Manhattan Beach Municipal Code § 10.44.010 Specific purpose and applicability

The specific purpose of the D design overlay district is to provide a mechanism to establish specific development standards and review procedures for certain areas of the City with unique needs, consistent with General Plan policies. This will ensure that the low-profile image of the community is preserved and neighborhoods protected from adverse effects of noise and traffic. It also will prevent development that may be detrimental to these areas, such as buildings that affect the privacy of adjoining properties or increases shadows.

Eight subdistricts are established:

D1—Rosecrans Avenue, where higher fences in the front-yard setback area are needed to reduce traffic noise;

D2—11th Street, where limitations on building height and density are needed to minimize building bulk and buffer adjoining residences;

D3—Gaslamp neighborhood, where special design standards and review procedures are needed to preserve existing neighborhood character;

D4—Traffic noise impact areas, where higher fences are needed to reduce traffic noise;

D5—North end commercial, where special design standards are needed for the north end commercial area to accommodate additional residential development;

D6—Oak Avenue, where special design standards, landscaping and buffering requirements are needed to allow commercial use of property in a residential area adjacent to Sepulveda Boulevard;

D7—Longfellow Drive area, including residential lots in Tract 14274 located on Longfellow Drive, Ronda Drive, Terraza Place, Duncan Drive and Kuhn Drive, where a special minimum lot area requirement and restriction on subdivision is needed to preserve the character of the neighborhood, including views and privacy, and prevent unwanted impacts from increased traffic, bulk and crowding that would result from increased density.

D8—Sepulveda Boulevard Corridor Overlay, where more flexible development standards are needed in order to continue to promote desirable development, uses and economic vitality within the General Commercial (CG) zone. Only land uses listed in note s of Section 10.44.040 are eligible for flexible development standards. All land uses not listed in note s of Section 10.44.040 shall comply with all requirements contained within Chapter 10.16 of this title.

(Ord. No. 1832, Amended, 01/17/91; Ord. No. 1838, Renumbered, 07/05/91; § 2 (part), Ord. 2062, eff. October 7, 2004, § 15, Ord. 16-0029, eff. Dec. 20, 2016, and § 5, Ord. 18-0022, eff. Dec. 6, 2018; Ord. 19-0004, § 4, eff. April 5, 2019)

A. The D design overlay district may be combined with any zoning district. Each D overlay district shall be shown on the zoning map by adding a "-D" to the base district designator followed by the appropriate subdistrict number.

B. A design overlay district may be initiated by the Planning Commission or City Council, or fifty-one percent (51%) of the property owners in the proposed overlay area and otherwise in accordance with applicable materials within Chapter 10.96, Amendments.

(Ord. No. 1832, Amended, 01/17/91; Ord. No. 1838, Renumbered, 07/05/91; Ord. No. 1891, Amended, 01/06/94)

The land-use and development regulations applicable in a D district shall be as prescribed for the base zoning district with which it is combined unless modified by another overlay district, provided that the requirements of the schedule on the following page shall be in addition and shall govern where conflicts arise. The individual columns of the schedule prescribe basic requirements for each subdistrict; letters in parentheses or superscript refer to additional regulations following the schedule with cross-references as appropriate to other sections of this title.

(Ord. No. 1832, Amended, 01/17/91; Ord. No. 1838, Renumbered, 07/05/91)

Applications for building permits for projects within a D overlay district shall be accepted only if project plans are consistent with the development regulations of this chapter and with all other applicable requirements of this Code. The regulations imposed by this section shall apply to any new structures or improvements, intensification of use, or enlargement of an existing structure.

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D DESIGN OVERLAY DISTRICT: DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS

a. A six-foot (6′) fence shall be set back three feet (3′) from a front or street side property line and twenty feet (20′) from a driveway crossing a public sidewalk.

b. Increased fence height is permitted for the following areas: (1) Wendy Way between Marine Avenue and 12th Street: Eight feet (8′) in rear yard; (2) Marine Avenue between Meadows and Cedar Avenue: Eight feet (8′) in rear yard; (3) Marine Avenue between Pacific Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard: Eight feet (8′) in rear or side yards fronting Marine Avenue.

c. No building shall exceed two (2) stories.

d. Required for demolition of dwellings or accessory buildings located on a site with two (2) or more lots. No demolition permit may be issued until an environmental assessment is complete and the Planning Commission or Board of Zoning Adjustment has held a public hearing. Notice shall be sent ten (10) days prior to the hearing to all property owners within five hundred feet (500′) of the project site.

e. Minimum depth: Ten percent (10%) of the buildable depth of the lot; Minimum area: Ten (10) times the lot width in square feet; Exceptions: One (1) architectural projection no more than eight feet (8′) wide may extend four feet (4′) into the setback area, and eaves may project four feet (4′) into the setback area.

f. A minimum roof pitch of a three-foot (3′) rise in twelve feet (12′) of run is required unless the building does not exceed twenty-two feet (22′) in height.

