O2068
f:\plan/sha reI cou ncil/ordlma i n I ibpedo rient. doc
City Council Meeting 3-11-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 206S(CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 9.04.08.18.060
RELATING TO PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS IN THE C3
DOWNTOWN COMMERCIAL ZONING DISTRICT
WHEREAS, the City's Zoning Ordinance requires buildings in the C3
Downtown Commercial district to provide one public entrance or other publicly
accessible pedestrian-oriented use every one hundred feet of building facade at the
street frontage; and
WHEREAS, in light of recent events, security at municipal buildings has
become a very important and challenging consideration in the design of public access
points; and
WHEREAS, the unique design, floor plan and secured access requirements of
these buildings make it difficult to comply with all of the pedestrian oriented design
standards; and
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WHEREAS, the design, floor plan and publicly accessible space and
configurations of municipal buildings are by their nature pedestrian oriented; and
WHEREAS the Zoning Ordinance currently authorizes the Architectural
Review Board to modify the requirements for other types of pedestrian oriented design
elements if there are practical difficulties, unnecessary hardships or unusual
circumstances associated with the project. However, no such modification is
permitted to the requirement that public entrances or pedestrian oriented uses be
provided every 100 feet of building fac;ade in the C3 district; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance would allow the Planning Commission to review and
approve modifications to this requirement provided there are practical difficulties:
unnecessary hardships or unusual circumstances associated with the project; and
WHEREAS, on January 8, 2003 and February 12, 2003 the Planning
Commission conducted public hearings and forwarded a recommendation to the City
Council to adopt a zoning ordinance text amendment to modify the development
standards in the C3 zoning district to allow the Planning Commission to grant an
exemption for municipal buildings from the requirement that one public entrance or
other publicly accessible pedestrian-oriented use be provided every one hundred feet
of building facade at the street frontage; and
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WHEREAS, the City Council held a public hearing on the proposed Zoning
Ordinance Text Amendments on February 25,2003; and
WHEREAS, the proposed amendments are consistent in principle with the
goals, objectives, policies, land uses, and programs specified in the adopted General
Plan, specifically Land Use Element Objective 1.1 which states that the City's land use
policies should encourage greater pedestrian access throughout the City. The
modified text language will accommodate the unique design and the special need for
limited pedestrian access points of larger municipal buildings, allow for flexibility in
street-level building design while ensuring that the pedestrian oriented design
objectives for the downtown are met, and require that the Planning Commission make
appropriate findings that the pedestrian design modifications are not detrimental to the
downtown area of the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and declares that the public health, safety
and general welfare require the adoption of the proposed amendments to the Zoning
Ordinance amendment to allow the Planning Commission to modify the street level
public entrance and pedestrian use requirements in order to accommodate the
pedestrian access and security needs of larger municipal buildings. This text
amendment will contribute to the public health, safety and general welfare of the
community by allowing for more flexible street-level design standards in order to
facilitate better design and more creativity in accomplishing pedestrian orientation and
ensure that public safety and security objectives are achieved,
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS
SECTION. 1 Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.18.060 is hereby
amended to read as follows
9.04.08.18.060 Property development standards.
All property in the C3 District shall be developed in accordance with the following
standards:
(a) Maximum Building Height. Three stories, not to exceed forty-five feet, except for
the following:
(1) For parcels in the area bounded by 5th Court, 6th Court, Colorado Avenue and
Wilshire Boulevard, the maximum height shall be five stories, sixty feet; provided
there is no retail above the first floor and only residential uses above the second floor.
(2) For parcels in the area bounded by 6th Court, 7th Court, Colorado Avenue and
Wilshire Boulevard and the north side of Wilshire Boulevard between 2nd Street and
7th Street, the maximum height shall be four stories, fifty feet; provided, there is no
retail above the first floor and only residential uses above the second floor. There shall
be no limitation on the number of stories of any hotel, detached parking structure, or
structure containing at least one floor of residential use, so long as the height does not
exceed the maximum number of feet permitted in this Section.
