O2423Council Meeting: April 23, 2013
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBERLy� (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTION 6.36.095 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE
RELATED TO LATE NIGHT VENDING ON MAIN STREET
WHEREAS, the City consists of just eight square miles of coastal land which is
home to 90,000 residents, the job site of 300,000 workers, and a destination for as
many as 500,000 visitors on weekends and holidays; and
WHEREAS, the City's unusual density necessitates special efforts to preserve
the free and safe flow of pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic; and
WHEREAS, congestion is particularly problematic on Main Street, because it
contains very narrow sidewalks, on street parallel parking, and virtually no parkways;
and
WHEREAS, the narrow sidewalks on Main Street support numerous
improvements which enhance the pedestrian experience but also limit circulation, such
as street trees, bike racks, newsracks, bus stop benches, and other street furniture; and
WHEREAS, public sidewalks are created and maintained for the primary purpose
of enabling pedestrians to safely and efficiently move about from place to place; and
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WHEREAS, ensuring the unobstructed flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks
promotes public safety by minimizing the risk that pedestrians will jostle one another,
collide, trip, or fall, and ensuring that persons may move safely away from dangerous
situations which may occur on or near public streets and sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, ensuring the free flow of pedestrian traffic is particularly important to
the safety of the elderly, the very young, the disabled, vision - impaired persons, and
others who are less able to navigate through crowds and around obstacles or hazards
and who are particularly jeopardized by having to navigate off and onto curbs when
sidewalks are blocked; and
WHEREAS, hindrances to the free flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks may
interfere with the work of public safety personnel seeking immediate access to
emergency situations and with other work vital to the public health and safety, such as
cleaning and maintenance; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, persons have begun conducting commercial
vending, mainly food sales, from vehicles while parked adjacent to alcohol serving
establishments (e.g., bars and nightclubs) on Main Street, well into the late night hours;
and
WHEREAS, these late night vending activities attract large stationary crowds,
including persons exiting from adjacent alcohol serving establishments who may be
experiencing varying degrees of alcohol intoxication; and
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WHEREAS, persons intoxicated while in public are often unable to care for their
own safety, are particularly accident - prone, and can endanger others; and
WHEREAS, such large crowds have created extreme congestion on the narrow
sidewalks along Main Street; and
WHEREAS, such extreme sidewalk congestion coupled with the large size of the
vending vehicles have forced persons, both sober and intoxicated, to leave the
sidewalks and walk in the street, not only across, but also up and down Main Street,
and to hail public or private transportation from within the street; and
WHEREAS, these late night vending activities, coupled with a lack of seating
facilities for sidewalk food consumption, have caused persons to sit on sidewalks, street
curbs, and even parking spaces to consume foods; and
WHEREAS, late night vending on Main Street creates potential health concerns
as there is a lack of available public restrooms on or near Main Street during such
hours; and
WHEREAS, this proliferation of late night vending near alcohol serving
establishments has created significant threats to public safety, and damages the public
welfare; and
WHEREAS, blockage of public sidewalks on Main Street during the late night
hours poses serious safety hazards because pedestrians, especially intoxicated
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pedestrians, who cannot pass freely along the sidewalks frequently step into the street
where they may be struck by vehicles or cause collisions between vehicles; and
WHEREAS, persons, especially intoxicated persons, crossing into the middle of
streets to hail public or private transportation at night time, are exposed to significant
danger of collision with vehicles; and
WHEREAS, disease may be transmitted to persons sitting on sidewalks while
eating because people or animals expectorate, urinate or defecate on sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, persons sitting on curbs or parking spaces while consuming food at
night time are not easily seen by drivers of vehicles attempting to enter or exit their
parking spaces and may be struck by such vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the City's streets and sidewalks are not intended, designed or
maintained for dining without tables and chairs; and
WHEREAS, maintaining public safety on Main Street during the late night hours
presents special challenges to the City's public safety personnel, particularly in times of
emergency, because of the-very, large crowds, narrow roadways, .narrow sidewalks,
limited ingress and egress, and fixed impediments to circulation; and
WHEREAS, there are numerous other places within the City where vending from
vehicles may safely take place during late night hours without unduly interfering with the
flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic, threatening public safety or harming the public
welfare; and
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WHEREAS, in order to protect public safety, the City Council adopted Ordinance
2381 (CCS) which prohibits late night vending on Main Street between Ocean Park
Boulevard and Marine Street, during the hours of 1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Saturdays
and Sundays; and
WHEREAS, since the adoption of Ordinance 2381, staff has continued vigorous
enforcement activities on Main Street, and experience has shown that the above safety
concerns remain significant on holidays popularly associated with alcohol consumption
that may fall on a week day, and thus are not currently covered by Ordinance 2381; and
WHEREAS, enforcement experience has also demonstrated that the same
safety risks described above, exist in the half block of Main Street (between Marine
Street and the City's southern boundary) not currently covered by Ordinance 2381; and
WHEREAS, this half -block of Main Street contains four on- street parking spaces
that sit directly in front an alcohol serving establishment; and
WHEREAS, these parking spaces are very frequently jammed with food trucks
and their patrons during late night hours; and
WHEREAS, a limited expansion of Ordinance 2381's vending prohibition to
include the half -block and the holidays popularly associated with alcohol consumption
that may fall on a week day is necessary to protect public safety; and
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WHEREAS, California Vehicle Code Section 22455 specifically authorizes local
authorities to adopt laws, in the interest of public safety, which regulate the time, place,
and manner of vending from vehicles upon any street; and
WHEREAS, the City Council hereby determines that it is necessary to exercise
this authority as set forth in this ordinance in order to protect public safety.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 6.36.095 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
6.36.095 Prohibition of late night vending on Main Street
No person shall vend from vehicles, including unhitched trailers, on Main Street,
between Ocean Park Boulevard and the City's southern boundary, during the hours of
1:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day, Cinco
De Mayo Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, and New
Year's Day.
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
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court of 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 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 30
days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Approved and adopted this 23`d day of April, 2013.
am O'Connor, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Ordinance No. 2423 (CCS) had its introduction on April 9, 2013,
and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on April 23,
2013, by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers: Davis, Holbrook, McKeown, Vazquez, Winterer
Mayor Pro Tern O'Day, Mayor O'Connor
Noes: Councilmembers: None
Absent: Councilmembers: None
A summary of Ordinance No. 2423 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
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Sarah P. Gorman, City Clerk