O25981
City Council Meeting: January 8, 2019 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2598 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING CHAPTERS 4.55 AND 4.68 OF THE SANTA MONICA
MUNICIPAL CODE RELATED TO PARK AND BEACH REGULATIONS AND
COMMUNITY EVENTS
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica (the “City”) consists of just over eight
square miles, which is home to 93,000 residents, with an estimated daytime population,
including tourists, shoppers, and employees, of 250,000, and a destination for many
more visitors on weekends and holidays; and
WHEREAS, the intensity of use of City aquatic facilities, such as the Swim
Center and Annenberg Community Beach House, necessitates regulation to avoid
safety hazards and protect the wellbeing of persons visiting such facilities; and
WHEREAS, disruptive behavior within the Swim Center, Annenberg Community
Beach House, and other aquatic facilities interferes with the general public’s use and
enjoyment of these public facilities and damages the public welfare; and
WHEREAS, the Director of the Department of Community and Cultural Services
is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to regulate the Swim Center and other
aquatic facilities; and
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WHEREAS, it is necessary to update local law to clarify the City’s authority to
suspend visitation privileges for the Swim Center, Annenberg Community Beach House,
and other aquatic facilities for violations of applicable rules and regulations; and
WHEREAS, regulation of unauthorized swim activity on the Santa Monica State
Beach by groups of more than twenty persons will lessen conflicts, overcrowding, and
potential unsafe conditions; and
WHEREAS, the City seeks to allow vending at residential block parties and non-
moving events that will be widely-publicized at neighborhood streets to promote and
encourage cultural enrichment, economic sustainability and vitality, and enhance
community identity.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4.55.010 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
4.55.010 Park and beach—Purpose and findings.
In order to maintain the City’s parks, beaches, Aquatic Facilities, and Interim
Airport Open Space, preserve and protect recreational facilities and foliage, ensure their
availability as a shared resource to all members of the public, promote the safety and
welfare of users, and minimize conflicts between uses, this Chapter sets forth standards
for the utilization and maintenance of parks, beaches, Interim Airport Open Space, and
Aquatic Facilities. This Chapter may be referred to as the Park and Beach Code.
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SECTION 2. Section 4.55.020 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
4.55.020 Park and beach—Definitions.
As used in this Chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following
meanings:
“Aquatic Facilities” shall mean and refer to facilities that are owned or operated
by the City and that are open to the public for aquatic activities, including but not limited
to the Santa Monica Swim Center located at 2225 16th Street and Annenberg
Community Beach House located at 415 Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica.
“Beach facility” shall mean any building, structure, recreational facility, parking
facility, synthetic turf, furniture, fence, monument, equipment, apparatus, walkway, wall,
curb, rail, fountain, statue or other City property located on the beach.
“Compensation” shall mean payment for work or services performed, by salary,
wages, commission, or otherwise, including the giving of goods as remuneration.
“Department” shall mean the Department of Community and Cultural Services.
“Director” shall mean the Director of the Department of Community and Cultural
Services.
“Interim Airport Open Space” shall mean and refer to an approximately six -acre
parcel located southeast of the Santa Monica Airport Administration Building and at the
Santa Monica Airport.
“Litter” means any abandoned, discarded substance including, but not limited to:
garbage, refuse, rubbish, abandoned and inoperable household appliances, discarded
packaging or containers, discarded building, plumbing or construction material, unless
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pursuant to construction operations, lighted or nonlighted cigarettes, cigars, matches or
any flaming or smoldering material, and all other waste matter which, if thrown or
deposited as prohibited herein, may be detrimental to public health, safety and welfare.
“Park” shall mean and include the following parks in the City: Airport Park,
Ashland (Sunset/Ashland Park) Park, Beach Green, Beach Park #1, Beach Park #4,
Barnard Way Linear Park, Chess Park, Clover Park, Crescent Bay Park, Douglas Park,
Euclid Park, Gandara Park, Goose Egg Park, Hotchkiss (Mary Hotchkiss Park) Park,
Ishihara Park, Joslyn Park, Christine Emerson Reed Park, Ken Genser Square, Marine
Park, Memorial Park, Ocean Park Green Space, Ocean View Park, Ozone Park, Pacific
Street Park, Palisades Park, Park Drive Park, Schader Park, South Beach Park, Tongva
Park, Virginia Avenue Park, and any City-owned landscaped open space in the Civic
Center area, and any other area established as a park by the City Council.
“Park facility” shall mean any building, structure, parking facility, recreational
facility, synthetic turf, furniture, fence, monument, equipment, apparatus, walkway, wall,
curb, rail, fountain, statue or other City property located in a City park.
“Park foliage” shall mean any tree, hedge, bush, shrub, plant, flower, grass, or
foliage or turf in any park.
“City Park Parking Lot” shall mean the parking lots within the following
designated City Parks:
(a) Clover Park, located at 2600 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica;
(b) Gandara Park, located at 1819 Stewart Street, Santa Monica;
(c) Marine Park, located at 1406 Marine Street, Santa Monica;
(d) Virginia Avenue Park, located at 2200 Virginia Ave, Santa Monica;
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(e) Memorial Park, located at 1401 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica;
(f) Airport Park, located at 3201 Airport Ave, Santa Monica; and
(g) Any other parking lot established as a City Park Parking Lot by the City
Council.
