O26681
City Council Meeting: April 13, 2021 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2668(CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN EMERGENCY INTERIM ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING AND EXTENDING INTERIM
ZONING REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY EMERGENCY INTERIM ZONING
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2663 (CCS) TO TEMPORARILY PROHIBIT NON-
RESIDENTIAL USES CITYWIDE AND SINGLE-UNIT DWELLINGS IN
COMMERCIAL ZONES TO PRESERVE POTENTIAL HOUSING SITES IN
PREPARATION OF THE 6TH CYCLE HOUSING ELEMENT
WHEREAS, the State is experiencing a housing supply crisis, with housing
demand far outstripping supply; and
WHEREAS, in 2018, California ranked 49th out of the 50 states in housing
units per capita; and
WHEREAS, the housing crisis has particularly exacerbated the need for
affordable homes at prices below market rates; and
WHEREAS, the housing crisis has resulted in increased poverty and
homelessness, especially first-time homelessness, forced lower income residents
into crowded and unsafe housing in urban areas, and forced families into lower
cost new housing in greenfields at the urban-rural interface with longer commute
times and a higher exposure to fire hazard; and
WHEREAS, California needs an estimated 180,000 additional homes
annually to keep up with population growth, and the Governor has called for 3.5
million new homes to be built over 7 years; and
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WHEREAS, the City is in the process of updating the Housing Element to
its General Plan for the 6th Cycle, covering the period from 2021 to 2029; and
WHEREAS, the City has received a Regional Housing Needs Assessment
(“RHNA”) allocation for the 6th Cycle Housing Element of approximately 8,895
housing units, with approximately 70 percent allocated as affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, this RHNA allocation will require the City to permit
approximately 1,000 housing units annually between 2021 and 2029, 700 of which
are required to be affordable housing, representing an increase of approximately
five times over the City’s RHNA allocation for the 5th Cycle Housing Element
(2013-2021); and
WHEREAS, on July 6, 2010, the City Council adopted the Land Use and
Circulation Element of the City’s General Plan (“LUCE”) which designates the
proposed general distribution, location, and extent of land uses within the City; and
WHEREAS, the LUCE was adopted after an extensive planning process
and addresses neighborhood conservation and enhancement; integrated land use
and transportation; proactive congestion management; complete neighborhoods
with increased open space; community benefits; quality urban character and form;
preservation of historic resources; and growth management; and
WHEREAS, the LUCE sets forth a strategy that focuses new housing
development in areas with the greatest access to high frequency transportation
systems – the commercial boulevards and the areas surrounding the Expo Light
Rail stations – Downtown, Bergamot, and Memorial Park; and
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WHEREAS, the LUCE strategy for housing development was implemented
through the City’s new Zoning Ordinance, Chapters 9.01 through 9.52 of Article 9
of the Santa Monica Municipal Code (“Zoning Ordinance”), which became effective
on July 24, 2015, and the Downtown Community Plan (“DCP”), which was adopted
on July 25, 2017; and
WHEREAS, the LUCE also established the Industrial Conservation (“IC”)
land use designation, which was intended to conserve small light industrial and
service/commercial uses that have traditionally populated the IC District and
formed part of Santa Monica’s employment base and to support existing and new
creative businesses reliant on the affordable workspace created from adaptive
reuse of former industrial buildings; and
WHEREAS, the Zoning Ordinance, consistent with the LUCE’s vision for
the IC land use designation, prohibits housing in the IC District, in part out of
concern that introducing residential uses could have the potential to increase real
estate speculation, thereby displacing the creative industries and small-scale
industrial uses supported by affordable workspace; and
WHEREAS, the LUCE’s strategy for housing development, along with the
exclusion of housing in the IC District, results in approximately 12 percent of the
City’s total land area being available for residential growth, all of which is zoned to
allow both commercial and residential uses; and
WHEREAS, the City has recently developed a preliminary Suitable Sites
Inventory (“SSI”) analysis as part of the 6th Cycle Housing Element update that
prioritizes parcels for their likelihood to produce housing; and
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WHEREAS, the preliminary SSI analysis has resulted in an even smaller
subset of parcels, representing approximately three percent of the city’s total land
area, being identified as potentially having the highest housing potential; and
WHEREAS, in the past five years, the City has approved 11 projects
consisting of approximately 184,000 square feet of non-residential uses; and
WHEREAS, in addition, the City has received applications for non-
residential development on possible housing sites, predominantly consisting of
319,000 square feet of total office space, but also including a hotel use and electric
vehicle charging facility on two surface parking lots; and
WHEREAS, these recent development trends favoring commercial
development over residential in areas targeted by the LUCE for residential growth
are supported by preliminary findings for a feasibility analysis conducted by for the
City in 2019 which studied the likelihood that an applicant would choose to pursue
a housing development based on the City’s existing development standards and
inclusionary housing requirements and demonstrated that housing projects were
less likely than commercial projects to proceed; and
WHEREAS, the City currently permits single-unit dwellings in commercial
areas, even on parcels that could support more housing development potential;
and
WHEREAS, the BC (Promenade) and BC (2nd & 4th Streets) Districts,
which include the areas surrounding the Third Street Promenade Area, are
considered the pedestrian and economic heart of the City due to their vibrant urban
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atmosphere supported by a broad mix of building types, office space,
entertainment, retail, restaurants, cafes, salons and exercise studios; and
WHEREAS, the area within the IC District and 500 feet of the I-10 freeway
has not historically seen development, and may not be suitable for housing due to
its proximity to the freeway and because it may require extensive environmental
remediation, which raises environmental and social justice concerns; and
WHEREAS, schools are an essential component of a balanced community,
and must be allowed to establish and expand during times of residential growth;
and
WHEREAS, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 closures of and
limitations on businesses have been devastating to the local Santa Monica
economy; and
WHEREAS, on May 12, 2020, the City Council adopted Emergency Interim
Zoning Ordinance Number 2637 (CCS) (“Interim Zoning Ordinance 2637”), which
established interim zoning regulations to provide immediate relief and regulatory
certainty for businesses Citywide that may have interest in looking ahead to make
plans for re-opening by taking initial steps towards economic recovery that
included: modifying alcohol exemption conditions in order to streamline process
for alcohol service and provide flexibility in operations for eating establishments;
relaxing standards related to legal, nonconforming retail and restaurant uses;
relaxing requirements to provide additional parking and new loading spaces for
changes of use in existing tenant spaces; eliminating the requirement for
Conditional Use Permits for restaurants only due to size; and removing the
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inflexibility caused by a cap of no more than 5 persons allowed for small yoga
studios and gyms; and
WHEREAS, on May 12, 2020, the City Council adopted Emergency Interim
Zoning Ordinance Number 2636 (CCS) (“Interim Zoning Ordinance 2636”),
establishing interim zoning regulations for the economic recovery of those portions
of the BC (Promenade) District bounded by Second Street to the west, Broadway
to the south, 4th Street to the east and Wilshire Boulevard to the north, including
the Third Street Promenade (the “Third Street Promenade Area”) which
established interim zoning regulations to provide immediate relief and regulatory
certainty for businesses in the Third Street Promenade area that may have interest
in looking ahead to make plans for re-opening by taking initial steps towards
economic recovery that included: minor modifications to land use regulations to
provide additional business opportunities and increased flexibility for existing
businesses; eliminating the requirement of a Conditional Use Permit for the
conversion of eating and drinking establishments to other uses; easing standards
related to legal, nonconforming restaurant and retail uses; relaxing Alcohol
Exemption conditions and processes; and allowing for alternate compliance with
loading standards; and
WHEREAS, on November 10, 2020, the City Council adopted Emergency
Interim Zoning Ordinance Numbers 2657 (CCS) and 2658 (CCS) to extend the
emergency interim zoning regulations adopted by Emergency Interim Zoning
Ordinance Numbers 2636 and 2637 and make other minor changes to further
encourage economic recovery; and
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WHEREAS, allowing additions to and changes of uses in existing structures
will support continued maintenance and investment in existing commercial
buildings that are unlikely to be housing sites while also ensuring that the flexibility
in changes of use afforded by Interim Zoning Ordinance Numbers 2657 and 2658
remains to support tenanting of vacancies throughout the City; and
WHEREAS, parcels located on Santa Monica Boulevard between Lincoln
Boulevards and 20th Street that are currently in operation as an automobile
dealership or for auto services ancillary to automobile dealerships are generally
improved with undersized structures for such uses, and limiting attached or free-
standing additions to the floor area of existing structures on those parcels would
unduly restrict updating and modernization of automobile dealerships in the City,
which could stifle the City’s economic recovery efforts; and
WHEREAS, on March 9, 2021, the City Council adopted Emergency Interim
Zoning Ordinance Number 2663 (CCS) to temporarily prohibit commercial uses
Citywide, with exceptions, and temporarily prohibit new single-unit dwellings in the
City’s nonresidential districts to allow the City to retain sufficient suitable sites for
housing as it develops the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code Section
9.46.090(D) and California Government Code Section 65858(b), the interim zoning
regulations adopted by Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance 2663 shall be of no
further force and effect on April 23, 2021 unless extended by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, parcels with pending applications for construction of new
nonresidential uses, which generally have undergone years of planning, often with
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substantial investment, appear not to pose a high potential for conversion to
housing use within the timeframe of the updated housing element, and for this
reason were filtered out of and are not currently identified as suitable sites in the
preliminary SSI analysis; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the interim zoning regulations are to provide the
opportunity to plan for high potential housing sites, and given the amount of time
proposed projects with pending applications have been in process, it is likely the
proposed interim zoning regulations would only have the effect of temporarily
delaying one or more of these projects rather than incentivizing the property owner
to instead convert the site into a housing project; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to clarify that during the pendency of the
interim zoning regulations, nonresidential uses in existing structures are permitted
and not subject to the City’s regulations governing lawful nonconforming uses; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and declares that a current and
immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare continues to exist,
requiring the extension of the interim zoning regulations adopted by Emergency
Interim Zoning Ordinance 2663 to January 21, 2022, due to the State’s ongoing
and unprecedented housing crisis, which has resulted in the City’s very large
RHNA allocation of 8,895 units, and with only three percent of the City’s total land
area available as the highest potential for housing, the approval of additional
subdivisions, use permits, variances, building permits, or any other applicable
entitlement on even one of the suitable sites with housing potential would result in
that threat to public health, safety, or welfare because the loss of a suitable site to
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non-residential development or underproduction of housing units would jeopardize
the City’s ability to have sufficient suitable sites for the SSI, adopt a Housing
Element compliant with State law requirements, and plan for the production of
8,895 units over the next eight years.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Effect on Previously Approved Projects and Projects in
Process. The following projects that would otherwise be affected by the temporary
prohibitions set forth in this Interim Zoning Ordinance shall not be subject to this
Interim Zoning Ordinance:
(a) Previously Approved Development. The erection, construction,
enlargement, demolition, moving, conversion of, and excavation and grading for
any building or structure, or establishment of use, for which a valid planning
entitlement or permit or building permit, including plan check, was issued prior to
January 12, 2021 and which does not subsequently expire. A permit or entitlement
that does not contain an express limit on the time for exercising the permit shall be
deemed valid only if a building permit, including plan check, is obtained by January
12, 2021.
(b) Applications for Projects in Progress. Any application for a planning
entitlement or permit or building permit, including plan check, filed on or before
January 12, 2021.
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(c) Automobile Dealerships. Parcels located on Santa Monica
Boulevard between Lincoln and 20th Street that are currently in use as automobile
dealerships or for services ancillary to automobile dealerships.
(d) Development Agreements. Parcels subject to pending development
agreements.
SECTION 2. Temporary Prohibition on Non-residential Uses.
(a) Temporary prohibition. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in
the land use regulations set forth in Santa Monica Municipal Code Sections
9.07.020, 9.08.020, 9.09.080, 9.10.040, 9.11.020, 9.13.020, 9.14.020, or 9.15.020,
and subject to the exceptions set forth in paragraph (b), Non-Residential Use
Classifications, as listed in 9.51.030, are prohibited in all Districts in the City.
(b) Exceptions. The temporary prohibition set forth in paragraph (a)
shall not apply to the following:
(1) Parcels located within:
(A) The BC (Promenade) District;
(B) The BC (2nd & 4th Streets) District; and
(C) The Industrial Conservation District that have
boundaries located entirely within 500 feet of the I-10 Freeway, as
more fully depicted in Exhibit A, attached hereto, and incorporated
herein by reference.
(2) Schools, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section
9.51.030(A)(11), including expansions and additions to schools and
facilities operated by schools.
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(3) Uses in existing structures, and projects consisting of:
(A) A change of use in an existing structure.
(B) An attached addition to an existing structure, or a free-
standing addition on a parcel with an existing structure, that is no
larger than the floor area of the existing structure.
(4) Uses not located within an existing structure that are listed as
a permitted use in the District in which the proposed temporary use is
located, of limited duration and will not permanently alter the character or
physical facilities of the site where they occur. Any such use shall comply
with all other applicable law, including, but not limited to Santa Monica
Municipal Code Article IX, and shall be conducted as a temporary use that
terminates no later than the expiration of these interim zoning regulations.
Nothing in these interim zoning regulations confer any vested rights to any
ongoing or continuing activities beyond the expiration of the interim zoning
regulations.
SECTION 3. Temporary Prohibition on Single-Unit Dwellings in
Nonresidential Districts. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the land
use regulations set forth in Santa Monica Municipal Code Sections 9.10.040,
9.11.020, 9.13.020, 9.14.020, or 9.15.020, single-unit dwellings, as defined by
Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.51.020(A)(1)(a), are prohibited in all
Nonresidential Districts in the City.
SECTION 4. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or any
appendix thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Emergency Interim Zoning
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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 Emergency
Interim Zoning Ordinance.
SECTION 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Emergency Interim Zoning 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 Emergency Interim
Zoning Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this
Emergency Interim Zoning 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 Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause
the same to be published once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its
adoption. This Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance shall become effective
immediately upon adoption.
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SECTION 7. This Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance shall be of no
further force or effect after January 15, 2022 unless it is otherwise repealed, or
extended pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
GEORGE S. CARDONA
Interim City Attorney
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Exhibit A
Parcels within Industrial Conservation District that Have Boundaries Located
Entirely within 500 Feet of the I-10 Freeway
[Behind this page]
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Approved and adopted this 13th day of April, 2021.
_____________________________
Sue Himmelrich, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2668 (CCS) had its introduction
and adoption at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on April 13, 2021,
by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Brock, de la Torre, Davis, McKeown, Parra,
Mayor Pro Tem McCowan, Mayor Himmelrich
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2668 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California
Government Code Section 40806.
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5/9/2021