SR-042396-9APCD:PPA:SF:KG:TR
f:\ppd\share\mea\ccrprtl
Council Meeting: April 9, 1995
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
APR 2 3 "
Santa Monica, California
SUBJECT: Approval of 1995/1996 Master Environmental Assessment
(MEA)
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council approve the 1995/1996
Master Environmental Assessment (MEA). Once approved, this
document will replace the September, 1993 MEA as the baseline for
all environmental documents prepared for the City. The document
was reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission on February
21, 199b.
BACKGROUND
In March, 1991, at the direction of the City Council, City staff
initiated preparation of the first Master Environmental Assessment.
The MEA was designed to serve both as the baseline environmental
reference for preparing environmental impact reports and as a
reference tool for making decisions about future planning policies.
The first MEA was approved by Council in February, 1992 and the
second in September, 1993. At the September, 1993 public hearing
on the MEA update, the City Council provided staff with several
specific recommendations for adding new information to the next
APR 2 3 19196
i
~ ~~~
M
update. Many of these suggestions have been incorporated into the
this update.
This report provides the following information: 1) a review of
changes made to the 1995/1995 MEA Update as requested by the City
Council 2) a summary of the major trends that have been observed
between the first, second and current MEA; and 3)a discussion of
recommendations made by the Planning Commission at their February
21, 1995 meeting.
CAANGES REQIIE$TED SY CITY COUNCIL
Upon approving the September 1993 MEA, the City Council suggested
several modifications and improvements to be considered during the
preparation of the next update. Several of these suggestions
stemmed from comments made by the public at the Council hearing.
A discussion of the suggested changes and rationale far either
incorporating them into or excluding them from the document was
provided in a March 1, 1995 Information item to City Council
(Attachment A) The following is a summary of the changes that were
incorporated:
• Lane Configurations: Diagrams of "Existing", "cumulative
base", and "with project mitigation" intersection lane
configurations are now included in the MEA (MEA Appendix
A). These diagrams also depict changes that are planned
for each intersection as a result of transportation
2
improvements and project-related mitigation measures.
~ Analysis of on-going trends: For the first time, the
MEA contains a section which examines various trends
since preparation of the first MEA. This section
addresses trends for the major environmental issue areas
such as transportation/circulation and land use in a
single section of the document.
DISCIISSION
The fallowing discussion summarizes the changes made to sections of
the MEA along with a summary of the major trends that have been
observed between the first, second, and current MEA. Section 2 of
the MEA update includes a detailed discussion of environmental
trends.
Cumulative Projects
Cumulative projects include development projects that have either
gained City approval or have been deemed complete for review by the
City. The cumulative projects section of the MEA is a crucial part
of the document because it is used as the basis of what is known as
the "future base". The future base consists of a) existing
conditions (quantified), plus, b) the cumulative, quantified
effects of proposed projects. Later, when other projects are
proposed in the City, their quantified impacts are added on top of
the future base.
3
The cumulative projects list in this MEA includes 26 projects which
represents a decrease from the 1992 MEA (41 projects) and a slight
increase from the 1993 MEA {23 projects). The 2& cumulative
projects total approximately 1,68 million square feet of non-
residential square footage, 660 dwelling units, 175 hotel roams,
and 12 bed and breakfast rooms. In comparison, the 1993 MEA
cumulative projects totaled approximately 1.7 million square feet
of non-residential square footage, 351 dwelling units, and 752
hotel rooms. While the 1992 MEA cumulative projects totaled
approximately 3.5 million square feet of non-residential square
footage, 372 residential units and 756 hotel rooms. The number of
regionally significant projects located outside of the city
boundaries, has increased from five in the last two MEAs to eleven
in this update. The potential cumulative impacts of these projects
on each environmental issue are analyzed in each section of the
MEA.
Earth Resources
This section of the MEA has been updated to reflect changes in the
number of unreinforced masonry buildings (URM's) in the City
following the Northridge earthquake and documents the new City
ordinances which were adopted for retrofitting potentially
hazardous structures.
Air Quality
This section of the MEA has been updated to reflect air quality
4
data from the West Los Angeles monitoring station between 1990 and
1994; new federal and state air quality plans and requirements; and
new information regarding sensitive receptors in the City.
