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PCD:SF:JT:AS:f:\plan\share\council\strpt\2003\ 1319PalisadesBeachRoad .doc
Council Mtg: November 25,2003 Santa Monica, California
NOV 2 5 2003
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM City Staff
SUBJECT: Proposed Development Agreement for 1319 Palisades Beach Road
Applicant: Micki McClure
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council discuss a proposal for a development
agreement for 1319 Palisades Beach Road and provide direction regarding the project's
potential public benefits and the appropriateness of entering into a Development
Agreement for the redevelopment of this site.
BACKGROUND
The property owner of 1319 Palisades Beach Road is requesting a development
agreement to rebuild the property. The structures, destroyed by fire on March 1, 2002,
contained five one-story multi-family units. The property is located in the R2B Zoning
District and could not be built (or rebuilt) today because the structures that existed
before the fire were nonconforming as to density, parking, lot coverage and setbacks
and the zoning ordinance regulations do not permit reconstruction of these
nonconforming structures.
The Planning Commission conducted a hearing on December 11, 2002 on a text
amendment revising the rebuilding standards for multi-family projects. In the course of
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<38
NOV 2 5 2003
the hearing, the applicant spoke about her situation and in response to her testimony,
some Commissioners suggested that the remedy to the problem was a development
agreement.
City staff acts as the negotiator for Development Agreements and, to avoid negotiating
a project the City cannot accept, staff scheduled this matter with the Planning
Commission on August 6, 2003 for discussion The Commission unanimously agreed
that they would support a Development Agreement if the City Council should authorize
staff to commence Development Agreement proceedings with the property owner.
Commission noted the proposed replacement building should remain within the
setbacks prescribed by current code.
The applicant is requesting to rebuild the property, maintaining the pre-fire
nonconforming parking, lot coverage, density, and setbacks. In addition, the applicant
is requesting the ability to add additional square footage and height, up to the 40 foot
permitted height. Although the number of units would remain the same, the size and
configuration of the units would change. The Zoning Ordinance only allows
reconstruction to th~ original footprint and configuration that existed prior to the
damage. A Development Agreement is requested in order to override the Zoning
Ordinance restrictions.
In exchange for the right to retain the existing non-conforming conditions and
additional floor area, Ithe applicant is proposing to deed restrict one of the five units as a
2
low-income unit. In ,addition, the new units would provide universal accessibility design
features such as wider doors, two accessible ground floor units and grab bars Three of
the tenants who lived on the site before the fire will be offered their units at the pre-fire
rental rate. If the tenants choose not to return or decide to move, rents will revert to
market rate.
Conclusion
Entering into a development agreement for a five unit multi-family project is highly
unusual. Typically development agreements are reserved for large-scale multi-phase
developments Based on feedback from the Planning Commission and the City
Council, the applicant will determine how best or whether to pursue a Development
Agreement. The City enjoys broad discretion in reviewing Development Agreement
applications, This project is presented in concept only to allow the City Council to
comment on its merits, identify concerns with the project, and discuss potential public
benefits. This feedback will inform the applicant and provide direction to City staff in
determining whether a Development Agreement is the best approach for development
of this site.
There are two essential questions for the Council to focus on in considering this matter:
1 Does the City Council believe a development agreement is appropriate for this
site and the project concept?
2, If so, what are the general negotiating points that should be addressed?
3
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendation presented in this report does not have any budget or fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council discuss this proposal and provide direction
regarding the project's potential public benefits and the appropriateness of entering into
a Development Agreement for the redevelopment of this site.
Prepared by:
Suzanne Frick, Director
Amanda Schachter, Acting Planning Manager
Kimberly Christensen, AICP, Senior Planner
Sarah Lejeune, AICP, Associate Planner, City Planning Division
Planning and Community Development Department
Attachments:
A. Micki McClure Letter to Planning Commission
4
ATTACHMENT A
Micki McClure Letter to Planning Commission
5
2/27/03
Suzanne Frick, Director of Planning and Community Development
Richard Bloom, Honorable Mayor
Marsha Moutrie, City Attorney
Susan McCarthy, City Manager
Santa Monica City Council
Santa Monica Planning Commission
Micki McClure
555 East Hardy Street
Inglewood, CA 9030 I
(310) 680-8027
Dear City Officials:
It has been a painful and educational experience working to get our lives and livelihood back in the wake of
the fire that destroyed 1319 Palisades Beach Road last March. Enclosed is a proposal for a development
agreement that will allow me to get funding and rebuild a home not just for myself and my daughter, but
for a number of good people, former Santa Monica residents, who will no longer live on the beach, nor in
Santa Monica without your assistance. I am willing to work with the City as needed to make revisions that
will allow the City to move forward on this development agreement.
I urge you to consider in particular the information I received from Rent Control that since 1986,
16 rental properties have been removed under the Ellis Act along the larger stretch of Palisades Beach Road
in Santa Monica. Almost all of this rental housing was comprised of small properties such as mine. More
than 47 units were taken off the market, and a much larger number of people lost their affordable homes on
the beach. A development agreement, though unusual for a project of this size, would allow four families to
live in this increasingly less diverse area, an idea that I believe is very much a part of City Government's
charter to make all areas of Santa Monica a place where residents representing all ages, colors, and income
levels can live.
I will offer the units back to the three previous rent control tenants that I have been able to contact since the
fire - at their previous rental amounts with the rents frozen at those exact rates for the entire duration of
their full time residency in the new building. I will also enact a 55 year deed restriction to make the
remaining rental unit a Low Income Affordable Housing Unit, the most needed level of housing in Santa
Monica with wait lines to get in. Additionally, all of the rental units will have design features facilitating
aging in place.
I believe my proposal offers a win-win solution to the catastrophe that has devastated not just my own
family's, but wonderful tenants' lives as well. Again, I want to indicate my eagerness to work with City
Planning and other departments to make this a workable agreement. I appreciate the City's compassionate
and practical consideration.
Sincerely,
1/'rYl~
Micki McClure
Summary: I am asking the City of Santa Monica to enter into a development agreement with me to keep
and rebuild with expedited permit processing the non-conforming elements of my fife-destroyed five-unit
buildings while allowing me to consolidate three buildings into one building and to enlarge the building up
to current height maximum such that the enlargement conforms to all of the current code regulations. This
will allow me to continue to provide four rental units and one owner's unit as before. I will offer the units
back to the three previous rent control tenants I have been able to contact since the fire - at their previous
rental amounts with the rents maintained at those exact rates for the entire duration of their full time
residency in the new building. I will also enact a 55 year deed restriction to make the remaining rental unit
a Low Income Affordable Housing Unit, the most needed level of housing in Santa Monica with wait lines
to get in. Additionally, all of the rental units will have design features facilitating aging in place.
Although the amount of housing I provide is small, it is in a key location of the City where rent
control and affordable housing has largely disappeared over the last few years. For example, according to
Rent Control, since 1986, 16 rental properties have been removed under the Ellis Act along the larger
stretch of Palisades Beach Road in Santa Monica. Almost all of this rental housing was comprised of small
properties such as mine. More than 47 units were taken off the market, and a much larger number of people
lost their affordable homes on the beach. A development agreement, though unusual for a project of this
size, would allow four families to live in this increasingly less diverse area, an idea that I believe is very
much a part of City Government's charter to make all areas of Santa Monica a place where residents
representing all ages, colors, and income levels can live.
Background: I own a five unit property which was severely damaged by fife on March 15" 2002. I lost my
home and the city lost four rent controlled units, among the very few left in this highly desirable area. The
three buildings which contained the five units were very old and did not conform to several current
development standards applicable in the R2B Zone, including those relating to setbacks, number of units
and parking. The buildings are historically significant structures listed in the City's historic Resources
Inventory. Under current Section 9.04. 1 8.020(f), these buildings can be rebuilt to the previous non-
conforming configuration and use so long as each "is rebuilt to its square footage, site orientation and
height and setbacks that existed prior to the destruction." The problem with this limitation is that, like many
older structures, the Buildings cannot be realistically utilized as a five-unit apartment building under
current building codes and in the current market without enlargement/modifications. The City faced a
similar problem on a much larger scale after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
In order to replace my home plus the four rental units, I need to restore the buildings using the
various non-conforming features which existed prior to the fife but, at the same time, to consolidate the
previous three buildings into one building and increase the height. If I cannot make these changes, I am ~
forced to replace the five-unit buildings with either a single family or two-unit building - or more likely, to
have to sell.
Program la of the City's Housing Element. Part of Program lofthe City's Housing Element
recommends referring to the 1994 Earthquake Recovery Act as a guide to any new ordinance. This act
provided incentives for reconstruction of multi-family rental buildings in both size and height. It also
provided for expedited permit processing. I am asking that you consider these incentives in the context of a
development agreement for my property and major source of livelihood destroyed by flTe/gas explosion in
light of my willingness to offer units back to the previous tenants at their previous rental amounts for their
entire full-time residency and to also enact a 55 year deed-restriction to make one of the four rental units a
Low Income Affordable Housing Unit. Under such a development agreement, one-quarter of my small
rental property would be low income, and the other units less than current market at a great advantage to
the wonderful tenants that plan to come back so they can again be residents of Santa Monica and live at the
beach. Additionally, as described in the following section, with this plan all rental apartments will be
designed with senior-friendly features. This is an opportunity for the City to preserve housing and gain
senior friendly housing at the private sector's cost, and will also allow my former renters and I to go home.
New Building Features: The rental apartments will include the following senior-friendly design
modifications: slimmer and easier to hold handrails and room rails disguised as chair molding, contrasting
borders in flooring and around countertops, 32 inch-wide doors, higher electrical outlets and lower-placed
light switches, accessible bathrooms with grab bar tubs with adjustable hand-held showerheads and
accessible entryways on the ground floor for two units. This will facilitate aging in place, or living through
periods of temporary disability for building tenants.
Neighborhood Considerations: The turnover of building ownership, the look and the style of other
buildings in this strip of housing support the agreement provisions I am requesting. There were two protests
against the proposed text amendment related to city-wide multi-unit disaster recovery build backs to
nonconforming elements. One ofthese speakers came up to me after the meeting and let me know she
supported my unique request if it could be done under a development agreement.
