SR-407-003-014
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MAR z 8 1989
CjED:HD:CR:wp
City Council Meeting:
March 28, 1989
Santa Monica, California
TO:
Mayor and city Council
FROM:
City staff
Recommendation to Authorize City Manager to Nego-
tiate an Agreement with Santa Monica-Malibu School
District to obtain Site Control of Madison School
Site
SUBJECT:
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council authorize the City
Manager to negotiate an Agreement to obtain site control of the
Santa Monica-Malibu School District ("School District") owned
property known as "Madison School" for the purposes of developing
a 2.25 acre park, a 7,500 square foot child care facility, and 75
units of rental housing for low and moderate income families.
BACKGROUND
During the City Council discussions of the proposed Zoning Or-
dinance, council requested that city staff look to secure
whenever feasible control of surplus school properties in order
to maintain and expand public lands. In 1985 the School District
closed Madison Elementary School located at 1018 Santa Monica
Boulevard.
At this time the School District is exploring the
development options for the Madison School si te as a means of
generating revenue.
In 1988, the School District commissioned
Hamilton, Rabinovitz, and Alschuler, Inc. (HR&A) to conduct a
study of the development opportunities and to undertake a
residual land value analysis of the Madison School site. Late in
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1988 informal discussions between the School District and city
officials commenced in regards to the possible acquisition of the
development rights of Madison School by the City. City staff
have examined the potential re-use of Madison School. This re-
port presents a summary of the work performed by staff to date,
and concludes that Madison School presents an excellent oppor-
tunity for the City to pursue several objectives. These objec-
tives include maintenance and improvement of existing open space
on the site, expansion of child care facilities, and development
of affordable rental housing.
The following discusses Madison school current site conditions,
the re-use schemes explored and their relative merits, and the
next steps needed if the City is to obtain site control of Madi-
son School.
DISCUSSION
current site Conditions
The Madison School site represents 4.4 acres or 192,000 square
feet of land area. Current uses of the site and facilities in-
clude Olympic Continuation High School (8,000 sf), Arizona Avenue
Preschool (2,900 sf) and the Wests ide Children f s Museum (3,200
sf). The site improvements include a 2-story school building, a
portable classroom facility, and a large playground area. In-
cluded in the school building are the following: a 359-seat au-
ditorium space, a cafeteria, bathrooms, a library, office space
for administration and teachers, and 13 classrooms.
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48,000 square feet of the site is zoned commercial C-4, and the
remaining 144,000 square feet is zoned medium-density residential
R-3. The site is bounded by Santa Monica Boulevard on the south,
11th Street on the East, Arizona Avenue on the North, and 10th
Street on the West. (See Exhibit 1 - site Map and Exhibit 2 -
Zoning Map) Surrounding uses include primarily multi-family
residential uses, some commercial use, and a small percentage of
parking lots or vacant land area.
Re-Use Schemes
As discussions between representatives of the School District and
City officials have proceeded the possible schemes for re-use of
the Madison School have narrowed. When City staff first became
aware of the School District's intentions to develop the site,
staff toured the si te to determine the feasibili ty and
desirability of pursuing an acquisition. One of the initial
steps was to determine what resources, and the amount of these
resources, could be utilized for the acquisition and development
of this site. The sources of revenue available to the City to
pursue this activity are limited to the in-lieu fees collected by
the city from Ordinance 1367 (the Office Mitigation Program).
In addition, city staff explored the potential re-use of the ex-
isting facilities for either housing or cultural uses or a combi-
nation thereof. Upon closer examination it was determined that
in order to redevelop the existing building for housing or cul-
tural uses, the cost of upgrading and redesigning the facilities
exceed the resources available to the project. Also, retaining
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the existing structures places constraints on site planning which
preclude site designs which optimize a mix of uses. Thus, reten-
tion and re-use of the existing facilities was rejected.
The re-use schemes focused on possible scenarios available to the
city given the locational considerations, and resources avail-
able. As a significant portion of the site is currently open -
recreational space staff focused on possible re-use schemes which
would maintain or expand the open space on the site. In addi-
tion, staff included in all analyses the maintenance and expan-
sion of the existing child care facility. Given the difficulty
child care providers have in locating appropriate sites, it was
determined that an appropriate goal would be the retention of
child care facilities on the site. Finally, staff determined
that the site presented an excellent opportunity to utilize
available resources for the development of affordable housing.
The Mid-City Neighbors have requested that the city assist in
developing additional affordable housing opportunities in the
area, and Madison School represents an unique opportunity to ac-
commodate that request.
The following discusses three schemes for the re-use of Madison
School. These schemes as discussed above, were arrived at
through discussions with the School District, and through an ex-
amination of city needs and resources.
Scheme 1:
Scheme 1 explored the feasibility of the city obtaining control
of the entire 4.4 acre site and dedicating the land area to park
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and replacement and expansion of a child care facility. The uses
proposed are permitted given the zoning. The child care facility
if located on the R-3 portion of site as indicated in the site
plan would require a conditional use permit (CUP). While this
scheme is desirable in that it increases the available open space
and recreational area in the Mid-City area, it is not feasible
given available and projected in-lieu fee revenues.
Scheme 2:
As opposed to Scheme 1, where the City would look to obtain site
control of the entire site, Scheme 2 explored the possibility of
only acquiring the residentially zoned portion of the site, or
144,000 square feet. It was assumed that the School District
would seek a private developer to develop the C-4 zoned portion
of the site in accordance with the development standards allow-
able in the zoning ordinance. The City would use the land for
the development of a park of approximately 130,100 square feet,
and a 7500 square foot child care facility. As in Scheme 1 these
are allowed uses but a CUP would be required for the child care
facility. The major drawback of this scheme is that the Santa
Monica Boulevard frontage, which is now open space, would be de-
veloped commercially, thereby obscuring the planned open space
from this thoroughfare. In addition, this scheme would require
the School District to secure a private developer, seek project
approvals from the city, and needed revenues from the development
of this portion of the site would be significantly delayed. From
a City resource perspective, the acquisition and development of
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this scheme is not feasible given current and projected in-lieu
fee revenues which could be dedicated to the uses proposed.
Scheme 3:
Scheme 3 again explored the city obtaining control of the entire
Madison School site. The re-use would include a 98,537 square
foot park or over 50% of the site, a 7,500 square foot child care
facility, and the development of 75 units of affordable rental
housing for a mix of low and moderate income households on 86,580
square feet of land area. The zoning permits 69 units by right,
or 87 units with a 25% density bonus as allowed under State Law.
As discussed earlier in this report the mix of uses represented
by Scheme 3 enables the City to meet a number of stated objec-
tives and respond to the needs and requests of the neighborhood.
The mixture of housing and parks also allows an expansion of the
park area as an easement of the residential area could be granted
to the park - thus expanding the public open space while main-
taining private open space for the residential use. The needs of
the School District could also be addressed with this scheme.
The City would provide the School District with a commitment for
the entire site, thus saving the School District from the delay
and uncertainty of pursuing private development, and also would
provide housing opportunities for low and moderate income fami-
lies which increases school enrollments. In addition, with this
scheme sufficient current and projected in-lieu fee resources are
available to acquire and improve the site while still providing
the City with sufficient resources to pursue other opportunities
for parks and housing.
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Conclusion
After studying the re-use potential of the site, while keeping in
mind both City resources and School District revenue needs, staff
is recommending that site control of Madison School be obtained
in order to pursue the uses outlined in Scheme 3. The fOllowing
discusses the proposed next steps for the city in this process.
Next steps for Obtaininq Site Control
staff is requesting authorization to proceed to negotiate an
Agreement with the School District to secure site control of
Madison School. We propose to return to city Council in sixty
(60) days with an Agreement which will outline the terms and con-
ditions to be met by the City and School District in regards to
the development of Madison School including conducting required
environmental analyses and securing of approvals, price, and
schedule of payments. At that time we would recommend that city
Council conduct a public hearing on the subject in order to hear
from the community. In addition, during these 60 days staff will
bring the matter before the Parks and Recreation commission, the
Child Care Task Force, and the Housing Commission for their re-
view and discussion.
FINANCIAL/BUDGETARY IMPACTS
There are no financial or budgetary actions required at this
time.
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RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the City council authorize
the City Manager to negotiate an Agreement to secure site control
of Madison School for purposes of developing a 2.25 acre park,
7,500 square foot child care facility, and at least 75 units of
mUlti-family rental housing for low and moderate income families,
and to return to Council in 60 days with the proposed terms of
that Agreement for consideration.
Prepared By: Peggy Curran, Director
Community & Economic Development Department
Candy Rupp, Housing Division Manager
Jeff Mathieu, Economic Development Division Mgr.
Paul Berlant, Planning Director
Exhibits:
1) Site Plan
2) Zoning Designations
:madison
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