During the 1990-1994 time period, the number of times federal and
state air quality standards were exceeded at the West Los Angeles
monitoring station has decreased far ozone and nitrogen dioxide, as
have measured pollutant levels for carbon monoxide.
Since 1986 the number of days the ozone levels have exceeded the
State standard has decreased from a level of 81 times in 1986 to la
times in 1994 and the number of days the ozone levels have exceeded
the federal standard has decreased from a high of 30 times in 1986
to 2 times in 1994. In comparing the data contained in the 1992
and 1993 MEA's to the current MEA, the number of days that nitrogen
dioxide levels have exceeded the state 1-hour standard has been
consistently zero or one day except for 1990 when the standard was
exceeded for three days. In the case of carbon monoxide
concentrations, the State and Federal standards have never been
exceeded, as reported in the 1992, 1993 and current MEA.
Water Resources
This section of the MEA has been updated to reflect the mast recent
(1993 and 1994) information about water resources in the City.
Since, 1991, the City has increased its reliance on local wells and
lowered its allocation from the Metropolitan water District. In
5
1991, 43 percent of the total water production was pumped from City
wells. In 1993, approximately 66 percent of the total water
production was pumped from City wells.
energy
This section has been updated with information from utility
companies concerning current gas and electrical consumption and
sales in the City.
Electricity consumption in the City of Santa Monica has increased
approximately 1.6 percent from 1990 to 1994. Natural gas sales
from The Gas Company to residential, commercial and industrial
users in Santa Monica has declined by approximately 20 percent
between 1991 and 1994. This decrease in gas sales as reported by
The Gas Company can be attributed to a variety of factors including
energy conservation programs, upgrading of inefficient buildings
and a reduction in the number of consumers brought about by the
weak economy. Another major reason for the decrease in sales by
The Gas Company is the recent deregulation of natural gas sales
which allows large industrial and commercial users to purchase
natural gas from sources other than The Gas Company. Statistics
concerning independent sources which sell natural gas were not
available for this MEA update.
Risk of IIpset
This section has been updated with current information concerning
6
small quantity generators, hazardous materials incidents, and
hazardous waste sites. While there has been an increase in the
number of industries which generate hazardous materials as an end
by-product, from 375 (1992) to 400 in 1993, to 54b in 1995, there
has also been a continuous reduction in the number of reported
incidents involving hazardous materials/substances within the City,
from 413 in 1990/91, to 367 in 1993, to 218 in 1995--a decline of
approximately 47 percent since 1990/91.
Population, Housinq and Employment
This section of the MEA has been updated to reflect current
information about the City's population, housing costs, growth
forecasts, and employment in the City.
• Population Changes. While the City's population has shown an
overall decline between the 1980 and 1990 census, according to
the California Department of Finance, there has been a 2.05
increase in the City's population since 1990.
• Housinq Stoclc Changes. Since 1990, there has been a 1.1$
increase in housing units, bringing the total number of units
in 1995 to 48,280. The January, 2994 earthquake ruay have
affected the total number and/or composition and
characteristics of the available housing stock; however, exact
information is not yet available.
• Owner and Reatal Housinq Costs. Housing and condominium sales
prices for all size units have decreased considerably since
7
1990. For example, the average two-bedroom home which sold
for $560K in 1990 had an average sales price of $390K in 1994.
Rents on one and two-bedroom rent-controlled units generally
increased by 10 to 14 percent between 1990 and 1994.
Land IIse
This section was updated to reflect current information on changes
to the City's zoning districts including the adoption of the Civic
Center Specific Plan, the additian of the Light Manufacturing
Studio District {LMSD) and the Bayside Commercial District (BSC) as
well as the adoption of the Bayside District Specific Pian_
This section also includes updated information on the alcohol
outlets in the City. There are currently 328 outlets in the City
that sell alcoholic beverages for wholesale or retail purposes.
This represents a slight decrease from the 332 outlets listed in
the 1993 MEA (alcohol outlets were not listed in the first MEA).
