Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association

March 23, 2001 Canyon Bulletin

Appeal Filed - Summary, Background, Request & Approval

BRIEF SUMMARY: A neighbor of the Canyon Service Station has appealed the City Planning Department’s grant of a variance that permits the Canyon Service Station to conduct an auto detailing service. The City Council’s Planning and Land Use [PLUM] committee will consider the appeal on April 17, 2001 at 1:00 PM in Room 316, City Hall, 200 North Main Street, downtown. The appeal will be considered by the full City Council in Room 300 on April 25 at approximately 10 AM. Each consideration will include a full public hearing.

BACKGROUND. The Canyon Service Station has existed on its current site for nearly 80 years. It is located on a remaining unsubdivided parcel of land dating back to the original Mexican Land Grant to Pascual Marques. Located in a residential area, the station was constructed before the canyon was annexed to the City of Los Angeles in 1925. Upon adoption of the zoning code after World War II, the station became a “nonconforming use,” requiring special planning approval/waivers to continue operating in a residential zone. These waivers have been granted on several occasions, with the most recent approval set to expire June 1, 2001. At one time there was an outdoor lift or hoist that permitted automobile maintenance and servicing. The hoist was removed to comply with a municipal code ban on outdoor hoists

REQUEST. Mr. Brian Clark leased the station in April 1996. In 1997, Mr. Clark began an automobile detailing service. After a complaint, the station was cited for a zoning violation. Mr. Clark requested a zoning variance to permit the operation of the detailing service [Case # 99-0041(ZV)-A1, Council File 01-0089]. Mr. Clark has stated that the income from the detailing is necessary to make the station economically viable. A Public Hearing was held in the West Los Angeles City Hall before a zoning administrator [“ZA”] on April 29, 1999. Opponents of the station claimed annoying glare from station lights, odors and runoff of water used in the detailing operation, noise of car vacuums, and traffic impact from cars and trucks. Supporters noted that the station is a valued historic institution, provides valuable services to residents, responds to complaints and has proven a good neighbor. The City has given an environmental clearance to the detailing operation, classified the hazard of chemicals used as not significant [not exceeding normal household cleaners]. A Transportation Department study found that any traffic impact is not significant.



APPEAL OF ZA DETERMINATION. The determination of the ZA was appealed to the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission [WLAAPC], which held a public hearing on September 20, 2000. Your Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association testified in support of the ZA Determination at this hearing. The WLAAPC denied the appeal, sustained the ZA determination, granted the variance and modified the ZA conditions including, as follows:
o Restricting auto detailing hours of operation to 10 AM to 5 PM Monday through Saturday and from 11 AM to 3 PM on Sunday,
o Limiting vacuum noise to “standard decibel levels of noise appropriate for R-1 use,”
o Clarifying that no party may sell merchandise,
o Requiring that station floodlights must be turned off when the station is closed, and
o Adding a restriction to time of truck deliveries and septic tank cleaning to Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM and none on weekends.

WHAT YOU CAN DO.
o Reply to this email with any comments you may have for the SMCCA board to consider,
o Contact City Clerk to be notified of future City hearing dates, jwhite@clerk.lacity.org — reference CF #01-0089,
o Attend the public hearings listed above, or submit written comments re CF 01-0089 to: PLUM Committee, c/o City Clerk, Room 615, City Hall, 200 North Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 [please send copy to: SMCCA, P.O. Box 3441, Santa Monica, CA 90408-3441, or by email: infosmcca@aol.com ].

Approval and Appeal; What You Can Do

APPROVAL. The ZA approved a variance to the municipal code to permit the requested auto detailing service subject to 17 conditions including:
o Limiting hours of operation of the station and the detailing to between the hours of 7:30 AM and 8 PM Monday through Saturday and 8:30 AM to 7 PM Sunday,
o Requiring detailing to be by appointment only and staggered, with a record kept in a log available to the City for review,
o Limiting automobiles on site for detailing to three plus one waiting to be picked up,
o Prohibiting runoff from any water used [must be collected in existing underground tank],
o Spraying of chemicals is not permitted, sponge application must be used,
o Limiting vacuum cleaners to two in use at any one time,
o Prohibiting freestanding signs, temporary signs, sidewalk signs, banners, pennants or streamers,
o Prohibiting any other party from selling merchandise such as firewood, vehicles, motorcycles, or flowers, and
o Requiring that, only illumination from the “GAS” neon sign in the office and pump lights is permitted when the station is closed,

APPEAL OF ZA DETERMINATION. The determination of the ZA was appealed to the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission [WLAAPC], which held a public hearing on September 20, 2000. Your Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association testified in support of the ZA Determination at this hearing. The WLAAPC denied the appeal, sustained the ZA determination, granted the variance and modified the ZA conditions including, as follows:
o Restricting auto detailing hours of operation to 10 AM to 5 PM Monday through Saturday and from 11 AM to 3 PM on Sunday,
o Limiting vacuum noise to “standard decibel levels of noise appropriate for R-1 use,”
o Clarifying that no party may sell merchandise,
o Requiring that station floodlights must be turned off when the station is closed, and
o Adding a restriction to time of truck deliveries and septic tank cleaning to Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 6 PM and none on weekends.

WHAT YOU CAN DO.
o Reply to this email with any comments you may have for the SMCCA board to consider,
o Contact City Clerk to be notified of future City hearing dates, jwhite@clerk.lacity.org — reference CF #01-0089,
o Attend the public hearings listed above, or submit written comments re CF 01-0089 to: PLUM Committee, c/o City Clerk, Room 615, City Hall, 200 North Main Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 [please send copy to: SMCCA, P.O. Box 3441, Santa Monica, CA 90408-3441, or by email: infosmcca@aol.com ].

Councilmember Miscikowski Visits Canyon

.Councilmember Cindy Miscikowsky will be visiting the Canyon during the last week in March. Among the items we will be discussing with her are traffic conditions, deteriorating streets and sidewalks, maintenance of the Chautauqua Tunnel, safety of cyclists on Entrada Drive, and restaurant parking alternatives. If you have a specific item for her attention, please respond to our P.O. Box, [SMCCA, P.O. Box 3441, Santa Monica, CA 90408-3441] or send an email to infosmcca@aol.com . Please include your name and address so we can update our email list.

Email us
infosmcca@aol.com