SR-12-A (51)
oc~ ~ 3 ~
RMD EDD hiR F 1RESOl1RCE1SHAREIHOW~2DSHIL08STER1LOB8TER5 RPT
Council Meeting OC~OIJEf '~ ~, 1998 Sar~ta Mor~ica, Califomia
TO Mayor and C~ty Counc~!
FROM G~ty StafF
SUBJECT Recommendat~on to Consider the Adoption of a Resolut[on of Neeess~ty to
Acqwre Real Property Located at 1fi02 Ocean A~er~ue By Em~nent Doma~n
#nt~adu~t~on
This report recommends #hat the C~~y Caunc~~ cons~der the adopt~on of a Resolution of
NECessEty to acquire reaE prope~y l~ca~ed at 1602 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica by
emi~ent domain
Backqround
The reai property at ~l602 Ocean Avenue ("Property"} ~s a prime ~ocation for a stra#egrc
expans~on a€ Pal~sades Pa~k The use of the Property as additional park and oper~ space
would serve as a dramat~c grEenbelt gateway to the Santa Momca Pier The Property
would also serve as an impo~ant view corf~dar #rom Ocean Avenue to the Santa Monica
P~er and tf~e oceat~front City purchase and dedication of the Proper#y as open space
woufd be consistent w~th the Civic Cer~ter Spec~#~c P4an wh~ch calis for a ~~ew corridor ~n
this area Such Gity purchase and dedication would also be co~s~stent ~nnth the C~ty's
n~wEq updated Open Space Element and the Park and Recreatio~ Master Plan wh~ch
pnorrt~ze C~ty acquisition of strateg~caliy located open space
In or about August of ~ 994, the former owners of 16Q2 Qcean A~enue s~tered mto a
~
~
~CT 131~;
Development Agreemen# v~nth the C~ty to build a~ew retaillrestauran#loff~ce pro~ect on tf~e
s~#e However, the former owners did not proceed w~th t#~e appro~~d pra~ect !n or a~out
December of 1996. t~e former owners sold the Prope~ty to the current owr~ership group,
"The Lobster LLC" ~"4wr~er") The Qwr~er sought and abta~ned new development permits
to build a 3,9fi~ sq~aare faot restaurant Pro~ect entitlements mclude a Var~ance,
Adm~nistrative Approval, Condit~onaE Use Permit ~or aicohol serv~ce, and a Bu~lding
Permit The vanous perm~ts and entitieme~ts were approved Fn earfy 1998. culmrnat~ng in
the issuance af a Bu~lding Permit an May 7, 1998
In response to City Council ~nterest in tt~e potentia[ Ci#y acquisition of the Property, CGty
staff retained a duly certified apprarser who rendered an apinron of t{~e fair market ~al~e of
t~e Property The City staff notified the Owne~'s representattve on July 7, 1998 that the
C~#y was explaring the pvtentia! pure~ase of the Praperty and was seeking an appraisal of
the Property The City made a wr~t#en purchase affer to the Owner by letter dated August
17, 1998 far Two M~9lion Srx Hundred Tho~sand Doilars ($2,600,QQ0}, the full amount of
the apprarsal The Qwner has not accepted the City's offer Repeated a#tempts by City
staff to meet wnth the Owner v~nere rebuffed or pos#p~ned by the Owne~s representative
unt~l fmaffy, City staff met u+nth Owr~er's re~resentatrves o~ SeptEmber 2~, 1998 However,
discussEOns were mconclusE~e The dwner's representat~ves cEted diff~cult~es an reaching
ail of the partr~ers. same of w~om vu~ere tra~eE~ng abroad, anci constraints i~ their efforts to
complete the~r own appra~sal of the ~alu~ af the Property Despite t}~e passage of nearly
two months s~nce the City's offer, the Owner's representat~~es ha~e stated that they are
2
not yet ready to prov~de a v-+~~tter~ co~nter-offer As requ~red by law, tf~e C~ty sent a notice
to the Ovmer of the Property on September 28, 1998, a date 15 days prior to thrs hearmg
on the adopt~on of the Resolut~on o# Necess~ty, informErrg the Owne~ that the City Counc~l
woufd cons~der the Resol~tion of Necessity at its October 13, ~ 998 meeting The Qwner
remains activeiy engaged in constructior~ of the restaurant on the Property
Acqu~s~t~an of the Praperty through emment domain proceed~~gs vsnl! assure the purchase
af the site wathaut undue delay Staff, however, ~nnli cont~n~~ to attempt to negotiate m
goad faith w~th the Owner
D~scuss~on
Cal~forn~a Code of Ci~~l Procedure Sect~ons 1240 03D and 1245 230 aifow a crty to
acqurre pri~ate property for publ~c purposes ~f the following criteria are estab~ished