Transportation/Circulation
This section of the MEA was updated to reflect recent traffic
counts, current intersection lane configurations, changes in
neighborhood traffic plans, additions to permit parking districts,
and trends since the 1992 MEA. Diagrams of existing and planned
roadway system geometries have been prepared for this MEA update.
They are included in the Technical Appendix of the MEA.
8
The updated traffic counts illustrate that the number of
intersections operating at a poor level of service (E or F)
improved significantly in the PM peak period between 1991 and 1993
and slightly worsened in 1995. In 1991, 31$ of the intersections
were operating at level of service E or F in the pm peak hour.
This dropped to 5~ of the intersections in 1993 and then increased
slightly to 6~ in 1995. The changes reflect both lower traffic
volumes in 1993 and 1995 compared to 1991, as well as a change in
analysis methodology.l The number of intersections operating at a
poor level of service (E or F) has improved in the AM peak period
since 1991. The overall trend therefore has showed an improvement
in the early 1990's and now a slight worsening of conditions,
however these conditions are significantly better than in 1991.
This reflects both lower traffic volumes in 1998 and 1995 relative
to 1991, as well as a change in analysis methodology.
1 It is important to note that the methodology used to
estimate existing and forecast future level of service
changed between the first and second MEA studies.
Therefore, the changes in intersection levels of service
noted between those two studies are partially due to the
changes in analysis procedures and partially due to the
actual changes in traffic levels. A better comparison
can be made between the second and third MEA traffic
analyses. Under both of thane studies, the analysis
procedures were consistent and the changes can therefore
be attributed to actual changes in operating conditions,
9
Intersection Service Level Trends
Intersection 1991 1993 1995
Service
Levels
AM
PM
AM
PM
AM
PM
LOS A, B, C, D 149 130 153 152 151 148
LOS E 4 i3 2 0 1 2
LOS F 8 1$ 4 7 6 8
Percent
LOS E or F 8~ 31% 4~ 5~ 4$ 6~
Several major transportation system improvements have been
implemented during the time period covered by the three MEAS.
These include:
- Installation of 4th Street on-ramp to the east-bound
Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10).
- Signal System Interconnect Projects - A total of 50
signalized intersections have been included in
interconnected, signal system networks.
- Restriping - Primarily in relation to the development of
streetscape plans or neighborhood traffic plans, the City
has altered the traffic lane configuration via restriping
from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each
direction along five City streets, as follows:
- Main Street from Pico Boulevard to the
southern City boundary;
- Montana Avenue from 7th Street to 17th Street
(trial period in place);
- Ocean Park Boulevard from Lincoln Boulevard to
Barnard Way (trial period in place);
10
- Broadway from 26th to Centinela Ave; and,
- 26th Street from Colorado Ave. to Wilshire
Boulevard.
- Bicycle Lane Improvement - Several bicycle lane
improvements have been implemented, utilizing grant
monies from Propositions 116 and C.
- No major development project street improvements have
been implemented during the examined time frame.
- Permit Parking ^istricts. Santa Monica has instituted
permit parking districts in many parts of the City.
Since the first MEA, the number of permit parking areas
has increased from 24 to 30.
IItilitiea
This section of the MEA has been updated to reflect current system
conditions, deficiencies, and scheduled improvements for water,
sewer, storm drain, and solid waste services.
Sewage. The City's sewage flow to the Hyperion Plant has been
reduced by approximately 7.5 percent since 1991 to a current
level of 8.6 million gallons per day [mgd}, a decrease from
9.3 mgd in 1991.
Btorm ~9'ater. Since the 1992 MEA, the City is continuing the
practice of diverting debris and dry weather flows from direct
discharge to the Santa Monica Bay and there have been
increased flow levels from the Pico-Kenter drain since the
11
1993 MEA. Additionally, the City has selected a consultant to
prepare a preliminary design report to construct a facility
that would treat all of the low flow storm water effluent from
the Pico Kenter storm drain. Eventually, this plant will have
about a 250,000 gpd treatment capacity and provide
approximately 200 acre-feet per year of reclaimed water. The
anticipated completion and start-up date of the facility is
1999.
