O2074
f:\atty\mu n i\l aws\m j m\enterprise .doc
City Council Meeting 5-13-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2074 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICAPAL CODE SECTION 9.04.08.34.030 AND
ADDING SECTION 9.04.08.35.025 TO ALLOW ACCESSORY AUTO RENTAL
OPERATIONS WITHIN AUTO REPAIR AND AUTO PAINTING FACILITIES IN THE
M1 INDUSTRIAL CONSERVATION DISTRICT AND LMSD LIGHT
MANUFACTURING AND STUDIO DISTRICT WITH A PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS PERMIT AND AMENDING SECTION 9.04.12.050 TO ADD
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR AUTO RENTAL OPERATIONS WITHIN AUTO
REPAIR AND AUTO PAINTING FACILITIES
WHEREAS, automobile repair and automobile painting facilities are permitted
uses in the M1 Industrial Conservation District, except when abutting a residential
district or use when a Conditional Use Permit is required; and
WHEREAS, in the Light Manufacturing and Studio District, automobile repair
and automobile painting facilities are permitted uses, except when within 100' of a
residential district when a Conditional Use Permit is required; and
WHEREAS, it is a common practice for automobile repair and automobile
painting facilities to provide replacement vehicles as part of their regular services
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offered to customers, particularly among repair facilities associated with automobile
dealerships; and
WHEREAS, automobile repair and automobile painting facilities typically
provide replacement vehicles through their own operations or through an automobile
rental agency that operates within the repair or painting facility or at an off-site
location: and
WHEREAS, an automobile rental agency operating from within an automobile
repair or automobile painting facility requires a separate business license; and
WHEREAS, currently the City's Zoning Ordinance does not permit automobile
rental operations within the M 1 Industrial Conservation District or the LMSD Light
Manufacturing and Studio District; and
WHEREAS, automobile rental agencies are permitted elsewhere within the City
by Performance Standards Permit in the C3 Downtown Commercial District; C3-C
Downtown Overlay District; C4 Highway Commercial District; C5 Special Office District
and C6 Boulevard Commercial District; and
WHEREAS, performance standards were established for automobile rental
agencies to detail the location, configuration, design, amenities, operation and other
standards required to ensure harmony and compatibility with the surrounding
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neighborhood, particularly as related to issues regarding parking, landscaping,
lighting, loading and unloading of vehicles, circulation, and noise; and
WHEREAS, additional special performance standards are proposed for
automobile rental agencies operating within auto repair facilities to ensure that the
auto rental agencies remain accessory to the primary auto repair uses; and
WHEREAS, on April 3, 2002 the Planning Commission conducted a public
hearing and denied the request for a zoning ordinance text amendment to allow
accessory automobile rental operations within automobile repair facilities by
Performance Standards Permit in the M1 Industrial Conservation District and on
December 4, 2002 conducted a public hearing and denied a zoning ordinance text
amendment to permit accessory automobile rental operations within auto repair
facilities in the LMSD Light Manufacturing and Studio District; and
WHEREAS, in both instances, the Planning Commission based their denial
upon the fact that the proposed accessory automobile rental operation within an auto
repair facility may exacerbate the lack of parking at existing legal, non-conforming
automobile repair and automobile painting facilities and intensify the operations of
these facilities and that the operation of on-site replacement vehicle services at
automobile repair and automobile painting facilities will not significantly reduce the
number of vehicle trips associated with the rental of replacement vehicles for
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customers as compared with the provision of replacement vehicles at off-site locations
and
w~eREAS, the c~ Council held a public hearing on the propos$d~
Ordinance Text Amendments on April 22, 2003; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the performance standards for
automobile rental agencies, including those special standards for accessory
automobile rental agencies within automobile repair and automobile painting facilities,
will address the concerns expressed by the Planning Commission regarding the
intensification of use of legal, nonconforming automobile repair and automobile
painting facilities and parking by limiting the size of the accessory automobile rental
agency operation and requiring additional on-site parking; and
WHEREAS, the City Council declares that allowing on-site vehicle replacement
services would benefit the customers of the automobile repair and automobile painting
facilities by providing on-site replacement vehicles and eliminate the shuttling of
customers to off-site automobile rental agencies; and
WHEREAS, the City Council also declares that eliminating the need for
shuttling customers to off-site automobile rental agencies would result in a reduced
number of vehicle trips in the City which lessens traffic congestion and vehicle
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emissions during the peak traffic hours when customers primarily drop-off and pick-up
their vehicles; 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 Policy 1.2.4, which states, in part, that the City's
land use policies should: "Limit the number or control the location or otherwise
mitigate the impact of commercial uses such as alcohol outlets, gas stations, auto
repair shops. ...in those areas where an over-concentration of the use would have, or
the operation of such uses might have, an adverse impact on the surrounding
neighborhood." The proposed accessory use for an automobile rental operation within
an automobile repair or automobile painting facility will mitigate some of the impacts of
an existing automobile repair or painting facility by reducing the number of vehicle trips
associated with the rental of replacement vehicles for customers of the auto repair
facilities that are allocated in the M 1 Industrial Conservation and LMSD Light
Manufacturing and Studio districts; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and declares that the public health, safety,
and general welfare require the adoption of the proposed amendments, in that the
proposed on-site auto rental agency operations will reduce the number of vehicle trips
associated with the rental of replacement vehicles for customers of auto body repair
facilities. The nearby residential neighborhoods would benefit with fewer potential
vehicle trips on their streets which reduces the adverse vehicle circulation and air
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quality impacts. The automobile repair and automobile painting facilities would also be
more likely to remain in the M1 and LMSD areas of the City, which are intended to
accommodate industrial and higher intensity commercial uses,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION. 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.34.030 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.08.34.030 Uses subject to performance standards permit.
(a) Accessory automobile rental agencies located within
automobile repair or automobile painting facilities.
(b) Shelters for the homeless.
SECTION 2. Section 9.04.08.35.025 is hereby added to the Santa Monica
Municipal Code to read as follows
9.04.08.35.025 Uses subject to performance standards permit.
(a) Accessory automobile rental agencies located within
automobile repair or automobile painting facilities.
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SECTION 3, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.12.050 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.12.050 Automobile rental agencies.
The purpose of this Section is to ensure that automobile
rental agencies do not create an adverse impact on adjacent
properties and surrounding neighborhoods by reason of
insufficient on-site customer and employee parking, traffic
generation including road testing of vehicles, obstruction of traffic,
visual blight, bright lights, noise, fumes, or drainage runoff. The
following performance standards shall apply to automobile rental
agencies:
(a) Minimum Lot Size. The minimum lot size shall be
seven thousand five hundred square feet.
(b) Lighting. All lighting shall comply with the provisions of
Section 9.04.10.02.270,
(c) Washing of Vehicles. All washing, rinsing, or hosing
down of vehicles and of the property shall comply with Article 7 of
this Code.
(d) Repair of Vehicles. No vehicle repair work shall occur
on the premises unless the rental agency is otherwise permitted
and licensed to repair vehicles.
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(e) Parking and Vehicle Storage. Employee and
customer parking shall be provided at no charge. Parking shall
comply with Part 9.04.10.08. Areas designated for employee and
customer parking shall not be used for vehicle storage or display.
Rooftop storage of vehicles is permitted, and fifty percent of any
such space shall be counted as floor area for the purposes of
computing floor area ratio.
(f) Landscaping. Screening of display and non-display
areas shall comply with the provisions of Part 9.04.10.04. A
minimum two-foot landscape and decorative curb strip, where
feasible, shall be provided along the street frontage perimeter of
all vehicle display areas. Landscape materials shall be designed
to provide an opaque visual buffer at least twelve inches in height.
Applicable setback requirements shall be expanded to require a
minimum five-foot landscaped area adjacent to any abutting
residential district. Final design treatment shall be subject to
review and approval by the Architectural Review Board. All
parking areas not used for vehicle display shall be subject to the
parking lot screening requirements of Part 9.04.10.04.
(g) Loading and Unloading of Vehicles. Loading and
unloading of vehicles is permitted only in accordance with this
Subsection. The operator shall be responsible and liable for any
activities of a common carrier, operator, or other person
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controlling such loading or unloading activities to the extent any
such activities violate the provisions of this subsection.
