Chapter 11.4.45 — TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT

• A. This article is intended to comply with Section 65089.3(a)(2) of the California Government Code, which requires the city to adopt a trip reduction and travel demand management ordinance.

• B. New commercial, industrial, and mixed-use developments which employ 100 or more persons adversely impact existing transportation and parking facilities, resulting in increased motor vehicle emissions, deteriorating levels of service on roadways, and can require significant capital expenditures to augment the existing transportation system. In order to more efficiently utilize the existing and planned transportation system and to reduce vehicle emissions, it is the policy of the city to:

  1. Reduce the number of peak-period vehicle trips generated by development;

  2. Promote and encourage the use of alternative transportation modes such as ridesharing, carpools, vanpools, public bus and rail transit, bicycles and walking, and the development of facilities that support such modes;

  3. Reduce vehicle trips, traffic congestion, and public expenditure and improve air quality pursuant to existing project review and permit processing procedures;

  4. Promote coordinated implementation of strategies to reduce transportation demand on a county-wide basis;

  5. Achieve the most efficient use of local resources through coordinated and consistent regional and local TDM programs.

• (Ord. 1598)

The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:

Applicant: a person who is responsible for the planning, design or construction of a development project.

Decision-maker: the city council for a development project that requires any approval required by this code to be considered by the city council in the absence of an appeal. "Decision-maker" means the planning commission for a development project that requires no approval which is required by this zoning code to be considered by the city council in the absence of an appeal but does require at least one approval which is required by this zoning code to be considered by the planning commission in the absence of an appeal. "Decision-maker" means the director for a development project that requires no approval which is required by this zoning code to be considered by the planning commission or city council in the absence of an appeal.

Development Project and Project: any project, other than an exclusively residential project, which requires at least one discretionary approval by the city and which meets or exceeds the employment thresholds set forth in Section 11.4.45.015: Application, below.

Employee: any person employed by an employer.

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/SE5012 on 2026-06-12

City of Seal Beach, CA

ZONING

11.4.45.010

11.4.45.015

Employer: any person or persons, firm, business, educational institution, government agency, non-profit agency or corporation, or other entity which employs 100 or more persons at a single worksite.

Floor Area: the sum of the horizontal areas of all floors within a building measured from the exterior faces of exterior walls or from the centerline of party walls separating 2 buildings. The floor area of any basement, cellar or attic with headroom of more than 6.5 feet shall be included. A basement, cellar or attic floor space with 6.5 feet of headroom or less, as well as the area of courtyards and floor area devoted to parking and maneuvering of vehicles, shall be excluded.

Mixed-Use Project: a development that combines any of the following land uses with one or more of the others: residential uses, retail, and professional offices, as defined in Section 11.6.05.010: Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases, of this zoning code.

Peak-Period: the hours between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., Monday through Friday.

Property Owner: the legal owner or owners of real property on which a development project is located.

Tenant: an employer which leases space in a development project.

Transportation Demand Management (TDM): the implementation of programs, plans or policies designed to encourage changes in individual travel behavior. TDM includes, but is not limited to, programs which encourage alternatives to the single occupant vehicle (SOV) such as carpools, vanpools and transit; reduction or elimination of vehicle trips, and efforts to encourage rescheduling of peak period trips to non-peak periods.

Trip Reduction: reducing the number of work-related trips in single-occupancy vehicles during the peak period.

Worksite: a building, or group of buildings located on one or more adjacent lots, as that term is defined in Section 11.6.05.010: Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases, of this zoning code, which are owned or operated by one employer or by 2 or more employers under common control. Two or more employers shall be deemed to be "under common control" if any person or entity possesses, directly or indirectly, the power to direct, or to cause the direction of, the management and policies of those employers. (Ord. 1598)

• A. The provisions of this article apply to all development projects that are estimated to employ 100 or more persons under the methodology set forth in subsection B, below.

• B. Total employment of a development project shall be estimated as follows:

  1. Subject to the approval of the decision-maker, an applicant may prepare employment projections for a project; or

  2. The decision-maker may estimate the number of employees to be generated by a project under the criteria of Section 11.4.45.015.B.3: Employment Generation Standards, below. Alternatively, the decision-maker may approve a different estimate on the basis of substantial credible evidence that the employment generated by a project will differ from the estimate calculated under the standards of that section.

