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SR-410-001 (11) * I f( 0---- 00 I II-C OCT 1 1~ C/ED:EDD:CPD:affi Clty Councll Meetlng 10/1/85 Santa Monlca, Callfornla ~o: Mayor and Clty Councll FROM: C1ty Staff SUBJECT: Prellm1nary Thlrd Street Mall Plan INTRODUCTION 'rhlS rpport: presents to the C1ty CounCll thp Prpllffilnary Tnlrd Stree t Mall Plan, Wh1Ch was tranSffil t ted to the Counc lIon July 23, 1~85, for rpV1PW and comment. (An addltlonal copy 15 a-ctached.) Th1s actlon contlnues the Th1rd Street Mall plann1ng process. In addlt10n to the C1ty Councll, the PrelIm1nary Plan has bppn dlstrlbutpd to the Plannlng Commlsslon, the Archltectural Rpvlew Board, and Incprested persons. PlannIng Commlss1on and Archltectural Revlew Board comments have been attachpd for the CIty Councll's reV1ew and cons1deratlon. 1 t 15 recornmpnoE"d that the CIty Counc 11 rev lew thE" Prellmlnar y Plan to gU1de the prpparatlon of the next docurnpnt 1n the serles, thE? Thlrd Street Mall Spec1flc Plan. The Spec1flc Plan wlll be supported by an approprIate reVls10n to thE" Clty'S Zonlng OrdInance and the requlrE?d EnVlrOnmE?ntal Impact Report. BACKGROUND TnE" Tn1rd Street Mall Plan lS a J01nt plannlng effort betwE?pn the rh1rd Street Developmpnt Corporat1on (TSDC) and the Clty. The SpeClf1C Plan 1S be1ng preparpd by a team of land use, pconOffilC, - 1 - II-C Dcr 1 1985 arch~ tectural/u rban dps~gn, and par klng and traf f lC consult ~ng f .1 r ms . rhe Pre l.lffil.nary Plan ~s the prod uct of dlrectlon by the TSDC Board, Clty Councll, Mall merchants, property owners and the general publ~c. To thlS pOlnt, the plannlng process has lncluded: o thE' lnventOry and dpscrlptlon of ex lstlng condltlons In the Thlrd StrE'et Mall area, o the pstabllshment of worKlng goals and obJectlves, and o the preparatlon and evaluatlon of alternatlve revltallzatlon optlons. SlX publlC worksnops havE' been held to recelve lnput and comments from Mall merchants and the general publlC on goals and obJectl.VPs, and on thE' alternatl.ve reVl.tallzatlon optl.ons WhlCh wpre transIll1tted to the Plannlng COmml.SS100 and Clty Councll 10 March. PRELIMINARY PLAN The purpose of the Prellffilnary Plan 18 to present for revl.E'W and comment thE' concE'pts, programs, lffiprovempnts, lffiplpffiPntatlon mE'asurE'S and fundlng sourcE'S that arp needE'd to rE'vltallzP the Thlrj Street i-tall. 'fhe proposals contaloed 10 the Prpllmlnary Plan and the commE'nts rpcE'l.vE'd on the proposals wlll be used to prepare the SpE'cl.fl.c Plan. Thp Prellffilnary Plan contalns four sectlons: 1) Plan Framework: Goals and Object~ves descrlbes the goals and ob] ectl ves of the Plan ldentl.f led through publlC wor kshops and Clty rev.lE'w. - 2 - 2) Overview of thp Plan summar~zes the propospd Mall open space, land use, c~rculat~on and park~ng ~mprovem@nts as well as the ~mplementat~on measures requlred to carry out the Plan. 3) Plan Elements prov ldes dE>talled lnformatlon on recommpnded publ~c lmpcovements and development standards. Speclflc program components are Identlfled and summarIzed below. A) Open Space Improvements dpscrlbes generdl Mall unprovements IncludIng theme logo and slgnagp, Mall entry elempnts, landscaplng, Mall repaVIng, street furnIture, bannprs, llghtlng, and pavlllons. A cpntral plaza focal pOInt 15 conslderpd, as are allpy lmprovements, an Ar~zona Avenue promenade to Pallsadps Park and ppr lphpral strpet Improvements. B) Land Uses descrIbes the types of land usps and tnelr locatIon on IndIVIdual parcels, thp permItted heIght