City of Hermosa Beach - File #: REPORT 23-0289

File #:

REPORT 23-0289 Version: 1

Name:

Type:

Action Item

Status:

Consent Calendar

File created:

5/11/2023

In control:

City Council

On agenda:

6/13/2023

Final action:

Title:

INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PERMANENT OUTDOOR PERMIT PROGRAMS AND DOWNTOWN LANE RECONFIGURATIONS AND ACCOMPANYING RESOLUTIONS (Environmental Programs Manager Doug Krauss)

Attachments:

Staff Report Text

Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council

Regular Meeting of June 13, 2023

Title

INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING

PERMANENT OUTDOOR PERMIT PROGRAMS AND

DOWNTOWN LANE RECONFIGURATIONS AND

ACCOMPANYING RESOLUTIONS

(Environmental Programs Manager Doug Krauss)

Body

Recommended Action:

Recommendation

Staff recommends City Council:

1. Introduce and waive full reading and introduce by title only an Ordinance of the City of Hermosa Beach, California, amending Chapter 12.16 of the Hermosa Beach Municipal Code establishing an outdoor dining program and making procedural changes to the issuance and renewal of encroachments in the City and determining the ordinance to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) (Attachment 1);

2. Adopt a resolution approving revised guidelines for encroachments on Pier Plaza and off-Plaza public rights-of-way (Attachment 2);

3. Adopt a resolution establishing a fee schedule for encroachments citywide (Attachment 3); and

4. Direct the City Clerk to publish a summary ordinance.

Body

Executive Summary:

At its December 14, 2021 meeting, City Council provided staff with direction to develop long-term versions of the temporary outdoor dining and downtown lane reconfiguration programs that were created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Council subsequently extended the temporary program through May 1, 2023 with direction to staff to bring the elements of the program to Council before that date.

Some of the final elements necessary to establish the long-term program are presented here for Council’s approval and reflect feedback and direction provided by Council at its April 25, 2023 meeting. The final elements include an ordinance amending Chapter 12.16 (Encroachments) of the Hermosa Beach Municipal Code, a resolution revising existing operational and design guidelines for Pier Plaza and other off-street encroachments, a resolution for new encroachment fees, and accompanying CEQA determinations.

Background:

The City has long supported and encouraged outdoor dining on private and public property to supplement indoor operations. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and related heath orders, businesses were limited from operating indoors. Recognizing this hardship, City Council approved a program to allow expanded outdoor dining and other commercial activity. The City also suspended zoning and parking requirements to allow outdoor dining on private property and established a temporary encroachment permit program to allow encroachments into sidewalks, public streets, and Pier Plaza. Both the private property programs and encroachment program included a basic set of guidelines pertaining to hours of operation, permitted uses, maintenance, etc., collectively referred to hereafter as the Outdoor Permit Program.

The City issued over 60 permits during the term of the Outdoor Permit Program in a variety of commercial locations citywide including extended encroachments on Pier Plaza and encroachments into other public right-of-way areas. This included encroachment into on-street parking spaces, which had previously not been allowed in Hermosa Beach. Initially, City Council allowed these uses without consideration of any encroachment area rents or reimbursement of lost parking meter revenue. In June 2021, Council approved extension of this pilot program through December 31, 2021 and authorized implementation of a reapplication process for outdoor encroachment areas that included renewal of permissions from neighboring businesses and requirement of deposits to pay for removal of the decks should the City need to do so.

At its December 14, 2021 meeting, Council approved an extension of the programs through May 31, 2022. At its January 25, 2022 meeting, Council discussed implementing new fees for the temporary outdoor dining encroachments and approved a fee of $1.50 per square foot per month to begin March 1, 2022. Program revenues for the temporary encroachment areas were estimated to be approximately $400,000 annually, based on the number of encroachments in place at the time. At its February 8, 2022 meeting, Council also approved reinstatement of the encroachment fees for preexisting encroachment areas. These fees generate approximately $280,000 annually. At that meeting, Council also approved program refinements related to the use of temporary canopies, branded furniture, and enhanced maintenance.