(1) The publ~c interest and necessity reqwre the proposed pra~ect,
(2} T~~ proposed pro~ect is ~lanned or focated m the manne~ that ~nnll be mast
compatible vtinth the greatest publ~c goocf a~-d the least private ~n~ury,
(3} The property that the c~ty intends to acqwre is necessary for the proposed
pro~ec#,
~4) An offer ~o~ the fuif amount ofi the C~~y's appra~sal has been made to the owner
of record
The findfngs requEred for the CEty ta acquire property by emirtent doma~n must be
contamed m a Resolutian of NecessEty which must be adopted by two-thirds of the
3
members o# the C~ty Cour~cil after a publ~c hearing After consideratlon of the comments
of Owner and members of the pubiic, wh~ch are to be directed to the cr~teria referenced
above rather than to the value of the Property at issue, the C~ty Cou~c~l may adopt a
Resolu~ion of Necessity ap~licable to the parce!(s) ta be acquired
The requfsite fnd~ngs are set forth below For the purposes of these findings. the term
"pra~ect" is defined as tF~e CEty's acquisition of #he real property located at 1fi02 Ocean
Avenue and ded~cation ofi the Prape~ty as par~c or open space, avaiiabl~ for the general
use and en~oyment o# the pubEic
Finding No 1"The pubi~c ir~terest and necessrty requrre the proposed pro~ect "
(Califor~nia Code of Civik Procedure Sect~ans 1240 030fa} and 1245 230(c)(9 ))
The use of the Property as additional pa~c and open space wauld ex#end Palisades
Park by creat~ng a dramatic southern term~n~s to the par~c and a stnking greenbsit
ga#eway to the 5anta Monica Pier The Proper~y would also serve as an impartant
view corridor from City Hall and Ocean Avenue to the Santa Monica Pier and t~e
oceanfrant City purchase and d~dication af the Property as open space would be
cor~s~stent w~th t~e CEV~c Center Spec~fic Plan whECh calls for a view corr~dar ~n th~s
area (See ~enerally Civic Center Specific Plan, Land LJse and Community Desigr~
Element Section ) Such C~ty purchase and ded~cation would also be consistent
~nnfh the C~ty's n~wly updated Oper~ Space Element and the ParK and Recr~ation
Master Pla~t which prior~#~ze C~ty acqu~sit~on of strateg~cally located oper~ space
4
(See qeneraEly Open Space Eleme~t, Ob~ectives and Polacies Sectron, see apen
Space Eiement, Policy Nos 1 3, 5~, 6 4 and 7 4, see qenerally Parksand
Recreation Master Pfan, Trends and Community Prefiefences Sectcon, and Master
Plan Strateg~es - Parks a~d Open Space Sec~ion ) It is necessary to acq~ire the
Property in order to dedicate the P~operty as open space availabie for the use and
en~oyment of the public at larg~ The Pier, the Beach ar~d PalESades Park are
among the Caty's most ~sEd parks and open spaces for ail age graups as set forth
m the Oper~ Space Elem~nt and Parks and Recreation Mas#er Plan
F~nding No 2"The proposed pro~ect is p(anned or located ~n the manner that v~nll be
most compat~ble v+nth #he greatest public good and the least pri~at~ ~njury "(Cal~forn~a
Cade of C~~~I Procedure Sec~rons 1240 030(b} and 1245 230(c}~2} )
The proposed acquisition of the Prope~ty for ad~itional park and open space c~eariy
constitutes an acquis~tion for pubiac use, as t~e park and open space woUld serve
the Sa~#a Monica community ar~d the generai ~aubi~c at large The pro~ect ~nnll serve
the public ~nterest descr~bed above Due to the un~que locatian of the Property,
thers is no feasrbfe met~od far acftiev~ng sUCh permanent open space dedicatror~
except by acquisitEOn of the Property The acqu~sit~a~ of tF~e Properiy for th~s
purpose will result in thE leasi pr~vate ~n~ury ~rt that the purchase of only one
privately-owrted praperty ~s necessary to achieve the pu~lic goa! The C~ty is
propos~r~g to purchase ortly that property absolutely necessary for the pro~ect
3
Ffnd~r~g No 3. "The propeRy sought to be acquired is necessary for #he ~roposed
pro~ect "{Cal~fornia Code of C~v~E Procedure Sectrons 1240 030{c) and 1245 230(c)(3) )
The Property is uniqueEy s~tuated as the soutk~erly portion of a potentia! greenbe~t
gat~way to the Santa Mon~ca P~er No other property can provide a contiguo~s
