sr-092209-7b~®
c;cYot City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: September 22, 2009
Agenda Item: ~-' g
To: Mayor and City Couhcil
From: Elaine Polachek, Deputy City Manager
Subject: Amendment to Community Events Ordinance for Marathons and
Modification of Extended Event Policy for Commercial Use of the Beach
Parking Lot at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway
Recommended Action
Staff. recommends that the City Council introduce for first reading the attached
Community Events Ordinance establishing a marathon route segment and parameters
for authorizing and conducting a marathon utilizing this marathon route segment;
approve modifications to the City's Extended Event Policy to include large scale, single-
day commercial events in the 1550 Lot, and authorize the City Manager to negotiate
and execute all necessary event permits and license agreements for the 2010 LA
Marathon:
Executive Summary
On July 28,2009, Council received a staff report outlining a proposal to hold a portion of
the 2010 LA Marathon and the post-event festivities in the City of Santa Monica.
Council heard from over 40 members of the public supporting the LA Marathon and
directed staff to return with revisions to the City's Community Events Ordinance that
would establish a marathon race route in Santa Monica. Council also gave direction to
designate the south beach parking lots for licensure for commercial events based on a
proposed plan to use those lots for post-race activities. This report recommends
revisions to the Community Events Ordinance to establish a marathon route segment
and associated conditions for such races in the City. Since post-race activities are now
proposed for the beach parking lot at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway ("1550 Lot"),
designation of the south beach lots for licensure is no longer necessary.
Background
At its July 28th meeting, Council expressed its support for the LA Marathon, which will
be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2010. The race, scheduled for Sunday, March 21,
2010, is being developed as a marquis running -event which will attract both elite,
international runners as well as runners from all over the country who want to participate
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in a world-class event. Council heard from over 40 speakers who acknowledged the
prestige of the event and the attendant benefits it will bring to Santa Monica. The LA
Marathon garners extensive international, national and local media exposure. Race
organizers have identified several local service organizations that will receive
contributions from the 2010 race. They include: Heal the Bay, Sojourn Services of
OPCC, and Students Run LA. The 2010 LA Marathon will be the world's first major-city
marathon to achieve green certification with the Council of Responsible Sport. While
race organizers estimate that the economic benefit to the City over five years is $21
million (hotels, parking, meals), staff is unable to project an estimated benefit at this
time.
The City's Community Events Ordinanceallows 5 and 10K races within the City and
specifies times, routes and frequencies to minimize impacts. Current law also allows
10K races on a portion of the route proposed by the LA Marathon. And current law
allows races on undesignated routes so long as most of the race occurs outside of the
City as the LA Marathon would. However, the law allowing portions of races on
undesignated routes only applies if the portion of the race that is in the City does not
exceed a half mile, which the LA Marathon would.
In developing the Community Events Ordinance, it was the intent of the Council to protect
the rights of people to engage in expressive activities in the City's public places and to
establish the least restrictive and reasonable time, place and manner regulation of these
activities. However, races are not classified as expressive activities; they are athletic
events. Council further intended to create mechanisms for cost recovery and use
charges, to the extent authorized by law, while not unduly impacting the viability of
events.
Regarding the LA Marathon's proposal to use the 1550 Lot for post-event activities, use of
the City's beach lots for commercial purposes is regulated in two ways. The Community
Events Ordinance and regulations establish limits on usage, including limits on the
frequency, duration and number of spaces that can be used for permitted community
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events. However, use of the 1550 Lot, specifically, is administered differently because
Council designated that lot for commercial activities pursuant to licenses negotiated by
the City in its entrepreneurial capacity. The City's guidelines for extended commercial
events promulgate policies that governs these activities. The 1550 Lot is also used for
community events when it is not licensed for commercial use.
Discussion
Proposed Route
At its July 28th meeting, Council directed staff to work with the race organizers to end
the race in Santa Monica as opposed to Vehice (Los Angeles) and return with a revised
marathon route. The LA Marathon organizers have proposed a new race route for 2010
dubbed "The Stadium to the Sea." This will be the first year that the marathon runs
through multiple jurisdictions including Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and
Santa Monica. The race begins at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and proceeds
through downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and West
Los Angeles. The route enters Santa Monica orr San Vicente Blvd. at 26th Street. The
runners proceed west on San Vicente Blvd. to Ocean Avenue. The route continues
south on Ocean Avenue and instead of finishing in Venice, the finish line is now
proposed to end on Ocean Avenue immediately north of Santa Monica Blvd.
