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
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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.
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(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.
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(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.
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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 thirty
(30) days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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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: