Local Coastal Plan – Land Use Plan (LUP) Amendment
Proposal: Amend the LUP with new language reflecting current conditions and policies consistent with
the Downtown Specific Plan.1

Amendment language should not reference DSP policies as “incorporated herein” or the whole
DSP will need Coastal Commission approval.

Following Council adoption of the DSP and LUP amendment, the amendment needs to be
submitted for Coastal Commission Review
LUP sub-areas included in the DSP boundaries:
The boundaries of the DSP include 3 LUP sub-areas:
1. Sub-area 5 (Downtown): covers most of the coastal downtown area (eastern boundary at 4th
St.).
2. Sub-area 3b: includes the Miramar and Palisades Park
3. Sub-area 4 (North Side Residential): includes the Huntley
QUESTION: Should Map 4 be revised so that all of DSP area is within sub-area 5?
Document Locations to be amended:

Update intro narrative

Update background statements, current conditions
From the September 23, 2008 Council Staff report for the Shore Hotel (
Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan Amendment
The Land Use Plan (LUP) of the City’s Local Coastal Program was adopted by the City in August, 1992,
and contains a description of the conditions and issues relative to Santa Monica’s Coastal Zone and
presents land use and development policies designed to fulfill the intent of the California Coastal
Act. The Scenic and Visual Resources Map No. 13 of the LUP identifies “Scenic Corridors” along several
streets and identifies the second and third floor viewing platforms on the west side of Santa Monica Place
as a “Public Viewing Area”. Elsewhere in the document, the area is described as “public ocean-viewing
platforms on the west side of the complex”. Policy No. 49 of the LUP addresses new development and
protection of public views. This Policy references Map No. 13 and clarifies that “public views shall
mean views to the ocean from…designated public viewing areas.”
The project includes a request to revise the Scenic and Visual Resources Map No. 13 of the Land Use
Plan of the Local Coastal Program to remove the second and third floor public viewing platforms on the
west side of Santa Monica Place from the map. Although the second floor public viewing platform will be
eliminated by the Santa Monica Place remodel, the proposed project would block the view from the third
floor viewing deck. Consequently, without the Amendment, the project would not be consistent with this
provision of the City’s Local Coastal Program.
1
The August 1992 LUP has been scanned in with character recognition (Folder: STP/share/Local Coastal Plan)
In approving the building at 1540 Second Street in 2004 the Coastal Commission found the views from the
Santa Monica Place viewing decks were not significant and the decks offered very little ocean viewing
opportunities for the public due to the location of the mall, existing development and other obstructions along
Second Street and Ocean Avenue, and for these reasons suggested that the City should have amended the
Land Use Plan Scenic and Visual Resources Map to remove the decks as public viewing decks prior to City
approval of the development. In approving the remodel of Santa Monica Place in 2007, the Coastal
Commission staff acknowledged that the public viewing decks on the second and third floors were no longer
relevant but that the visitor-serving opportunities offered by the remodeled mall, including a smaller 5,700
square foot open public deck on the third floor adjacent to an 8,000 square foot enclosed food court, would
continue to be available. Based on its past actions, the Coastal Commission is expected to support the
proposed amendment to the LUP. With this amendment, the project will be consistent with the Local Coastal
Program Land Use Plan.
The proposed project would result in the loss of scenic views of the ocean from the third floor publicly
accessible viewing decks located on the west side of Santa Monica Place. However, as detailed
subsequently in this report, the significance of this resource has been diminished over time both in terms of
the extent of the view and its utilization, and it is not feasible to reduce the size of the proposed project with its
necessary attendant reduction in hotel rooms and at the same time retain the proposed project’s relative
affordability. The proposed project’s benefit of providing affordable visitor-serving lodging near the coast is
being balanced by the loss of this diminished ocean view.
However, as an alternative to removing the public viewing decks at Santa Monica Place from the Scenic and
Visual Resources Map No. 13, staff recommends an amendment to the Map to define the views afforded by
the remodeled viewing deck, and clarify that the views that will be obstructed by the proposed project are not
included.