SR-410-014 (8)
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~ City of
Santa Moniea~
City Council Report
City Council Meeting: July 12, 2006
Agenda Item: 8 - D
To:
Mayor and City Council
From:
Gordon R. Anderson, Assistant City Manager
Subject:
Extension of Motor Vehicle Egress License Agreement Continuing Access
to Airport Property from Santa Monica College Bundy Campus and Adding
Pedestrian Access at the Same Location
Recommended Action
It is recommended that Council authorize a modification of the Motor Vehicle Egress
License Agreement with Santa Monica College to allow Pedestrian access under the
same terms as the existing License Agreement; and extend the License Agreement to
the February 28, 2007 with the option for an additional extension to July 31, 2007 if staff
determines that sufficient progress has been made on the installation of a signal at the
Bundy Drive entrance to the college campus.
Executive Summary
On November 8, 2005 Council authorized the provision of egress from the Santa
Monica College Bundy Campus (SMC Bundy Campus) onto airport property via Donald
Douglas Loop South to Airport Avenue. Vehicular turning onto Airport Avenue is
restricted by means that only allow vehicles to continue east on Airport Avenue to
Bundy Avenue. This action was in furtherance of a tri-party approach (Santa Monica
College, City of Los Angeles, and City of Santa Monica) to providing vehicular ingress
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and egress to the SMC Bundy Campus minimizing impacts to residential neighbors of
Santa Monica and Los Angeles. In support of the action, L.A. Council member Bill
Rosendahl committed to move forward with the analysis, design and installation of a
traffic signal on Bundy Avenue at the entrance to the SMC Bundy Campus. L.A. Council
member Rosendahl has provided an update on the status of the signal light indicating
that installation is anticipated in January/February 2007. (see Attachment A) The egress
license agreement expires on July 30, 2006.
Since that time, students have been using a pedestrian entry point next to the vehicle
egress. Barricades have been installed separating pedestrians from vehicles. The
continuation of this arrangement will need to be included in the existing egress
agreement.
The Airport Commission has expressed continuing concern regarding traffic impacts on
airport property and is recommending that Council delay the granting of the egress
agreement. Commission concerns are detailed later in this report.
The operation of the egress and pedestrian uses from staff's perspective has been
successful.
Staff proposes the initial extension terms to February 28, 2007 to coincide with the
estimated period needed to reconfigure and install a half-signal at the Bundy Drive
entrance to the campus as indicated in the communication from L.A. Council member
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Rosendahl; Staff will monitor the progress of this work and if there is sufficient progress
by the end of February, the term of the License Agreement can be automatically
extended to July 31, 2007. Staff will provide Council updates on the progress of the
work.
Discussion
Background
In May of 2001, SMC purchased the 10.4 acre BAE (British Aerospace Corporation, a
defense contractor) facility located at 3171 South Bundy Drive in Los Angeles and
immediately to the south and adjacent to the Santa Monica Airport with the intention of
converting the site into a satellite campus.
The site contained two buildings having primary vehicle access to the site was off
Bundy Drive to the east and Stewart Street to the west. There were also two auxiliary
entrances on the north side of the facility from Airport Avenue across Airport parking lots
to the BAE on-site parking lots. These auxiliary entrances provided inter-connecting
access between the main BAE Facility and its 3400 Airport Avenue facility which BAE
leased from the City prior to the sale of the property to the College.
SMC retrofitted the larger of the two buildings (66,000 square foot multistory building
located near the center of the campus site) for classrooms, faculty offices, labs, library,
multipurpose room, cafeteria and student services space. SMC plans to replace the
smaller 30,000 square foot two-story building fronting Bundy Avenue at a future date.
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SMC created a new driveway and access way off Bundy along the south side of the
campus site connecting the "upper" campus at Bundy with the "lower" campus. SMC
has maintained the Stewart Street entrance as an emergency-only access point as part
of the tri-party approach.
On June 14, 2005 a temporary pedestrian-only access agreement was authorized by
Council which was extended on July 26, 2005 to include the fall term. On November 8,
2005, Council discussed a tri-party effort between Santa Monica College and the Cities
of Santa Monica and Los Angeles and to address the issues associated with SMC
Bundy Campus and access. As part of the tri-party approach, L.A. Council member
Rosendahl committed to seek approval of a half signal at Bundy Avenue entrance to the
campus, the City of Santa Monica would provide egress from the SMC Bundy Campus
to airport property in the manner discussed above, and SMC would maintain closure of
the Stewart Street entrance to the campus site and fund all agreed upon improvements
to be done by Santa Monica and Los Angeles. An extension of the pedestrian access
was modified to add vehicle egress only from the campus along with an agreement from
SMC not to pursue certain litigation against the City of Santa Monica. The extension
was until July 2006.