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(b) Maximum Floor Area Ratio. 2.0, except that in the area bounded by 5th Court,
7th Court, Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, and the area on the north side of
Wilshire Boulevard between 2nd Street and 7th Street, the FAR for commercial square
footage shall not exceed 1.5. Floor area devoted to residential uses shall be counted
at fifty percent.
(c) Minimum Lot Size. Seven thousand five hundred square feet. Each parcel shall
contain a minimum depth of one hundred fifty feet and a minimum width of fifty feet,
except that parcels existing on the effective date of this Chapter shall not be subject to
this requirement.
(d) Front Yard Setback. Landscaping as required pursuant to the provisions of Part
9.04.10.04.
(e) Rear Yard Setback. None, except:
(1) Where rear parcel line abuts a residential district, a rear yard equal to:
5' + (stories x lot width)
50'
The required rear yard may be used for parking or loading to within five feet of the
rear parcel line; provided, the parking or loading does not extend above the first floor
level; and provided, that a wall not less than five feet or more than six feet in height is
erected and maintained along the rear commercial parcel line. Access driveways shall
be permitted to perpendicularly cross the required rear yard; provided, the driveway
does not exceed the minimum width permitted for the parking area. A required rear
yard shall not be used for commercial purposes.
(2) That needed to accommodate landscaping and screening for a rear yard
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buffer required pursuant to the provisions of Part 9.04.10.04.
(f) Side Yard Setback. None, except:
(1) Where the interior side parcel line abuts a residential district, an interior side
yard equal to:
5' + (stories x lot width)
50'
The interior side yard may be used for parking or loading no closer than five feet to
the interior side property line; provided, the parking or loading does not extend above
the first floor level; and provided, a wall not less than five feet or more than six feet in
height is erected and maintained along the side commercial parcel line. A required
interior side yard shall not be used for access or for commercial purposes.
(2) That needed to accommodate landscaping required for a street side yard,
landscape buffer and screening pursuant to the provisions of Part 9.04.10.04.
(3) A ten-foot setback from an interior property line shall be required for portions of
buildings that contain windows, doors or other openings into the interior of the
building. An interior side yard less than ten feet shall be permitted if provisions of the
Uniform Building Code related to fire-rated openings in side yards are satisfied.
(g) Development Review. A development review permit is required for any
development of more than thirty thousand square feet of floor area, except that for
applications involving the demolition and replacement of an existing single-purpose
grocery store on a parcel which is not adjacent to a residentially zoned district, with a
store which has a minimum of twenty-five thousand square feet of floor area, only a
net new floor area addition of more than thirty thousand square feet shall be subject to
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development review. Square footage devoted to residential use shall be reduced by
fifty percent when calculating whether a development review permit is required,
(h) ........ UI\lIIfMupted ...."~aoad....." .. ~8d ~ of .~
facade at the street frontage shall contain at least one public entrance or other publicly
accessible pedestrian-oriented use.
(i) Ground floor street frontage of each structure shall be designed with
pedestrian-orientation in accordance with Section 9.04.10.02.440 of this Chapter.
0) The Planning Commission may exempt municipal buildings from the
requirements of subsections (h) and (i) of this Section if both of the following findings
of fact can be made in an affirmative manner:
(1 ) That the strict application of the provisions of this Chapter would result in
practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships inconsistent with the
general purpose and intent of this Chapter or that there are exceptional
circumstances or conditions applicable to the proposed development
that do not apply generally to other development covered by this
Chapter;
(2) That the granting of an exception would not adversely affect
surrounding properties or be detrimental to the district's pedestrian-
oriented environment.
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
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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
~1I fer any.....lftheld'b....~er uneonstlitu+ by . ~.of.*'Y
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 11th day of March, 2003.
? Q/l-
RicHard 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. 2068 (CCS) had its introduction on February 25, 2003, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on March 11, 2003, by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Feinstein, Mayor Pro Tem McKeown, Katz, Genser,
Holbrook, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: O'Connor
ATTEST:
~ n~ ,k.,~
Maria M. Stewart, Ci~ Clerk