Solid Waste. In fiscal year 1994-95, 124,064 tons of solid
waste Were generated by residences and businesses in the City,
a 3.3 percent decrease from the 128,306 tons measured in the
1992 MEA. Of the 124,064 tons, approximately twenty-four
percent (24$), or 29,775 tons, was recycled or source reduced,
compared to 17 percent in 1991. In order to meet the goals of
AB 939, another approximate 1~ will need to be reduced by the
end of 1995, and an additional twenty-five percent (25~) will
need to be diverted by the year 2D00.
Public Services
This section has been updated to reflect current information about
staffing, resources, and demand for service far police, fire,
library, and public schools.
Police Protection. Major crimes have fallen dramatically from
levels experienced in 1991. Part I offenses (which include
homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, thefts, and other crimes
12
against persons) have declined by 14.5 percent from the first
MEA. As of September, 1995 there were 192 sworn police
officers serving the City compared to 184 sworn officers as
documented in the 1993 MEA, and 168 in the 1992 MEA. Based on
the City's estimated 1994 population of 89,809 residents, the
number of police officers per 1,000 population is
approximately 2.Z, compared to a 2.1 sworn officer/population
ratio as measured in the 1993 MEA, and the 1.9 ratio in the
1992 MEA.
Since 1991, the Police Department has added a substation on
the Santa Monica Pier and a Public Information Kiosk in the
1400 block of the Third Street Promenade.
Fire Protection. Since 1991 Fire Department resources
including both personnel and equipment has increased slightly
and in general, the total number of emergency calls has
declined since 1990. In 1994 however, a 3~ increase in
emergency calls occurred. This increase was primarily due to
calls triggered by the January 1994 earthquake.
Schools: The schools section has been updated with 1994/95
enrollment information as well as an analysis of the
proportion of student enrollment made up of transfer students-
-that is, students from outside the school district.
According to the School District, the maximum school capacity
13
should ideally be 90~. Currently, four elementary schools are
operating at greater than 100$ capacity and one middle school
is operating at less than 70~ capacity. Compared to the 1992
MEA which reported school enrollment for 1990-91 and the 1993
MEA which reported school enrollment for 1992-93, enrollment
in the elementary schools increased by 723 students for the
1994/95 year, middle school enrollment increased by 223
students, and high school enrollment decreased by 311
students.
Library Services: The Library Services section has been
updated to address the location, size, capacity, staffing
needs and level of service for City library services. The
library~s overall collection is estimated to contain
approximately 230,000 titles and 400,000 items including
books, audio tapes, public records, compact disks, films,
magazines, newspapers, microfilm, maps and pamphlets.
Fiscal
This section has been revised to reflect the current Fiscal Year
1995/96 budget.
Recreation
Since the 1993 MEA, the city has increased its open space resources
from 49 acres to 62 acres while its public park resources have
remained constant. The open space resources increased with the
14
addition of the Santa Monica State Beach Facility at 415 Pacific
Coast Highway. These acreage statistics will be reexamined as part
of the Cpen Space Element Update.
Two recreational facilities within the City (Lincoln Park pool and
the Santa Monica State Beach Facility at 415 Pacific Goast Highway)
have been impacted by the January 1994 earthquake and are closed to
the public.
Park improvements since the 1993 MEA include the completion of
Phase I of improvements to Palisades Park extending from the Pier
to Arizona Avenue and renovation of a substantial portion of
Lincoln Park which was completed in January, 1995. The second
phase of improvements to Palisades Park is being undertaken as part
of the Beach Improvement Group (B.I.G.} Project.
Cultural Resources
This section has been updated to reflect the results of the final
phase of the City's Historic Resources Inventory, changes to the
City's list of designated landmarks as a result of the Northridge
earthquake, and changes to the City's historic resources inventory
as a result of the earthquake. Since the 1992 MEA the City has
increased its number of designated landmarks from 22 to 29. One of
the City's designated landmarks (Henshey's Department Store) and
two of its significant landmark-eligible buildings (First Christian
Church and Tex's} had to be demolished as a result of damage caused
15
by the Northridge earthquake.
