Council Tackles Cabs, Divers and Outdoor Cafes

By Lookout
Staff Writer

June 14 -- Passengers won’t be surprised by taxi cab fares to the airport, and visitors to the pier shouldn’t be caught off guard by municipal employees diving off the wooden structure after two City Council actions last week.

The Council last Tuesday unanimously passed an ordinance amending the municipal code to allow City employees performing routine duties, persons participating in City authorized Community Events and safety personnel protecting or saving lives to dive off and swim near the Pier.

The code currently prohibits diving off the pier except in an effort to save a life or during exhibitions authorized by the Harbor Master. The code also prohibits swimming near the pier except to service or repair vessels and for water skiing and aquaplaning activities.

“City employees must enter the water around the Pier to perform maintenance on the Pier,” according to the staff report. “In addition, safety personnel may need to dive off the Pier or swim near it in order to rescue endangered swimmers or others in the water.”

In a separate action the council amended the City’s Taxicab Ordinance to better protect passengers by mandating flat rates for airport transportation and instituting a consumer hotline.

The change comes after passengers complained “that existing charges were both inflated and in excess of initial representations made prior to transport,” according to the staff report.

The new ordinance creates an exception to the current law requiring all taxicab charges to be based on the taximeter by mandating that drivers charge flat fees to LAX and the Burbank Airport.

Under the ordinance, taxicab owners must file the flat rates with the City’s License Office, as well as post them inside the cabs.

The new ordinance also makes it easier to issue taxicab licenses to owners and permits to drivers by modifying the renewal schedule and simplifies and clarifies the regulatory system.

An interim provision would be put in place until the amendments go into effect October 1, the first day of the amended cycle for issuance of the taxicab business licenses and permits.

In another action, the council extended for two years an interim ordinance allowing administrative approval of sidewalk cafes and waiving the parking requirement for cafes that are 200 square feet or less.

The council established the original one-year interim ordinance in last June to assess the impacts of the new outdoor dining provisions. Since it was adopted, five outdoor dining permits have been granted under the more lenient requirements, including two in the Main Street District, two on Wilshire Boulevard near downtown and one on Santa Monica Boulevard in the Mid-City area.

“The interim requirements have not resulted in an explosion of outdoor dining establishment nor a noticeable effect on existing parking resources,” according to the staff report. “Yet the provisions likely have enabled outdoor dining to occur in situations that would not otherwise be possible.