City Council subsequently extended the program in both May and November of 2022 with a final extension to May 1, 2023 and direction to staff to bring the permanent program for consideration. At the April 25, 2023 meeting, staff proposed a number of key program elements and Council provided feedback and direction on revisions that are included here for approval. Additional program elements will come back at a later date.

Lane Reconfiguration

At the May 12, 2020 City Council meeting, City staff presented an item describing a concept to repurpose sections of public right-of-way to improve multimodal traffic safety and expand physical-distancing options for the public and businesses per Los Angeles County Health orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Doing so also worked to support many of the mobility goals described in PLAN Hermosa. The City Council moved quickly to accommodate these programs and staff developed guidelines based on information gathered from existing programs in other cities and internal review of policies and regulations.

City Council directed staff to work with the Economic Development Committee (EDC) to explore aspects of the program that could directly benefit local businesses. At meetings in August and September 2020, Council directed staff to move forward with designs of lane reconfiguration concepts for both Hermosa Avenue and Pier Avenue. These concepts included removing one through vehicle lane in each direction, addition of a bike lane, installation of new on-street accessible parking spaces, and associated signage and pavement markings. At its October 27, 2020 meeting, Council awarded a contract to perform the work. Work began in early January 2021 and was completed by January 16, 2021. At its July 13, 2021 meeting, Council approved a resolution extending the Downtown Lane Reconfiguration Program through the end of 2021. At its May 24, 2022 meeting, Council approved an extension of the program through January 1, 2023 and, in November 2022, extended the program again till May 1, 2023. At its April 25, 2023 meeting, Council approved keeping the lane reconfigurations, bike lanes, and street closures in place and the CEQA categorical exemption.

Past Council Actions

Meeting Date	Description
June 9, 2020	Approved Ordinance 20-1410U allowing temporary permit program for outdoor dining in response to pandemic.
July 14, 2020	Directed staff to proceed with development of lane closure plans.
June 22, 2021	Approved extension of the outdoor permit program through December 31, 2021.
July 13, 2021	Approved Resolution authorizing extension of lane reconfigurations.
October 26, 2021	Approved development and implementation of permanent versions of these programs.
December 14, 2021	Approved development of permanent programs, and extension of temporary programs through May 2022
January 25, 2022	Discussion and approval of new fees for temporary encroachments
Meeting Date	Description
February 8, 2022	Approved reinstatement of existing fees for permanent encroachment areas
May 24, 2022	Approved extension of programs through January 2023
June 14, 2022	Approved additional refinements to the outdoor dining programs
November 3, 2022	Approved extension of temporary programs through May 1, 2023
January 24, 2023	Consideration market rate appraisal, temporary rooftop dining, and changes to Pier Plaza temporary encroachments
March 28, 2023	Considered a draft ordinance related to permanent outdoor dining and retail
April 25, 2023	Considered program elements, provided feedback for revisions, and approved a resolution establishing lane reconfigurations, bike lanes and street closures.

Discussion:

As directed by Council, staff developed the elements necessary to establish a permanent version of the Outdoor Dining Program and Downtown Lane Reconfiguration Program. These elements include:

1. An ordinance amending Hermosa Beach Municipal Code Chapter 12.16 to establish basic guidelines for a permanent outdoor dining and retail program.

2. A resolution establishing a new fee schedule for encroachments citywide.

3. A resolution permanently establishing the downtown lane reconfigurations and bike lanes.

4. A resolution amending operational and design guidelines for Pier Plaza.

5. A CEQA determination for the program elements.

6. A resolution adopting guidelines for operational and design standards for on-street dining decks.

These elements were developed and reviewed by a diverse team of City staff, representing all City departments. The City secured specialists to help with traffic counts and analysis, CEQA findings, traffic safety and on-street dining deck specifications, and market appraisal of encroachment areas. Staff gathered feedback from businesses, community members, other agencies, and an array of stakeholders since 2020. The Economic Development Committee meetings, along with numerous City Council meetings, provided excellent feedback both from Councilmembers and the many people that have shared their views at these meetings. The Chamber of Commerce has been an essential partner in all these efforts, both sharing vital information with its members and gathering data through multiple surveys over the span of the temporary outdoor dining program (Attachment 4).

