R113391
City Council Meeting: June 8, 2021 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NO. 11339 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA WAIVING CERTAIN FEES ON A TEMPORARY BASIS TO
FURTHER STIMULATE ECONOMIC RECOVERY ,ESTABLISHING
FEES FOR SANTA MONICA OUTDOORS PILOT PROGRAM, AND
AUTHORIZING THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TO
TEMPORARILY CLOSE PORTIONS OF MAIN STREET FOR THE
SANTA MONICA OUTDOORS PILOT PROGRAM
WHEREAS, the novel coronavirus 19 (“COVID-19”) disease is caused by a virus
that spreads easily from person to person and may result in serious illness or death,
and is classified by the World Health Organization (“WHO”) as a worldwide pandemic;
and
WHEREAS, COVID-19 has broadly spread throughout California and, in the
absence of herd immunity achieved through vaccinations, presents a significant health
risk to the community, especially members of our most vulnerable populations; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the City Manager, in his role as the Director of
Emergency Services, proclaimed the existence of a local emergency pursuant to
Chapter 2.16 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code to ensure the availability of mutual
aid and an effective City response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this local emergency
was restated on March 14, 2020, through a revised declaration of local emergency to
ensure compliance with all digital signature requirements (the “Executive Order”); and
WHEREAS, on March 19, 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Health issued an enhanced Health Officer Order, the Safer at Home Order for Control of
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
2
COVID-19, amending and superseding its earlier March 16, 2020 Order, closing all
nonessential businesses, and limiting gatherings to 9 people or less; and
WHEREAS, since March 19, 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Health has on multiple occasions amended and modified its Health Officer Order, and
as part of these amendments and modifications, nonessential businesses, including
restaurants, lower-risk retail businesses, and gym and fitness establishments were
subject to, at various times, prohibitions on operating indoors or restrictions on capacity;
and
WHEREAS, on March 27, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued a
Ninth Supplement to the Executive Order (“Ninth Supplement”), which, among other
things, suspended outdoor dining license payments for City licensees for the month of
April 2020; and
WHEREAS, on May 29, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued an
Eighteenth Supplement to the Executive Order, which, among other things, extended
the suspension of outdoor dining license payments for City licensees through June 2020
and authorized temporary outdoor dining extensions to adjacent sidewalk and/or
adjacent parking, courtyard, or other private open space owned by the restaurant; and
WHEREAS, on June 23, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued a
Second Revised Eighteenth Supplement to the Executive Order that modified the First
Revised Eighteenth Supplement to, among other things: extend the suspension of
outdoor dining license payments for City licensees through August 2020 and expand the
public outdoor spaces where certain eligible restaurants were authorized to operate
outdoors; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
3
WHEREAS, the Second Revised Eighteenth Supplement also authorized
Business Improvement Districts and individual eligible businesses that have obtained a
temporary use permit to conduct sidewalk sales and other seasonal sales without
otherwise complying with the provisions of the Executive Order and waived processing
fees for such temporary use permits; and
WHEREAS, on August 22, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued a
Third Revised Eighteenth Supplement to the Executive Order (“Third Revised
Eighteenth Supplement”), which, among other things, superseded and replaced the
prior versions of the Eighteenth Supplement to further extend the suspension of outdoor
dining license payments for City licensees and authorize the City to assess a monthly
fee for the use of space in the public right-of-way after November 1, 2020, with 30 days’
notice provided to businesses; and
WHEREAS, on September 18, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued
a Twenty-Sixth Supplement to the Executive Order (“Twenty-Sixth Supplement”), which,
among other things, authorized the Director of the Community Services Department to
promulgate regulations and issue permits for gym and fitness establishments to engage
in commercial fitness activities at City parks, City park parking lots, and City beaches;
provided that, for any quarter or portion thereof during which the County’s Health Officer
Order prohibited gym and fitness establishments from operating indoors at an
occupancy rate greater than 50%, gym and fitness establishments are not required to
pay the quarterly use charges, as set forth in forth in Resolution No. 11263 (CCS),
adopted by the City Council on June 23, 2020, except for gym and fitness establishment
