ITEM 7-A/8-A
City Council Mtg: November 14, 1995 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Approve Text Amendment 95-005 and
Appeal of Planning Commission Denial of General Plan
Amendment 95-001, Zone Change 95-001 and Text Amendment
95-006 Regarding Oceana Hotel at 849 Ocean Avenue;
Applicant/Appellant CH Partners
INTRODUCTION
Proposed for City Council consideration are (1) a text amendment
to allow hotels in existence as of January 1, 1995 as a permitted
use in the North of Wilshire Overlay (NW) District; (2) a text
amendment to modify the Variance Section of the code to allow
replacement of existing nonconforming access features; (3) a text
amendment to clarify the provisions of the Termination of
Nonconforming Buildings and Uses section of the code; and (4)
appeal of the Planning Commission's denial of a General Plan
Amendment, Text Amendment, and Districting Map amendment relating
to redesignating the property from a residential to an RVC
designation.
Consistent with the action of the Planning Commission, staff
recommends approval of the proposed text amendment to the NW
District regulations, approval of the proposed text amendment to
the Variance regulations, and approval of the proposed text
amendment to the Nonconforming Buildings regulations. Staff
recommends rejection of the appeal of the Planning Commission's
denial of General Plan Amendment 95-001, Zone Change 95-001, and
Text Amendment 95-006 to designate the property RVC and create
development standards for the site.
BACKGROUND
The subject site of the proposed General Plan Amendment and Zone
Change is a 30,000 sq.ft. parcel located at the northeast corner
of Ocean Avenue and Idaho Avenue with a 200 ft. frontage on
Ocean Avenue and a 150 ft. frontage on Idaho Avenue. Surrounding
uses consist of residential uses in the R3NW District to the
north, south and east. Palisades Park, which is zoned Designated
Parks (DP) District is located across Ocean Avenue. The existing
on-site use is the Oceana Hotel.
The Oceana Hotel was constructed on the subject property in 1957.
The building is three stories with approximately 53,000 sq. ft.
and contains 60 suites. The subject site was zoned R4 at the
time the hotel was built. At the time of its construction,
hotels were a permitted use in the R4 district. In 1990, the
subject property was downzoned from R4 to R3 with the newly
created North of Wilshire (NW) overlay. As a result, the hotel
became a "legal nonconforming use", as defined in Section
9.04.18.030 of the Zoning Ordinance:
"A legal, nonconforming use is one which lawfully
existed on the effective date of this Chapter, but
which is not now permitted or conditionally permitted
in the district in which it is located."
Section 9.04.18.040 provides that a legal nonconforming
commercial use can remain for 20 years from the time the use
becomes nonconforming after which time the use must be
discontinued and removed or altered to conform to the regulations
of the district in which the property is located. This means
that the Oceana Hotel would need to be removed or changed to a
conforming use by the year 2010.
The applicant has indicated that there is difficulty in obtaining
financing to refurbish the hotel because of the nonconforming
status, and therefore, has proposed two options to legalize the
existing nonconforming use. The first is to amend the Zoning
Ordinance text to list existing hotels as a permitted use in the
NW Overlay district and the second is to amend the General Plan
designation and zoning of the site to Oceanfront and RVC
respectively, which allow hotel uses with a Conditional Use
Permit (CUP). Each of these options is discussed below.
The issue of hotels in the R3NW District was considered by City
Council in 1994, triggered by an application to rezone the
Huntley Hotel to address the issue of nonconformity. There were
three hotels in the R3NW district in 1994: Cal Mar Hotel located
on the southwest corner of Third Street and California Avenue;
the Huntley Hotel located on Second Street south of California;
and the Oceana Hotel. The Sovereign Hotel operates as a hotel as
a result of a Settlement Agreement which governs the operation
and existence of this use. In 1994, rather than rezoning the
property, staff had proposed an amendment to the nonconforming
section of the Zoning Ordinance to allow hotels in the R3NW
District to remain as permitted uses. The objective of the
approach was to address in a comprehensive manner the
nonconforming situation for the other hotels in the R3NW district
and to allow the hotels to remain but not provide for their
expansion or replacement. However, on March 22, 1994, City
Council voted to only rezone the Huntley Hotel property from R3NW
to RVC rather than adopting the proposed text amendment to the
nonconforming section of the Code.
Proposed Text Amendment: Option 1
Proposed is a revision to the NW Overlay District to allow hotels
that were in existence as of January 1, 1995 to remain or be
replaced provided that the number of rooms does not increase by
more than 5% or five rooms, whichever is less, and provided there
is no increase in the floor area of the hotel and any addition of
rooms is created by subdividing existing rooms.
The proposed text amendment would be applicable to all hotel
properties within the NW Overlay. The NW Overlay area is located
approximately between Wilshire Boulevard and Montana Avenue and
Ocean Avenue and Fourteenth Street alley (the Miramar Sheraton
Hotel is zoned RVC). Based on information gathered in 1994 for
the Huntley Hotel application, there were three hotels in the
R3NW district. Therefore, the proposed text amendment would only
impact two other properties in the NW Overlay District, since the
Huntley property has been rezoned.