The status of each of these elements, along with recommendations, is detailed below.

1. Ordinance: Staff worked with the City Attorney to identify the various code amendments in Chapter 12.16 necessary to establish permanent outdoor dining programs in the public rights-of-way. Staff recommends creating a single program to regulate encroachments approved before the pandemic, as well as all temporary encroachments that may become permanent through this program. A single program would be easier both for City staff to implement and for businesses to understand. These modifications propose outdoor dining encroachments that would be allowed in certain public areas (Pier Plaza and the public rights-of-way such as sidewalks and parking spaces) and that encroachments for retail use would be allowed only on Pier Plaza. This would be accomplished via an encroachment permit subject to required findings by the City Manager or designee that must be renewed annually. Each possible type of encroachment (i.e., Pier Plaza, dining deck in a parking space, areas on the sidewalk) would have its own operational standards and the City Manager would have the ability to promulgate regulations furthering the intent of the ordinance without contradicting it.

Additionally, these encroachment permits are not vested land use rights such as a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or similar permit. Because the City is granting the use of public space for this private commercial activity, the City retains the ability to revoke the permit without cause. Importantly, the proposed regulations would require all applicants for an encroachment to be free of outstanding code violations and not be delinquent on encroachment fee payments. Upon annual review, any applicant in violation would not be allowed an encroachment permit.

Contained in this draft ordinance (Attachment 1) is language related to the regulation and administration of the encroachments, as mentioned above. Also included is language related to the maximum size and configuration of these encroachments. At the April 25, 2023 meeting, staff recommended:

• The option for businesses on Pier Plaza and other off-street encroachment areas to add up to 500 square feet of area with a not-to-exceed total area of 1,000 square feet. Pier Plaza encroachments would be limited to a maximum depth of 25 feet from the frontage, similar to the current temporary configuration (Attachment 5). This would allow many businesses to keep their entire temporary encroachment area. A few businesses would be required to reduce their temporary encroachments to meet this requirement but it also allows prior, long-standing encroachments (such as Martha’s on 22^nd Street), to maintain its historic encroachment areas intact. A map of existing encroachment areas and a chart of their square footage is provided for reference (Attachment 6). Should all businesses choose to participate, the future encroachment areas would appear almost identical to the current layout with a few reducing in size from their current temporary encroachment areas.

At its April 25, 2023 meeting, Council considered this recommendation and suggested that, instead of each business, each parcel be allowed 1,000 square feet maximum outdoor dining. At Council’s request, staff analyzed this suggestion and found that many of the businesses on Pier Plaza share parcels. Six of the parcels on Pier Plaza are home to multiple businesses, including mixes of retail and restaurants. Only two individual businesses occupy two parcels each-one retail and one restaurant. This mix of businesses and parcels would complicate the calculation of outdoor dining space allowed per business and seemingly counter the intent of Council to allow equitable allowance of additional public rights-of-way for these outdoor dining areas.

Consequently, staff suggests two alternate options for establishing maximum allowable outdoor dining area. Both options would maintain a maximum extension from frontage of 25 feet for Pier Plaza businesses:

- Approve the original staff recommendation of allowing each business 500 square feet in addition to their original pre-existing encroachments with a maximum of 1,000 square feet per business. This would require four businesses to reduce their current temporary encroachments.

- Approve the maximum of 1,000 square feet of encroachment per business but, specifically on Pier Plaza, allow encroachments to extend a maximum of 25 feet from frontage, no matter the square footage. This would result in two Plaza businesses reducing their current temporary encroachments (due to their current encroachments extending into neighboring frontages) and allow two businesses to maintain more than 1,000 square feet of encroachment.

• Restricting encroachment areas on Pier Plaza to only the limits of the property’s frontage. This, too, would require a few businesses to reconfigure or reduce their temporary encroachments. Because of their unique location, Loreto Plaza encroachments could be allowed pending review and approval of the City Manager.

