O26391
City Council Meeting: May 26, 2020 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2639 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 3.21.090
TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE FIRST SHARED MOBILITY DEVICE PILOT
PROGRAM TO APRIL 30, 2021, AND AMEND SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE
SECTION 3.22.090 TO CHANGE THE START DATE OF THE SECOND SHARED
MOBILITY DEVICE PILOT PROGRAM TO MAY 1, 2021
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica consists of just over eight square miles of
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 public rights-of-way are designed to accommodate a
multimodal transportation system and are heavily utilized by residents, workers and
visitors; and
WHEREAS, in late 2017 and early 2018, in part due to rapid technological
advancements, the City's public rights-of-way were flooded with new, unpermitted
commercial shared mobility systems and devices, including in particular electronic
scooters; and
WHEREAS, the rapid, unpermitted proliferation of such systems and devices
created serious safety hazards for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers; impeded pedestrian
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circulation and paths of travel; and created hazards in the public rights- of-way for persons
with disabilities and others, especially when left unattended; and
WHEREAS, in response to the rapid, unpermitted proliferation of such systems
and devices, and the serious safety hazards created by their use, on March 6, 2018, the
City adopted Ordinance No. 2570, which enacted Santa Monica Municipal Code
(“SMMC”) Chapter 3.21 to establish interim operating regulations for shared mobility
systems and devices and require operators to first obtain a vending permit prior to
displaying a shared mobility device for rent in public; and
WHEREAS, to create a longer-term shared mobility device pilot program that
would improve access to mobility options for residents, employees, visitors to Santa
Monica, create new and diverse mobility options, ensure safety by reducing sidewalk and
pathway impediments, facilitate access for disabled individuals, educate users about the
proper rules and etiquette, create a legal and enforceable framework for managing shared
mobility in the public right of way, and build good working partnerships with shared
mobility service providers, on June 26, 2018, the City adopted Ordinance No. 2578, which
repealed and replaced SMMC Chapter 3.21 to establish a 16-month shared mobility
device pilot program (the “first pilot program”) to manage dockless electronic scooter and
bicycle systems operating in the public right-of-way; and
WHEREAS, in September 2018 the City launched the first pilot program with four
shared mobility operators; and
WHEREAS, following the launch of the first pilot program, people quickly took to
riding shared mobility devices, generating a total of 2,673,819 trips from October 2018 to
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October 2019, with forty-nine percent of all shared mobility device riders reporting that
they would have otherwise traveled in a car; and
WHEREAS, on November 12, 2019, City staff presented to the City Council a
summary of the findings, considerations, and lessons learned from the first pilot program
and sought direction from the City Council on, and alternatives for, long-term regulatory
and permitting structures for shared mobility services in Santa Monica; and
WHEREAS, on November 12, 2019, Council directed staff to develop a second
pilot program that reduces the number of operators, maintains flexibility to adapt the
evolving industry, and focuses efforts towards ensuring customer reliability, affordability,
and access, while improving safety, rider behavior, sustainability, and financial outcomes;
and
WHEREAS, on November 12, 2019, Council also directed staff to extend the term
of the first pilot program to May 17, 2020 to allow staff time to develop the second pilot
program, solicit and select operators, and coordinate a transition period between the two
pilot programs; and
WHEREAS, on December 10, 2019, the City adopted Ordinance 2627, which
amended SMMC Section 3.21.090 to extend the term of the first pilot program to May 17,
2020; and
WHEREAS, on February 11, 2020, Council further extended the term of the first
pilot program to June 30, 2020, and created a second pilot program that continues to
improve access to mobility options for residents, employees, visitors to Santa Monica,
create new and diverse mobility options, ensure safety by reducing sidewalk and pathway
impediments, facilitate access for disabled individuals, educate users about the proper
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rules and etiquette, create a legal and enforceable framework for managing shared
mobility in the public right of way, and build good working partnerships with shared
mobility service providers; and
WHEREAS, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, federal, state and local authorities
have issued emergency declarations that order the closure of non-essential business and
require residents to stay at home; as a result, due to the uncertainty related to the rapidly
evolving situation, on March 24, 2020, staff issued an addendum to the Request for
Application soliciting operators for the second pilot program to extend the submission
deadline to May 28, 2020 and postpone the selection process until June 2020; and
WHEREAS, Council action is now needed to extend the term of the first pilot
program to April 30, 2021 and change the start date of the second pilot program to May
1, 2021.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.21.090 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
3.21.090 Pilot Program Term
Permits issued pursuant to this Chapter shall terminate and be of no further force
or effect beyond April 30, 2021, unless otherwise extended or terminated earlier by the
City.
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SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.22.090 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
3.22.090 Pilot Program Term
Permits issued pursuant to this Chapter shall take effect on May 1, 2021, and be
of no further force or effect beyond January 1, 2022, unless otherwise extended or
terminated earlier by the City.
SECTION 3. 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. In particular, but without limitation, Santa Monica
Municipal Code Chapter 3.21 shall be repealed effective as of September 13, 2020. This
repeal of Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 3.21 as of September 13, 2020, shall
have no effect on the terms of agreements entered into between operators and the City
in conjunction with shared mobility operator permits issued pursuant to Chapter 3.21,
including without limitation any indemnification agreements, to the extent those terms, by
their nature, are intended to have effect beyond the term of such shared mobility operator
permits.
SECTION 4. 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
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declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. 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:
_________________________
GEORGE CARDONA
Interim City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 26th day of May, 2020.
_____________________________
Kevin McKeown, Mayor
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. 2639 (CCS) had its
introduction on May 12, 2020 and was adopted at the Santa Monica City
Council meeting held on May 26, 2020, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Davis, Morena, Himmelrich, Winterer, Jara,
Mayor Pro Tem O’Day, Mayor McKeown
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2639 (CCS) was duly published pursuant
to California Government Code Section 40806.
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5/29/2020