Human Health and Saf®ty
The most notable change in existing health care facilities located
in the City resulted from the Northridge earthquake. 5t. John's
Hospital and Health Center was severely damaged, resulting in the
demolition of the facility's north wing and reducing its capacity
by over 190 beds. Additional changes include the merger of Santa
Monica Hospital with UCLA Medical Center and the addition of the
Yvonne Burke County Health Facility in the inventory of medical
facilities.
Other MEA Sections
No significant changes have occurred under the remaining
environmental subject areas examined in the MEA, including
Biological Resources, Noise and Aesthetics.
PLANKING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS
The Planning Commission at its February Z1, 1996 meeting held a
public hearing on the MEA and discussed the contents of the
document. The following major comments were made:
Energy: The Cammission recommended that additional clarification
be provided to the reader to indicate that the reduction in natural
gas reflects sales by The Gas Company and that it is primarily
attributable to the deregulation of natural gas and the ability of
16
large users to purchase natural gas elsewhere. Therefore it is not
accurate to reflect this as a drop in consumption but rather a drop
in sales by The Gas Company. Staff proposes to modify p.8-3 to
reflect this clarification.
The Commission also discussed the fact that the MEA does not
consider the impact of gasoline consumption and the corresponding
impact of the automobile on the environment. Staff explained that
the MEA provides baseline data which used by environmental
consultants for environmental documents prepared in the City. The
consumption of gasoline is not a measurable standard used to assess
environmental conditions. Due to difficulty in obtaining and
measuring gasoline consumption in the City and the fact that this
is not a standard used in environmental analysis, staff does not
support including this analysis as part of the MEA.
Land Use: The Commission recommended that the MEA include
information on the amount of acreage in the City that is devoted to
streets. Staff believes it will be more useful to incorporate this
type of information into the Open Space Element of the General Plan
which is currently being updated.
TransportationlCirculation: The Commission recommended that the
transportation/circulation section include an analysis of the total
available parking spaces in the City and discuss the rate and fee
structure of public and private parking areas. This type of
17
citywide analysis is not related to the MEA, and should the Council
determine this information would be useful, the Council should
direct staff to return to Council with a recommendation and
estimated cost.
The Commission recommended that additional information be included
concerning pedestrian impacts, including the number of transit
users who board and debark from buses in Santa Monica, and the
number of annual traffic accidents in the City including a
breakdown of fatal accidents. These issues are not typically
covered as part of environmental documents and therefore are not
included in the MEA. Additionally, the definition of significance
related to transportation/circulation issues is being examined and
analyzed as part of the Circulation Element and pedestrian issues
will be considered as part of this analysis.
Fiscal: The Commission requested that the MEA include an
accounting item for parking meter revenues. Staff does not believe
that this level of detail is important for the MEA and recommends
that this information be contained in the City's budget documents.
Additionally, providing a comparison of parking meter revenue from
FY 93-94, FY 94-95 and FY 95-96 may be misleading due to the fact
that the downtown parking structures are no longer operated as
metered facilities.
Following publication of the Draft MEA, it was discovered that the
18
following two paragraphs had been inadvertently omitted from the
bottom of page 15-8. Staff is recommending that they be
incorporated into the final document before printing.
"The Solid Waste Management Fund is expected to show a
slight increase of 6.5 percent or $65,000."
"The Water Fund is anticipated to decrease 3.5 percent
from FY 1994-95, primarily due to the lower use of Water
Demand Mitigation fees for eligible capital projects."
ENVIRONMENTAL TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
On March 17, 1996 the Environmental Task Force met to discuss the
MEA and approved a motion recommending that the Trends section of
the MEA include documentation to reflect progress on the City's
Sustainable City Program goals. Since the MEA is used by
environmental consultants to provide baseline data about the City
for environmental impact reports and is not a tool for measuring
the success of particular city programs, staff does not support
including this analysis as part of the MEA, and instead recommends
that this analysis be handled separately.
Members of the Task Force also suggested that the Table of Contents
indicate that Chapter 6 Water Resources includes a discussion of
the City's Water Quality. This does not seem necessary since the
first page of each Chapter includes a summary of the issues covered
in each Chapter.