• Per Council’s direction at its April 25, 2023 meeting, it is proposed to limit hours of operation on the encroachment areas to 12:30 A.M. for Pier Plaza, applied to the entire encroachment area, including both the pre-pandemic encroachments and any newly added encroachment area. Businesses that close before midnight would be required to end operations on their outdoor encroachment areas by 11:00 P.M. On-street encroachments would continue to be limited to 11:00 P.M. closure. Encroachments adjacent residential properties or with other unique considerations, such as North End Bar and Grill, may be subject to alternative operational hours and conditions, per City review.

• On-street encroachment areas (“dining decks”) would maintain their current maximum size regulations of two parallel or three head-in parking spaces. Where the encroachment is entirely within the business frontage, these maximum areas are three parallel and four head-in parking spaces.

The more specific guidelines and operational standards for these different encroachments are recommended to be approved separately via resolutions including: one for encroachments on Pier Plaza, sidewalks, and off-street areas (Attachment 2) and another resolution for on-street encroachments, to be brought to Council at a later date.

2. New fee schedule for encroachments. In January of 2022, City Council approved establishing fees for temporary encroachments created during the pandemic. These fees were set at $1.50 per square foot per month. Additionally, Council approved reinstating prior encroachments fees per the schedule shown below:

Location and Operation Category	Fee per square foot per month
On Pier Plaza, closes after midnight	$5
On Pier Plaza, closes before midnight	$2
Not on Pier Plaza; snack shop on Pier Plaza	$1

City staff analyzed many potential fee structures for these encroachments. This analysis included surveys of other agencies in the region and extensive feedback from local businesses, including data from a recent survey performed by the Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, the City hired a third-party expert to perform a market rate appraisal of all pre-existing and temporary encroachment areas, which was considered by City Council at its January 24, 2023 meeting.

After careful analysis of this varied data, staff proposed a fee schedule at the April 25, 2023 meeting that sought to balance the City’s costs, the value to private businesses of using public rights-of-way, and the need to establish a reasonable fee that would encourage utilization of the outdoor dining program. The following table illustrates the proposed fees and encroachment categories:

Location and Operation Category	Fee per square foot per month	Percent increase over current fees
On Pier Plaza, closes after midnight, serving alcohol	$6	20 percent
On Pier Plaza, closes before midnight, serving alcohol	$3	50 percent
On-street, sidewalk, off-Pier Plaza, on Pier Plaza not serving alcohol, Pier Plaza retail	$2	100 percent for previous $1 fees. 33 percent for temporary $1.50 fees.

For comparison, the market rates stated in the recent aforementioned appraisal report were as follows:

• Pier Plaza properties-$5.67 per square foot;

• Hermosa Avenue properties (including off-street encroachments)-$4.83 per square foot; and

• Properties east of Hermosa Avenue (i.e., Pier Avenue)-$4 per square foot

At its April 25, 2023 meeting, Council instead proposed an alternative fee schedule that suggested a three-year “ramp up” of fees based on encroachment categories reflective of operating hours. Proposed to go into effect on July 1, 2023, this proposed fee schedule is shown below:

Encroachment Area Category	Proposed Fee per square foot, per month for 2023-24	Proposed Fee per square foot, per month for 2024-25	Proposed Fee per square foot, per month for 2025-26
Pier Plaza, closes after midnight	$4.00	$5.00	$6.00
Pier Plaza, closes before midnight	$2.00	$3.00	$4.00
Pier Plaza, closes encroachment before 11pm; off-Pier Plaza; on-street; sidewalk; retail	$1.00	$2.00	$2.50

The proposed rates would result in a discount for some businesses in this first year of implementation in comparison to the rates for pre-existing encroachments and the current fee of $1.50 for on-street encroachments. Staff estimates that these proposed fees would generate approximately $525,860 in the first year, approximately $29,658 less than the current fees to current businesses (Attachment 7).

Staff is also developing new application review fees for all encroachment types. These would factor in rates for City staff review time and will be brought back to Council later for review and approval.

3. Downtown lane reconfigurations and bike lanes. At its April 25, 2023 meeting, Council adopted a resolution to make permanent the downtown lane reconfigurations, bike lanes, and lane closures implemented on a temporary basis beginning in 2020.

