O2307f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\C2 Zoning District Text Amendment2d CC 3-9-10
City Council Meeting 3-9-10 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2307 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION
9.04.08.16.020 TO AUTHORIZE THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF A GROUND FLOOR
GENERAL OFFICE USE FOLLOWING A PROPERTY'S USE BY A CHARITABLE;
YOUTH, OR WELFARE ORGANIZATION
WHEREAS, prior to the adoption of the Land Use Element in 1984, ground floor
general office use was a permitted use in what now constitutes the C2 Zoning District;
and
WHEREAS, the City's Zoning Ordinance was subsequently amended to prohibit
ground floor office use in this district; and
WHEREAS, after this amendment, existing ground floor general office uses
became legal nonconforming; and
WFIEREAS, after a legal nonconforming use is converted to a conforming use,
the nonconforming use may not be resumed; and
WHEREAS, the Zoning Ordinance permits ground floor office use by charitable,
youth, and welfare organizations in the C2 District; and
1
WHEREAS, this authorization aids such organizations by providing them with
greater flexibility to locate near the residential areas of the community that they serve;
and
WHEREAS, once a building containing a legal non-conforming general office use
is occupied by a charitable organization, that use technically becomes conforming, but
only so long as it is undertaken by a charitable, youth, or welfare organization; and
WHEREAS, a 15,867 square foot, two-story office building was constructed in
1963 in the 2500 block of Ocean Park Boulevard with general office use on the first
floor, a location now zoned C2; and
WHEREAS, this property was subsequently purchased by the Girl Scouts of
Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA); and
WHEREAS, GSGLA continued to use the ground floor for office use after it
purchased the property; and
WHEREAS, GSGLA now seeks to sell the property; and
WHEREAS, on August 20, 2009, the GSGLA filed a text amendment requesting
that the non-conforming use section of the Zoning Ordinance be modified to allow the
resumption of a general office use when a building has been continually used for office
purposes by a charitable, youth, or welfare organization; and
WHEREAS, staff has proposed alternative language to address GSGLA's
objective, an alternative which GSGLA now supports; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission reviewed the draft text amendment at a
public hearing on January 6, 2010; and
2
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended adoption of
the proposed amendment with one suggested modification; and
WHEREAS, the City Council held a public hearing on February 23, 2010; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendment is consistent in principle with several of
the goals, objectives and policies of the General Plan in that the amendment is
consistent with Land Use Element Objective 1.1 which includes a number of bullet
points that define and qualify the overall objective to "Improve the quality of life for all
residents by providing a balance of land uses .. ," with one of these points being
"Insuring fair treatment of property owners and residents in the City;" and
WHEREAS, the proposed text amendment would be consistent with the objective
of ensuring fair treatment in that it would provide a charitable organization the
opportunity to purchase and sell an office building in the same manner as any
commercial property owner without changing the status of existing ground floor office
use, which could potentially affect the building's value; and
WHEREAS, at the same time, by specifying that the reestablishment of general
office use is only permitted if it has not been replaced by a preferable, pedestrian-
oriented use, the proposed text amendment remains consistent overall with the
principles set forth for Ocean Park Boulevard as apedestrian-friendly neighborhood
commercial district; and
WHEREAS, the public health, safety and general welfare requires the adoption of
the text amendment in that the change in the status of the property owned by a
charitable organization from legal non-conforming to conforming can become a burden
3
as this change significantly limits the opportunity for subsequent owners or tenants and
thus future potential purchasers of the property,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.16.020 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.08.16.020 Permitted uses.