19
NEXT MEA UPDATE
Staff will request funds far the preparation of the next MEA update
as part of the 1995/1997 fiscal year budget process.
FISCAL/BUDGETARY IMPACTS
The recommendations in this report do not have any budgetary
impacts.
RECOMMENDATION
Tt is recommended that the City Council conduct a public hearing
and approve the 1995/1996 MEA with the incorporation of the changes
recommended in the staff report.
Attachments: A - March 1, 1995 City Council Information Item
B - 1995/1996 MEA Update
Prepared by: Suzanne Frick, PCD Director
Karen Ginsberg, Planning Manager
za
ATTACIIlV~ENT A
ATTACHMENT A
f:/ppd/share/mea/ccinfoi
March 1, 7.9 9 5
INFORMATION ITEM
Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council -
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Master Environmental Assessment (MEA) Update
INTRODIICTION
This memorandum describes the proposed 2994/95 Master Environmental
Assessment (MEA) Update scope of work and outlines the changes that
staff is recommending to the document in response to City Council
and public comment. In addition, this memorandum evaluates the
work necessary to provide a daytime visitor population and traffic
impact analysis which the Council asked staff to consider when
adopting the present MEA.
BACKGROIIND
First prepared in February, 1992 as part of the commercial
moratorium work program, the MEA zs designed to provide baseline
information for preparing environmental documents such as initial
studies, negative declarations, and EIR's. The MEA has been
successful in reducing the time and cost required to prepare EIR's,
~t has helped to ensure consistency between environmental
documents, it has served as a reference document for preparing
initial studies, and it has streamlined the City's environmental
reVlew process.
The current MEA was approved by the City Council in September,
1993. At that time, staff was asked to consider adding addit~.onal
information in the next update. The City Council requested that
staff consider suggestions for additional infarmata.an and evaluate
which ones to incorporate into the next MEA update.
After reviewing the suggestions, staff has formulated
recommendations cancern~ng which should be included in the scope of
work for the MEA update and wh~,ch should not be included. This
report outlines the proposed new tasks which have been incorporated
into the proposed work program without significant additional
expense_ This report also describes tasks which staff recommends
not be included in the MEA update. Finally, this report identifies
one task suggested by Council that is more appropriately associated
with the upcoming budget process. Should the Council wish to
pursue this task, necessary funds should be included in the FY
95/96 budget.
PROPOSED NEW TASKS
The follaw~ng new tasks have been added to the previous scope of
work for the MEA:
a Lane configurations: "Existing", "cumulative base", and
"with project mitigation" intersection lane configurations
will be illustrated as part of the Transportation/Circulation
section of the MEA. Thzs new information will depict changes
2
that are planned far each intersection as a result of
transportation improvements and project-related mitigation
measures.
o Analysis of environmental trends: An examination of
environmental trends since preparation of the first MEA, such
as changes in air quality, water production, energy use,
population, and intersection levels of service, will be
incorporated into the document. A narrative discussion will
be accompanied by graphic illustrations to highlight changes.
o Traffic gaunt verification: Levels of service at all
intersections examined in the last MEA will be recounted.
Additionally traffic counts will be taken at the intersections
of 23rd and Santa Monica Boulevard, Cloverfield Boulevard and
Santa Monica Boulevard, Cloverfield Boulevard and Michigan
Avenue, and 4th Street and Broadway as specifically requested
by Council.
o Human health and safety: Information about the Yvonne Burke
County Health Facility will be included zn the discussion of
health fac~lit~es. Because the Yvonne Burke County Health
Facility provides a variety of medical services in the
community, it will be included along with 5t. John's and Santa
Monica Hospitals in the inventory of medical facilities.
3
'ASKS NOT TO BE INCLUDED
There are a number of suggestions for additions to the MEA which
staff does not recommend including in the MEA update. These are
briefly discussed below:
o Traffic Methodology: It was suggested that the City develop
a new method of analyzing traffic impacts using a grid
analysis and take into account the effects of traffic spilling
over from major streets onto local streets.
Using a grid analysis at a local level for traffic analysis is
very uncommon -- City staff and consultants are not aware of
any cities that use a grid analysis for new development
traffic analysis. Grid analyses are often used at a regional
level for planning purposes and trip distribution.
