O2062
f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\moratoriumextend-1.wpd
City Council Meeting 12-10-02 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2062 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA EXTENDING A MORATORIUM ON NEW OR EXPANDED
RETAIL USES ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF THE THIRD STREET
PROMENADE WITH LIMITED EXCEPTIONS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings and Purpose. The City Council finds and declares:
(a) In 1965, the City Council sought to revitalize its declining downtown business
district by closing three blocks of Third Street to vehicular traffic in order to create a
pedestrian shopping mall pursuant to the Pedestrian Mall Act.
(b)The Third Street Mall did not attract shoppers; and, as a result, retail businesses
on the mall failed, and the downtown business district continued to decline.
(c) In 1986, the City Council again acted to save its downtown by adopting the Third
Street Mall Specific Plan to provide a framework for reviving the Third Street Mall and
surrounding areas.
(d) The Specific Plan made diversity the foundation of the mall's future, mandating
a mixture of uses and activities sufficient to ensure that the mall would attract a diverse
group of residents and visitors.
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(e) Thereafter, the City embarked upon a substantial effort to transform the
moribund Third Street Mall into a new kind of public space which would serve as a
community gathering place, attract visitors from near and far and define the City's
municipal character. The redesign included numerous improvements to the pedestrian
street: retail pavilions, landscaping, water elements, public benches, street lamps, and
topiary dinosaur sculptures in the central landscaped area of each block. The area was
also renamed the Third Street Promenade.
(f) This space was, from the time of its conception, distinguished from other
shopping areas, by the carefully planned and unusual mix of opportunities it afforded,
including street performers, sidewalk dining, cinema, bookstores, special events, clothing
stores, specialty shops, and night clubs.
(g) As conceived, the Third Street Promenade was not simply a shopping mall; it
was a place to go for entertainment, company, relaxation, strolling; a place where one
could watch jugglers and dancers, dine outdoors, argue politics, listen to music, browse
a bookshop, take in a movie and more.
(h) Moreover, the Third Street Promenade was planned as a gathering place for
all segments of society: children, the elderly, and people from all cultural and economic
groups.
(i) The plan succeeded, and the Third Street Promenade became a resounding
success as a favored destination for local residents, Southern Californians and
international travelers alike.
U) As such, it became, and still is, an engine which drives Santa Monica's economy.
However, this success has had its costs.
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(k) The influx of visitors to the Third Street Promenade has brought significant traffic
and parking problems.
(I) At present, these problems are being addressed by a downtown parking strategy;
however, the problem is significant and the options are limited because the area is very
small, has been built out for decades and features a mixture of uses, including residential,
which is inconsistent with simply building larger and larger parking structures.
(m) Also, maintaining the delicate balance of entertainment, restaurants and retail
which is the foundation of the Third Street Promenade's success has been an ongoing
challenge.
(n) Overthe years, market forces have threatened the mix many times; and the City
has responded to preserve the Third Street Promenade's unique character through the
adoption of laws and polices which promote the general welfare by maintaining the
Promenade's eclectic character.
(0) In 1996, the City revised the Third Street Mall Specific Plan through the adoption
of the Bayside District Specific Plan. A critical objective of this plan remained to U[a]ttract
and accommodate a mix of uses" serving residents, visitors and tourists during both
daytime and evening hours. To this end, the specific plan established a ten-year
projection and plan for the controlled growth of retail outlets on the Third Street
Promenade.
(p) However, the actual growth of retail has far outstripped the planned growth to
the point that the ten year projection is already met, just five years into the planning period.
(q) Today, there is already approximately 530,000 square feet of retail on the three
block Third Street Promenade and more is on the way.
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(r) The massive influx of retail establishments has displaced restaurants and
sidewalk dining.
(s) Five restaurants have been lost in the last two years and four more are at or
nearing the end of their leases; frontage devoted to sidewalk dining has shrunk.
(t) As reflected by these changes, the balance of uses on the Third Street
Promenade is once again threatened; this time by a loss of restaurants and influx of
additional retail. If left unchecked, this trend will deprive the Third Street Promenade of its
unique character and vitality by rendering it simply a standard shopping mall.
(u) The influx of retail not only impacts the mix of establishment located on the
Third Street Promenade, it also exacerbates parking and traffic problems.
(v) Residents and visitors come to the Third Street Promenade for dining and
entertainment, typically for many hours. In contrast, persons who are simply shopping,
stay for shorter periods of time. The result is more people making more trips and thereby
placing ever-increasing demands on the downtown's already overtaxed traffic and parking
capacities.
(w) These increased demands degrade the quality of residents' lives and the
desirability of the Third Street Promenade and the City as destinations and thereby
threaten the City's welfare
(x) Moreover, this threat arises in a time when tourism is in sharp decline and the
State and nation are experiencing an overall economic downtown
(y) Accordingly, in orderto preserve the City's economic and social welfare, the City
Council must act in order to protect the unique qualities and vitality of the Third Street
Promenade by ensuring the best possible mix of restaurants, retail and entertainment.