(1) Loading and unloading of vehicles is limited to
the hours of eight a.m. to five p.m. Monday through Saturday,
excluding legal holidays.
(2) Off-loading shall be on-site or off-site, subject to
the approval of the City Parking and Traffic Engineer. Loading
and unloading shall not block the ingress or egress of any
property.
(3) Existing agencies shall, within one year of the
adoption of the ordinance codified in this Chapter, submit plans to
the Parking and Traffic Engineer for approval that satisfy the
requirements of this subsection.
(4) New automobile rental agencies or substantially
remodeled agencies shall provide off-loading facilities on private
property (on or off-site). Shared loading and unloading facilities
are permitted for the purposes of meeting this requirement.
(h) Circulation. The location of entries and exits from
rental agencies shall be located as far away from adjacent
residential properties as is reasonably feasible and shall be
directed to commercial streets and away from residential areas by
means of signage and design. The interior circulation system
between levels shall be internal to the building and shall not
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require use of public ways or of externally visible or uncovered
ramps, driveways or parking areas. No arrangement shall be
permitted which requires vehicles to back into an alley or other
public way.
(i) Noise Control.
(1) There shall be no outdoor loudspeakers. Interior
loudspeakers shall produce no more than 45 dba at a boundary
abutting or adjacent to a residential parcel, under normal
operating conditions (e.g., with windows open if they are likely to
be opened).
(2) All noise generating equipment exposed to the
exterior shall be muffled with sound absorbing materials to
minimize noise impacts on adjacent properties and shall not be
operated before 8:00 A.M. or after 6:00 P.M. if reasonably likely to
cause annoyance to abutting or adjacent residences.
(3) Rooftop storage areas shall be screened with
landscaping and noise absorbing materials to minimize noise
impacts on adjacent properties
(4) Existing agencies shall comply with the
provisions of this subsection within six months after the adoption
of this Chapter.
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U) Toxic Storage and Disposal.
(1) Gasoline storage tanks shall be constructed and
maintained under the same conditions and standards that apply
for service stations.
(2) There shall be full compliance with the terms and
conditions of all City laws relating to the storage and disposal of
toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes.
(k) Air Quality.
(1) Use of brake washers shall be required in
service stalls or areas which perform service on brakes employing
asbestos or other materials known to be harmful when dispersed
in the air.
(2) All mechanical ventilating equipment shall be
directed to top story exhaust vents which face away from abutting
or adjacent residential properties
Exhaust systems shall be equipped with
appropriate and reasonably available control technology to
minimize or eliminate noxious pollutants which would otherwise
be emitted
(I) Accessory automobile rental agencies within
automobile repair or automobile painting facilities. The
following special standards shall apply to accessory automobile
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rental agencies located within automobile repair or automobile
painting facilities:
(1) No more than 10% of the total interior floor area
of the automobile repair or automobile painting facility or a
maximum of 750 square feet, whichever is less, shall be devoted
to the accessory automobile rental agency operation;
(2) The accessory automobile rental agency shall
only operate during the hours of operation of the automobile
repair or automobile painting facility;
(3) Vehicles may only be rented to customers of the
automobile repair or automobile painting facility;
(4) No exterior signage shall be permitted for the
accessory automobile rental agency; and
(5) The accessory automobile rental agency shall
not be advertised or marketed as an independent automobile
rental agency.
SECTION 4. 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 5, If'~ ...on. ~1.'*-..ItI.._.....ii!J)t...... IfI_
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Ordinance"'is.. for "}f~"hefd.'....bejiRwlil', .1~"'W~'I....~I;iI,ant
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court of ~~,.su<:h ..__.....~.=tf.~~~i..
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
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have ~"-. ..... ............,;..Jtton....idJt.W........;.~~..
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or phrase..not........ .~.II.~_.......tQ.._.._i
of the ~_..~.....,.~....,dru.........:
SECTION 6. lbef~~,;~.....1~_,....__r_..,.~II...t
of this Ordinance. ......C~ tftIl~'...."~_,I.__............'
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 13th day of May, 2003
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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. 2074 (CCS) had its introduction on April 22, 2003, and was
adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on May 13, 2003, by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Holbrook, Genser, Feinstein, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: O'Connor, Katz, Mayor Pro Tern McKeown
ATTEST:
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Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk