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Council Meeting 12-16-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER ~ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA WAIVING CERTAIN DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS FOR RENTAL UNITS
WHICH WERE BUILT OR CREATED WITHOUT PERMITS AND REGISTERED WITH
THE RENT CONTROL BOARD PRIOR TO APRIL 22,2003
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) On April 10, 1979, the voters of Santa Monica amended the City Charter by
adopting Article 18, the City's Rent Control Law.
(b) Section 1800(c) of the Rent Control law, with specified exceptions, defines
controlled rental units as all residential rental units in the City of Santa Monica including
mobile homes. In general terms, the Rent Control law governs residential units rented or
offered for rent prior to April 10, 1979.
(c) Section 1803(q) ofthe Rent Control Law requires owners to register all controlled
residential rental units with the Rent Control Board,
(d) Some of the units registered had been constructed or created without building
permits or other City approvals. These units are commonly referred to as bootlegged units,
(e) Although bootlegged units may constitute controlled rental units, these units'
condition nevertheless may raise issues relating to individual safety and public welfare.
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(f) The City estimates that there are approximately 1,000 more units registered with
the City's Rent Control Board than are included on the County Assessor's roll and assumes
that most of this class of registered units constitute bootleg units.
(g) Since bootleg units were built without required permits, there was no official
determination at the time of construction that these units met safety and habitability
standards established by State and local law and there has likely been no such
determination since the time of their construction.
(h) Staff often learns of a bootleg unit from a complaint raised about the unit made
by the unit's occupant or a neighbor; and in responding to such complaints, Building and
Safety staff frequently discover habitability violations, including lack of heat and hot water,
improper electrical wiring, compromised water, improper gas and waste connections, and
improper exists. However, these serious hazards can usually be remedied and the units
rendered habitable.
(i) Apart from this subset of units that have habitability problems, most bootleg units
do not comply with local zoning requirements, particularly parking, density and set back
requirements. While the failure to comply with such zoning requirements can impact the
neighborhood welfare, these conditions have now been present for over twenty years.
U) Once a complaint regarding a bootleg unit is received by Building & Safety staff,
an inspection is undertaken and citation issued if warranted.
(k) An owner of a bootleg unit may seek a removal permit from the Rent Control
Board if the unit is extremely substandard and cannot be rendered habitable; removal
permits are not available for units which can be made habitable. While owners of these
latter units must bring them into compliance with habitability and other legal requirements,
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they are frequently unable to do so since these units do not and cannot meet all the City's
zoning requirements.
(I) This conflict between City laws creates an untenable situation both for the
property owner and for City staff. Consequently, the City Council finds and declares that
the public health, safety and general welfare requires adoption of an interim ordinance to
waive certain current development standards that govern bootleg units if these units meet
or can be repaired to meet habitability standards and these units were registered with the
Rent Control Board prior to April 22, 2003 when the City Council gave policy direction on
this issue.
(m) Therefore, the City's zoning and planning regulations should be revised to waive
certain current development standards that govern bootleg units if these units meet or can
be repaired to meet habitability standards and these units were registered with the Rent
Control Board prior to the cut-off date.
(n) Establishing April 22, 2003 as the cutoff date will preclude the possibility of an
owner creating new illegal units to take advantage of this program.
(0) 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 the development standards that govern bootleg
units.
(p) As described above, there exists a current and immediate threat to the public
safety, health, and welfare should this interim ordinance not be adopted. Consequently,
it is necessary for this ordinance to establish on an interim basis the following development
standards:
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SECTION 1. Bootleg Units.
(a) A rental unit registered with the Santa Monica Rent Control Board prior to April
22, 2003 which was built or created without City planning or building permits shall not be
required to meet the set back and density requirements of the City's Zoning Ordinance if
the unit is or can be made habitable as determined by the City's Building Official.
(b) A rental unit exempt from set back and density requirements pursuant to
subsection (a) of this Section shall be required to provide parking for the unit pursuant to
Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.10.08.040 unless the City's Parking and Traffic
Engineer determines that the provision of parking is not feasible. Parking which would
result in a significant reduction in yard space is not feasible. The location of any feasible
parking shall comply with the City's Municipal Code except the City's Parking and Traffic
Engineer may authorize a reduction in parking space dimensions so long as the space
remains accessible and safe.
(c) A rental unit that meets the requirements of this Section shall be considered a
legal, non-conforming unit.
SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall be of no further force or effect sixty days after 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.
SECTION 3. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
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inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to
affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. 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 ofthis 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 5. 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 30
days from its adoption
APPROVED AS TO FORM
Ji~~
MARSHA JO S MOUTRIE
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 16th day of December, 2003.
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StateofCafifomia 1
County.of'L98 Angeles.) ss.
Cttyof..... Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2100 (CCS) had its introduction on November 25, 2003, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on December 16, 2003, by
the following vote:
Council members: Mayor Bloom, Mayor Pro Tem McKeown, Feinstein,
Genser, Katz, O'Connor
Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Holbrook
ATTEST:
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