The following convenience goods and service type
uses shall be permitted in the C2 District, if conducted within
an enclosed building, except where otherwise permitted:
(a) Appliance stores;
(b) Appliance repair shops;
(c) Art galleries;
(d) Artist studios above the first floor;
(e) Branch offices of banks or savings and loan
institutions;
(f) Barber or beauty shops;
(g) Child day care centers;
4
(h) Cinema buildings in existence since May 23,
2000;
(i) Cleaners;
Q) Congregate housing;
(k) Domestic violence shelters;
(I) General offices above the first floor; and on the
ground floor for parcels located at least one hundred fifty feet
from Montana Avenue, Ocean Park Boulevard, or Pico
Boulevard, except general office uses shall also be allowed
on the ground floor within one hundred fifty feet of Montana
Avenue, Ocean Park Boulevard, and Pico Boulevard in
buildings in existence since January 17, 2007 if either
subdivision (1) or subdivision {2) of this subsection (I) apply:
(1) The building has alb of the following
characteristics:
(A) The building's front facade and entrance is not
oriented tdward Montana Avenue, Ocean Park Boulevard,
and Pico Boulevard, and
(B) The building has a finished ground floor which is
more than three feet below the level of the adjacent sidewalk
5
along Montana Avenue, Ocean Park Boulevard, or Pico
Boulevard, and
(C) The building is set back a minimum of twenty
feet from the sidewalk along Montana Avenue, Ocean Park
Boulevard and Pico Boulevard, and
(D) When the building was initially developed, the
ground floor was designed and intended for non-pedestrian
uses, or
(2) The building has all of the following
characteristics:
(A) When the building was initially developed, the
ground floor was designed and intended for general office
use, and was legally constructed and occupied in that
manner. and
(B) The ground floor was subsequently occupied
by a charitable, youth or welfare organization, and
(C) The charitable, youth, or welfare organization
continued to use the ground floor, or a portion thereof, for
office use during the entire period that it occupied the
property, and
6
(D) Only those portions of the ground floor that were
continuously used by the charitable, youth, or welfare
organization for office use may be resumed for general office
use, no expansion of this general office use can occur, and if
this general office use is subsequently converted to another
use or otherwise terminated, this general office use cannot
be resumed again except in accordance with this subdivision
(2).
(m) General retail and specialized retail uses;
(n) Homeless shelters with less than fifty-five beds;
(o) Laundromats;
(p) Libraries;
(q) Multifamily dwelling units;
(r) Offices and meeting rooms for charitable, youth,
and welfare organizations;
(s) Photocopy shops;
(t) Places of worship;
(u) Plant .nurseries (provided all supplies, except
planted stock, are kept entirely within an enclosed building);
7
(v) Restaurants of fifty seats or less and at which no
alcohol is served or consumed;
(w) Schools;
(x) Senior group housing;
(y) Senior housing;
(z) Shoe repair stores;
(aa) Sidewalk cafes not more than two hundred
square feet in area, subject to the limitations contained in
Section 9.04.10.02.460;
(bb) Single-family dwelling units;
(cc) Single-room occupancy housing;
(dd) Specialty offices;
(ee) Tailors;
(ff) Theaters with fewer than seventy-five seats;
(gg) Transitional housing;
(hh) Accessory uses which are determined by the
Zoning Administrator to be necessary and customarily
associated with, and appropriate, incidental, and subordinate
8
to, the principal permitted uses and which are consistent with
and no more disturbing or disruptive than permitted uses;
(ii) Other uses determined by the Zoning
Administrator to be similar to those listed above which are
consistent with and no more disturbing or disruptive than
permitted uses.
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 effect 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 portions of this Ordinahce. 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
9
official ne~NSpaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall
become effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
n
~~'r~A,~~,i'~;! ~~~,t~
MARS~A JO~kE$ MOUT
City A orney
10
Approved and adopted this 9th day of March, 2010.
"~ Pam O'Connor, Mayor Pro Tem
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2307 (CCS) had its introduction on February 23~d, 2010, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on March 9th, 2010, by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members
Noes: Council members
Abstain: Council members:
Absent: Council members:
Bloom, Davis, McKeown, O'Day
Mayor Pro Tem O'Connor
None
None
Holbrook, Shriver
A summary of Ordinance No. 2307 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California
Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
_~~ ~~
Maria Stewart, Ci y Clerk