O2104
f:\atty\muni\laws\barry\Private Dining Facility2d.doc
City Council Meeting 12-16-03 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2104 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTIONS 9.04.08.28.040 and 9.04.08.28.070 OF THE SA NT A
MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO AUTHORIZE THE ADDITION OF PRIVATE
DINING FACILITIES TO EXISTING RESTAURANTS ON MAIN STREET
UNDER SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES, PURSUANT TO A CONDITIONAL USE
PERMIT
WHEREAS, restaurants with forty-nine seats or less are permitted uses in
the CM (Main Street Commercial) District and restaurants with fifty seats or
more are conditionally permitted uses in the CM District; and
WHEREAS, the Special Project Design and Development Standards for
the CM District limit the number of restaurants permitted on each block; and
WHEREAS, existing restaurants located on blocks where the number of
restaurants exceeds the maximum permitted are legal non conforming uses; and
WHEREAS, as a result, these restaurants cannot expand or intensify to
provide space to accommodate private groups or parties on-site or on an
adjacent parcel consistent with Section 9.04.18.030(d) and (e); and
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WHEREAS, on March 24, 2003, the applicants, Wolfgang Puck and Bella
Lantsman of Chinois on Main, filed an application for a text amendment which
would allow the Planning Commission, or City Council on appeal, to approve a
Conditional Use Permit to allow the addition of a private dining facility to an
existing restaurant on Main Street; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission considered the proposed text
amendment at public hearings conducted on August 6, 2003 and October 1,
2003 and voted to forward to the City Council a recommendation of approval of
this request; and
WHEREAS, the City Council held a public hearing on this proposed
Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments on December 9,2003; and
WHEREAS, The proposed amendments are consistent in principle with
the goals, objectives, policies, land uses, and programs specified in the adopted
General Plan in that Land Use Policy 1.6.7 indicates Main Street should include
"a variety of uses, including... leisure time opportunities for those living in the
surrounding community and the greater Santa Monica area..." and that such
uses include "small restaurants." The private dining facility will provide additional
dining opportunities for residents and tourists. Private dining facilities must be
operated in conjunction with existing restaurants, which the Zoning Ordinance
defines as a pedestrian-oriented use. Private dining facilities will encourage
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pedestrian activity on Main Street. Patrons are likely to walk along Main Street
and browse and shop before and after their meals.
WHEREAS, the text amendment would authorize the Planning
Commission to consider the merits of allowing to allow the addition of private
dining facilities to existing restaurants based on a case by case evaluation of the
individual circumstances of the use, subject to mandatory findings that insure that
the modification would not negatively impact adjacent neighbors or the character
of the neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, the expansion of existing restaurants to allow private dining
facilities will encourage the use of existing tenant spaces and/or buildings and
serve to maintain the unique character of Main Street; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and declares that the public health,
safety and general welfare require the adoption of the proposed amendments in
that the text amendments are specifically limited to allow private dining facilities
only in conjunction with existing restaurants on Main Street and with specific
limitations. This will ensure private dining facilities will create less impact upon
public health and safety than other allowable uses in the CM district, while still
encouraging pedestrian activity. Private dining facilities will provide an
appropriate entertainment opportunity benefiting the general welfare of residents
and visitors that would not be available absent the text amendment.
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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 9.04.08.28.040 is
hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 9.04.08.28.040 Conditionally permitted uses.
The following uses may permitted in the eM District subject to the approval of
a conditional use permit:
(a) Bars.
(b) Billiard parlors.
(c) Bowling alleys.
(d) Business colleges.
(e) Catering businesses.
(f) Dance studios.
(g) Exercise facilities.
(h) Fast-food and take-out establishments.
(i) Homeless shelters with fifty-five or more beds.
U) Medical, dental and optometrist facilities at the first floor or in excess of
three thousand square feet.
(k) Meeting rooms for charitable, youth and welfare organizations.
(I) Museums.
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(m) Music conservatories and instruction facilities.
(n) Open air farmers markets.
(0) Places of worship.
(p) Restaurants with fifty seats or more.
(q) Existing restaurants that add a private dining facility pursuant to
Section 9.04.08.28.070(m).
(r) Retail stores with thirty percent or less of the total linear shelf display
area devoted to alcoholic beverages.
(s) Sign painting shops.
(t) Theaters having more than seventy-five seats.
(u) Trade schools.
(v) Wine shops devoted exclusively to sales of wine. There shall be no
limit on the total linear shelf display area.
(w) Any otherwise permitted uses in the CM Main Street Commercial
District which occupy more than seven thousand five hundred square feet of floor
area.
(x) Any otherwise permitted uses in the CM Main Street Commercial
District the ground floor Main Street frontage of which exceeds seventy-five linear
feet.
(y) All uses other than specifically prohibited uses, that are determined by
the Zoning Administrator to be similar and consistent with those uses specifically
permitted, subject to performance standards, or conditionally permitted.
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SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.04.08.28.070 is
hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 9.04.08.28.070 Special project design and development standards.
Projects in the CM District shall comply with the following special project
design and development standards:
(a) First-floor uses must be pedestrian-oriented uses except as provided in
Section 9.04.10.02.111.