The immediate neighborhood of 1319 that can be roughly defined as lying between the pier
parking lot and parking lot number 3 (1100) has become primarily speculative, newer construction high-
end one-family homes. At least five such homes are now up for sale or newly purchased, including a newly
completed single family home two doors north of 1319 (Four of them were once multi-unit rent control
properties, now lost to the city,). The somewhat older single family home immediately south of my home
(1321) has been up for sale for the second time in less than three years, along with at least two other older
buildings in this small stretch of about 28 properties. "For Sale" buildings equal almost one third of the
total buildings here.
Height: As can be seen in the pictures enclosed, my building was the exception in height, not the rule, with
both immediate neighbors and almost the entire row of approximately 30 buildings either taller than, or
approximately the same height as my building would be with the enlargement section built up to the current
maximum site view envelope. Instead of being half the size of the my neighbors' buildings, it would be a
few feet shorter than the building immediately North now under construction, and approximately the same
size as the building immediately South.
Non-conforming Set-BackslFeatures: Both immediate neighbors' homes and many others in this
neighborhood have non-conforming setbacks allowed with preservation of old exterior walls/etc. due to the
difficulties of building on the typical 25' by 100' lot size in this area. My home would again not be an
exception in non-conforming setbacks, but fairly typical. As the backs of the buildings are right off of the
Pacific Coast Highway, appearance is not as crucial here as it is on the ocean-front side, or as from the
Cliff-top view from the Park over the buildings. Driver's eyes tend to be on the road ahead as they pass this
stretch of buildings, and people only walk this stretch to get to their cars.
There are several buildings without parking similar to 1319 as it formerly stood, and as I hope to
rebuild, which I believe enhances and certainly does not detract from the rear street-level appearance. Since
the number of units remain the same, unlike the Sea Castle rebuild, there will be zero impact on the number
of cars parked in the beach lots. The parking office has confirmed that in particular Parking Lot number 3
(1100) is not used heavily for residents. The fact that a car is not at the door encourages use of the beach
walkways, the Blue and other mass transit, and a walk village lifestyle that benefits the City by decreasing'
decrease congestion and pollution. The residents of our building walkedlbikedlroller-bladed and enjoyed
the Promenade daily. With no change in number of units/parking, there would be zero impact on parking.
Insurance and Funding Issues: I will briefly discuss insurance in light of statements made in the text
amendment meeting regarding my plan. I paid premium rates to ensure that "Replacement Up to Code" was
a part of my insurance policy. Regardless, I am now forced to go to court to fight the unreasonable limits
my insurer has applied to my policy that in fact, negate the up to code provisions. After the Northridge
earthquake, insurance companies blatantly and drastically under-paid many homeowners by dragging out
negotiations until the owners were forced fmancially to sign agreements that did not allow them to rebuild
without significant funding from other sources. As a result of this gross abuse of policyholders, there is
now a state limitation that insurers must settle or get in court within eighteen month. Unfortunately,
although I have every reason to believe I will win after this sizable wait, during which time I will need to
carry a sizable loan, after 55 to 65 or greater contingency fees and charges on a "make whole"
settlement/court win I will still be carrying a challenging mortgage. That is why the number of units, etc. as
described in my plan is so critical. It is also important for me in obtaining funding.
Closing: This proposed agreement will make the difference in whether I can provide homes for City renters
and my own family at our site at 1319 Palisades Beach Road. I believe my proposal offers a win-win
solution to the catastrophe that has devastated not just my own family's, but wonderful tenants' lives as
well. I appreciate the City's compassionate and practical consideration. Thank vou.
TO 913106954772 P.01/02
~:ter Of Aereement
This letter of agreement certifies that Paul Dawkins, former
resident of 1319 Palisades Beach Road is guaranteed the
oPPortunity to move into an equivalent room unit in a rebuilt five
unit complex if the development agreement is authorizecl by the
City of Santa MOnica Beach and financing and building
completion is achieved by owner Maureen McClure.
Furthermore, in taking residency again upon building completion,
Paul Dawkins will be guaranteed his former monthly renlial rate for
the entire duration ofhis use of the rebuilt apartInent as his full
time residence with no expiration date.
To enact the provisions of this letter, Paul Dawkins will be
infonned by owner Maureen McClure by mail and phone at
residence and/or business number at least 90 days in advance of
the anticipated completion date for the building. Paul Dawkins
must take:full time residency within 30 days of the completion
date. Additionally, Paul Dawkins must maintain the apartl11ent as
his full time residence to retain his monthly rental rate.
This offer is good for an equivalent room 1lnit in any five unit
building owned by MaureCll McClure at 13 19 Palisades Beach
Road authorized by the City of Santa Monica and built within 5
years of the destruction date of March 1 It, 2002.
~)c..t l-26'~
-
Paul Dawkins! Former Tenant Date
/;l7~'~D
Maureen McClure, Property Owner
:2J2b/1J?
Date'
FEB 26 2003 14:54