SR-417-001-01 (2)
F:\PCD\Share\council2002\East West Prkg Cnt?d
Council Meeting: October 22, 2002 Santa Monica, California
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City Staff
Subject:Establishment of an East-West Commercial Corridors Parking Task Force
and Parking Scenarios for Madison Campus EIR
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council establish a task force to evaluate and
make recommendations concerning potential parking solutions to serve east-west
commercial corridor needs. It also responds to a Council request to develop alternative
parking scenarios and issues that could be explored in the Santa Monica City College
Madison Campus Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
BACKGROUND
On September 24, 2002 City Council approved the east-west commercial corridors
parking study consultant contract and requested that staff return to Council with possible
scenarios or technical issues for Santa Monica College to evaluate in the Madison
Campus EIR, since the Madison Campus is on a corridor where there are known parking
shortages. Council also wanted additional time to discuss and approve a recommended
task force composition.
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DISCUSSION
East-West Corridors Parking Task Force:
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At the September 24 meeting, Council discussed a task force composition of either two
or three Council members and one or two Planning Commissioners, who will facilitate
the process of seeking public input. The process will be designed to encourage broad-
based community participation and will include open meetings to discuss the issues,
evaluate options and formulate recommendations.
Once Council decides on the composition, staff will follow up with the necessary
implementation steps and hold a first task force meeting in January 2003. It is
anticipated that Council will select its task force members in December. The meetings
will be publicly noticed and will, most likely, be held at the Ken Edwards Center.
Madison Campus Plans:
Santa Monica City College is currently preparing an EIR for the proposed Madison
Campus project consisting of a new 536-seat performance theater. The theater would
be used as a lecture hall during the week (morning through evening) and as a
performance hall evenings and weekends. The plans call for refurbishing the existing
surface parking lot, which essentially results in no new parking. The Initial Study, issued
with the Notice of Preparation (NOP) in May, 2002, identified parking as a potentially
significant issue, due to increased use of the site, and noted that parking capacity would
be further addressed in the EIR.
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The College?s redevelopment of the site creates the opportunity to address a larger
community issue of a parking shortage in the area. There is a high demand for
employee parking from the surrounding businesses, and the demand for parking has
been intensified as a result of expanded preferential parking areas. The City could
suggest that the college analyze several scenarios that add parking spaces, to address
both the college?s potential parking shortage and the larger community needs. The
following are suggested as possible scenarios for inclusion in the College?s analysis:
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Develop a parking structure on a portion of the surface parking lot. If the structure
were free-standing it would need to be situated so that the frontage along Santa
Monica Boulevard is preserved for active street use. Alternatively, the entire site
could be a mixed-use development with structured and or/underground parking
and neighborhood-serving commercial uses along Santa Monica Boulevard. The
College could explore possible joint utilization and funding scenarios.
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Add underground parking below the performance theater/lecture hall. This
assumes that the College would want to preserve the surface lot area for other
future development.
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Require that any performance include the price of parking in the lot within the
ticket price to discourage attendees from looking for free street parking.
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Provide a shuttle between Santa Monica College and the Madison site so that
students do not need to drive to the site to attend lecture classes.
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Provide bike lockers for students riding their bikes to lecture classes.
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Consider covered (structured) parking to address potential noise and nighttime
disturbance to adjacent residences from performances and evening lectures.
Some of the above alternatives could be analyzed as ways to mitigate the project
impacts, while the more significant community-serving scenarios may be necessary in
the event that impacts could not be mitigated. The preparation of the Draft EIR is still
underway. The College estimates that the earliest the document will be available for
public comment is in late November, 2002.
BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT
No budget impacts are anticipated.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve the establishment of an East-West Commercial Corridor Parking Task Force
to address parking needs and determine the composition of the task force.
2. Authorize staff to transmit to Santa Monica City College alternative parking scenarios
and issues to be evaluated in the Madison Campus Environmental Impact Report
(EIR).
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Prepared by: Suzanne Frick, Director, Planning and Community Development
Ellen Gelbard, Assistant Director, Planning and Community Development
Lucy Dyke, Transportation Planning Manager
Jay Trevino, Planning Manager
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