4. Operational and design guidelines for Pier Plaza, sidewalks, and off-street encroachments. Staff recommends Council approve a resolution adopting amended guidelines for encroachments on Pier Plaza and other off-street public right-of-way areas (Attachment 2). These guidelines include more specific details on operational and design concerns such as application procedures, placement of furniture, accessibility and insurance requirements, maintenance, and cleanliness requirements, etc. These are largely unchanged from the guidelines that have been in place since 2015 but do reflect the prohibition to queueing that was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines also reiterate the existing requirement that applicants plan be prepared by a licensed design professional to ensure the encroachment areas meet relevant operational and safety requirements, ADA-accessibility requirements, and certain basic aesthetic goals.

5. CEQA determination. The City utilized a third-party CEQA specialist to analyze the proposed permanent programs and develop a report. The CEQA specialist analyzed separately the two projects:

A. The permanent Pier Plaza and other prior off-street encroachment program (“Pier Plaza Encroachment Program Modifications”); and

B. The permanent on-street outdoor dining and lane reconfigurations (“Outdoor Dining”).

Per the report the proposed projects are Categorically Exempt per the California Environmental Quality Act. The projects’ descriptions and exemption categories are each described below:

A. Pier Plaza Encroachment Program Modifications: The proposed project would modify the existing program that allows retail, eating, and drinking establishments to encroach onto the public rights-of-way on Pier Plaza for the purpose of providing outdoor dining. The project would allow an increase of 4,200 square feet of outdoor dining in the public right-of-way on Pier Plaza. The City currently allows 5,700 square feet of outdoor dining on Pier Plaza, excluding additional areas allowed under the temporary ordinance.

Outdoor dining is currently allowed to extend up to 13 feet into the Plaza area along the entire length of the dining establishment’s frontage on Pier Plaza. The proposed project would allow dining areas to extend an additional 12 feet into Pier Plaza for a total of 25 feet.

Unlike the outdoor dining areas that would be allowed elsewhere, outdoor dining areas on Pier Plaza would not include dining decks or any permanent modifications within the public right-of-way but would be limited to the temporary placement of tables, chairs, umbrellas, planters, and other elements that serve the allowed use. Canopies would not be allowed to extend beyond currently allowed outdoor dining areas and umbrellas would be removed at the end of business hours. All individual encroachment permits would be subject to the review and approval of the City Manager to ensure compliance with the modified program’s restrictions and guidelines, including avoidance of significant visual intrusion into the public view corridor to the open sky and ocean from Pier Plaza.

Environmental Determination:

The proposed project is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as defined in Section 15300 of the CEQA Guidelines, in accordance with Section 15061, the ‘common sense’ exemption, and Section 15301 which addresses minor alteration of existing public facilities, specifically:

15061(b)(3)-The project is covered by the common sense exemption that applies where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.

15301(c)-Existing highways and streets, sidewalks, gutters, bicycle and pedestrian trails, and similar facilities (this includes road grading for the purpose of public safety), and other alterations such as the addition of bicycle facilities, including but not limited to bicycle parking, bicycle-share facilities and bicycle lanes, transit improvements such as bus lanes, pedestrian crossings, street trees, and other similar alterations that do not create additional automobile lanes.

None of the exceptions to the Categorical Exemption apply, nor would the project result in a significant cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place over time or have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances or damage a scenic highway or scenic resources within a state scenic highway. The site is not located on a hazardous waste site and would not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource.

B. Outdoor Dining: The Outdoor Dining Program would enable commercial eating and drinking establishments located in specific areas of Hermosa Beach to use portions of City right-of-way for outdoor dining purposes. The proposed project consists of two components: (1) a Downtown Lane Reconfiguration Program that would establish permanent lane reconfigurations on Hermosa Avenue and Pier Avenue to create areas designated for outdoor dining and improve safety for multimodal traffic; and (2) an Outdoor Dining Permit Program that would create a permanent program to permit outdoor dining in specific areas.

