If you have a space 30 seconds today, please call the Santa Monica City Council at (310) 458-8201. Give your name and tell them that you support the Santa Monica Food Truck Lot!
Thanks in Advance!
The Santa Monica Food Truck Lot battle wages on. With the help of our twitter followers (thank you, thank you, thank you), we’ve put pressure on the City to act fast to resolve this issue. Many of the letters highlighted the fact that there is some ambiguity in the zoning regulations (see letter below), which was our thought as well.
Today we’ve got a Land Use attorney trying to acquire a temporary special use permit from the City. I believe the continuing pressure from residents and visitors alike will ensure our success. Hopefully, we’ll be laughing about this next week, while we’re enjoying some delicious gourmet food on the lot.
Stay Tuned!
Matt Geller
Vice President
SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association
—————————————-
Dear Santa Monica City Council:
I write to you about the Santa Monica Food Truck Lot. It was shut down yesterday afternoon due to zoning rules, specifically the catchall prohibited use provision of §9.4.08.22.050. As best I can tell, none of the permitted uses (§ 9.4.08.22.020) include the purpose the lot served, which was to serve as a gathering place for several food trucks to provide lunch and dinner options for people nearby. I expect you have received other letters discussing why the lot is a fantastic idea, so I would like to speak directly to the zoning rules.
While such a lot does not fit neatly into the current list of permitted uses, there is no reason why the Zoning Administrator could not find a food truck lot “consistent and no more disruptive or disturbing” than anything in that list. Id. at (rr). Understandably, there is concern about the foot traffic and the eyesore from food trucks and long lines associated with them. But similar large gatherings of people and/or cars are anticipated by the conditionally permitted uses for auto dealerships §9.04.08.22.040 (b), parking lots (c), Drive-in or take-out restaurants (h), nightclubs (m), and farmers markets (n). Indeed, a food truck lot is analogous to an open air farmers market, with mobile stands and spontaneous crowds.
I request that the council do two things. As a temporary measure, it ought to ask the Zoning Administrator to provide the food truck lot a conditional permit under (rr). And as a permanent measure, it ought to amend §9.04.08.22.040 to include a food truck lot, or to expand (n) to include such a lot.
Thank you for your time,Mike
City Council Members,
I was very disappointed to hear that the Santa Monica Food Lot had been shut down.
When I first heard about this amazing array of trucks congregating in Santa Monica I felt as if our city (and I mean in the larger sense: Los Angeles) had turned some little corner in an attempt to inject some community to this part of the world.
I also, being a resident of the Hollywood Hills, planned to travel to the WESTSIDE to eat there, something I never do because driving 45 minutes to do anything in Santa Monica is something I try to avoid because of the time involved.
It seems to me that uses (ee) (restaurants of 50 seats or less) and (hh) (sidewalk cafes) in the C4 zone code allow for this very thing.
The Santa Monica Foot Lot might even be protect by (bb) (Places of Worship) if the food is good enough.
As a Los Angeles resident for the past 33 years, when I think of Santa Monica I think of all the great strides you’ve made with public spaces. From the Santa Monica Pier to the 3rd Street Promenade to the bustling Farmer’s Markets you’ve consistently enriched your own city and those cities surrounding you with your smart planning and community-building initiatives. the Santa Monica Food Lot is just tailor made for what seems to be your city’s directive.
I hope that you’ll reconsider or find a way to clear up this zoning misunderstanding and allow this new addition to thrive in Santa Monica.
Sincerely,
Justine Bateman
Food Truck Eater
Tanya77.tumblr.com
Special thanks to Alexis (@littleartwork) for her email to the city council.
Dear City Council,
I am writing to inform you of my extreme displeasure at the decision to shut down the food truck lot on 14th and Santa Monica. The so-called “zoning” problem isn’t the issue, because the C4 District specifically allows “restaurants,” which is what the food trucks are. The issue here is that you just don’t like them, and you’re looking for whatever excuse you can come up with.
The food truck lot was a brilliant idea. Not only did it transform a boring part of our city which had very limited food options into a lively, fun spot, but it allowed us to be able to find the trucks, rather than having to trek downtown or to westwood or wherever their current popular spots are (never Santa Monica, thanks to all our anti-fun decisions). They were a pain to track down! Finally, a place right nearby where we could always find them. A reliable place with constantly changing, and always delicious food. Have you even tried some of these gourmet trucks? They serve some of the best food in all of Los Angeles.
The truck lot was a great idea for Santa Monica financially, too. Being the first place where you could find many food trucks reliably, people would be coming from neighboring areas just to eat there, and then they’d continue to spend their dollars in our city. We saw its popularity on day one. The people of Santa Monica want the food trucks. It’s time for you to get over your grouchy policy on this issue, and allow it.
Thanks,
Alexis Rawlins Santa Monica Resident
Tanya77: We got one yesterday….
Kelela: We’re fighting! Hopefully the City will see this as mutually beneficial for everyone. I can’t understand why they would rather have a vacant lot instead of a thriving business that people want.
6od: We should worship at the alter of the food truck!
writer-a: It’s not worth it to look for another lot in Santa Monica since there isn’t a zone that has “food truck lot” as an acceptable use. We’re currently looking through the regs of Los Angeles to see if they have a policy of “express permission.” Express permission in the zoning code sure stunts ingenuity. It’s like saying, “If it doesn’t exist now (when the code was written), YOU CAN’T do it ever.” I think it’s a bad policy. ALSO: A few questions since you’re the one who introduced me to tumblr, how do I respond to the notes after a post? Do I just have to create another post? And… is there an equivalent to the “@” symbol in tumblr so I can respond directly to people… Thanks again for your help.
If you want to see the food truck lot succeed drop a note to the City Council: council@smgov.net - Power (and food) to the people!
My email: is smfoodtrucklot@gmail.com
Have a good day today!
Santa Monica shut down the Food Truck Lot today. According to the Code Enforcement City Official, the C4 zone in which the lot resides does not list “Food Truck Lot” as an acceptable use. If the Zone does not expressly permit the activity then it is prohibited. Since there is no mention of Food Truck Lot in the zoning code we’re out of luck.
Let me know what you think on twitter!
Below are the acceptable uses.
The following uses shall be permitted in the C4 District, if conducted within an enclosed building, except where otherwise permitted:
(a) Ambulance service.
(b) Appliance repair shops.
(c) Artist studios above the first floor.
(d) Automatic ice dispensing machine which need not be in an enclosed building.
(e) Bakeries.
(f) Banks and savings and loan institutions.
(g) Barber or beauty shops.
(h) Bowling alleys.
(i) Business colleges.
(j) Child day care centers.
(k) Cleaners.
(l) Congregate housing.
(m) Dance studios.
(n) Domestic violence shelters.
(o) Electrical shops.
(p) Electric distribution substations.
(q) Funeral parlors or mortuaries.
(r) General offices.
(s) General retail and specialized retail uses.
(t) Homeless shelters with less than fifty-five beds.
(u) Laundromats.
(v) Medical, dental and optometrist clinics and laboratories.
(w) Medical equipment rentals.
(x) Multifamily dwelling units.
(y) Public parks and playgrounds.
(z) Party equipment rentals.
(aa) Photocopy shops.
(bb) Places of worship.
(cc) Plant retail stores.
(dd) Real estate offices.
(ee) Restaurants of fifty seats or less.
(ff) Senior group housing.
(gg) Senior housing.
(hh) Sidewalk cafés not more than two hundred square feet in area, subject to the limitations contained in Section 9.04.10.02.460.
(ii) Sign painting shops.
(jj) Single-family dwelling units.
(kk) Single-room occupancy housing.
(ll) Skating rinks.
(mm) Tailors.
(nn) Trade schools.
(oo) Transitional housing.
(pp) Variety stores.
(qq) Accessory uses which are determined by the Zoning Administrator to be necessary and customarily associated with, and appropriate, incidental, and subordinate to, the principal permitted uses and which are consistent and are no more disruptive or disturbing than permitted uses.
(rr) Other uses determined by the Zoning Administrator to be similar to those listed above and which are consistent and no more disruptive or disturbing than permitted uses. (Prior code § 9020.2; amended by Ord. No. 1687CCS § 6 (part), adopted 6/22/93; Ord. No. 2192CCS § 13, adopted 7/11/06)
