SR-402-001 (22)
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Council Meeting December 8, 1987
Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Approval of Extension of Time Limit for Development for
the Project Approved as DR 305 and CUP 390, Located at
1723 Fourth street, a Hotel/Office Development Project,
Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District, Applicant.
INTRODUCTION
Staff recommends approving the request of the Santa Monical
Malibu unified School District for a six month extension to the
time limit set forth in condition 4 of the City Council's May 6,
1986 approval of DR 305/CUP 390. Condition 4 established a time
limit to exercise the rights to develop the project, for one year
from the effective date of approval and provided for extension by
administrative action for an additional six months.
Further
extension of time requires action by the Council based on a
finding of good cause.
BACKGROUND
On April 7th, 1986, the Planning Commission approved DR 305 and
CUP 390 for construction of a mixed use project consisting of a
7-story, 255 room hotel with associated restaurant, bar and
retail uses and a 3 story, 40,000 square foot office and retail
building. The Planning commission approval was appealed to the
City Council who upheld the approval at its May 6th, 1986 meeting
and directed the project to return to the Planning commission for
discretionary review of
revised plans
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for parking and
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circulation, preservation of trees, and pedestrian access. The
Planning Commission reviewed and approved these revisions on July
7, 1986. The conditions of approval established by the City
Council (Condition 26 of May 6, 1986 approval) also required
that action on the requested variances from CA District
regulations be taken prior to issuance of building permits. The
Zoning Administrator approved the requested variances on January
6, 1987.
In addition, in order to create a separate parcel for the
purposes of financing the project, the applicant requested
approval of a subdivision. Tentative Parcel Map l8l34/CUP 438
were approved by the Planning Commission on November 10, 1986.
The Final Parcel Map is scheduled for action by the Council on
the December 8 consent agenda.
In January of 1987, the applicant requested that a six month
time extension for DR 305 and CUP 390 be administratively
approved by the Planning Director based upon the 11.. . complexity
of the entitlement requirements for this project and the process
of completing all the required hearings for the project...." The
Planning Director determined that the effective date of approval
was July 7, 1986 and granted that time extension on April, 1st,
1987 for a period to expire January 7th, 1988.
During the interim, the Beacon Company has become a partner to
the School District and Midis properties in the development of
the hotel/retail complex and will operate the hotel as the Guest
Quarters Suite Hotel. The proj ect has proceeded through final
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approval by the Architectural Review Board (October 7, 1987); has
established conformance with conditions of approval in
preparation for the plan check process; and is prepared to pay
all City fees required in connection with the issuance of
building permits.
The District has requested that the city council grant an
extension of the time limit because of the unanticipated length
of time needed to obtain the best operator for the hotel, to
structure agreements to secure financing, and meet all the legal
requirements of the state Education Code. The complex process of
structuring agreements was just recently concluded during the
last week of November I 1987. The School District supports the
newly concluded agreements and is prepared to proceed with the
project.
The District has executed all the necessary instruments of the
conveyance of property and is prepared to take the final package
to the state Board of Education as an agreement which is within
the parameters of the law and satisfactory to lenders. The
matter cannot be scheduled on the agenda of the state Board until
mid-January at the earliest, past the January 7, 1988 date of
expiration of DR 305/CUP 309. Therefore, the Santa Monica/Malibu
Unified School District has requested that the city Council act
to extend the time limit for an additional 6 months in order to
ensure that the proj ect may proceed as planned. It is the
District I s intention to secure building permits as soon as the
state Board of Education has acted to approve the provisions of
the final agreements.
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The City Council has the authority to extend the time limit per
Municipal Code section 9l48D which states that time limits may
be extended by the City Council for good cause.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendation presented in this report does not have a
budget or fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the City council adopt the
following Finding and extend the time limit for this project to
July 7th, 1988.
FINDING
1. The City Council has reviewed the status of DR 305/CUP 390
and finds that the following circumstances exist which provide
good cause for the extension of the time limits established as a
condition of the granting of the permit: The project is
consistent with the project approved by the City Council on May
6, 1986 based on findings that the proposal is consistent with
the goals of the General Plan and good planning practice, is in
the public interest, and is consistent with the findings and
purpose of Ordinance 1321 as set forth in the specific findings
of approval for DR 305, CUP 390: that since the original approval
of the project, the applicant has exercised due diligence in
establishing conformance to conditions, and obtaining subsequent
approvals as required: that the unique nature of the
public/private partnership which provides a long-term income
stream to the District, required deliberate and time-consuming
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attention to detail and complex review to ensure conformance to
state Education Code requirements.
Prepared by: Peggy Curran, Director
Joan L. Akins, Assistant to the Director
Community and Economic Development
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