Commission Paves Way for More Outdoor Dining

By Gene Williams
Staff Writer

May 5 -- Third Street Promenade landlords got a break Wednesday night, when the Planning Commission recommended easing regulations for converting restaurant space to retail on the world-famous walk street.

But the commission was wary of going as far as City staff had wanted in loosening the restrictions.

"There are loose ends, so to speak, here," commission chair Jay Johnson said about the staff proposal. "I'm personally still concerned about giving up food service for retail."

In a separate action, the commission also approved a staff recommendation to make it easier for small sidewalk cafes to open in the city.

Questions about how to keep the right mix of restaurant, retail and entertainment use on the Promenade and encourage more outdoor dining have been stewing inside City Hall for years. The discussion is being put on the front burner again by a series of proposals that have come forward in recent weeks.

In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the commission said that landlords with restaurants on their Promenade property shouldn't be required to get a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to rent space out to retailers, as long as a portion of the restaurant space and all outdoor dining space is preserved.

In order to convert without getting a CUP -- a difficult process that doesn't necessarily lead to a permit -- a redesigned restaurant space would have to keep at least two-thirds of its original frontage for food service with a depth of no less than 75 feet, the commission decided.

The outdoor dining area could either be reconfigured on site or swapped to another location on the same block

Staff had recommended 16 feet as the minimum frontage needed to be kept regardless of how large the original restaurant was. But commissioner Hank Koning thought that would be giving too much away.

"That's a hell of a lot of flexibility to allow them to reduce (restaurant space) so much without a CUP," Koning said.

As the proposal threatened to stall out in deliberations, Koning came up with the two-thirds standard that moved the plan forward.

The provision is an amendment to an ordinance that took effect early this year, following a five-year interim measure that tried to place a moratorium on retail conversion of restaurant space in Santa Monica's popular shopping-and-dining area.

Unlike the earlier regulations, the restrictions on conversion would only apply to restaurants already in existence. Therefore, a landlord could rent out to an eatery now without worrying about not being able to convert back to retail later if the restaurant failed.

City and Bayside officials say some form of regulation is necessary to keep restaurateurs from getting squeezed out by well-heeled retailers willing to pay higher rents. Keeping the restaurants is vital, to the Promenade's success, they said. The problem is striking the right balance of uses and interests.

The amendment will now go to the City Council, where it is likely to get tinkered with before a final vote.

Last week the council approved sidewalk dining around the pavilions at either end of the Promenade. The council will likely consider extending sidewalk café service further, including along the center courts between the ivy-covered dinosaurs, when the restaurant to retail conversion issue comes before it, probably in early summer.

Also on Wednesday, the commission passed a staff recommendation to streamline the permit process and waive the requirement for additional on-site parking for applicants wishing to open 200 square feet or less of outdoor dining space. If approved by the council, the provision would include all areas in the City except the C5 zone.