City and SMC staff worked together to implement the vehicular egress. It was
recognized early on that pedestrian access was needed for students to go back and
forth between the Bundy Campus and classes in the SMC facility at the western end of
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Airport Avenue. Barricades were added adjacent to the vehicular route to safely
separate the two.
As indicated in the attached communication from L.A. Council member Rosendahl,
signal warrant analysis data has been submitted to Los Angeles Department of
Transportation (LADOT) that preliminarily support a half signal at the SMC Bundy
Campus entrance on Bundy Avenue. A new location has been identified for a
reconfigured driveway controlled by the half signal area. SMC has hired a firm to
design/build the driveway and half signal. The signal design is expected to be
completed this summer. Once the design has been submitted, LADOT will expedite the
permit process to authorize the build phase. Completion of the road improvements and
half signal is projected for completion by January/February 2007.
Commission Action
The Airport Commission at its June 26, 2006 meeting recommended that:
1) Council defer action on extending the temporary access agreement between
the Airport and the Bundy Campus until the Council's August meeting. The
Airport Commission will further review the access situation and take public
comment at its July 24, 2006 meeting; or
2) Council approve only an extension through the fall term with any subsequent
extensions subject to analysis and consideration of the following:
a. The traffic impacts on Airport Avenue of Airport Park when opened.
The current and preceding period of time during which the temporary
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access has been in place are atypical of traffic as this has also been
when Airport Park has been under construction and therefore no
regular public activity has been in evidence on north side of Airport
Avenue.
b. An understanding as to the actually level of usage/occupancy that has
been occurring on the Bundy campus during the period the temporary
access has been in place and what Santa Monica College plans in
regarding future levels of usage/occupancy and what the traffic
demands and impacts associated with those levels would be. Included
should be a discussion of proposed future building projects on the
campus and their associated demands and traffic impacts
c. Completion of the proposed half-signal by the City of Los Angeles at
the Bundy entrance to the campus. City staff should review and report
on the City of Los Angeles warrant and analysis for the signal,
including impacts on surrounding streets. A formal commitment and
schedule for installation should be provided to the City Council
Budget/Financial Impact
There is no fiscal impact to the City associated with this item. All improvement costs
associated with providing the vehicular egress to airport property and pedestrian access
to and from airport property are borne by SMC.
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Prepared by:
Gordon R. Anderson, Assistant City Manager
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
Go on R. Anderson
Assistant City Manager
ATTACHMENT A. Email from Los Angeles Council member Bill Rosendhal
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ATTACHMENT A.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Rosendahl fmailto:bill.rosendahl@lacitV.orql
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2006 3:44 PM
To: robert.holbrook@smgov.net
Cc: TSANG CHUI
Subject: Update on SMC Bundy campus half signal
Importance: High
** High Priority **
Dear Mayor Holbrook & City Manager Ewell:
As SMC's spring quarter winds down, I wanted to give you and your colleagues an
update regarding the planned half signal on Bundy/Centinela.
First, I want to welcome Lamont to our community. We share a magnificent locale.
look forward to working with you for the mutual benefit of all our constituents.
Second, I want to thank SMC's new President Chui Tsang for his leadership. After
several months of delay, President Tsang hit the ground running, immediately consulted
with me and my staff, and acted decisively.
Accordingly, since March 2006(when President Tsang took office) we've made
significant progress towards the half signal. With SMC executives & consultant Kaku
receiving clear marching orders, LADOT & my office was able to agree upon a clean
action plan with specific timelines.
Kaku's signal warrant analysis data was thereafter promptly provided to LADOT.
Preliminary indications are that the data will support warrants for a half signal. A new
location has been identified for a reconfigured driveway controlled by the half signal
area. SMC has hired a firm to design/build the driveway & half signal. The signal
design is expected to be completed this summer. Once the design has been submitted,
LADOT will expedite the B-permit process to authorize the build phase. Completion of
the road improvements & half signal is projected for completion by Jan/Feb. 2007. We
will continue to work proactively with all parties to expedite the enhanced public safety
and traffic flow resulting from this project. Thank you for your continued
accommodation and understanding throughout this process.
Regards,
BILL ROSENDAHL
Councilman, 11 District
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