1 City Council Meeting: May 12, 2020 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 3.21.090
TO EXTEND THE TERM OF THE FIRST SHARED MOBILITY DEVICE PILOT PROGRAM TO SEPTEMBER 13, 2020, AND AMEND SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 3.22.090 TO CHANGE THE START DATE OF THE SECOND SHARED MOBILITY DEVICE PILOT PROGRAM TO SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica consists of just over eight square miles of land, which is home to 90,000 residents, the job site of 300,000 workers, and a destination for as many as 500,000 visitors on weekends and holidays; and WHEREAS, the City's public rights-of-way are designed to accommodate a multimodal transportation system and are heavily utilized by residents, workers and visitors; and
WHEREAS, in late 2017 and early 2018, in part due to rapid technological advancements, the City's public rights-of-way were flooded with new, unpermitted commercial shared mobility systems and devices, including in particular electronic scooters; and
WHEREAS, the rapid, unpermitted proliferation of such systems and devices created serious safety hazards for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers; impeded pedestrian 2 circulation and paths of travel; and created hazards in the public rights- of-way for persons with disabilities and others, especially when left unattended; and WHEREAS, in response to the rapid, unpermitted proliferation of such systems and devices, and the serious safety hazards created by their use, on March 6, 2018, the City adopted Ordinance No. 2570, which enacted Santa Monica Municipal Code (“SMMC”) Chapter 3.21 to establish interim operating regulations for shared mobility systems and devices and require operators to first obtain a vending permit prior to displaying a shared mobility device for rent in public; and WHEREAS, to create a longer-term shared mobility device pilot program that would improve access to mobility options for residents, employees, visitors to Santa Monica, create new and diverse mobility options, ensure safety by reducing sidewalk and pathway impediments, facilitate access for disabled individuals, educate users about the proper rules and etiquette, create a legal and enforceable framework for managing shared mobility in the public right of way, and build good working partnerships with shared mobility service providers, on June 26, 2018, the City adopted Ordinance No. 2578, which repealed and replaced SMMC Chapter 3.21 to establish a 16-month shared mobility device pilot program (the “first pilot program”) to manage dockless electronic scooter and bicycle systems operating in the public right-of-way; and WHEREAS, in September 2018 the City launched the first pilot program with four shared mobility operators; and
WHEREAS, following the launch of the first pilot program, people quickly took to riding shared mobility devices, generating a total of 2,673,819 trips from October 2018 to 3 October 2019, with forty-nine percent of all shared mobility device riders reporting that they would have otherwise traveled in a car; and
WHEREAS, on November 12, 2019, City staff presented to the City Council a summary of the findings, considerations, and lessons learned from the first pilot program and sought direction from the City Council on, and alternatives for, long-term regulatory and permitting structures for shared mobility services in Santa Monica; and WHEREAS, on November 12, 2019, Council directed staff to develop a second pilot program that reduces the number of operators, maintains flexibility to adapt the evolving industry, and focuses efforts towards ensuring customer reliability, affordability, and access, while improving safety, rider behavior, sustainability, and financial outcomes; and
WHEREAS, on November 12, 2019, Council also directed staff to extend the term of the first pilot program to May 17, 2020 to allow staff time to develop the second pilot program, solicit and select operators, and coordinate a transition period between the two pilot programs; and
WHEREAS, on December 10, 2019, the City adopted Ordinance 2627, which amended SMMC Section 3.21.090 to extend the term of the first pilot program to May 17, 2020; and
WHEREAS, on February 11, 2020, Council further extended the term of the first pilot program to June 30, 2020, and created a second pilot program that continues to improve access to mobility options for residents, employees, visitors to Santa Monica, create new and diverse mobility options, ensure safety by reducing sidewalk and pathway impediments, facilitate access for disabled individuals, educate users about the proper 4 rules and etiquette, create a legal and enforceable framework for managing shared mobility in the public right of way, and build good working partnerships with shared mobility service providers; and
WHEREAS, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, federal, state and local authorities have issued emergency declarations that order the closure of non-essential business and require residents to stay at home; as a result, due to the uncertainty related to the rapidly evolving situation, on March 24, 2020, staff issued an addendum to the Request for Application soliciting operators for the second pilot program to extend the submission deadline to May 28, 2020 and postpone the selection process until June 2020; and WHEREAS, Council action is now needed to extend the term of the first pilot program to September 13, 2020 and change the start date of the second pilot program to September 14, 2020.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.21.090 is hereby amended to read as follows:
3.21.090 Pilot Program Term
Permits issued pursuant to this Chapter shall terminate and be of no further force or effect beyond September 13June 30, 2020, unless otherwise extended or terminated earlier by the City.
5 SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.22.090 is hereby amended to read as follows:
3.22.090 Pilot Program Term
Permits issued pursuant to this Chapter shall take effect on September 14July 1, 2020, and be of no further force or effect beyond January 1, 2022, unless otherwise extended or terminated earlier by the City.
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. In particular, but without limitation, Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 3.21 shall be repealed effective as of September 13, 2020. This repeal of Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 3.21 as of September 13, 2020, shall have no effect on the terms of agreements entered into between operators and the City in conjunction with shared mobility operator permits issued pursuant to Chapter 3.21, including without limitation any indemnification agreements, to the extent those terms, by their nature, are intended to have effect beyond the term of such shared mobility operator permits.
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 6 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:
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GEORGE CARDONA
Interim City Attorney