and bUIldable area, thE> requIrpd setback of structurps, and other deSIgn standards for three subareas and four overlay deslgnatlons In the Mall area. C) ParkIng and Clrculatlon descrlbes the potentIal parkIng and Clrculatlon Impacts of the PrelImInary Plan on the ThIrd Street Mall and surroundIng area and proposes Improvements to the CIty I S parkIng supply and CIrculatIon network In the area. - 3 - 4) Implementation descrIb@s publIC Improv@ments, publIC flnancIng optIons, and program manag@ment responsIbllItIPS requIred to carry out the proposals contalned In the plan. Overall, the PrelImInary Plan rpcommends a coordInatpd program and strategy to stlmulate and manage the Mall's revltalIzatlon. Concpptual detaIl based upon a full range of recommenopd Implementatlon optlons and tpcnnIqups IS dIscussed. As the plannJ.ng process contInues, the CIty must IdentIfy and select a mIX of management and fInance technIques WhICh WIll generatp the capaCIty to carry-out phased program ObJectIves. The fInal recommended fInanCIng strategy WIll be Included as supportIng documentatIon to thp Mall SpeCIfIC Plan docurnpnt and WIll clearly def I nF' a Sf't of fund Ing tE'ChnIqups that WIll not bE' depe-nden t upon one another, and WIll permIt Santa MonIca to procped step by step WIth reVItalIzatIon of the Mall area. Scaff antICIpates that thE' ThIrd StreE't Mall SpecIf lC Plan and support documentatIon WIll be completpd and avallable for rpVIew In DE'cernber, 1985. FInal documents WIll be presE'nted to Cl ty CounCIl for certlf lcatlon and adoptIon as a culmInatIon of the plannIng process In early 1986. PLANNING COMMISSION COMMENTS Tnp PlannIng CommISSIon hpld a speCIal workshop meetlng on August 5, 1985, to dISCUSS the PrE'llmlnary ThIrd StreE't Mall Plan and contInued Its dISCUSSIon on the PrelImInary Plan at a regular meetIng on September 9, 19B5~ At Its August 5th workshop meetlng, the ComrnJ.sslon asked questIons about the Int~nt of - 4 - var ~ous proposals con ta~ned ~n the Prel ~mlnary Plan and ~ndIvldual Commlss~onprs expressed general support for the proposed concE'pts and development standards. The comments from Ind~vldual CommlSS~OnE'rs werE' related to the locatIon of the proposed department store anchor, the IntensIfIed use of the alleys and the potent~al congest~on and confl~ct among users that may result, the proposed kIosks and landscapIng on the Mall, and the utIllty of a hotel as an anchor use for the purpose of generatlng pedestr~dn act~v~ty. CommISSIoners genE-rally had no speCIfIC comments on the proposed use, heIght, and bulk requlrements but IndlvIdual Cornmlss~onPIs expressed the~r concern about permIttIng 6 story (841) bU1ld~ng w~thout a spec~al permIt on 2nd and 4th Streets and reqUIrIng all floors above 301 1n new bu~ldIngs located on the Mall to be set back from the front property Ilne. 'rhe PlannIng Comm1ss~on contlnupd ~ ts Cll.scuss lon of the P rplIffiInary Plan at I ts September 9, 1985 meetlng at WhICh It adopted a SPIles of motlons WhICh provlde the Councll WIth rpcommendatlons on spveral aspects of the Prellmlnary Plan. These Included reCOffiffiE'ndlog that the C~ty Councll conSIder thp followlng when prOVIdIng C1ty staff WIth dlrE'ct1ons on preparIng the SpE'cIfIC Plan: o Thp Spec1f Ie Plan should provldp more gpnpral deSIgn parameters for each type of anchor devploprnent WhICh would be allowed to locatp at any SIte on the Mall rather than Ident1fy Ing one spE'Clf Ie locatIon for each of the propospd anchor developments. - 5 - o There should be further study