The grid analysis can look at traffic flow on a stretch of
streets, and as it becomes more congested, redirect traffic to
a different path for a shorter travel time to their
destination. However, models used at the regional level
rarely take the analysis to a level of detail below arterial
streets, such as Lincoln, Ocean Park, Pico and Wilshire
Boulevards. It is feasible to create a grid network using
residential streets, but the accuracy is not as reliable.
In addition, the grid analysis requires a great deal of
4
detailed information, including socia-economic data such as
employment and population statistics down to the block level,
and knowledge of tr~.p origins and destinations. A grid
analysis model also requires detailed average daily traffic
count information.
Finally, a grid analysis is a planning model, and does not
calculate levels of service for traffic impact analysis of new
projects. The information from the model would have to be
transferred to a different methodology, such as the City's HCM
methodology, to perform the levels of service calculations.
Another methodology used more commonly with a grid analysis
model could be used, but comparisons to previous MEA's would
then be lost.
In order to apply a grid analysis to Santa Monica, it would
have to be applied to arterial and collector streets at a
minimum, and feeder and residential streets to more accurately
determine spillover effects. This would require average daily
traffic counts far all segments of these streets for each
update, which casts approximately $5a,Opo per update just for
the traffic counts, and up to an additional S500, 000 to create
the model. Such a model would also zequire employment and
population data down to the block level as well as consistent
updates of the information which the City currently does not
have.
5
Based upon the cost of preparing a modal, the difficulty of
collecting all necessary data, and the accuracy of the model
down to a feeder or residential street level for development
impact analysis, staff feels that this approach should not be
pursued. Staff feels it ~s appropriate to continue using the
HCM methadalogy zn order to create a series of MEA's using the
same procedure to track changes in the City's level of
service.
o Transportation/Circulation: Another suggestion was that the
MEA include weekend traffic conditions in "real time", both
summer and non-summer, especially on non-signalized
intersections west of Ocean Avenue. In particular, this would
mean examining traffic conditions during peak beach visiting
hours between 10:30 and 3:30. It was also suggested that
special event traffic and circulation in the coastal overlay
zones (weekend, summer/non-summer) be considered.
The purpose of the MEA is to provide baseline information for
use in project-related traffic impact analysis. The existing
traffic methadalogy and data collection provides peak-period
information, when mast development projects have the greatest
impacts. Furthermore, the MEA accounts far beach traffic in
the coastal zone by conducting summer counts in addition to
non-summer counts. If development is proposed in the coastal
zone that will have impacts on weekend traffic, specific
5
counts can be taken for that analysis. Therefore, staff dyes
not recommend conducting a "real time" traffic analysis.
o Cumulative Projects/3peci,fic Plans: It was suggested that
the list of cumulative projects contained in the MEA include
a comparison between projected impacts of adopted specific
plans and actual impacts. More specifically, it would compare
the projected impacts on specific intersections to actual
impacts, It has also been suggested th®t the Bayside District
Specific Plan and Civic Center Specific Flan be added to the
Cumulative Projects List.
Staff does not support these suggestions because the main
purpose of the MEA is to provide baseline environmental data
for proposed project analysis, not to evaluate the impacts of
specific development over time. Furthermore, it would be
difficult to isolate the actual traffic impacts of a
particular project or set of projects on a specific
intersection, as this would involve project-by-project traffic
counts, which would be labor-intensive and expensive. It
would also be difficult to factor out other elements impacting
an intersection in the analysis, including travel paths to and
from the project site, cumulative development impacts, and
ambient changes due to the economy.
With respect to adding specific plans to the cumulative
7
projects list, staff also recommends against this. Specific
plan areas are much like the City's general plan ~n that there
is no guarantee that individual parcels will build out to
their maximum potential. Therefore, it would be misleading to
show the maximum development potential of specific plans on
the cumulative projects list. However, to the extent that
specific developments are proposed for specific plan areas,
such as the Civic Center, Bayside District, or Hospital Area,
these developments will be included in the cumulative projects
list.
o Alcohol vut~,ets: It was suggested that the name of alcohol
outlets, number of seats, and hours of operation be added to
the alcohol outlet table.