  3. Employment Generation Standards.

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/SE5012 on 2026-06-12

City of Seal Beach, CA

SEAL BEACH CODE

11.4.45.015

11.4.45.020

• a. Commercial land uses as defined in Section 11.6.05.010: Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases, of this zoning code are deemed to generate one employee for each 500 square feet of floor area.

• b. Offices, as that term is defined in Section 11.6.05.010: Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases, of this zoning code, are deemed to generate one employee for each 250 square feet of floor area.

• c. Industrial park uses, as that term is defined in Section 11.6.05.010: Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases, of this zoning code, are deemed to generate one employee for each 525 square feet of floor area.

• d. Hotels, as that term is defined in Section 11.6.05.010: Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases, of this zoning code, are deemed to generate one employee per room.

• e. Mixed use developments are deemed to employ a number of persons equal to the total of the estimates generated by applying paragraphs 3.a. through 3.d. of this section to the various components of the project.

• (Ord. 1598)

An applicant shall incorporate into a project the following improvements in the manner and to the extent required by the decision-maker:

• A. Preferential Parking for Carpool Vehicles.

  1. The applicant shall reserve employee parking spaces for carpool vehicles in a number specified by the decision-maker and shall mark those spaces "Carpool Only."

  2. The applicant shall permit carpool spaces to be used only for vehicles in which at least 2 employees or tenants of the project, or employees or tenants of neighboring projects as to which the city has approved a reciprocal preferential carpool parking agreement for the benefit of the instant project, regularly travel to the project.

  3. Such carpool spaces shall be located near employee entrances or at other preferential locations approved by the director.

• B. Bicycle Parking and Shower Facilities.

  1. An applicant shall provide secure, adequate and convenient storage for bicycles.

  2. An applicant shall provide showers and locker rooms for employees of each sex in each building with a floor area of 100,000 or more square feet. The decision-maker may require an applicant to provide such facilities in any development with a total floor area of 100,000 or more square feet, even though no single building has a floor area of 100,000 or more square feet.

• C. Bus Stop Improvements. An applicant who proposes a development adjacent to one or more roadways on which public transit is provided may be required to provide bus pullouts, bus pads, and bus shelters to the extent specified by the decision-maker if the decisionmaker determines that the project will generate significant transit ridership and that the

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/SE5012 on 2026-06-12

City of Seal Beach, CA

ZONING

11.4.45.020

11.4.45.035

provision of such improvements is required to avoid traffic congestion or other public safety hazards due to the loading and unloading of transit passengers at the development site. Such improvements may also be required of developments adjacent to roadways on which the decision-maker determines that it is reasonably foreseeable that public transit will be provided within the estimated useful life of those improvements.

• D. Information on Transportation Alternatives.

  1. An applicant who proposes a development with a floor area of 25,000 or more square feet shall provide a bulletin board, computer display or other information area that offers appropriate information on available transportation alternatives to the singleoccupancy vehicle. This area shall be centrally located and accessible to all employees and tenants of the development project.

  2. The information provided pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection may include:

     • a. Current maps, routes and schedules for public transit;

     • b. Ridesharing match lists;

     • c. Available TDM incentives; and

     • d. Ridesharing promotional material.

• E. Pedestrian Access. An applicant shall provide paved pathways following direct and safe routes from the external pedestrian circulation system to each building in the development.

• (Ord. 1598)

The property owner shall be responsible for providing and maintaining the facilities and services specified in the development standards set forth in this chapter and for otherwise complying with the provisions of this article.

(Ord. 1598)

• A. No building permit, certificate of occupancy, or other entitlement for use may issue pursuant to this code unless an appropriate officer of the city determines that the development project for which the permit is sought fully complies with the requirements of this chapter.

• B. If during the construction of a development it comes to the attention of the director that construction is deviating from the plans approved by the city in a manner that will result in a failure to comply with the requirements of this chapter, the director shall authorize the issuance of one or more stop work orders pursuant to this code.

• C. The provisions of this chapter may be enforced by any other means permitted by this code or by other law.

• (Ord. 1598)

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/SE5012 on 2026-06-12

City of Seal Beach, CA 11.4.45.035

SEAL BEACH CODE

11.4.45.035

Any decision under this chapter may be appealed pursuant to Title 1: General Provisions, Chapter 1.20: Review of Quasi-Judicial Decisions of the Municipal Code. (Ord. 1598)

Downloaded from https://ecode360.com/SE5012 on 2026-06-12

City of Seal Beach, CA