Upon crossing the finish line, racers continue walking south along Ocean Avenue where
they receive water, snacks, Mylar blankets and their medals. First aid tents will be
positioned on the west side of Ocean Avenue to provide assistance to runners.
With the finish line on Ocean Avenue, race organizers revised their original plan to hold
the post-event activities (family reunion/festival) in the south beach lots .and are now
proposing use of the 1550 Lot. Following the race, runners will proceed to the 1550 Lot
directly north of the Pier to be reunited with family and friends and for the post-race
festival.
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Commercial Use of 1550 Lot
In December 2008, Council approved modifications to policies for licensing extended
events in the 1550 Lot. The intent of this policy was to generate substantial net revenue
to the Beach Fund by licensing part of the parking lot for commercial activities when
parking demand is seasonally low. To facilitate issuance of licenses for these events,
Council approved an on-going process allowing continuous application from event
producers. While the policy provides parameters and maximum timeframes for
extended commercial events, it does not specifically address large scale single or
multiple day commercial events, many of which meet the same criteria and have the
same impacts as longer. term events. For purposes of the LA Marathon, staff
recommends that Council modify the. existing extended events policy to include large
scale single or multiple day commercial events.
Revisions to Community Events Ordinance
The proposed revisions to the Community Events Ordinance expand the parameters for
conducting races by establishing one marathon route segment that begins on San
Vicente Boulevard at 26~h Street (the City limits) and continues west on San Vicente to
Ocean Avenue and south on Ocean Avenue to the end of the 1500 block Of Ocean
Avenue (before the entrance to the Pier Ramp).
In order to utilize this route segment, the marathon must be regional in scope (involve a
route that runs through multiple jurisdictions), attract elite and international runners, and
receive extensive national and international media exposure. Marathon organizers
must be able to demonstrate the capability to organize and operate a large, successful
marathon including possessing sufficient funding to finance the costs incurred in
organizing and holding the race and sufficient staffing to ensure its safe and efficient
operation.
The proposed revisions to the Community Events Ordinance allow marathons to only
occur on Sunday from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm and only one marathon per year will be
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allowed to utilize the route segment. Preference will be given to applicants proposing
reoccurring marathons traditionally or historically associated with a particular date or
dates.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Staff will negotiate a license agreement for use of the 1550 lot with LA Marathon, LLC.
All direct City staff time and expenses will be reimbursed by LA Marathon to achieve full
cost recovery by the City. Any other revenue generated from use of the 1550 Lot as
part of the license agreement will benefit the Beach Fund. A portion of this revenue will
offset the estimated loss in 1550 lot parking revenue due to spaces occupied by the to
Marathon however parking revenues at the south beach lots and the Civic Center
parking Structure are projected to increase since these will be locations to which
runners will be directed. While race organizers estimate that the economic benefit to
the City over five years is $21 million (hotels, parking, meals), staff is unable to project
an estimated benefit for 2010 at this time.