Outdoor Permit Program

The project would establish an administrative permit process to allow outdoor dining at commercial eating and drinking establishments within Neighborhood Commercial (C1), Downtown Commercial (C2) and the Upper Pier Avenue Specific Plan Area (SPA 11) zones. The geographic extent of these areas is depicted in Exhibit 3. The proposed program is bound by limits:

A. The maximum square footage of total outdoor dining in all areas shown in Exhibit 3 must not exceed 9,500 square feet.

B. The maximum number of on-street public parking spaces that can be converted to permanent dining areas is 78 spaces. In addition to the overall limit of 78 spaces, the program would also limit the number of spaces converted to outdoor dining in each of the City’s three Coastal subzones to no more than two percent of the on-street parking in each zone. Per the City’s most recent parking inventory (City of Hermosa Beach, 2019), there are 3,969 total on-street parking spaces within the Coastal Zone, with 2,016 spaces in Zone 1, 1,183 in Zone 2, and 770 in Zone 3 (See Table 1 below and Exhibit 4). Applying the two percent limit, the maximum spaces available for outdoor dining in Zone 1 would be 40, 23 in Zone 2 and 15 spaces in Zone 3. At present, 35 on-street public spaces have been converted to outdoor dining areas and/or bike lanes through the City’s Temporary Lane Reconfiguration Program. These spaces would be able to retain their current configuration under the proposed project, along with the conversion of up to an additional 43 on-street spaces.

TABLE 1

PARKING SPACES AVAILABLE FOR OUTDOOR DINING USE

UNDER THE PROPOSED PROJECT

Parking Zone	Total On-Street Spaces	2 Percent	Spaces Currently Used for Outdoor Dining	Proposed Available Spaces Currently Not In Use
ZONE 1	2,016	40	2	38
ZONE 2	1,183	23	33	10
ZONE 3	770	15	0	15
TOTAL	3,969	78	35	43

C. Lane reconfigurations to accommodate outdoor dining are limited to the existing lane reconfigurations shown in the attachment.

D. The proposed program would be subject to additional restrictions. To be eligible for an outdoor dining permit, individual eating and dining establishments must not only be located in one of the three zones identified above (C1, C2 or SPA11); in addition, if the outdoor dining area is to be located in the public right-of-way that fronts a street, the street must have a speed limit of 25 miles per hour or less. The proposed project also limits outdoor dining to locations that meet the following conditions:

1. The use does not obstruct access to public utilities and infrastructure for emergency or maintenance purposes.

2. All dining areas are in an area where all public services and facilities are available to allow for maximum development permissible in the General Plan.

3. The area in which individual dining areas will be located is not environmentally sensitive.

4. No individual dining area that significantly impacts an historical, cultural, or tribal resource will be permitted.

Under the proposed program, outdoor dining permit applications would be reviewed administratively by the City Manager or designee with the participation of the Public Works, Community Development, Police, and Fire Departments. The proposed permanent Outdoor Permit Program includes a set of Guidelines and Conditions of Approval for individual projects permitted under the program, along with design guidelines for encroachment.

Environmental Determination:

The proposed project is Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as defined in Section 15300 of the CEQA Guidelines, as follows.

The Lane Reconfiguration component of the project is exempt in accordance with Section 15301, which addresses minor alteration of existing public facilities; and Section 15304, which addresses minor alterations to public land. This was approved by Council at the April 25, 2023 City Council meeting.

The Outdoor Dining component of the project is exempt in accordance with Section 15301, which addresses additions to existing structures, and 15303, which addresses construction of limited numbers of new, small structures. More specifically, the following subcategory applies.

15301(e)-additions to existing structures, provided that the addition will not result in an increase of more than 10,000 square feet if:

A. The project is in an area where all public services and facilities are available to allow for maximum development permissible in the General Plan; and

B. The area in which the project is located is not environmentally sensitive.

15303(e)-construction of small new facilities or structures including accessory (appurtenant) structures including garages, carports, patios, swimming pools, and fences.

Though both projects are categorically exempt. The City conducted extensive analysis of the potential environmental effects of the on-street outdoor dining deck and lane reconfigurations to help support the determination. The effort included technical studies on traffic, noise, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy consumption impacts. This was also done because the project is based on a relatively new, temporary program that did not exist before the COVID-19 pandemic, as opposed to the Pier Plaza encroachment program, which is simply a revision of an existing program.

