O2096
f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\promenade uses study issues (1 )2d-3.wpd
Council Meeting 9-23-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2.0..9.6.. (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA REQUIRING NEW OR EXPANDED USES ON THE THIRD STREET
PROMENADE TO HAVE A PROMENADE FRONTAGE THAT DOES NOT EXCEED
FIFTY LINEAR FEET AND REQUIRING ANY REMAINING PROMENADE FRONTAGE
WITHIN THE BUILDING OR SITE TO PROVIDE A MINIMUM DEPTH OF FIFTY FEET
SECTION 1. Findings and Purpose. The City Council finds and declares:
(a) In 1965, the City Council sought to revitalize its declining downtown business
district by closing three blocks of Third Street to vehicular traffic and creating a pedestrian
shopping mall pursuant to the Pedestrian Mall Act.
(b)The Third Street Mall failed. It did not attract shoppers; and, as a result,
businesses on the mall continued to founder, and the downtown business district continued
to decline.
(c) In 1986, the City Council again acted to revitalize the downtown by adopting a
specific plan for transforming the failing mall.
(d) The Specific Plan made variety the foundation of the mall's future, mandating
a diverse mixture of uses and activities appealing to residents and visitors alike.
(e) Pursuant to this plan, the City embarked upon a substantial effort to transform
the moribund Third Street Mall into an innovative public space which would serve as a
community gathering place, attract visitors from near and far and define the City's
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municipal character. The redesign included numerous improvements to the pedestrian
street: retail pavilions, landscaping, water elements, public benches, street lamps, and
topiary dinosaur sculptures in the central landscaped area of each block. The area was
renamed the Third Street Promenade.
(f) From the time of its conception, the Promenade was distinguished from other
shopping areas by the unusual and carefully balanced mix of opportunities it afforded,
including street performance, sidewalk dining, cinema, bookstores, special events, clothing
stores, specialty shops, and night clubs.
(g) Thus, the Third Street Promenade was conceived and created not simply as a
shopping mall; it was a place to go for entertainment, company, relaxation, strolling; a
place where one could watch jugglers and dancers, dine outdoors, argue politics, listen
to music, browse a bookshop, take in a movie and more.
(h) Moreover, the Third Street Promenade was planned as a gathering place for
all segments of society: children, the elderly, and people from all cultural and economic
groups.
(i) The plan succeeded: the Third Street Promenade flourished, becoming a
favored destination for local residents, Southern Californians and international travelers
alike.
U) As such, it became, and remains, an engine which drives Santa Monica's
economy.
(k) However, maintaining the delicate balance of entertainment, restaurants and
retail uses which is the foundation of the Third Street Promenade's success, has been an
,
ongoing challenge.
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(I) Over the years, market forces have threatened the mix many times; and the City
has responded to preserve the Third Street Promenade's unique character through the
adoption of laws and polices which promote the general welfare by maintaining the
Promenade's eclectic character and diversity.
(m) In 1996, the City revised the Third Street Mall Specific Plan through the adoption
of the Bayside District Specific Plan. A critical objective of this plan remained to U[a]ttract
and accommodate a mix of uses" serving residents, visitors and tourists during both
daytime and evening hours. To this end, the specific plan established a ten-year
projection and plan for facilitating controlled growth of retail outlets on the Third Street
Promenade.
(n) In the ensuing years, retail growth far exceeded expectations. This trend
threatened to convert the Promenade into an ordinary shopping mall.
(0) Therefore, in November of 2001, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number
2030 (CCS) establishing a moratorium on new and expanded ground floor retail use. This
moratorium was extended by Ordinances Number 2032,2062, and 2082 (CCS) for the
reasons detailed in the findings of these ordinances and for the reasons given here. The
findings of these moratorium ordinances describe the threat to the Promenade's viability
which the ordinances address.
(p) After adoption of Ordinance Number 2030 (CCS), the City Council established
a Promenade Uses Task Force to study the Promenade issues, to seek feedback and
input from the community, and to make recommendations to the City Council regarding
the appropriate mix of uses on the Promenade.
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(q) The Task Force met regularly between May 2002 and March 2003, considering
goals and objectives forthe Promenade and the Downtown, reviewing relevant City policies
and regulations, and conducting community workshops.
(r) The Task Force prepared a report and a series of recommendations for review
by the City Council.
(s) The Task Force report identified oversized retail uses as limiting opportunities
for a wide variety of storefronts. As the report explains, a mosaic of storefronts is critical
to the Promenade's vibrancy and vitality and enlivens and enriches its pedestrian-oriented
character. The absence of such variety would adversely effect these essential components
of the Promenade.
(t) The trend towards oversized uses is a significant threat to the diverse
atmosphere of the Promenade.
(u) On June 10, 2003, the City Council reviewed the recommendations of the
Promenade Uses Task Force and directed that staff return with an interim ordinance to
respond to the threat posed by oversized uses.
(v) For these reasons, the City's zoning and planning regulations should be revised
as they pertain to oversized uses on the Promenade.
(w) 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 oversized retail uses on the Promenade.
(x) 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 oversized
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retail uses not be allowed consistent with these proposed revisions. Therefore, it is
necessary to establish on an interim basis the following development standards.
SECTION . Promenade Frontage Requirements for New or Expanded
Uses
(a) A new or expanded use to be located on the Third Street Promenade shall only
be issued a business license or building permit if the Third Street Promenade frontage of
the new or expanded use would not exceed fifty (50) feet.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this Section, no business license or building
permit shall be issued for a new or expanded use if any remaining Promenade frontage on
the site or within the building containing the use has a depth of less than fifty (50) feet.
(c) A new or expanded use shall also comply with 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.
SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall apply to any business license or building permit
application filed after September 9, 2003.
SECTION 3. This Ordinance shall be of no further force or effect sixty days from its
effective date 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.
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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.
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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Approved and adopted this 23rd day of September, 2003.
~~
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. 2096 (CCS) had its introduction on September 9,2003, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on September 23, 2003, by
the following vote:
Council members: Feinstein, Mayor Pro Tern McKeown, Katz, Genser,
Holbrook, Mayor Bloom
Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: O'Connor
ATTEST:
~~ o..d
Maria M. Stewart, Cit
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