so~therly connection to Palisades Park or serve as the necessary gateway (See
qenerally. O~en Space Element, Ob~ecti~es ar~d PoEicies Sectton, and Parks ar~d
Recrea#ion Master Pfart, Trends and CvmmunEty Preferer~ces Section, a~d Master
Plan Strateg~es - Parks and Open Space Sec#~on ) Thfs Proper~y F~as dramatfc
views which would serve as a visual connection from C~ty Hall to the Sa~ta Mornca
Pjer, Pal~sades Park and tF~e Oceanfront (S~e q~ne~aNy C~~~c Center Specif~c
Plan. Lancf Use and Commun~ty Des~gn Elemen# Section ) The camp[et~on of the
~is~al co~idor cannot be ach~eved w~thout C~ty acq~isition af this Property The
map attached as Exhib~t B mdicates the Property ta be acquired by the C~ty
Fmdrng No 4"An offer for the full amount af the City's a~praisal has been made to the
owner of record "(Califorr~~a Code of C~vil Procedure Sect~on 1245 23Q(c}(4} )
In a Eetter s~gr~ed by the C~ty Manager, dated August 17, 1998, the City made an
offer to tf~e 4wner for Tvrro Milhon S~x Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,600,000), fhe
full arnoun# of the a~praised value of the Property Adoptron of the Resolutia~ af
Necess~ty ~nnll ailow the C~ty to proceed vtinth eminent domain proceedEr~gs if for any
reason a negot~ated p~rc~ase is not achie~ecf
6
Plann~ng staff has re~iew9ed the patentiaE purc~ase of this Property Should City Counc~l
proceed ~nnth the eminent domair~ act~on. Plann~ng staff wiil prepare the appropriate
en~~ranmental documen#ation It ~s ant~cipated that there v-nll be no inte~tsi~cation of use
The commencemer~t af eminen# domain praceedings vrnll be cor~ti~gen# upon compl~ance
rnnth the requirements of Cali#omia En~~ronmental Quality Act {"CEQA")
B~dqetlF~nanc~a{ Impact
Acquisitior~ of these propert~es will be fma~ced from funds budgeted from Account No
0~ -7'4 0-2Q2-20098-8900-99990
Recommendation
it ~s respectfully recommended that t~e Ci#y Caunci! cons~der the adoption of the attached
ResolutEOr~ af Necess~ty to acquire real property located at 1602 Ocean Aver~ue by
emanent domain
Attachments Exhibit A, Resolution
Exhib~t B. Map
Prepared by Jeff Mathieu, Director of Resaurce Managemer~t
Howard Ro~mson, Eeonomic Develapment Manager
7
EXHIBIT A
F IATTYIMUNIILAWSIEMILOBSTER RES
City Council Meeting 10-13-98 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTlON OF THE CITY CdUNCIL OF THE CiTY OF SANTA MQNICA
FINDING AND DETERMiNING THE PUBLlC INTEREST AND NECESSITY
FOR ACQUIRING AND AUTHORIZlNG CONDEMNATfON OF CERTAfN
REAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1fi02 OCEAN AVENUE
The City of Santa Monica (the "Ci#y"), by Wote of not less than two-thirds of its
members, does hereby resolve and determine as follows
SECTI~N 1 The real property is located at 16Q2 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica,
Californfa (the "Property") and ~s described more fully as follows
LOT 1 AND LOTS A AND B OF THE MOSS TRACT, IN THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES,
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AS PER MAP REC~RDED lN
BOOK 36 PAGES 64 AND 6~ OF MAPS, IN THE O~F1CE
OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF SAID COUNTY
EXCEPT THEREFROM THAT PDRTION OF SAID LOT B
GRANTED T~ STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN DEED
RECORDED AS ~OCUMENT NQ 740 ON DECEMBER 21,
1940 IN BQOK 18040, PAGE 249, OF OFFICIAL RECORDS,
DESCRIB~D AS F4LLOWS
BEGINNING AT THE MOST WESTERLY CORNER OF SAID
LOT, THENCE N~RTH 4~~ 40' 20" EAST ALONG THE
NORTHW~STERLY LINE OF SAID LOT, 35 01 FEET,
THENCE SOUTHERLY ALONG A GURVE C~NCAVE
EASTERLY HAVING A RADIIJS OF 31 FEET AND TANGENT
TO SAID NORTHWESTERLY LINE, THROUGH AN ANGLE
OF ~00° 37' 43" AN ARC DISTANCE OF 54 4~ FEET TO A
POINT OF COMPOUND CURVE, THENCE
SOUTHEASTERLY ALONG A CURVE CONCAVE
NORTHEASTERLY HAVING A RADIUS OF 337 FEET,
THROUGH AN ANGLE OF 6° 42' 25" AN ARC DISTANCE OF
39 45 FEET TO A POINT IN THE SOUTHEASTERLY LINE
~F SAID LOT, DISTANT THEREON NORTH 45° 40' 49"
EAST 66 83 FEET FR4M THE MOST SOUTHERLY CORNER