and more detall provlded on how the potentLal confllcts between pedestrlans and vehlcles can be mlnlmlzed 1n the alleys and that retall uses on the alley should be precluded untll that tlme. o The obJectlve "1" on page one of the PrellffiLnary Plan should be amended to read that adequate lnfrastructure should be "provlded" rather than Just "malntalned" Slnce there lS proJected to be substantlal growth 1n the Mall area. o Tnere should be more analysls and dE'tall prov1ded on the dE'Slgn crlterla for bUlldlng setbacks from the front property 11ne and for open space on the bUlldlng slte. o The !vJall should remaln a pedestr lan area ex cept for the potentlal for an electr1c rathE'r than fuel dr1ven tram WhlCh may bE' operated along the Mall or the alleys. o All proposE'd devE'lopment 1n the Mall area (Second to Fourth Streets between vhlsh1rE' Boulevard and Broadway) over 56' should be subJect to approval of a Slte Plan ReVlew Permlt. Ind1V1dual Commlss1oners exprE'ssed thelr support of the bas1c approaches, concepts, and dlrectlons proposed 10 the Prellmlnary Plan but dld express SOffiP concerns about spec1flc prov1slons WhlCh could be reVlewpd and dlscussed ~hen the Speclflc Plan was prppa~pd and ~evlewed by the Commlss1on. Attached are lndlvldual Commlssloner commpnts WhlCh are cootalned ln the adopted mlnutes for Plannlng CommlSSion motlons tne August provldlng 5, 1985 meetlng the Councll and wlth - 6 - recommendatIons on spPcIfIC aspects of the document WhICh are conta1ned 1n the staff summary of the CommIssIon's September 9th ffieptIng. ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD 'rhe ArchItectural Rev lew Board (ARB) d1scusspd the Prpl1m1nary Plan at 1tS August 21, 1985 meetIng. Board Mpmbers' commpnts Includpd: o The propospd h1ghr1se slgn on the Crocker Bank tower IS prohIbIted by the rpcpntly adopted Slgn Codp and the ARB would not support any hlghrlsP slgn In the Mall area. o Thpre should be a broad palette of brIght colors perm1ttE'd for Mall development rather than the neutral and narrow color palPttP proposed In the PrelImInary Plan. o ThE' proposed landscaping 1dent1f1l?d In the Prel1m1nary Plan dops not grow well clOSE> to the Ocean and tE>nds to bE> messy. The Board ex pressed conce r n that the land scaplng promotpd shadlng of the Mall WhICh should rpmaln sunny. o There should be more detaIl about the common dpsIgn features proposed for the Mall to ensure that tne current, des1rable ecclectlC look IS maIntaIned. Thp Board also made commpnts on thp land use and dpvelopmpnt standard s proposed ln the Prp llmlnary Plan. TheSE> comments are contalned 10 the staff summary of the Board' s d lSCUSSlon WhICh are attached. - 7 - BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT ReV1PW of tne Prel1ffi1nary Th1rd Street Mall Plan 1S a continuance ot an estab11shed plann1ng process, therefore, there 1S no f1nanc1al 1mpact at th1S t1me. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that C1ty Counc11 reVIew thp Prel1ffi1nary ThIrd Street Mall Plan and d1rect staff to transmIt COffimE'nts to the rh1rd Street Development Corporation and the consultant team for cons1deratlon In the preparatIon of the Mall Speclf1c Plan. Prepared by: SIdney L. WhIte, Sr. AdmInIstratIve Analyst Christopher Rudd, ActIng Sr. AdmInIstrative Analyst EconomIC Development D1vIslon CommunIty and EconomIC Development Department AtLachments: PlannIng CommIsSIon M1nutes 8/5/85 PlannIng CommIsSIon Summary of DISCUSSIon 9/9/85 Comments by ArchItectural ReVIew Board 9/21/85 mal16 - 8 -