SECTION 3. Section 4.55.210 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
4.55.210 Beach—Group beach/water activity permits.
Camps, clubs, schools, churches, and other organized groups must have a
beach/water activity permit issued by the City when more than twenty persons will be
entering the water. Permits for on-going use (groups that use the beach more than once
a week) at specified areas of the beach shall be issued on a priority basis first to City -
operated or City-contracted programs. Other permits or authorizations shall be granted
on a competitive basis such as a request for proposal process. Permits for occ asional
use (groups that use the beach once a week or less) shall be issued on a first -come,
first-served basis. A fee may be charged to cover costs arising from administering the
permit system, and other costs arising from group beach and water activities . A
beach/water activity permit will not be required if a group has a community events
permit. If the water/beach activity includes surf instruction for compensation, the
provisions of Section 4.55.230 apply.
SECTION 4. Section 4.55.400 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
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4.55.400 Authority of Department of Community and Cultural Services to
regulate parks, beaches, park facilities, beach facilities, aquatic facilities, and
other sites.
(a) The Director may promulgate rules and regulations implementing the
provisions of this Chapter to regulate parks, beach, Interim Airport Open Space, and
Aquatic Facilities. No person shall violate any such rules and regulations.
(b) The Director may authorize exceptions to this Chapter or to any
implementing regulations for the purpose of coping with an emergency as defined in
Section 2.16.020.
(c) Rules and regulations for the use of Aquatic Facilities shall be posted on
the premises in a conspicuous location.
(d) Any person who has violated any rule or regulation for the use of Aquatic
Facilities may be required by an authorized representative of the City to leave the facility
immediately and may be subject to the suspension of his or her visitation privileges for a
period not to exceed one year. No person shall fail to comply with such a lawful
directive from the City.
(e) Any person subject to suspension of his or her visitation privileges, as
authorized by subsection (d) above, may appeal the suspension to a Hearing Officer
pursuant to procedures set forth in Section 4.55.430. Unless otherwise ordered by the
Hearing Officer or by a Court of competent jurisdiction, a suspension under subsection
(d) remains in effect during the pendency of any administrative or judicial appeal.
SECTION 5. Section 4.55.430 is hereby added to the Santa Monica Municipal
Code to read as follows:
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4.55.430 Procedures for appeal of suspension.
(a) Any person subject to suspension of his or her visitation privileges,
pursuant to Section 4.55.400(d) of this Code, may appeal the suspension to a City
Hearing Officer by completing an appeal form, stating the basis of the appeal, and
returning it to the City Clerk’s office within seven business days of the start of the
suspension.
(b) The Hearing Officer shall be appointed in accordance with the procedures
set forth in Section 1.10.050 and Administrative Regulations promulgated pursuant to
Section 1.14.030.
(c) City staff shall submit a written report concerning the suspension to the
Hearing Officer, with a copy to the person requesting the hearing, within five business
days of the City’s receipt of the request for appeal. The Hearing Officer may request
additional written or oral information from City staff or the recipient of the suspension
prior to issuing a written decision.
(d) The Hearing Officer shall render a written decision within thirty business
days of the City’s receipt of the request for appeal. The Hearing Officer may extend this
thirty-day period, in writing, in order to gather and consider additional evidence.
(e) Any person directly aggrieved by an administrative decision of a Hearing
Officer may obtain review of the administrative decision by filing a petition for review
with the Superior Court in Los Angeles County.
SECTION 6. Section 4.68.190 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
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4.68.190 Neighborhood street events.
Requests for a permit to utilize a street for a residential block party shall be made
by filing an application for a “permit to close a public street” with the Transportation
Engineering Group. The applicant must be a resident living on or a business located on
the street. The applicant must include a petition in favor of the event signed by two-thirds
of residents and businesses on both sides of the street to be closed. Only a street
classified by the City in its Land Use and Circulation Element as a “neighborhood” street
may be utilized for a block party.
Requests for a permit to utilize a neighborhood street for a non-moving event that
will be widely-publicized and open to participants other than the residents of the street
shall be made by filing a community event permit application with the Community Events
Office in addition to a permit to close a public street. The applicant must be a resident
living on or a business located on the street and the applicant must include a petition in
favor of the event signed by two-thirds of residents and businesses on both sides of the
street to be closed.
The application to utilize a neighborhood street will be subject to such additional
rules and regulations adopted by City staff to ensure that the street closure will not be
detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare.
SECTION 7. 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.
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SECTION 8. 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 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 9. 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 Ord inance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
LANE DILG
City Attorney
Approved and adopted this 8th day of January, 2019.
_____________________________
G l e a m D a v i s , M a y o r
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2598 (CCS) had its introduction
on December 18, 2018, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council
meeting held on January 8, 2019, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Himmelrich, McKeown, Morena, Winterer
Mayor Pro Tem O’Day, Mayor Davis
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2598 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
Gleam Davis (Jan 11, 2019)
Gleam Davis
Jan 11, 2019