O~ SAID ~OT, THENCE SOUTH 45° 40' 49" WEST 66 83
FEET TO MOST SOUTHERLY CORNER, THENCE
NORTHERLY ALONG THE WESTERLY LINE OF SAID LOT
TQ POINT ~F BEGINNING
SECTION 2 The Property is to be acquired for park a~d open space uses,
specifically for the purpose af the creat~on of a ~iew corridar of the Santa Monica P~er and
oceanfront from the upper section of the ~600 block of Ocean Avenue The City ~s
authorized to acquire the hereinafter described real property pursuant ~o the Governm~nt
Code of the State of Califomia, Sect~ans 37350 5 and 37361, the Public Resources Code
of the State of California, Sections 5309 #hrough 530~, mclusive, and the Emtnent Domain
Law of the State of California (Code of Ci~il Procedure, Title 7, Chapters 1-12, includmg,
witt~aut limitation, Sectians 1240 Q10-1240 740)
SECTION 3 On the basis of th~ information contatned in that certain staff report
to the Mayor and Members of the City Counc~l dat~d October 13, 1998, which ~s
incorporated h~re~n by th~s reference, and all ather written and oral information, evidence
and testimony presentEd to the City Council, the City Cauncil declares, finds and
determines
{a) That the public interest and necessity require the proposed pro~ecf,
(b) That the pro~ect is planned or located in the manner that will be most
compatible with the greatest p~blic good and the least private in~ury,
(c) That the property is necessary for the proposed pro~ect, and
(d) That the affer required by Section 72fi7 2 of fhe Government Code
has been made to the owner or owr~ers of record
SECTION 4 The City is hereby au#horized and empowered to acqu~re by
condemnation the fee title to the hereinafter described real property, unless a lesser estate
~s expressly descr~bed, except~r~g and reservrng to the owner thereof all ari, gas and
mineral substances, together wEth the right to explore for and extract such substances,
pro~~ded that the surface opening of any well, hole, shaft or other means of exploring for,
reaching or extracting such substances shall not be located within the Property and shal!
not penetrate any part or partion of the Property within 500 feet of the surface thereof
SECTION 5 The law firm af Kane, Ballmer & Ber~man, act~ng as spec~al counsel
~
for the City is hereby authorized to prepare and prosecute in the name of the City, such
proceeding or proceedings in the proper court ha~mg ~urisd~ction thereof, as are necessary
for such acquisition, and to prepare and file all plead~ngs, documents, briefs, and other
instruments, and to maKe such arguments and to take such actions as may be necessary
in their opinion #o acqu~re the real praperty The City's special counsel is specifically
authorized to take whate~er steps andlor procedures are a~ailable to it under the Eminent
Doma~n Law of the State of Caf~forn~a (Code of Ci~~l Procedure, Title I, Chapters 1-12,
Sections 1230 010-1273 050}
SECTION 6 The Director of Finance is authonzed and directed to draw such
warrants as may be required by the Super~or Court for deposit of probable compensation
in accordance with California Code of Ci~il Procedure Section 1255 010
SECTION 7 The City Clerk shall certify ta the adoption of this Resolution once,
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect
SECTION 8 The commencement of an eminent domain action with respect to the
Property is contingent on compliance with the requErements of the Caiifornia En~ironmenta!
Quality Act ("CEQA")
APPROVED AS TO FORM
`tca~ ~
MARSHA J ES MOUTRIE
City Attorney
~
3
%Y1~61l1lMSMRr~niNY1RJ~f~~lr~•'~ CIh~~..N. Y+Nf1~iY~rR}'~Y/A~YI~C~914~I~R#
Exhibit B ~~rr
~ ~~
16Q2 Ocean A~e. ~ 3~ ~
Site Map ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~
° ±~n~ ~~~~~~
o ~ '
o '~
U
i~.~i~~,~i~, i~t~r~
bp
'd
~"i
L~
. . . . .., a~'i
I~
Ocean Ave.
•~`~l
C~
~
~~ ~:
'
~
c ,
~^
~
,~y
~1
~
L
C'^
~
. ,..i
CI]
CG
G)
~
APPian Way
~~~ Pro~crly l~ hc Aquircd
l~fu~ nn[ Ec~ Se~~lc
Infi)a'n+ell0n Syelt7n~ IkpWrlmont fjao~aphk MfanwGOn Sy9l~~~ nawa nnn~ ocwbar ~3, i~3
~' ~e,
,~~
: .~I~ d ~rEr Murar A rigMs -ti,evsc