6. Operational and design standards for on-street dining decks. Staff will finalize these standards and return to Council for review and approval at an upcoming meeting. Additional development time for these program elements would allow further refinement and coordination with a phased implementation that would be more administratively efficient for the City and potential applicants. The delay is also reflective of the still-evolving nature of on-street dining programs throughout the region, which has made difficult staff’s ability to gather definitive information on safety and construction.

The operation and design standard will include process guidelines for applicants, as well as aesthetic and operational parameters. Operational parameters will include essential traffic safety and structural specifications. Staff is working closely with a traffic engineer on these elements of the program. From a risk management standpoint, staff is consulting with California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA) on its guidelines regarding on-street dining decks and will incorporate these recommendations into the staff recommended standards. Additional time to develop these standards would ensure that staff has considered every aspect of the physical elements of the on-street dining deck program.

Next Steps

Staff will return to Council at an upcoming meeting to seek approval of the final design and operational guidelines for the on-street dining decks. As directed by Council, all pre-existing and temporary encroachments will be allowed to endure through the summer before reapplying for permits October 1. The new encroachment fee schedule suggested by Council on April 25, if approved, will go into effect July 1.

City staff has also met with Coastal Commission staff and established that a five-year pilot program would be an effective approach to lead to a permanent program. The pilot program would include ongoing monitoring and assessment to document the project’s effect on parking and coastal access. This may also include testing a variety of programs and measures to ensure adequate coastal access is maintained during the pilot. Staff is currently working to develop acceptable measures to be incorporated into the program that would satisfy the criteria for the Coastal Development Permit.

General Plan Consistency:

The proposed program options match the model of “living streets”, also known as “complete streets”, which supports a key guiding principle of the General Plan Vision, of fostering a vibrant local economy. A living street combines safety and livability while supporting ground floor and outdoor economic activities. This centers on designing streets that can be safely shared by both vehicular and non-vehicular traffic. A living street should also contribute to an engaging public realm and a vibrant local economy.

Relevant Goals and Policies are listed below:

Governance Element

Goal 6. A broad-based and long-term economic development strategy for Hermosa Beach that supports existing businesses while attracting new business and tourism.

Policies:

• 6.4 Business support. Support the Chamber of Commerce, retailers, tourist service businesses, artists, and other agencies to develop an aggressive marketing strategy with implementation procedures.

• 6.6 Pop-up shops. Develop plans and programs for underutilized spaces, such as vacant buildings, utility corridors, parkways, etc., for temporary retail, restaurant, and community promoting uses.

Mobility Element

Goal 1. Complete Streets (Living Streets) that serve the diverse functions of mobility, commerce, recreation, and community engagement for all users whether they travel by walking, bicycling, transit, or driving.

Policy:

• 1.1 Consider all modes. Require the planning, design, and construction of all new and existing transportation projects to consider the needs of all modes of travel to create safe, livable and inviting environments for all users of the system.

Goal 7. A transportation system that results in zero transportation-related fatalities and which minimizes injuries.

Policy:

• 7.1 Safe public rights-of-way. Encourage that all public rights-of-way are for all users at all times of day where users of all ages and ability feel comfortable participating in both motorized and non-motorized travel.

Fiscal Impact:

The Capital Improvement Fund includes $60,000 appropriated for the CEQA specialist to perform the CEQA analysis and an additional $60,000 was appropriated to fund additional traffic and parking analysis to support this work. Funds for ongoing annual traffic and parking analysis will be appropriated in the FY 2023-24 Budget.

The proposed encroachment fees are estimated to generate approximately $525,860 in revenue in the first year. This is a decrease of approximately $29,658 from the revenues generated by the current rates and current businesses. Staff is unable to predict final business participation levels and thus revenues could fluctuate significantly.

Staff will return to Council at a future meeting to establish application review fees and will provide revenue estimates at that time.

Attachments:

1. Draft Ordinance and CEQA Determination

2. Draft Resolution Establishing Guidelines for Pier Plaza and Off-Street Encroachments