(b) Restaurants and bars are limited to a total of two establishments per
block unless otherwise specified in this Section. For purposes of this Section, an
establishment may be a restaurant, a restaurant with a bar or a bar. A restaurant
with a bar shall be considered one establishment. A block is defined as both
sides of Main Street and the adjacent sides of adjoining side streets. Portions of
Main Street to be designated "Block" for the purpose of this Section are:
Block 1: South City Limits to Marine Street.
Block 2: Marine Street to Pier Avenue.
Block 3: Pier Avenue to Ashland Avenue.
Block 4: Ashland Avenue to Hill.
Block 5: Hill to Ocean Park Boulevard.
Block 6: Ocean Park Boulevard to Hollister Avenue (total of four restaurants
and bars permitted in this block).
Block 7: Hollister Avenue to Strand.
Block 8: Strand to Pacific.
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Block 9: Pacific to Bicknell.
Block 10: Bicknell to Bay.
Block 11: Bay to Pico Boulevard;
(c) North of Ocean Park Boulevard restaurants shall be subject to the
following requirements:
(1 ) Only one restaurant on the east side of each block shall be permitted,
(2) No more than two hundred seats per each block shall be permitted,
except that no more than four hundred seats shall be permitted in Block 6;
(d) On-sale alcohol outlets may not exceed twelve in number north of Ocean
Park Boulevard. Of the twelve total on-sale outlets, no more than five shall have
on-sale general licenses;
(e) Bars may not exceed four in number south of Ocean Park Boulevard, nor
two in number north of Ocean Park Boulevard;
(f) Existing uses and existing number of seats shall count toward the total
number of bars and restaurants and seating requirements permitted within the
district;
(g) An existing use shall be considered no longer existing if that use is
changed to another type of use or if for a period of six months, such use has not
been in regular operation. Regular operation shall be considered being open for
business to the general public during such use's customary business hours;
(h) In structures housing mixed commercial and residential uses, parking
above the first floor shall be allowed.
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(i) Side yard walls up to ten feet in height may be permitted on parcels with
frontage on Second Street and which abut residentially zoned property on at
least one side yard on that portion of the parcel located within seventy-five feet of
Second Street, subject to Zoning Administrator approval.
U) For all parcels with frontage on Second Street and which abut residentially
zoned property on at least one side yard, pedestrian and vehicular access to all
uses located within seventy-five feet of Second Street shall be from Main Street,
except for residential uses where access may be from Second Street.
(k) For all parcels with frontage on Second Street, and which abut
residentially zoned property on at least one side yard, on that portion of the
parcel located within seventy-five feet of Second Street, new development shall
incorporate the following design elements:
(1 ) A landscaped buffer not less than five feet wide shall be provided and
maintained along the entire side yard adjacent to the residentially zoned
property. Landscaping in this area shall include one tree per every five linear feet
planted not less than five feet apart and not less than five feet in height when
planted.
(2) Any building courtyards or open public spaces shall incorporate
landscaping and building materials designed to minimize potential noise impacts.
(3) Building materials shall be nonreflective and shall complement materials
utilized in the adjacent residential neighborhood.
(4) Buildings shall be sited to minimize noise impacts in the adjacent
residential neighborhood.
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(5) In lieu of the requirements in this subsection (k), the Architectural Review
Board may approve other buffering plans, designs, and building materials that
satisfy the intent of these requirements.
(I) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, whenever a parcel in
the CM3 Zoning District has street frontage on all four sides including Main
Street, the following provisions shall apply:
(1 ) The Main Street frontage shall be deemed to be the front yard for
purposes of determining allowable uses and any proposed ground floor
residential uses shall be located at least fifty feet from the Main Street parcel line.
(2) All street frontage shall be treated as front yards for purposes of
determining the mandatory setback requirements, and accordingly, any project
shall be required to comply with the building volume envelope requirements of
Section 9.04.10.02.040 with respect to all street frontage.
(m) Subject to a Conditional Use Permit, restaurants in existence as of
December 9, 2003 may add a private dining facility. Any such conditional use
permit shall encompass both the existing restaurant and the private dining
facility. A private dining facility is a facility that meets all of the following criteria:
(a) one or more rooms operated in conjunction with a restaurant on the same or
adjacent parcel; (b) meal service is provided at all times the facility is open; (c) no
more than three patron groups occupy the facility at one time; (d) service is only
available by appointment or reservation; (e) alcohol may be served if a
conditional use permit is obtained pursuant to Part 9.04.10.18.
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Notwithstanding the granting of a conditional use permit, an existing
restaurant which exceeds the limitations of Section 9.04.08.28.070(b) shall
remain a legal non-conforming use subject to Section 9.04.18.030, except the
addition of a private dining facility shall be considered a permissible expansion
and intensification of the restaurant, notwithstanding Sections 9.04.18.030(d) and
(e). As a nonconforming use the restaurant shall be permitted to continue only
so long as the basic operational features of the use and its impact on the
neighborhood are not altered.
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 inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to
that extent necessary to effect 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 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.
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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 thirty days after its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Approved and adopted this 16th day of December, 2003.
R~~or
State of Califomia )
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. 2104 (CCS) had its introduction on December 9, 2003, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on December 16,2003, by
the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Mayor Bloom, Mayor Pro Tem McKeown, Genser,
O'Connor, Katz
Noes: Council members: Feinstein
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent: Council members: Holbrook
ATTEST:
---~~ .~~
Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk
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