The existing MEA already contains the name and location of
each outlet. Staff does not support the idea of including the
number of seats and hours of operation in the MEA, primarily
because this information is not pertinent to the purpose of
the alcohol information, which is to show where each type of
alcohol outlet is concentrated. Also, the information changes
quickly and would require extensive staff time to constantly
update.
o Cost/benefit analysis of liquor: It was suggested that the
MEA include an analysis of the costs and benefits of liquor
8
sales and consumption, as well as an analysis of high risk
land uses.
Staff believes that such an analysis is not appropriate far
the MEA. The purpose of the MEA is to document baseline
environmental conditions, not evaluate project-specific
impacts or the impacts of particular types of land uses_
o Fiscal: It was suggested that the MEA be used to develop
formulas that link police, fire, and paramedic service to
increases in overall. population; and, that a cost/benefit
analysis be conducted and crime impact and public service fee
formulas be determined in advance of project approvals.
The City's need for police, fire, and paramedic services is
evaluated each year as part of the Ca~ty's budgetary process.
It is not the purpose of the MEA to address budgetary issues.
o Police, Fire, Paramedic Services: It was proposed that a
demand analysis for police, fire, and paramedic services be
linked to daytime population. In addition, it was proposed
that, ~n order to establish a mitigation fee, a cost factor be
developed to account for the demand for services brought about
by new development.
As indicated, the City's need for police, fire, and paramedic
9
services is evaluated each year as part of the City~s
budgetary process. It is not the purpose of the MEA to
address budgetary issues.
o Crime: It was suggested that Police statistics be provided to
show why population has declined but crime has increased.
Staff has added a task to the MEA work scope to include recent
crime reporting statistics. A more detailed analysis of
crime trends would more appropriately be conducted by the
Police Department in a separate document.
o Police: It was suggested that deployment factors for police
be provided in the MEA.
This issue is addressed by the Police Department as part of
the budgetary process.
o Thresholds: It was recommended that, to the extent that they
are available, thresholds of significance be applied to
additional environmental zssue areas.
Staff agrees that it would be useful for the City to establish
thresholds of significance far additional environmental issue
areas. However, because this effort would require
considerable analysis, staff recommends that this be done
10
separately from the MEA update, if directed by the Council.
Optional ~a~k$
It was suggested that the MEA include a study of the City"s daytime
visitor transient population and police-to-population ratios.
In order to fully understand the cost, scope, and feasibility of
these additional tasks. staff asked consultants to address them in
their proposals for the MEA update. The following information
summarizes what has been learned from the consultants:
o Visitor/Transient Population: It was suggested that analysis
of visitor/transient population address summer/non-summer
periods, weekends/weekdays, and special events. Consultant
proposals presented a variety of methods for determining
daytime visitor population. These ranged from modest
approaches, such as review of existing data sources, to more
elaborate methods, such as a hotel survey, a business survey,
a license plate survey a resident survey and a visitor
intercept survey. A review of existing data would cost an
estimated $20,000 - $30,000. Additionally, each new survey
mentioned above would cost between $20,000 and $4fl,000 a
piece, therefore the cumulative cost of all surveys would
exceed $20D,OD0.
It was also suggested that police-to-population ratios include
11
visitor/transient population. This item could be easily
calculated once visitor population is determined.
While staff believes that there would be many valuable
applications for this information, due to the cost it is not
possible to perform this analysis within the budget of the MEA
update. Moreover, a thorough survey of transient/visitor
population should be conducted over an extended period of time
to capture seasonal fluctuations, such as summer daytime and
' weekend population. This would not be possible within the
timeframe of the current MEA update, which is anticipated to
be completed prior to the upcoming summer.
Staff recommends that if the Council wishes to pursue this
further, funds for this type of study should be included in
the FY 95/9b hudget.
Prepared by: Suzanne Frick, PCD Director
Karen Ginsberg, Playing Manager
Tad Read, Associate Planner
Planning & Community Development Department
Policy & Planning Analysis Division
f:~ppd~share~mea~ccinfol
12