O2077
f:\pl anlsha reI cou ncil/ordl c3fastfood .doc
City Council Meeting 5-20-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2077 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 9.04.08.18.040 AND
9.04.08.18.050 TO ALLOW THE REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING FAST-FOOD
RESTAURANTS IN THE C3 DOWNTOWN COMMERCIAL DISTRICT IN EXISTENCE
AS OF MAY 13,2003 WITH APPROVAL OF A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AND
AMENDING SECTION 9.04.14.090 TO PERMIT THESE FAST FOOD
RESTAURANTS IN THE C3 DISTRICT LOCATED ADJACENT TO OR SEPARATED
BY AN ALLEY FROM RESIDENTIALLY-ZONED PROPERTIES TO CONDUCT
THEIR OPERATIONS WITHIN AN ENCLOSED BUILDING TWENTY-FOUR HOURS
PER DAY, SEVEN DAYS PER WEEK AND CONDUCT THEIR OPERATIONS
WITHIN AN ENCLOSED PATIO NOT EARLIER THAN 7:00 A.M. DAILY AND NOT
LATER THAN 12:00 A.M. MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AND 2:00 A.M. SATURDAY
AND SLJNDA Y
WHEREAS, fast-food restaurants provide convenient and inexpensive food to
residents and visitors of the City; and
WHEREAS, fast-food restaurants often provide a child-friendly environment
and are the restaurant of choice for many low and moderate income families who live
and work within the City; and
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WHEREAS, the BSC Bayside Commercial District, C3-C Downtown Overlay
District and C3 Downtown Commercial District comprise the heart of the downtown
area of the City with the highest concentration of visitor and resident activity; and
\NHEREAS, fast-food restaurants are conditionally permitted in the BSC
Bayside Commercial District within fast-food courts but are prohibited in the C3-C
Downtown Overlay District and C3 Downtown Commercial District; and
WHEREAS, the Santa Monica Municipal Code established special conditions
for conditional use permits for fast-food restaurants that are located across an alley or
adjacent to residentially-zoned properties, including limited operating hours of 7:00
a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, which are meant to mitigate or attenuate the adverse traffic,
light, litter and noise impacts of these establishments on nearby residential uses; and
WHEREAS, on December 11, 2002 the Planning Commission conducted a
public hearing and denied the request for a Zoning Ordinance text amendment to
allow fast-food restaurants by conditional use permit in the C3 Downtown Commercial
District and to extend the hours of operation of fast-food restaurants that are located
adjacent to or across an alley from residentially-zoned properties to operate from 5:00
a.m. to 1 :00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Friday and
Satu rday; and
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\NHEREAS, the City Council held a public hearing on the proposed Zoning
Ordinance Amendments on April 8, 2003 and May 13, 2003; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that fast-food restaurants, whose entire
operations including parking are located entirely within buildings, do not have these
same types of impacts on nearby residences; and
\NHEREAS, the proposed amendments to allow fast-food restaurants in the C3
Downtown Commercial District 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 calls for a balance of land uses that are
consistent with (in part) "Retaining and protecting the City's multi-ethnic and multi-
income character" as fast-food restaurants provide a convenience for residents,
visitors and employees of the area and a low cost dining option for low and moderate
income patrons and families; and
\NHEREAS, the proposed amendments are consistent in principle with the
..",;objectives, policies, Iland uses,~fld programs ~ in the adopted General!
Plan, specifically, Land Use Element Policy # 1.3.1 which states that City policy
should: "Encourage the concentration of land uses and activities which create activity
in both daytime and evening hours". The proposed text amendment to allow the
replacement of fast-food restaurants in the C3 Downtown Commercial District with
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additional hours would extend activities in the downtown area during the daytime and
evening hours; 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 fast-
food restaurants are often the restaurant of choice of low and moderate income
working families with children who enjoy the child friendly atmosphere of many fast-
food establishments and the convenience and affordability offered by fast-food
restaurants should extend to those persons who rise early for work and work late into
the night who are not served by fast-food restaurants that cannot open until 7:00 a.m.
and must close by 10:00 p.m
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION. 1, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.18.040 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 9.04.08.18.040 Conditionally permitted uses.
The following uses may be permitted in the C3 District subject to the approval of a
Conditional Use Permit:
(a) Automobile parking structures.
(b) Bed and breakfast facilities.
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(c) Billiard parlors.
(d) Bowling alleys.
(e) Cinemas.
(f) Clubs and lodges.
(g) Convention and conference facilities.
(h) Expansion or intensification of automobile repair facilities existing as of July 11,
1995.
(i) Funeral parlors and mortuaries.
U) Homeless shelters with fifty-five beds or more.
(k) Liquor stores.
(I) Nightclubs.
(m) Open-air farmers markets.
(n) Replacement of fast-food restaurants in existence as of May 13, 2003
(0) Service stations.
(p) Skating rinks.
(q) Take-out restaurants.
(r) Rooftop parking.
SECTION. 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.18.050 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.08,,18.050 Prohibited uses.