g. No increase over the maximum building height measured from the street property line is permitted for buildings fronting on Highland Avenue, and the twenty percent (20%) allowance of Section 10.60.050(B) does not apply in this subdistrict.

h. The third story shall be set back ten feet (10′) from the front setback line.

i. Residential projects on the west side of Highland Avenue are not permitted to have vehicular access from Highland Avenue; commercial projects on the east side of Highland Avenue are not permitted to have vehicular access from Crest Drive.

j. The Planning Commission may allow reduced parking with a use permit for neighborhood-oriented uses such as small retail stores, personal services, and eating and drinking establishments open for breakfast and lunch, subject to the requirements of Section 10.64.050(B).

k. Residential projects shall include planter boxes at the pedestrian level involving lots of two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet (or more) along Highland Avenue. For additional site landscaping requirements, see Section 10.60.070, Landscaping, irrigation and hydroseeding. Conformance with standards specified in Section 10.60.070 may result in landscaping that exceeds the minimum requirements of this section.

l. A use permit is required for all new construction and major alterations and additions of two thousand five hundred (2,500) square feet or more except construction of or alterations or additions to single-family dwellings fronting on Crest Drive.

m. A twenty-foot (20′) landscaped setback is required along Oak Avenue for any commercial structures, and no vehicular ingress or egress to Oak Avenue is allowed. Until such time that a new project is initiated, existing development with nonconforming access on Oak Avenue, when developed for commercial parking purposes used in conjunction with business fronting upon and having vehicular access to Sepulveda Boulevard shall not utilize vehicular access to Oak Avenue between the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. daily.

n. All commercial structures shall incorporate bay windows, decks, large roof overhangs, and breaks in building facia, as may be needed to reflect a design of residential character.

o. Sites which utilize RS zoned Oak Avenue properties exclusively for commercial purposes shall be a minimum of twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet in area. Where the site has multiple owners, the City may permit development on sites containing less than twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet provided there is a conceptual plan for the whole site showing the relationships between existing and future buildings, landscaping, and the location of parking and tentative phasing of development. All owners must join in application for a D-6 zoning designation and indicate support of the conceptual plan for development of the site.

p. The uses and related facilities permitted within the CG district may be permitted on RS-D6 zoned Oak Avenue properties, if fronting upon Sepulveda Boulevard, subject to the requirements of this chapter and Chapter 10.16, upon approval of a use permit.

q. A minimum lot area of seventeen thousand (17,000) square feet (with the exception of 1190 Duncan Drive 1127 Ronda Drive and 1131 Ronda Drive) is required, and further subdivision of any lot within the district is prohibited. The foregoing restrictions shall not prohibit a lot-line adjustment between contiguous parcels pursuant to Section 11.08.010, provided that such lot-line adjustment (1) complies with all of the requirements in Section 11.08.010 and is otherwise exempt from the requirements of the Subdivision Map Act and (2) would not result in any parcel having a lot area of less than seventeen thousand (17,000) square feet. This overlay applies to properties described as Lots 23 through 30, inclusive, and 32 through 39, inclusive, in Tract 14274 and located on Longfellow Drive, Ronda Drive, Terraza Place, Duncan Drive and Kuhn Drive.

r. Body art studios are not permitted in the D6 Oak Avenue Overlay District or on CG zoned parcels adjacent to D6 Oak Avenue Overlay parcels.

s. The maximum building height for a building with a hotel use located on the properties designated as D-8 shall be forty feet (40'). No minimum roof pitch or structure parking at or below the ground level is required. Roof mounted mechanical equipment and elevator shafts are allowed to exceed the maximum allowed height limit by up to five feet (5'), so long as they are properly screened and located in an area that would not be visible from or adversely impact the surrounding properties. A study may be required by the Community Development Director showing that adjacent properties will not be negatively impacted. Any amendment to the map shall only include properties with at least one hundred thirty five feet (135) in depth and twenty thousand (20,000) square feet of lot area.

t. Projects involving a change of use (single use or multi-tenant project) shall not be required to obtain a use permit as long as the proposed use(s) is permitted by right as prescribed in Section 10.16.020 and the change of use(s) does not constitute an intensification of the use or parking requirement, regardless of the buildable floor area. No net addition of buildable floor area shall be allowed in conjunction with this provision.

(Ord. No. 1832, Amended, 01/17/91; Ord. No. 1838, Renumbered, 07/05/91; Ord. No. 1860, Amended, 10/29/92; §§ 3, 4, 5, Ord. 1972, eff. November 20, 1997; § 2 (part), Ord. 2062, eff. October 7, 2004; § 7, Ord. 2146, eff. August 4, 2011 and § 2, Ord. 2155, eff. February 17, 2012, § 16, Ord. 16-0029, eff. Dec. 20, 2016, and § 5, Ord. 18-0022, eff. Dec. 6, 2018; Ord. 19-0004, § 5, eff. April 5, 2019)