Manhattan Beach Bans Balcony Dining in Downtown Plan

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — After two years of back-and-forth debates and community meetings, the Manhattan Beach City Council finally approved the Downtown Specific Plan on Tuesday.

The plan calls for a ban on second-story balcony dining, among other things. The long-term blueprint cost more than $1.3 million, most of it was city staff cost — which the city said was staff time that would have been spent regardless of the project, according to the Daily Breeze.

The 384-place community plan sets restrictions, standards and a more stringent permit process for future businesses downtown, the Daily Breeze reported. All this came about after concerns from residents about local ground-level mom-and-pop stores being pushed out by high rents and replaced with banks and offices.

The city issued a moratorium on new developments in 2014 to stop the trend and to allow the city time to study the area. That moratorium expired this summer and the city issued a stop-gap zoning ordinance so that the plan can be approved adopted, according to Daily Breeze.

The California Coastal Commission still needs to approve the plan.

For more on this story, visit the Daily Breeze.

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