O27671
City Council Meeting November 14, 2023 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2767 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SECTION 7.12.180 OF THE SANTA MONICA
MUNICIPAL CODE TO REQUIRE WATER CAPACITY STUDIES FOR NEW
DEVELOPMENTS
WHEREAS, the City’s Department of Public Works- Water Resources Division is
a retail water agency that provides potable water for New Development, as well as
landscape irrigation and fire protection; and
WHEREAS, the City and its water infrastructure are largely built out, therefore,
the domestic water supply infrastructure is already in place and generally fixed in
nature; and
WHEREAS, the City, to the extent practical, provides water service when
sufficient water supply and distribution capacity is available to accommodate demand
approved within the service area; and
WHEREAS, the City’s Water Resources seeks to amend this section of code to
require all New Development in the City to conduct a Water Capacity Study to confirm
that the available water infrastructure (e.g., the size of the water service laterals directly
serving the property or adjacent water mains) has sufficient capacity to deliver water to
the New Development or does not adversely impact existing users; identify what
additional infrastructure is needed to provide adequate service for the New
Development; and ensure that the applicant for the New Development pays for the
study as well as the additional infrastructure, if needed.
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 7.12.180 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
7.12.180 Water Capacity Study Required for New Development.
(a) Applicability. Except as provided in subparagraph (g), below, an applicant
for New Development in the City shall conduct a Water Capacity Study to determine
whether and to what extent additional local off-site water infrastructure improvements
are necessary to serve the development.
(b) Definitions.
i. “New Development”. For the purposes of implementing this
Section, New Development means any new construction with water fixtures; any
increase in gross floor area of an existing development with new water fixtures;
and any subdivision of land, including lot splits. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing definition, new development includes the addition of an accessory
dwelling unit, as defined in Section 9.31.025, but does not include the addition of
a junior accessory dwelling unit, as defined in Section 9.31.025;
ii. “Adverse Impact” means the inability to provide adequate potable
water service due to the size of the existing infrastructure compared with the
demand for potable water service required to serve existing and/or New
Development.
iii. “Water Capacity Study” means a hydraulic analysis of the City’s water
distribution system to determine if the existing infrastructure could maintain
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reliable service to the New Development or if off-site improvements are required
to serve the New Development.
(c) Timing for Submittal of Study.
i. The need to conduct a Water Capacity Study for the New Development
shall be confirmed before the planning application, including but not limited to
Administrative Approval Application or application for Development Review
Permit, is deemed complete by the City. The Water Capacity Study, if required,
shall be completed based upon the guidelines published by the City’s Water
Resources Manager and posted on the Water Resources Division website.
ii. If a Water Capacity Study is required for the New Development, the
capacity study, findings of the capacity study, and the plans for any local off-site
improvements required to serve the New Development shall be completed before
building plans are submitted for Building Permit Plan Check.
(d) Requirements for Off-Site Improvements. If the City’s Water Resources
Manager or designee determines, based upon the Water Capacity Study results, that
additional off-site infrastructure is required to satisfy the additional demand created by
the New Development, then the applicant for the New Development shall be required to
construct off-site infrastructure as necessary to accommodate the New Development.
Required off-site improvements shall be confirmed at the time of Building Permit Plan
Check.
(e) The applicant for the New Development shall be responsible for paying all
administrative fees (e.g., Water Study Review Fee) incurred by the City to review the
Water Capacity Study.
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(f) The Water Resources Manager may refuse water service in areas where
the New Development will cause or contribute to creation of an Adverse Impact on the
City’s water distribution infrastructure.
(g) Exemptions.
i. The City’s Director of Public Works may exempt an applicant or New
Development from the requirements of this Section, upon showing by the
applicant that the requirements of this Section would cause undue hardship.
ii. For purposes herein, an “undue hardship” shall be found where
imposition of the water capacity study and local off-site improvement
requirements would deprive the applicant or New Development of all
economically beneficial use of that site or otherwise be prohibited by applicable
State or Federal law.
iii. An undue hardship application shall include all information
necessary for the Director to make a finding of undue hardship, including, but not
limited to, documentation showing the factual support for the claimed undue
hardship.
iv. The Director may approve the undue hardship exemption
application, in whole or in part, with or without conditions.
v. Any exemption granted by the Director is effective immediately.
SECTION 2. 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 effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
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SECTION 3. 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 4. 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:
_________________________ DOUGLAS SLOAN
City Attorney
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Approved and adopted this 14th day of November, 2023.
_____________________________
Gleam Davis, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Esterlina Lugo, acting City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby
certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2767 (CCS) had its introduction on
October 24, 2023 and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting
held on November 14, 2023, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Zwick, Parra, Brock, Torosis, de la Torre
Mayor Davis
NOES: None
ABSENT: Mayor Pro Tem Negrete
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Esterlina Lugo, Acting City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2767 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
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11/16/2023