SR-405-002
PCD:AA:F:\PLAN\ADMIN\CCREPORT\CIVICWORKINGGROUP.DOC
Council Meeting: January 23, 2001 Santa Monica, California
To: Mayor and City Council
From: City Staff
Subject:Recommendation for the City Council to Establish a Working Group for the
Civic Center Planning Process and to Adopt Working Group Guidelines for
the Update to the Civic Center Specific Plan.
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council:
1. Establish a Civic Center Working Group to explore options, hold regular
meetings, and make final recommendations on the update to the Civic Center
Specific Plan by November 30, 2001, and
2. Adopt Working Group Guidelines for the update to the Civic Center Specific Plan.
BACKGROUND
In 1993, the City Council approved the Civic Center Specific Plan, which sets forth a
vision for the Civic Center area as a pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use center integrated
within a variety of open spaces. The Civic Center Specific Plan extends the landscape
qualities of Palisades Park into the Civic area, and enhances pedestrian use and
circulation by creating new streets, public access easements, passages and courtyards.
In April 2000, the Santa Monica Redevelopment Agency acquired 11.3 acres of the
existing 15-acre RAND holdings in the Civic Center and in October 2000, the City
Council approved a Development Agreement providing for construction of a new RAND
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Corporate Headquarters facility to be built on the 3.7-acre parcel retained by RAND.
The approval also included demolition of the existing RAND facilities on property now
owned by the Redevelopment Agency and discrete amendments to the Civic Center
Specific Plan to reflect the new RAND facility.
Public ownership of the majority of the properties in the Civic Center area provides a
unique opportunity to guide the area’s future development. With completion of the
RAND land sale and the RAND Development Agreement, the City is now positioned to
update the Civic Center Specific Plan to reflect the community’s vision for this area.
DISCUSSION
Civic Center Working Group
Staff recommends that a working group be established to facilitate the planning efforts
for the Civic Center area. The working group will be involved throughout the process of
updating the Civic Center Specific Plan, including participating in public workshops,
holding regular meetings, reviewing proposed options, and making recommendations
regarding the proposed plan.
The City has used several working group models in the past, including the original Civic
Center Specific Plan Working Group, the Downtown Urban Design Committee, and the
415 Pacific Coast Highway Working Group. The working group model has been
successful in encouraging public participation in the planning process and producing
final recommendations within a timely framework.
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Given the variety of working group models and the diverse opportunities for the area,
staff recommends a minimum six-member Working Group, including:
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City Council (three seats)
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Planning Commission (one seat)
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Recreation and Parks Commission (one seat)
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Housing Commission (one seat)
The meetings of the Working Group will be open to the public and public workshops will
be held, affording ample opportunity for public input. Other boards, commissions, and
task forces will be asked to identify liaisons to the process. The liaisons could either
attend the Working Group meetings or be invited to attend when there is a relevant topic
of discussion. It is anticipated that the Task Force on the Environment, Arts
Commission, Social Services Commission, Child Care Task Force, Convention and
Visitors Bureau Board, Pier Restoration Board, and Bayside District Board will be asked
to identify liaisons.
Working Group Guidelines
For any planning process, it is important to establish a framework within which the
process will occur. Rather than requiring the Working Group to spend their initial
meetings identifying guidelines, staff recommends that the City Council identify them in
advance of the process. City Council-adopted guidelines have proven to be helpful for
focusing the work of other community working groups. Working group guidelines
provide a framework for discussions without limiting the creativity of working groups’
efforts.
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The proposed Civic Center Plan Working Group Guidelines are provided in
Attachment A to this staff report. The Working Group Guidelines set forth the following
general precepts:
The boundaries for the new plan will be the same as those of the existing Civic
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Center Specific Plan, i.e. Fourth Street, Pico Boulevard, Ocean Avenue and the
Santa Monica Freeway.
Permitted development intensities will not change for the City Hall, Public Safety
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Facility, new RAND Headquarters, City Hall Public Parking Structure, and Pacific
Shore Hotel sites, all of which contain buildings that are existing, under construction
or in design. The Civic Auditorium is excluded from this list because a feasibility
study of long-term options for the facility will be conducted concurrently with the
Civic Center planning process.
A location for an early childhood education and development center will be identified
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in the updated plan. As part of the RAND Development Agreement, the RAND
Corporation has made a financial commitment to the development of a child-care
facility in the Civic Center. It is important that the plan provide for the development
of this facility.
As tax-exempt bonds were used to purchase the former RAND properties, the
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Federal Tax Code limits private business uses on the property.
Low- and moderate-income housing development on the former RAND property
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should be commensurate with at least thirty percent of the bond proceeds used to
purchase the property.
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The new plan should address goals and policies with respect to land use and urban
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design, circulation, open space, public services and utilities, conservation and
sustainability, and implementation.
The Working Group will hold regular meetings, culminating in a recommended draft
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plan no later than November 30, 2001, in order to ensure that the planning process
continues to move forward and the City does not lose its ability to capitalize on
outside funding opportunities with respect to affordable housing and child care
facility development.
Next Steps
Staff has initiated the selection process for a consultant team to assist in updating the
Civic Center plan. The award of contract for consulting services, which will include
urban planning and design, open space planning, circulation analysis and planning, and
financial implementation services leading to the preparation of a draft specific plan, is
expected to come before the City Council in February. Following award of the contract
and appointment of Working Group members, staff anticipates the Working Group will
beginning holding meetings in early March. Thereafter, the Working Group will meet
regularly over a six- to nine-month period.
BUDGET/FISCAL IMPACT
There is no budget impact associated with establishment of the Working Group. Staff
will return to Council for award of contract for the consultant team who will assist in
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preparing the update to the Civic Center Specific Plan and facilitating the work of the
Working Group.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve the establishment of a Civic Center Working Group and appoint Council
members to the Working Group, and
2. Adopt Working Group Guidelines to begin the Civic Center planning process.
Prepared by: Suzanne Frick, Director, Planning and Community Development
Andy Agle, Deputy Director, Planning and Community Development
Jeff Mathieu, Director, Resource Management
Bob Moncrief, Housing and Redevelopment Manager
Craig Perkins, Director, Environmental and Public Works Management
Barbara Stinchfield, Director, Community and Cultural Services
Karen Ginsberg, Assistant Director, Community and Cultural Services
Carole Curtin, Event Facilities Manager
Judy Rambeau, Assistant to the City Manager
Attachment A: Civic Center Plan Working Group Guidelines
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ATTACHMENT A
CIVIC CENTER PLAN
WORKING GROUP GUIDELINES
1. The plan shall include all properties within the boundaries of Pico
Boulevard, Ocean Avenue, Fourth Street, and the Santa Monica
Freeway.
2. The plan shall maintain the permitted development intensities for the
City Hall, Public Safety Facility, new RAND Headquarters, City Hall
Public Parking Structure, and Pacific Shore Hotel sites.
3. The plan shall identify a location for the development of an early
childhood education and development center in the Civic Center.
4. In accordance with the Federal Tax Code, the amount of sale or
lease revenue to be received from private uses on the 11.3 acres of
former RAND property is generally limited to an amount not exceed
ten percent of the total bond proceeds used to purchase said
property.
5. The plan shall include low- and moderate-income housing
development on the 11.3 acres of former RAND property at a level
commensurate with no less than 30 percent of the total bond
proceeds used to purchase said property.
6. The plan shall include goals and policies related to land use and
urban design, circulation, open space, public services and utilities,
conservation and sustainability, and implementation.
7. The Working Group shall complete its work by November 30, 2001,
culminating with a recommended draft specific plan.
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