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(z) In general, the City must ensure the best possible mix of restaurants, retail and
entertainment so that the Promenade remains unusual and attractive and does not become
simply an average shopping mall through the continued expansion of retail at the expense
of other uses.
(aa) Similarly, the City must preserve the outdoor dining opportunities which have
become one of the hallmarks of the Promenade.
(bb) Exactly how best to accomplish this end is a complex question which will
require detailed study, including a review of the specific plan.
(cc) In light of these concerns, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2030
(CCS), a forty-five day ordinance which established a moratorium on new or expanded
ground floor retail use on the Third Street Promenade and adopted Ordinance Number
2032 (CCS) which extended Ordinance Number 2030 (CCS) until January 9,2003.
(dd) After adoption of Ordinance Number 2030 (CCS), the City Council established
a Promenade Uses Task Force to study the Promenade issues described herein, to seek
feedback and input from the community, and to make recommendations to the City Council
regarding the appropriate mix of uses on the Promenade.
(ee) The Task Force has met regularly since May 2002. It has considered goals and
objectives for the Promenade and the Downtown, reviewed relevant City policies and
regulations, and conducted community workshops.
(ff) The Task Force anticipates that an additional six months is necessary to review
the input received from the community, conduct additional research, solicit supplemental
feedback as necessary, and prepare recommendations to the City Council.
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(gg) For the reasons described above, the City Council finds that there is a current
and immediate threat to the public health, safety or welfare and that a continued
moratorium on new or expanded ground floor retail use on the Third Street Promenade is
necessary to ensure that the character of the Promenade is preserved during the study
period and that the City remains able to ensure that the best possible mix of restaurants,
retail and entertainment is achieved. The approval of additional permits related to such
retail use on the Third Street Promenade pending the City's completion of its review of its
land use policies and regulations would result in a threat to the public health, safety, or
welfare since these changes threaten the quality of residents' lives and the desirability of
the Third Street Promenade and the City as a destination. The extension of Ordinance
Number 2030 (CCS) and Ordinance Number 2032 (CCS) for a period of eight months, up
to and including September 9, 2003 will provide the City with the necessary time to further
evaluate and undertake appropriate actions to address these impacts.
SECTION 2. Moratorium.
(a) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, a moratorium is hereby placed on the
acceptance for processing of applications for approval of tentative tract maps, tentative
parcel maps, administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional use
permits, zoning conformance determinations, business licenses, and building permits
related to a new or expanded retail use if that retail use would increase either the total
linear footage or the total square footage of retail uses on the ground floor of any given
block of the Promenade by more than five percent (5%) beyond the total linear retail
footage and total retail square footage that existed on that block of the Promenade as of
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the effective date of this Ordinance. A block is defined as both sides of the Third Street
Promenade to the alley and the adjacent sides of adjoining side streets. Portions of the
Third Street Promenade to be designated as a block for purposes of this Ordinance are:
Block 1: 1200 Block of Third Street Promenade
Block 2: 1300 Block of Third Street Promenade
Block 3: 1400 Block of Third Street Promenade
(b) Subject to Section 3 of this Ordinance, all applications which have not been
deemed complete as of November 27,2001, for approval of tentative tract maps, tentative
parcel maps, administrative approvals, development review permits, conditional use
permits, zoning conformance determinations, business licenses, and building permits
related to a new or expanded retail use if that retail use would increase either the total
linear footage or the total square footage of retail uses on the ground floor of any given
block of the Promenade by more than five percent (5%) beyond the total linear retail
footage and total retail square footage that existed on that block of the Promenade as of
the effective date of this Ordinance as set forth in Subsection (c) of this Section shall be
disapproved
(c) The total linear footage and square footage of retail uses on the ground floor of
each block of the Promenade as of the effective date of this Ordinance is hereby
established as follows:
Block 1 961 total linear feet/137 ,980 total square feet
Block 2 654 total linear feet/91 ,220 total square feet
Block 3 820 total linear feet/114,193 total square feet
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(d) Priority for a business to be allocated any portion of the five percent (5%) retail
linear or square footage expansion authorized by subsections (a) or (b) ofthis Section shall
be established based on the issuance of a building permit for tenant improvements or the
receipt of a business license for the retail use. This priority shall be lost if the building
permit expires or the business fails to open within one year after the original business
license is issued.
SECTION 3. Vested Rights. This Ordinance shall not be applicable if an owner can
establish a vested right to develop or operate commercial property otherwise prohibited by
Section 2 of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. This Ordinance shall be of no further force and effect after September
9, 2003, unless prior to that date, after a public hearing, noticed pursuant to Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 9.04.20.22.050, the City Council, by majority vote, extends this
Interim Ordinance.
SECTION 5. 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 6. 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
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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 8. 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 upon
its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Approved and adopted this 10th day of December, 2002.
f~fZ
R,c11ard Bloom, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2062 (CCS) had it's introduction on November 26, 2002, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on December 10, 2002, by
the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Feinstein, Katz, Genser, O'Connor, Mayor Pro Tem
McKeown, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: Holbrook
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: None
ATTEST:
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Maria M. Stewart, Ci