SR-106-031-03
CCS: f: ccsadmn\share\staffreports\rpcbgreening Santa Monica, California
Council Meeting: December 10, 2002
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Recreation and Parks Commission
Subject: Transmittal of Recommendation of the Recreation and Parks Commission
To Approve a Beach Lots Greening, Recreation and Parking Concept in
Order to Explore State Funding Opportunities to Support a Concept
Feasibility Study and Other Possible Implementation Activities
Attached is a letter from the Recreation and Parks Commission requesting that the City
Council approve the Commission’s proposal for a beach lots greening, recreation and
parking concept. This conceptual approval will allow the Recreation and Parks
Commission to explore State funding sources for a feasibility study and other costs
associated with possible concept implementation as outlined in the attached letter.
Prepared by: Recreation and Parks Commission
Attachment: Commission Concept Proposal Letter, November 22, 2002
November 22, 2002
Honorable City Council, City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, California 90401
Re: Greening, Recreation & Parking Proposal for the Beach Parking Lots
Dear Mayor and Members of the Council:
We know you are fully aware that our City suffers from a severe shortage of parks and
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open space. We are in dire need of field space for our school children; existing fields
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are overused and the situation will worsen as we try to accommodate growing demand.
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We are also greatly in need of more open space for picnic and play areas. Further, we
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are committed to providing beach access and need to offer attractive beachside parks in
support of the regional users and tourists so central to our City’s economic life. Of
equal importance, we need to insure that our parks reflect our commitment to the
sound environmental stewardship of our coastal resources.
We believe it may be possible to address all of these goals by designing – or ‘greening’
– the Beach Parking lots. Your Recreation and Parks Commission is before you tonight
to ask for your support for this idea.
The Concept
The Santa Monica Beach Parking Lots are currently designated as having only one use –
parking. We remain committed to meeting the parking requirements of the Coastal
Commission and to providing parking for beach access. Moreover, it makes sense to us
that these large and valuable land areas should be used to their fullest public benefit.
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We envision the possibility of greening the lots, addressing stormwater pollution issues,
providing new field areas for games, offering additional recreational areas for picnicking
and playing, and adding aesthetic value to the beach front, thereby adding economic
benefit to coastal businesses.
Deleted: All the while, these lots
would continue to provide parking
and thus beach access.¶
The Feasibility
How can we achieve all of these goals in the same physical area? There are many
technical and design issues that need to be investigated and addressed. Moreover,
there are many stakeholders who will bring new ideas and perspectives to the
discussion. But we also know that in other places throughout the country, these same
issues are being explored and actions taken to transform parking areas to multi use
facilities. In the past, for example, the Rose Bowl – through careful management – was
able to use green open space for car parking by creating a structural subsurface grid
that protected the turf’s roots and allowed the grass to grow and flourish. The City of
Los Angeles is also experimenting with field design alternatives so that they can have
more intensive use of their park and field space. There are many other examples of
such innovation and experimentation.
We give these examples not to suggest that they constitute blueprints for our City, but
to demonstrate that many other municipalities are also concerned with these same
issues and are seeking new approaches to resolving them. Similarly, we need to explore
all possible options as we consider implementing this concept in our own City.
Request for Support
It is our hope that you will be intrigued by the possibilities inherent in this concept.
Tonight, we are here to request your approval of the Beach Lots Greening, Recreation
and Parking Concept. Recognizing the budget issues which the City will face in the
coming year and the potential costs, especially of stormwater pollution prevention, we
believe that pursuing State funding is essential. Your approval will allow the
Commission and City staff to be able to work with the appropriate State Legislators and
agencies to explore the possibility of receiving State funds.
In the context of Recreation and Parks Commission priorities, we will also be before you
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on January 14 as part of the FY 03-04 priority setting process. A request for the
allocation of staff resources will be included among those recommended priorities.
More specifically, we will be requesting that Council: 1. direct Staff to work with the
Recreation & Parks Commission in the development and exploration of this proposal;
and, 2. direct the allocation of the Staff resources including, but not limited to, those
necessary to prepare a scope of work for a Beach Parking Lot Greening Feasibility
Study.
We intend that the Feasibility Study clearly define the City goals and public benefits in
undertaking this work and identify the issues that need to be explored and addressed.
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The Staff, in consultation with the Parks and Recreation Commission, and with any
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outside consultant that may be hired, would be asked to accomplish four main tasks.
The first would be to identify the involved stakeholders – we have already begun to
discuss this proposal with representatives from the PRC, OPCO and the Main Street
Merchants Association as well as environmental and recreational groups. The second
would be to identify the technical and advisory support that will be needed to
investigate the feasibility of this proposal and to prepare design concept drawings
based on the information learned. The third task would be to develop a proposed
timeline for a design and implementation schedule. The fourth task would be to explore
all possible funding opportunities – including, but not limited to, State funds dedicated
to parks and recreation, beach clean-up and storm water pollution prevention.
While it is our thought that this proposal will be eligible for State Funding pursuant to
the criteria in the recently passed Bond Measures for Clean Water and Parks, we also
request that this be considered during the upcoming City Budget in order to allow this
work to proceed as expeditiously as possible, including the option of hiring consultants,
Deleted: We further ask that Staff
provide the Council and the
as appropriate.
Commission with a timeline that will
show how this work will be folded
into the upcoming budget cycle in a
We believe this is an exciting opportunity for our City and merits the serious attention
timely manner in order to
necessary in order to analyze and understand all the issues and possibilities. We thank
you, again, for your consideration of our proposal.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank Schwengel, Chair
Recreation & Parks Commission
Susan Cloke, Commissioner,
Deleted: on behalf of the
Chair, Beach Greening Committee