1 City Council Meeting: November 11, 2024 Santa Monica, California RESOLUTION NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ESTABLISHING ENFORCEMENT OF FENCE, WALL AND HEDGE HEIGHTS
AS THE LOWEST CODE ENFORCEMENT PRIORITY
WHEREAS, the City’s Code Enforcement Division is tasked with protecting the health, safety and welfare of all those that work, live in, and visit the City; and WHEREAS, through prompt and vigorous enforcement of the City’s codes related to housing, building safety, property maintenance, nuisances, and noise, the Code Enforcement Division helps protect the quality of life and overall welfare of the community; and
WHEREAS, the City Council previously established maximum heights for fences, walls, and hedges in the City’s Zoning Ordinance and applicable Specific Plans; and WHERAS, the Code Enforcement is responsible for enforcement of fences, walls and hedges that exceed those established maximum heights; and WHEREAS, the Code Enforcement Division is also responsible for investigating and enforcing a wide range of matters that protect habitability and keeping people housed, including, but not limited to, substandard housing, dangerous buildings, tenant harassment, and disruption of housing services; and
WHEREAS, on average, Code Enforcement investigates approximately 1600- 1800 cases a year, 1.5% of which is dedicated to enforcement of overheight fences, walls and hedges; and
2 WHEREAS, with the broad swath of issues addressed by the Code Enforcement Division, it is essential to establish priorities based on severity and overall impact of a violation; and
WHEREAS, the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic devastated nearly all of the City’s revenue streams, including sales tax, transient occupancy tax, parking revenue, and business license revenue; and
WHEREAS, after reviewing these impacts at its April 14, 2020, meeting, the City Council directed staff to develop a plan to restructure City operations to meet the challenges posed by COVID-19 and to balance the budget; and WHEREAS, on May 5, 2020, the City Council adopted a restructuring plan (the “Restructuring Plan”) which, among other things, merged divisions from the Planning and Community Development and Community Services Departments into the Community Development and Community Services Departments; and
WHEREAS, the City’s restructuring efforts continued after the adoption of the restructuring plan, and, in part, included the City Council endorsing Code Enforcement priorities; and
WHEREAS, consistent with past practices, the prioritized health and safety and housing-related issues, and placed overheight fences, walls and hedges as a lower priority; and
WHEREAS, the State is experiencing a housing supply crisis, with housing demand far outstripping supply; and
3 WHEREAS, the housing crisis has resulted in increased poverty and homelessness, especially first-time homelessness, and forced lower income residents into crowded and unsafe housing in urban areas; and
WHEREAS, on February 14, 2023, the City Council adopted a Proclamation Declaring a Local Emergency on Homelessness, which was extended on May 9, 2023, and again on May 14, 2024; and
WHEREAS, the Proclamation has been used to advance several key initiatives related to homelessness and keeping people housed, including, but not limited to:
entering into a contract for support with research and recommendations for the City’s efforts to increase renters’ protections, increasing the amount of monthly income assistance provided to participants in the Preserving Our Diversity Program, which provides monthly cash-based assistance to eligible senior households to help achieve a basic after-rent income to support aging in place; and
WHEREAS, the Proclamation further enables the City to, among other things, prevent rent price gouging through enforcement of Penal Code section 396(e) to limit rent increases to more than 10% a year during the existence of the Proclamation; and WHEREAS, on October 22, 2024, the City Council gave the City Manager and the City Attorney direction to return at the next City Council meeting with a resolution to adopt a policy that height regulations for fences, walls, and hedges set forth in the City’s Zoning Ordinance and any applicable Specific Plan are the lowest code enforcement priority, and affirming that habitability and keeping people housed should be the highest priorities for Code Enforcement.
4 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Lowest Code Enforcement Priority. The City Council hereby establishes height regulations for fences, walls and hedges as set forth in the Zoning Ordinance and any applicable Specific Plan the lowest Code Enforcement priority and further declares that habitability and keeping people housed, as the highest priority.
SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
DOUGLAS SLOAN
City Attorney