operating at Palisades Park; and specified the rates for such quarterly use; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
4
WHEREAS, on October 7, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued a
Twenty-Seventh Supplement to the Executive Order (“Twenty-Seventh Supplement”),
which, among other things, authorized the Director of the Community Development
Department to issue regulations regarding and issue temporary use permits for certain
uses allowed by the County Safer at Home Order, including temporary outdoor sales
and special events, for a period longer than 45 days but less than 180 days and waived
processing fees for such temporary use permits; and
WHEREAS, on November 23, 2020, the Director of Emergency Services issued
a Twenty-Eighth Supplement to the Executive Order (“Twenty-Eighth Supplement”),
which, among other things, authorized the Director of the Community Development
Department to issue permits for and regulations regarding the temporary extension by
certain eligible businesses of their operations into unused portions of the parking lane
on Main Street where the City has placed K-rails, and authorized the City to assess a
monthly fee for the use of such space in the public right-of-way after March 31, 2021,
with 30 days’ notice provided to businesses; and
WHEREAS, on January 28, 2021, the Director of Emergency Services issued a
Thirty-Third Supplement to the Executive Order (“Thirty-Third Supplement”), which,
among other things, authorized satellite outdoor dining in portions of the roadway in the
Third Street Promenade pursuant to limitations set out in the supplement and
regulations to be issued by the Director of the Community Development Department,
and authorized the City to assess a monthly fee for the use of such space in the public
right-of-way after March 1, 2021, with 30 days’ notice provided to businesses; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
5
WHEREAS, on March 19, April 6, April 14, May 12, May 26, June 9, June 23,
July 14, July 28, September 8, October 27, and December 15, 2020 as well as on
January 26, March 23, and effective May 22, 2021, the City Council ratified the
Executive Order, as well as the supplements to the Executive Order in place at the time,
including the Third Revised Eighteenth, Twenty-Sixth, Twenty-Seventh, Twenty-Eighth,
and Thirty-Third Supplements; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the restrictions imposed by the State’s COVID-19-
related guidance and the County’s Health Officer Order, businesses, and particularly
restaurants, have suffered significant economic hardships; for example, according to
Santa Monica’s fourth quarter sales tax report from 2020, restaurants are down 50-66%
in sales from the same quarter in 2019 just prior to COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, due to the economic hardships suffered by businesses and to
stimulate economic recovery, the City has elected not to assess a monthly fee for the
use of space in the public right-of-way, despite the authorization to do so in the Third
Revised Eighteenth, Twenty-Eighth, and Thirty-Third Supplements; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.72.010 authorizes the
imposition of charges for private use of public property; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 2.72.020 authorizes setting
such charges by resolution; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.31.200 allows outdoor
dining on the public right of way as a way to enhance the pedestrian ambiance of
the City; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
6
WHEREAS, on June 11, 2011, the City Council adopted Resolution
No. 10586, which established the license fees for outdoor dining area licenses; and
WHEREAS, on June 23, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution
No. 11263, which, among other things, revised certain permit and user fee charges,
including the annual permit and quarterly use charges for commercial fitness and
athletic instruction permits issued pursuant to Santa Monica Municipal Code
Section 4.55.030, and processing fees for temporary use permits; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is concurrently adopting an emergency ordinance
that establishes the Santa Monica Outdoors Pilot Program and thereby extends the
authorizations to use public space provided by the Third Revised Eighteenth, Twenty-
Eighth, and Thirty-Third Supplements, authorizes the City to issue permits and enter
into licensing agreements with business to use portions of the Main Street roadway that
are temporarily closed to traffic and designated for outdoor dining or other business
activities pursuant to administrative regulations, and, as part of that emergency
ordinance, authorizes the City Council to set charges by resolution to reflect the use of
public property; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is concurrently adopting an emergency interim
zoning ordinance that extends the authorizations for issuance of temporary use permits
for sidewalk sales and other seasonal sales that may operate without otherwise