(a) Drive-in, drive-through and new fast-food restaurants.
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(b) Firearms dealerships.
(c) Any use not specifically authorized.
SECTION. 3. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.14.090 is hereby
amended to read as follows:
9.04.14.090 Drive-in, drive-through, fast-food and take-out restaurants.
The purpose of this Section is to effectuate the goals, objectives, and policies of the
General Plan by ensuring that drive-in, drive-through, fast-food, and take-out
restaurants do not result in adverse impacts on adjacent properties and residents or
on surrounding neighborhoods by reason of customer and employee parking demand,
traffic generation, noise, light, litter, or cumulative impact of such demands in one
area. The following special conditions shall apply to drive-in, drive-through, fast-food,
and take-out restaurants:
(a) Applicability. Drive-in, drive-through, fast-food, or take-out restaurants may be
permitted only with approval of a conditional use permit. These restaurants shall
comply with the property development standards of the underlying district and with this
Section. The provisions of this Section shall apply to all new drive-in, drive-through,
fast-food, and take-out restaurants, to any existing restaurant which has an expansion
of more than ten percent of the gross floor area or increase of more than twenty-five
percent of the number of seats and, to the extent specifically provided in subsection
0), restaurants operating as of July 10, 1995.
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(b) Hours of Operation. When located on a site adjacent to or separated by an
alley from any residentially zoned property, a drive-in, drive-through, fast-food,
or take-out restaurant shall not open prior to seven a.m. nor shall it remain
open after ten p.m., except that fast-food or take out restaurants in the C3
District whose entire operation, including parking, is conducted within an
enclosed building or an enclosed patio shall have the following hours:
(1 ) operations within the enclosed building may be 24 hours, seven days per
week;
(2) operations within the enclosed patio shall not begin earlier than 7:00
a.m. daily and shall conclude not later than 12:00 a.m. Monday through
Friday and 2:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
(c) Minimum Lot Size. The minimum lot size shall be ten thousand square feet.
(d) Driveways. Drive-in and drive-through restaurants shall have double driveways
in all instances and these driveways shall have space for at least six vehicles waiting
for service.
(e) Parking. A parking and vehicular circulation plan encompassing adjoining
streets and alleys shall be submitted for review and approval by the Parking and
Traffic Engineer prior to approval of a conditional use permit.
(f) Refuse Storage Area. A minimum of one outdoor trash receptacle shall be
provided on-site adjacent to each driveway exit. At least one additional on-site outdoor
trash receptacle shall be provided for every ten required parking spaces.
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(g) Litter. Employees shall collect on-site and off-site litter including food rappers,
containers, and packaging from restaurant products generated by customers within a
radius of three hundred feet of the property at least once per business day.
(h) Equipment. No noise-generating compressors or other such equipment shall
be placed on or near the property line adjoining any residential district or any property
used for residential uses.
(i) Noise. Any drive-up or drive-through speaker system shall emit no more than
fifty decibels four feet between the vehicle and the speaker and shall not be audible
above daytime ambient noise levels beyond the property boundaries. The system
shall be designed to compensate for ambient noise levels in t~e immediate area and
shall not be located within thirty feet of any residential district or any property used for
residential uses.
U) Applicability to Restaurants Operating as of July 10, 1995. Any drive-in,
drive-through, fast-food or take-out restaurant operating as of July 10, 1995 which is
not otherwise subject to the hours of operation restrictions of subsection (b) above
("existing drive-through") shall be subject to the following hours of operation for the
drive-up window component:
(1) Any existing drive-through which is located adjacent to or separated by an alley
from any residentially zoned property, and which does not have a valid conditional use
permit or development review permit shall not operate its drive-up window between
the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m. unless and until a conditional use permit for such
drive-up window operation is obtained.
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(2) Any existing drive-through which is located adjacent to or separated by an alley
from any residentially zoned property which has a valid conditional use permit or
development review permit issued prior to July 10, 1995, which permit authorized
operation of the drive-up window between the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m., shall
cease operating its drive-up window during those hours as of May 1, 1998 unless and
until a new conditional use permit is obtained
(3) The conditional use permit required pursuant to this subsection U) may
authorize the drive-up window of an existing drive-through to operate during specified
hours between ten p.m. and seven a.m., if the findings contained in Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 9.04.20.12.040(a) through U) are made. In granting a
conditional use permit, the Planning Commission, or City Council on appeal, may
impose such conditions as are necessary to insure that the authorized drive-up
window operation is not detrimental to surrounding properties or residents by reason
of lights, noise, activities, parking or other actions. Except as provided above, the
conditional use permit shall be processed substantially in accordance with Part
9.04.20.12.010 of the Municipal Code.
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 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 6. 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:
0t/LLt
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Approved and adopted this 20th day of May, 2003.
~ W----
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. 2077 (CCS) had its introduction on May 13, 2003, and was
adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on May 20,2003, by the
following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Katz, Holbrook, O'Connor, Mayor Pro Tem McKeown,
Genser, Feinstein, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: None
ATTEST:
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Maria M. Stewart,LCity Clerk