Prepared by: Elaine Polachek, Deputy City Manager
Approved: Forwarded to Council:
~~~
Elaine Polachek P a nt Ewell
Deputy City Manager ~ <V~anager
Attachment 1 -Community Events Ordinance
Attachment 2 -Previous Policy approved at 12/9/08 Council meeting
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f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\Community Events -Marathon 9-22-09
Council Meeting 9-22-09 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTION 4.68.160 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO
ESTABLISH A NEW MARATHON ROUTE SEGMENT AND THE PARAMETERS FOR
AUTHORIZING AND CONDUCTING A MARATHON UTILIZING THIS MARATHON
ROUTE SEGMENT
WHEREAS, on May 8, 2001, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2008
(CCS), adding Chapter 4.68 to the Santa Monica Municipal Code, the Community Events
Code; and
WHEREAS, the Community Events Code provides a coordinated process for
managing community events to ensure the health and safety of event patrons, residents,
workers, and other visitors, to prohibit illegal activities from occurring at community events,
and to protect the rights of community event permit holders; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica is a coastal city in a prime location, bordered by the City
of Los Angeles to the north, east, and south;
WHEREAS, the City's land area is small, being just 8 square miles and the City's
population is approximately 90,000; and
WHEREAS, in addition to its large residential population, the City is a very desirable
place to work or visit; and
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WHEREAS, on weekdays, approximately 300,000 people are present within the City
and on weekends the number swells to as high as 500,000 people; and
WHEREAS, the density of the City and the number of people working or visiting the
City on a daily basis significantly impacts the ability of traffic to circulate on the City's
existing street network; and
WHEREAS, the City's street network is a grid system bisected by the Santa Monica
Freeway; and
WHEREAS, streets within this network are categorized into four functional
classification types, arterial streets, collector streets, feeder streets and local residential
streets; and
WHEREAS, arterial streets are generally the commercial arteries that keep traffic
moving throughout the City and have as their primary function the movement of vehicles
into and through the City and the service of adjacent commercial land uses; and
WHEREAS, the locations of the freeway interchanges and over crossings, as well
as the inter-relationships of City streets with those of the surrounding network in Los
Angeles, causes traffic to be concentrated on the City's arterial streets; and
WHEREAS, local residential streets are designed to serve adjacent residential uses
only; and
WHEREAS, arterial streets are expected to handle traffic volumes ranging from
34,000 to 61,000 average vehicle trips per day while local streets are desighed to carry
2,500 average trips per day; and
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WHEREAS, due to the nature of the grid system, if an arterial street is blocked or
heavily congested, traffic will be diverted onto the nearest street which is typically a local
residential street; and
WHEREAS, residential streets are overwhelmed when traffic is diverted from arterial
streets and residents' peace and quiet enjoyment are significantly impacted; and
WHEREAS, since the arterial network already carries a significant volume oftraffic;
diverting or stopping the traffic will further deteriorate the levels of service for these
intersections and result in increased traffic into residential neighborhoods and degradation
of the vitality of commercial districts; and
WHEREAS, community events are, by definition, atypical and not necessarily
anticipated by or appropriately regulated by existing citywide ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the City regulates community events for the same reasons it regulates
land uses: to protect the health, safety and public welfare by regulating traffic, noise,
aesthetics, and other impacts; and
WHEREAS, community events often require the provision of public services,
including police, fire, transportation, and public works and additional maintenance of the
facilities they use; and
WHEREAS, community events often use facilities thatwould otherwise be available
to the public or generate revenue to the City; and
WHEREAS, managing community events requires ensuring that these events are
compatible in size and type of use with their sites, adequate services are provided for the
events, adequate cost recovery for these services is achieved, the events do not interfere
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with the City's ability to provide services to the entire community, and the impacts on
neighbors and others are minimized; and
WHEREAS, there are currently four race routes authorized by the Community
Events Ordinance; and
WHEREAS. two of the race routes are for five-kilometer races and two are for ten-
kilometer races; and
WHEREAS, there are presently no routes for a marathon race; and
WHEREAS, the City has received a proposal to hold a portion of the 2010 L A
Marathon in the City; and
WHEREAS, participating in a race of this stature presents the City with a unique.
opportunity to be part of ainternationally-known, first-class event and receive significant
benefits therefrom including substantial economic benefits to local businesses and a
unique entertainment opportunity for City residents and visitors; and
WHEREAS, a race of this nature raises a number of public safety issues related not
only to race participants and spectators but potential impacts on the community at large,
including issues concerning the availability of assistance from and coordination with other
cities, the logistics and timing of closing and re-opening streets, traffic control and
management strategies, parking contingencies, and resident, visitor and emergency
access; and
WHEREAS, due to the significant impacts that such a race can generate, it is
essential that such races provide substantial benefit to the City and be significantly limited
in number and time of occurrence and that the race only be undertaken by a marathon
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entity with the demonstrated capability to organize and operate a large, successful
marathon including sufficient funding to finance the costs incurred in organizing and
holding the marathon and sufficient staffing to ensure its safe and efficient operation; and
WHEREAS, race organizers would be required to pay full cost recovery for all City
services and expenditures associated with or in any way connected to the race,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.68.160 is hereby amended to
read as follows:
4.68.160 Races-Runs-Walks.
The. procedures and criteria for conducting races/runs/ walks shall be as follows:
(a) There shall be two ten-kilometer routes and two five-kilometer routes, and
one marathon route segment;
(1) The first ten-kilometer route (10K Ocean Route) begins at Beach Park No. 1
(Barnard Way at Ocean Park Boulevard) and continues south to Barnard Way, follows the
bend to go east on Marine Street, north on Main Street, west on Colorado Avenue, north
on Ocean Avenue, east on San Vicente Boulevard to 14th Street where participants will
turn around and go west on San Vicente Boulevard, south on Ocean Avenue to end at the
1500 block of Ocean Avenue (before the entrance to the Pier Ramp).
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(2) The second ten-kilometer route (10K North City Route) begins at Seventh
Street and California Avenue, west on California Avenue to Ocean Avenue, north on
Ocean Avenue to San Vicente Boulevard, east on San Vicente Boulevard to Twenty-fifth
Street, south on Twenty-fifth Street to Marguerita Avenue, west on Marguerita Avenue to
Fourteenth Street, south on Fourteenth Street to Alta Avenue, west on Alta Avenue to
Fourth Street, south on Fourth Street to California Avenue, east on California Avenue to
Seventh Street.
(3) The first five-kilometer route (5K North City Route) begins at Seventh Street
and California Avenue, west on California Avenue to Ocean Avenue, north on Ocean
Avenue to San Vicente Boulevard, east on San Vicente Boulevard to Seventh Street, south
on Seventh Street to Georgina Avenue, west on Georgina Avenue to Fourth Street, south
on Fourth Street to California Avenue, east on California Avenue to Seventh Street.
(4) The second five-kilometer route (5K Ocean Route) begins at Beach Park
No. 1 (Barnard Way at Ocean Park Boulevard) and continues south on Barnard Way,
follows the bend to go east on Marine Street, north on Main Street, west on Colorado
Avenue, north on Ocean Avenue to the 1000 block where participants will turn around and
continue south on Ocean Avenue to end at the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue (before the
entrance to the Pier ramp).
t5) The marathon route segment begins on San Vicente Boulevard at Twenty-
Sixth Street (the City limits) and continues west on San Vicente to Ocean Avenue and
south on Ocean Avenue to end at the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue (before the entrance to
the Pier Ramp}.
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(b) 5K North City Route and 10K North City Route races may only occur on
Saturday mornings from seven thirty a.m. until eleven a.m. There shall be no more than
one race per quarter each year. There shall also be a minimum of eight weeks between
each race.
(c) 5K Ocean Route and 10K Ocean Route races may only occur on Saturday
and Sunday mornings from seven thirty a.m. until eleven a.m. There shall be no more than
two races between January 1 st and the weekend prior to Memorial Day weekend and no
more than two races between the weekend after Labor Day and the weekend before
Thanksgiving each year. There shall also be a minimum of eight weeks between each
race.
(d1 The marathon route segment shall be limited to the completion of marathon
races that are regional in scope (involve a course that runs through multiple jurisdictions),
attract elite and international runners receive extensive national and international media
exposure and are undertaken by a marathon entity'with the demonstrated capabilit~to
organize and operate a large, successful marathon including sufficient funding to finance
the costs incurred in organizing and holding the marathon and sufficient staffing to ensure
its safe and efficient operation. Preference shall also be given to applicants proposing
recurring marathons traditionally or historically associated with a particular day or dates.
The marathon may only occur on Sunday from 6:00 a.m. -- 6:00 p.m. There shall only be
one marathon per year that utilizes the marathon route segment.
fd}~ No vehicular races shall be permitted.
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(e}(~f Events which include multiple modes of travel (e.g., walking, running and
bicycling) shall be permitted so long as the start times for different modes of travel are
staggered.
(#-}~ Prior to the issuance ofi a community event permit, City staff shall
determine the specific portions or lanes of the roadway that may be used by the
participants. This determination shall be based on safety considerations and the
preservation of access to businesses and other scheduled activities along the route.
(g)am In addition to the routes established by subsection (a) of this Section,
races/walks/runs may be permitted on other streets in the City so long as the majority of
the race/walk/run occurs outside of the City and that portion of the race/walk run within the
City does not exceed one-half mile in length. Races permitted pursuant to this subsection
shall not be subject to the time/frequency requirements established in subsections (b) and
(c) of this Section.
SECTION 2. 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
affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. 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
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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 4. 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 thirty
days after its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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~~~
Supplemental
Santa Monica®
"`Y°` City Council Report
City Council Meeting: December 9, 2008
To: Mayor and City Council
Agenda Item: 8A
From: Barbara Stinchfield, Community and Cultural Services Director
Subject: Extended Commercial Event Policy -Supplemental Information
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council approve revisions to the policy regarding
extended commercial use of the beach parking lot at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway (PCH)
to provide more flexibility in event selection and approve extended commercial event
selection guidelines.
Executive Summary
This report supplements the staff report recommending proposed revisions to the policy
for licensing extended commercial use of the 1550 lot. Supplementary information
includes clarification of the review process and additional proposed guidelines which
reflect recommendations of the Pier Restoration Corporation (PRC) Operations
Committee and Board. The PRC Board approved the revised policy which incorporates
these additions at its meeting on December 3, 2008.
Discussion
In response to the discussion with the PRC Operations Committee on November 20 and
its subsequent letter, staff recommends that the process for review of extended events
be clarified to include meeting with the PRC and Pier Lessees Association prior to
recommending final approval to the City Council. The PRC expressed concern that
decisions about extended events need to balance the size of the event footprint with the
duration of the event. For example, use of a small portion of the lot might be warranted
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for a seven month stay while an event that occupies a large portion of the lot might be
limited to four months.
Proposed Additions to the Guidelines
The recommended guidelines for evaluating eligible events are modified from the
original report to those listed below. The additions, which reflect the recommendations
by the PRC Board on December 3, are underlined. Staff recommends that eligible
proposals be evaluated on the degree to which the event:
• Offers a unique cultural or entertainment experience
• Demonstrates clear measurable economic benefit to the City and local
businesses, including Pier lessees
• Contains a rental fee that significantly contributes to the City's Beach
Fund.
• Balances the amount of space allocated in the 1550 lot with the duration
of the event.
• Addresses traffic and parking impacts through the provision of nearby
replacement parking, parking shuttles, public transportation, event
signage or similar mitigations.
• Addresses neighborhood impacts such as noise and crowd control.
• Includes a neighborhood communications plan that is sensitive to the
impacts and information needs of adjacent neighbors.
• Minimizes environmental impacts and promotes sustainability through the
use of low-impact products and practices in the production and
management of the event
• Limits concessions or services that are in direct competition with adjacent
Pier businesses and provides for cross marketing opportunities with local
businesses, including Pier lessees.
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• Provides educational outreach to regional school children.
• Provides activities throughout the day (exhibition style events versus timed
performances):
• Maintains as small a physical footprint as possible to preserve onsite
parking, maintain view corridors, and sites facilities to minimize neighbor
impacts.
• Allows for sufficient time to provide for comprehensive plan review and for
adequate coordination with City services and stakeholder groups.
In addition, staff recommends the following requirements of all licensees:
No extended event licenses shall be granted between Memorial Day and
Labor Day weekends annually.
The licensee must pay for all City costs and services associated with the
event, including but not limited to, police services for crowd/traffic control,
fire safety officers, event licensing /liaison and location supervision,
parking staff, utility charges, sanitation services and
custodial/maintenance services. The City division responsible for the
service shall determine the costs to be borne by the licensee.
The licensee must meet standard City requirements for insurance,
indemnification, security, Police, Building and Safety, Fire Department,
recycling, clean-up, waste disposal and accessibility and receive all other
necessary governmental approvals.
The event must have aCity-approved traffic and off-site parking plan.
Prepared by:
Judith Meister, Special Events Coordinator
Approved:
Barbara Stinchfield
Director, Department
Forwarded to Council:
P. / ont Ewell
City Manager
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