complying with the provisions of the Santa Monica Outdoors Pilot Program, and
temporary use permits that may be issued for periods of more than 45 days but less
than 180 days, as provided by the Third Revised Eighteenth and Twenty-Seventh
Supplements, respectively; and
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
7
WHEREAS, California Vehicle Code Section 21101(e) authorizes local
authorities, for those highways under their jurisdiction, to adopt rules and regulations by
ordinance or resolution to temporarily close a portion of any street for celebrations,
parades, local special events, and other purposes when, in the opinion of local
authorities having jurisdiction or a public officer or employee that the local authority
designates by resolution, the closing is necessary for the safety and protection of
persons who are to use that portion of the street during the temporary closing; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to authorize the City’s Community Development
Director to temporarily close a portion of Main Street, since closure is necessary for the
safety and protection of persons who are using the closed portion of Main Street during
the temporary closing pursuant to the Santa Monica Outdoors Pilot Program; and
WHEREAS, to stimulate economic recovery, the City Council desires to delay
recovering fees for use of public space pursuant to the Santa Monica Outdoors Pilot
Program until January 1, 2022 and to temporarily waive other fees.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Commencing no earlier than January 1, 2022, and following at
least 30 days’ notice provided to businesses with a Santa Monica Outdoors Pilot
Program permit, the charges for use of public property pursuant to Santa Monica
Municipal Code Chapter 6.40 are as follows:
Location Monthly License Fee
Per Square Foot
3rd Street Promenade $2.66
Transit Mall (Santa Monica Boulevard/Broadway) $2.66
Ocean Avenue $2.48
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
8
Location Monthly License Fee
Per Square Foot
Montana Avenue $2.20
Wilshire Boulevard $2.12
Main Street $2.12
Ocean Park Boulevard $2.12
Pico Boulevard $2.12
Other Streets $2.12
SECTION 2. From the effective date of this resolution until December 31, 2021,
the City waives the monthly license fee that restaurants are required to pay pursuant to
their respective outdoor dining license agreements with the City under Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 9.31.200.
SECTION 3. From the effective date of this resolution until June 30, 2022,
businesses with a commercial fitness or athletic instruction permit issued pursuant to
Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.55.030 are not required to pay quarterly use
charges, unless the business provides commercial fitness or athletic instruction at
Palisades Park in which case the quarterly use charges shall be (i) $450 per quarter for
small groups (not more than 2); $900 per quarter for medium groups (not more than 10);
and (iii) $1,350 per quarter for large groups (not more than 15).
SECTION 4. From the effective date of this resolution until June 30, 2022, the
City waives processing fees for temporary use permits for sidewalk sales and other
seasonal sales that are not otherwise required to comply with the provisions of the
Santa Monica Outdoors Pilot Program, and for temporary use permits issued for a
period longer than 45 days but less than 180 days, issued pursuant to the emergency
interim zoning ordinance adopted concurrently with this resolution.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
9
SECTION 5. All fees established or waived by this resolution shall be effective
immediately upon adoption of this resolution.
SECTION 6. If there are any conflicts between the fees adopted or waived in this
resolution and fees adopted or waived by any prior resolution or fee schedule, the fees
adopted or waived pursuant to this resolution shall control.
SECTION 7. The Community Development Director is hereby authorized to
temporarily close the portion of Main Street between Hill Street and Kinney Avenue on
weekends in compliance with administrative regulations issued pursuant to Santa
Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.40, because closure of this area is necessary for the
safety and protection of persons who are using the closed portion during the temporary
closing.
SECTION 8. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________
GEORGE S. CARDONA
Interim City Attorney
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9
Adopted and approved this 8th day of June 2021.
__________________________
Sue Himmelrich, Mayor
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby
certify that Resolution No. 11339 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of the Santa
Monica City Council held on the 8th day of June 2021, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Brock, Davis, De la Torre, Parra,
Mayor Pro Tem McCowan, Mayor Himmelrich
NOES: None
ABSENT: Councilmember McKeown
ATTEST:
_____________________________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk
DocuSign Envelope ID: 72C6D32E-5527-4550-842E-815497C3E1D9