are the
prlnCLpal commerc~al bus~ness, v~slb1e from a publlC rl~ht-
of-way shall be screened 1n accordance w~th the fol1owLng
reqUJ..rements~
a. An ope~ area or not less than 2 feet 1n depth
measured horlzontally from he property l~ne adJacent
to the publ~c r1ght-of-way shall be developed and
malntalned Ln landscap~ng lncludlng an automat1c
t1mer-controlled pe~anent water~ng system; and
If
.
.
,.,
b. Permanent opaque landscap~ng, fenc~ng or walls
shall be prov~ded and ma~nta~ned at a he~ght of not
less than 3 feet above the average adJacent grade
at a d~stance of not less than 2 feet meassured hor~-
~ontally from the adJacent publ~c r~ght-of-way. In no
case shall screen~ng structures or mater~als, w~th the
except~on of l~v~ng plants, exceed 6 feet ~n he~ght
above the adJacent grade. or
c. In l~eu of (al and (b), such other screen~ng
plan, des~gn and mater~als approved by the Arch~tect-
ural Rev~ew Board as sat~sfactor~ly meet~ng the ~ntent
of these sect~ons
d. No screen requ~red to be erected and ma~ntalned
by the prov~s~ons of thls subsect~on shall be construc-
ted wlthln S feet measured horlzontally on e~ther s~de
of a dr~veway entrance or vehlcle access way openlng
onto a street or alley WhlCh would lmpa~r an unob-
structed cross Vlew of pedestrlans on the s~dewalk,
alley or elsewhere by motorlsts enterlng or leav~ng.
The unobstructed areas shall not, however, exceed 10
feet on elther slde of a dr~veway, entrance or veh~cle
access-way.
9127J.2. REFUSE STORAGE AREAS. All outdoor storage of
trash, garbage, refuse and other ~tems or rnater~als ~ntended
for d~scard~ng or collect~on shall be screened on a ~n~mum
of three s~des from publ~c v~ew by a SOlld opaque lmpact-
res~stant wall not less than 5 feet 1n helght or, alterna-
tlvely, such other mater~als or des~gn approved by the
Arch~tectural Rev~ew Board.
9127J.3. STORAGE AREAS. All storage of merchand~se, wares,
crates, bottles, or sim~lar ltems necessary to or part of
a bus~ness or commerc~al operat~on shall be screened from
Vlew accord1ng to the prov15~ons spec1f~ed ~n 9127J.2.
9127J.4. MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT AREA. All mechan~cal equ~p-
ment shall be screened from view accord~ng to the prov~s1ons
SpeC~fled In 9127J.3 except that mechanlcal eq~pment en-
closed ~n a houslng or cover meet1ng the ~ntent and purpose
of th1s ordlnance shall be exempt from ~~e prov~slons of
t.l'us sect~on.
9127J.S. APPLICABILI~Y. The regulat~ons hereafter set
forth shall apply to all new construct~on wlthln the Clty
of Santa Mon~ca after the effect1ve date thereof and shall
be appl~cable to all ex~stlng cornmerc1al areas f1ve (S)
years after the effect~ve date thereof, the leg~slat~ve
lntent belng that all commerclal propert16s shall have
compl~ed w~th these prov~s~ons f~ve (5) years after the
date of thelr adoptlon
SECTION 3. The Chalrman lS author~~ed to execute and the Secretary
to cert1fy to the adopt~on of these Flnd~ngs and Reccmmendat10n
after WhlCh they shall be forwarded to the Santa Mon~ca C~ty Counc~l
for cons~derat~on and act~on.
DATED thls 19th day of June. 1978
fibnA/ /1 .P;;~,
~ALD G. MALCOL~, Chal~
C1ty Plann1ng Commls510n
Clty of Santa Monlca
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;
.
.
!, JAMES LUNSFORD, Secretary to the C1ty Plann~ng Comrn~ss~on
of the C~ty of Santa Mon~ca hereby cert~fy that the above F~nd-
1ngs and Recommendat1on were approved by the C1ty Plann1ng Com-
m~ss~on by the follow~ng vote:
AYES: Comm~ss1oners Hotchk1SS, Katz, Kennedy, Savage,
Schne~der. Sull1van and Cha1rman Malcolm.
NOES. None
ABSENT- None
~~,
&~S LUNSFO r S cretary
~1ty Plann1ng Comm1ss1on
C~ty of Santa Mon.l.ca
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