Staff recommends approval of the text amendment as proposed by
the applicant and amended by the Planning Commission. Consistent
with the recommendation of the Planning Commission, a room
expansion of 5% or up to five rooms would only be allowed through
subdivision of existing rooms and with no floor area increase,
provided all other code requirements (such as added parking
spaces) were met. While the proposed amendment will resolve the
issue of the nonconforming use, in reviewing photos, it appears
that the building does not comply with the setbacks, stepbacks
and lot coverage requirements in the R3 and NW Districts.
Section 9.04.18.040, which establishes amortization periods for
commercial uses in residential districts, as currently written,
applies to both the use and the building. Language is proposed
to clarify that nonconforming buildings in this situation can
remain. The Planning Commission supported this amendment.
The existing hotel has an awning and a stairway located in a
required yard setback area. The applicant has applied for an
amendment to the Variance section of the code to allow
consideration of a variance application to permit the replacement
of such access features. The amendment will allow the applicant
to subsequently apply for a Variance to replace the nonconforming
access features. Staff supports this amendment, which addresses
a range of existing nonconforming situations in the City by
facilitating the replacement of deteriorated building elements,
or those which would benefit by replacement or aesthetic
upgrading. The Planning Commission recommended approval of this
amendment.
The three text amendments recommended by the Planning Commission
would be implemented by the ordinance attached to this staff
report.
Appeal of Denial of Proposed General Plan Amendment, Zone Change
and Text Amendment: Option 2
The applicant's second option to remedying the Oceana Hotel's
nonconforming status is to amend the General Plan designation on
the property from High Density Residential to Oceanfront District
and to rezone the property from High Density Residential (R4) to
Residential-Visitor Commercial (RVC). The Planning Commission
denied this request and the applicant is appealing this denial.
While hotels require a CUP in the RVC District, no CUP would be
needed because the hotel is already in existence.
The application to the Planning Commission included a request to
amend the property boundaries in the development standards height
and floor area ratio (FAR) table in the RVC District (TA 95-006).
The proposed text amendment is to reference RVC-zoned properties
on the east side of Ocean Avenue north of Idaho Avenue to include
the subject site. Within the cited area, only this site would be
zoned RVC. This would result in development standards for the
site of 3 stories, 45 feet in height with a 2.0 FAR for the
subject site. According to the information provided with the
application the existing development is in compliance with these
requirements.
The purpose of the RVC District is to "protect the existing
residential mix in the area while providing for the concentration
and expansion of coastal-related lodging, dining, recreation, and
shopping needs of tourists and others in the oceanfront area". A
rezone of this one property in a residential area will not
achieve this objective. The General Plan amendment and rezone of
the site is the approach that was used for the Huntley Hotel.
However, the significant differences between the two applications
are that the Huntley Hotel is located in a commercial block and
is adjacent to properties zoned RVC. The subject site is located
in an area where the properties to the north, south and east are
zoned R3NW and across Ocean Avenue is Designated Park (DP). A
rezone of the subject site, while it would resolve the situation
for the Oceana Hotel, would result in an island of RVC zoning
amidst the R3NW and DP. Since the RVC District permits a variety
of commercial and tourist related uses, redevelopment of the site
could result in a project whose scale and mix of use is
incompatible with an otherwise residential area.
If the City Council wishes to redesignate the property to RVC,
staff would need to return with the appropriate ordinances and a
General Plan Amendment for Council action.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
Pursuant to Municipal Code Section 9.04.20.22.050, notice of the
public hearing was mailed to all owners and residential and
commercial tenants of property located within a 500 ft. radius of
the project at least ten consecutive calendar days prior to the
hearing. A copy of the notice is contained in Attachment A.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendations of this report would have no budget/financial
impact.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council introduce for first
reading the attached ordinance which would, consistent with the
Planning Commission recommendation, 1) allow hotels as a
permitted use in the NW Overlay District; 2) revise the Variance
section of the code to allow consideration of variances for
replacement of nonconforming access features; and (3) revise the
Nonconforming section of the Zoning Ordinance to clarify when
nonconforming uses and buildings must be removed.
It is also recommended that the City Council reject the
applicant's appeal of the Planning Commission's denial of the
amendment of the General Plan amendment from High Density
Residential to Oceanfront, Zone Change from R3NW to RVC and the
proposed text amendment to the RVC section of the Code. If the
Council wished to pursue these options, staff would return with
appropriate text amendments and a General Plan Amendment.
Prepared by:Suzanne Frick, Director of Planning & Community
Development
D. Kenyon Webster, Planning Manager
Attachments:
A. Notice of Public Hearing
B. Radius and Location Map
C. Ordinance for Introduction and First Reading
D. Appeal Form and Letter from Applicant's Attorney Dated
October 16, 1995
E. Applicant's Proposed Text Amendment 95-006
F. Photographs of Site and Surrounding Properties