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O2083 f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\sidewalk dining (3)-1.wpd Council Meeting 6-24-03 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER 2083 (CCS) (City Council Series) AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA ALLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVAL OF SIDEWALK CAFES AND WAIVING THE PARKING REQUIREMENT FOR SIDEWALK CAFES OF A SPECIFIED SIZE 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) The current economic downturn has significantly impacted the City's business community. (b)Restaurants have been especially hard hit by the drop in tourism and discretionary spending occasioned by present economic conditions. (c) Restaurants serve a critical role in the vitality of the City's commercial districts, provide an important source of tax revenue, and are essential to the overall health of the local economy. (dJSidewalk dining can be an important compon<<It of a restaurant's operations since it provides dining opportunities that take advantage of the City's moderate climate and enhances the overall ambiance of the City. Sidewalk dining is particularly attractive during the summer and fall months. ., (e) Currently, the City allows the establishment of sidewalk dining in all commercial districts and the Residential Visitor Commercial District subject to the approval of a Performance Standard Permit and either a licensing agreement or a Sidewalk Use Permit. (f) Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.12.120 establishes the general zoning requirements that govern sidewalk cafes. Specific design guidelines have also been developed that govern the placement and operation of outdoor dining uses along the Promenade, Transit Mall and Ocean Avenue, (g) On February 11, 2003, the City Council directed staff to analyze and develop standards for sidewalk dining that would increase the opportunities for outdoor dining. (h) There are two current impediments to establishing sidewalk dining - the parking requirements that must be met and the need to obtain a Performance Standards Permit. (i) Excluding the Bayside District, if a restaurant expands into a sidewalk area, parking is required for the new area. While this additional parking may only consist of one or two new parking spaces, it is extremely difficult for existing businesses to locate this additional parking or obtain a parking variance. Requiring that a performance standard permit be obtained is unnecessary given the carefully crafted standards that must be met. U) Sidewalk cafes will still need to receive any necessary approval from the City's Environment and Public Works Management and Resource Management departments. U) The City Council finds and declares that the public health, safety and general welfare requires adoption of an interim ordinance to waive the parking requirement for any outdoor dining area of 200 square feet or less and to allow for administrative approval of sidewalk dining in order to provide assistance to the City's restaurants given the current 2 economic conditions and the critical role that restaurants play in the vitality of the City's commercial districts and the overall health of the local economy. (k) For these reasons, the City's zoning and planning regulations should be revised as they pertain to sidewalk dining to modify the processing and parking requirements, (I) Pending completion of these permanent revisions, in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, it is necessary on an interim basis to change current development standards as they relate to sidewalk dining. (m) These interim standards will serve to promote sidewalk dining and assist restaurants to survive during this difficult economic period. (n) As described above, there exists a current and immediate threat to the public safety, health, and welfare should the interim ordinance not be adopted and sidewalk dining not be allowed consistent with these proposed revisions. Therefore, it is necessary to establish on an interim basis the following development standards. SECTION 1. Permit Reauired for Sidewalk Cafes. All sidewalk cafes for which an administrative application was deemed complete on or after June 10,2003 shall conform to the provisions of this Section: (a) Applicability. Sidewalk cafes shall be considered a permitted use in all commercial districts and the Residential Visitor Commercial District subject to administrative approval pursuant to Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.20.28 et sea. A sidewalk cafe shall comply with the property development standards set forth in this Section and the property development standards for the district in which it is to be located as set forth in the City's Zoning Ordinance except to the extent inconsistent with this Section. 3 (b) Accessory Use. A sidewalk cafe shall be conducted as an accessory use to a legally established restaurant or other eating and drinking establishment that is located on a contiguous adjacent parcel. (c) Design Guidelines. Sidewalk cafes on the Third Street Promenade shall comply with the adopted Third Street Promenade Outdoor Dining Standards. Sidewalk cafes on the Transit Mall shall comply with the adopted Outdoor Dining Standards for Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway. Sidewalk cafes on Ocean Avenue shall comply with the adopted Outdoor Dining Standards for Ocean Avenue. (d) Barriers. If barriers are provided, they shall be in the manner required by the City including any applicable design guideline. (e) Enclosure. Awnings or umbrellas may be used in conjunction with a sidewalk cafe, but there shall be no permanent roof or shelter over the sidewalk cafe area. Awnings shall be adequately secured, retractable, and shall comply with the provisions of the Uniform Building Code adopted by the City and any applicable design guideline. (f) Fixtures. The furnishings of the interior of the sidewalk cafe shall consist only of movable tables, chairs and umbrellas. Lighting fixtures may be permanently affixed onto the exterior front of the principal building. Fixtures shall also comply with any applicable design guideline. (g) Refuse Storage Area. No structure or enclosure to accommodate the storage of trash or garbage shall be erected or placed on, adjacent to, or separate from the sidewalk cafe on the public sidewalk or right-of-way. Sidewalk cafes shall remain clear of litter at all times. 4 (h) Hours of Operation. The hours of operation of the sidewalk cafe shall be limited to the ~ OfOperalDn ., ".s$ociated restaurant...., eatl..anddrlnki.. establishment. (i) Parking. Sidewalk cafes that do not exceed two hundred square feet in area shall not be required to provide any additional parking. Sidewalk cafes that exceed that amount shall comply with parking requirements established in Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.10.08.040 SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall apply to any administrative application for a sidewalk cafe deemed complete after June 10, 2003. S E CTI ON 3. Th is Ord inance shall be of no fu rtherforce or effectforty five days from the date of its adoption 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 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 affect the provisions of this Ordinance. 5 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 thirty (30) days from its adoption. APPROVED AS TO FORM: 6 Adopted and approved this 24th day of June, 2003. ILlkIL___ Mayor Pro T em McKeown 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. 2083 (CCS) had it's introduction on June 10, 2003, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on June 24, 2003, by the following vote: Ayes: Council members: Feinstein, Katz, Genser, Holbrook, O'Connor, Mayor Pro T em McKeown Noes: Council members: None Abstain Council members: None Absent: Council members: Mayor Bloom ATTEST: