CC RESOLUTION 1327RESOLUTION NO. 1327
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING
THE FINDINGS AND DETERMINATIONS OF THE
CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF SAID CITY AS
SET FORTH IN RESOLUTION NO. 14$ OF SAID
COMMISSION THAT THE USE OF "CHILD NURS-
ERIES" (NINE OR LESS CHILDREN) BE CLASSI-
FIED A ZONE 11R -21' USE AND THAT THE USE OF
"CHILD NURSERIES" (TEN OR MORE CHILDREN)
BE CLASSIFIED A ZONE ''R -3" USE, WHEN CON-
DUCTED AS DESCRIBED AND LIMITED IN SAID
RESOLUTION NO. 148.
WHEREAS, the City Planning Commission of the City of
E1 Segundo did heretofore on the 25th day of May, 1953, after
due consideration, adopt Resolution No. 14$ of said Commission
in words and figures as follows:
"RESOLUTION NO. 148
WHEREAS, under date of May 21, 1953, the City
Council of the City of El Segundo, California, requested
the Planning Commission of said City to consider and re-
commend in the matter of Child Nurseries; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission caused to have
prepared a factual report by its Consultant, Gordon Whit -
nall, on the subject, and such report was made; and
WHEREAS, Section 4 of Ordinance 34$ amending
Ordinance No. 306, provides that 'if any fuses is for any
reason omitted from the lists of those specified as per-
missible in each of the various zones herein designated,
or if ambiguity arises concerning the appropriate classi-
fication of a particular use within the meaning and intent
of this Ordinance, it shall be the duty of the City Plan-
ning Commission to ascertain all pertinent facts concern-
ing said use and by reasolution of record set forth its
findings and the reason therefor, and such findings and
resolution shall be referred to the City Council, and, if
approved by the City Council, thereafter such interpreta-
tion shall governs;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Commission
finds as follows:
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1. Child Care Nurseries differ, in some respects,
from other uses in that they are made subject to State
regulation. The government control, insofar as it seems
pertinent to the matter of zoning, makes a distinction
between child care nurseries in terms of the number of
children accommodated. Nine or below represents one
category, while ten and above represents another. The
former represents the maximum number that may be operated
with one attendant. Where establishments accommodate ten
or more, they are required to increase the number of at-
tendants. This distinction seems to offer a logical basis
for use in determining appropriate zoning controls.
2. The category of larger nurseries, in the opinion
of your staff unquestionably constitutes a use such as is
contemplated as permissible under Zone R -3. This con-
clusion is arrived at by analyzing the characteristics
of uses stipulated in Paragraph A USE, which reads as
follows:
?6. Hotels, in which incidental business may
be conducted for the convenience of the
residents of the building, provided
there is no entrance to such place of
business except from the inside of the
building, and no sign visible from the
outside advertising such business,
?%. Private clubs, fraternities, sororities
and lodges, excepting those the chief
activity of which is a service custom-
arily carried on as a business,?
3. It is certain that child care nurseries do not
possess those characteristics contemplated by Ordinance
No. 306 as indicated in the permissible R -1 use which is
Single - namely, one family dwelling. Neither is the use
compatible to the outright commercial character of per-
missible uses in the ?C? or ?M? zones. Thus, by the pro-
cess of elimination, as well as by the process of com-
parison, there is no question but what a full - fledged
child nursery for the day -time care of minors, for com-
pensation, would constitute a permissible use in Zone R -3.
4. With reference to child care nurseries having a
capacity of nine or less, we are confronted with condi-
tions sufficiently different as to warrant a different
classification or policy. The conclusion in that respect
is offered first and the supporting reasons appendant.
It appears consistent with the purpose of Ordinance No.
306 to adopt a policy that would permit the location and
operation of child care nurseries serving a maximum of
nine children, covering ages up to seven years (second
grade) and supervised by one person:
(a) Such use permitted in the R -2 Zone on lots
of standard minimum size or larger and
containing only one single- family dwell-
ing.
5. There are several reasons that pertain to the
above recommendations:
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(a) R -2 zone permits schools and churches which
is a deviation from strictly single resi-
dential purposes. Schools, however, nor-
mally occupy sites of such size as to ac-
comodate the characteristic features of
operation;
(b) A children's nursery, limited to a maxi-
mum of nine, is comparable in some respects
to a family with the same number of child-
ren, but there the similarity terminates.
A large number of children in a family
normally represents different ages. Their
personal habits are not identical; most of
the ages leave the dwelling premises in
connection with their recreation and other
activities, and are normally concentrated
at the home site only in the later hours
of the day. A nursery, on the other hand,
normally caters to children of approxi-
mately the same age limit and by the very
nature of their operation, the client
children are confined to the premises dur-
ing the operating hours, thus accentuating
those circumstances of noise and confusion
that are normally attendant upon the assem-
bly of many youngsters;
(c) The reason for emphasizing a limitation on
the location of child nurseries in the R -2
zone is that a normal lot occupied by a
duplex in an R -2 zone constitutes a degree
of population density and a corresponding
limited radius in open space of such degree
as to make the intrusion of a nursery re-
latively incompatible. The allowing of
schools in the same zone is not inconsis-
tent for the reason already stated, name-
ly, that schools are provided with more
ample area and their sites are improved and
operated specifically for school purposes.
By making a nursery location permissible
only on lots occupied by a one - family
dwelling, two things are accomplished:
(1) A normal lot occupied by only one-
family represents less population
density than one occupied by two;
(2) A nursery located on a lot occupied
by a duplex would undoubtedly impose
an incompatible residential environ-
ment upon the second family.
(d) With the limitation noted, it is deemed
that the location of child nurseries in
R -2 zone is consistent with the general
policy of the zoning ordinance and, by the
same reasoning, it is inconsistent to per-
mit their location in the more restrictive
R -1 zone. The R -1 zone offers the only
refuge for strictly one - family residential
purposes; and
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FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the related matter of
foster children the Commission also finds on the basis of
inquiries made to date, the facts seem to indicate that
except for the instance of natural parentage, the rela-
tionship in a residence where a foster child or children
reside represents continuing unbroken family life and
that there is no possible reason within the intent of
zoning to recognize otherwise. No cases have been brought
to our attention of large numbers of foster children as-
signed to any one family. But even with the same number
of foster children as might be found in a child nursery,
the position of the foster children and the nature of their
relationship to the continuing family life develops an
entirely different living environment than is usually
attendant upon the operation of a nursery school. It is
the staff recommendation, therefore, that until further
information may be gathered that would indicate to the
contrary, no special interpretation be made with refer-
ence to foster children, but that they be considered as
constituting a normal family unit, provided the number
does not exceed the stipulation of Ordinance No. 306
under its definition of family, which is: tFamilyt: An
individual, or two (2) or more persons related b blood
or marriage, or a group of not more than five (5� per-
sons, excluding servants, who are not related by blood
or marriage, living together as a single housekeeping
unit in a dwelling unit; and,
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Commission recom-
mends that:
(a) Nurseries for nine (9) or less children be
permitted in R -2 zone,
(b) Nurseries for ten (10) or more children be
permitted in R -3 zone,
(c) That foster children be considered as members
of families; and
FURTHER RESOLVED, the Items (a) and (b) next
above, be incorporated in the list of permissible uses
in the respective zones; and
FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution
be transmitted to the City Council for its attention in
the manner prescribed by law.
/s/ George E. Binder
Secretary of the City Planning
Commission of the City of E1
/s/ L. A. Allen Segundo, California
Chairman of the City Plan-
ning Commission of the City
of E1 Segundo, California "; and
WHEREAS, said resolution was duly certified to the
City Council of said City for its consideration and action there-
on, all as contemplated under the provisions of Ordinance No.
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306 (the land use plan - Zoning Ordinance) of said City, as
amended; and
WHEREAS, said City Council has duly and carefully
considered and discussed the said resolution and all of the
terms, conditions and provisions thereof and is satisfied
that the determination and decision made by said City Council,
with reference thereto as hereinafter set forth, is correct and
in the interests of said City and of the citizens thereof; now,
therefore, -
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EL SEGUNDO, CALI-
FORNIA, DOES HEREBY RESOLVE, DECLARE, DETERMINE, FIND AND ORDER
AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Said Council does hereby find that the
facts recited in the preamble of this resolution are true.
SECTION 2. That said City Council does hereby ap-
prove the findings, determinations and recommendations of the
City Planning Commission of the City of E1 Segundo, California,
all as set forth in said Resolution No. 148 of said Commission
hereinabove quoted in the preamble to this resolution; and
does hereby make the same findings and determinations on its
own part as are made by said Commission in its said Resolution
No. 148.
SECTION 3. That said City Council does hereby ac-
cordingly establish the uses of "child nurseries" (nine or
less children in zone R -2 and ten or more children in zone R -3)
as uses which properly may be and are hereby authorized to be,
located in the respective R -2 and R -3 zones as established
under said Ordinance 306, as amended, when said respective uses
are conducted as described and limited in said Resolution No.
148.
SECTION 4. That this resolution shall take effect
immediately.
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SECTION 5. That the City Clerk shall certify to the
passage and adoption of this resolution; shall enter the same
in the book of resolutions of said Council, shall make a minute
of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of the pro-
ceedings of said City Council in the minutes of the meeting at
which the same is passed and adopted; shall forward a certi-
fied copy of this resolution to the said City Planning Commis-
sion for its information and files; and shall furnish a copy
thereof to each of the departments of said City concerned with
the enforcement of the zoning or land use regulations of said
City for their information in the premises.
Passed, approved and adopted this 27th day of May,
1953•
ATTEST:
�L�
City Clerk
(SEAL)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, Ss.
CITY OF EL SEGUNDO. )
` 1
Mayor pro tem o the City of
E1 Segundo, California.
I. Neva M. Elsey, City Clerk of the City of El Se-
gundo, California, do hereby certify that the whole number of
members of the City Council of the said City is five; that the
foregoing resolution, being Resolution No. 1327, was passed and
adopted by the said City Council, approved and signed by the
Mayor pro tem of said City, and attested by the City Clerk of said
City, all at a regular meeting of the said Council held on the
27th day of May, 1953, and that the same was so passed and adopt-
ed by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmen Baker, Gordon, Peterson and Mayor
pro tem Swanson;
Noes: Councilmen None;
Absent: Mayor Selby.
WITNESS my hand and the official seal of said City this
27th day of May, 1953•
City Clerk�of t �e Ci��iq of
(SEAL) E1 Segundo, Californ a.
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