SR-121107-1E~_
City of
Santa Monica®
City Council Report
City Council Meeting: December 11, 2007
Agenda Item:
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Eileen Fogarty, Director of Planning and Community Development
Subject: Amend Nelson/ Nygaard Consulting Associates and Moore lacofano
Goltsman, Inc. and Award Whitney & Whitney, Inc. Professional Services
Contracts for Work Related to the Development and Adoption of the Land
Use and Circulation Element Plan and Appropriate Funds for the Award of
Contracts
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council:
1. authorize the City Manager to amend the professional services agreement with
Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates in an amount of $250,000, for a total not-
to-exceed exceed amount of $314,790 to provide transportation planning
services to support the development and adoption of the Circulation Element;
2. authorize the City Manager to amend the professional services agreement with
Moore lacofano Goltsman, Inc for an amount of $375,000, for a total not-to-
exceed exceed amount of $440,000 for extensive community workshop
facilitation and preparation of sections of the Land Use and Circulation Element
(LUCE) concept plan.
3. authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Whitney &
Whitney, Inc. in the amount of $145,000 to conduct an economic feasibility and
market study, present a workshop, and prepare the economic section of the
LUCE concept plan; and
4. approve necessary budget actions identified in the Financial Impacts and Budget
Actions section.
Executive Summary
The City Santa Monica is unique in both its built and natural environment. Evaluating
and determining a future direction for the City, building on sustainability and community
livability, requires an extremely focused, fine grain approach including extensive
community involvement to ensure that the direction and principles reflect community
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values. To achieve this, a team of highly qualified experts has been brought together.
This team has in-depth knowledge of community planning, urban design, facilitation,
sustainability, transportation, financial and market analysis, and zoning to assist in the
preparation of Land Use and Circulation Element concept plan and a final adopted plan.
Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates is nationally recognized for its leadership and
innovation in the field of transportation planning. Nelson/Nygaard recently guided City
staff in the development and implementation of the very successful Transportation
Workshop and two Industrial Lands workshops. The Nelson/Nygaard firm will work with
staff to conduct transportation workshops, contribute to the Land Use Element as it
relates to transportation issues and work with staff, the community, Planning
Commission and City Council to develop the Circulation Element concept and final
Plans.
Moore lacofano Goltsman, Inc (MIG) provides strategic focus and technical planning for
complex, multifaceted projects. MIG has assisted Santa Monica in the development
and facilitation of seven well-received workshops. MIG's unique combination of urban
planning, and communication skills are key to the success of this participatory approach
to engage the community and to develop planning and policy results that reflect the
community's vision. MIG will facilitate at the many upcoming workshops prior to the
final plan approval and also assist the City in preparation of the LUCE concept and final
plans.
The consulting firm of Whitney & Whitney will be conducting the economic analysis to
assess LUCE principles, proposed districts, implications of light rail and other provisions
of the plan to determine the financial feasibility and economic benefits for the City.
William Whitney is well-regarded nationally and within the local financial community and
will be closely coordinating his work as the LUCE concept plan develops.
Funds for these consultants are available in the Planning and Community Development
budget and do not require additional appropriation.
Discussion
An intensive effort is underway to complete a Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE)
Concept Plan. Last winter the Planning and Community Department altered its
approach to developing the LUCE plan. In order to ensure wide reaching community
involvement, a "ground up" approach with intensive outreach and workshops has been
undertaken. To date, this approach has resulted in a high level of community
participation at workshops which has provided the basis for many of the underlying plan
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principles. Since last spring, the City has conducted seven major workshops that
include three neighborhood-specific and one communitywide preservation and
placemaking workshops, two industrial lands workshops and one transportation
workshop.
A tremendous amount of effort is required to conduct the community-intensive process
that has taken place. Each "building block" in the process is carefully designed and
implemented to stimulate community discussion about the City's future land use and
transportation vision. Ultimately, the process must progress to a plan within the desired
time frame. This community-intensive approach and required level of effort were not
anticipated at the outset of the process. The original Dyett and Bhatia consultant
contract scope of work was developed to analyze several broad-brush alternatives, an
effective approach particularly in growth-oriented communities. However, in Santa
Monica where the potential for change is measured as benefit to the community in
terms of sustainability and community livability, the shift has been to a more focused
approach with ongoing community outreach. Dyett &Bhatia will continue to play a role
as the plan evolves, to contribute to the production of the concept and final report,
particularly with regard to mapping and graphics and to work with the City to develop a
new Zoning Code.
Originally, it was assumed that most of the Circulation Element policy development work
would be conducted by Transportation Management staff, and that implementing
programs and polices would be developed following the approval of the plan. The
Dyett & Bhatia contract excluded funding and scope for these purposes.
Nelson/Nygaard will facilitate community articulation of policies and also will assist staff
in developing the Circulation Element plan. The firm has extensive expertise in
innovative transportation planning techniques and has the knowledge to provide
illustrative examples from around the country. The firm will develop workshop content
and lead community forums on a wide range of transportation and parking issues. In
addition to assisting in the articulation of policies, Nelson/Nygaard will work with staff
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and the community to develop a plan that integrates the various modes of
transportation, identifies the role of each of the City's streets within the network of
streets and presents performance measures that can be used to assess progress and
guide resource allocation.
The community, Planning Commission and City Council have all expressed an urgent
need to go beyond analysis and to take actions to improve transportation conditions. In
response, implementation programs will be identified and initiated concurrent with plan
development. Nelson/ Nygaard will work with .staff and the community to develop a
transportation demand management strategy, a parking management strategy,
individual transportation mode plans, and guidance and strategies on project analysis
conducted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Nelson/
Nygaard will bring forward both the concept plan and proposals for implementation
programs from which the Council can choose elements most worthy of funding.
There has been interest expressed to develop measures that will allow assessment of:
1) the quality and effectiveness of the transportation system, and 2) impacts of
proposed development projects on the local area and the system as a whole. A
workshop this winter will include a discussion of several approaches for measuring
effectiveness and impacts. In order to develop appropriate tools, it must be determined,
with the community, what factors are going to be measured. The first step that is being
undertaken is to develop principles, goals and performance indictors. The next step will
be to develop the analytical tools to gauge programs and projects. The tools could
range from a spreadsheet model that measures vehicle miles traveled; to a community
survey that measures quality of the system performance, including pedestrian, bicycle
and transit performance; to a complex "black box" travel demand model that could
measure with great precision the congestion at specific intersections but would not
measure other modes of travel. The development of a travel demand model is the most
costly and time consuming of all the tools and measurements. It is estimated that such
a model would take over a year to develop, would initially cost several hundred
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thousand dollars and would require a dedicated staff person to manage the collection,
input and maintenance of data
The MIG scope is to assist staff with additional public outreach efforts, including
facilitation, format and workshop content. MIG will also distill Council-endorsed
principles into prototypical design alternatives that can be presented to the public and
used to analyze future changes in land use, density, scale, traffic and to the quality of
the built, natural and social environments.. In coordination with the LUCE team, MIG will
prepare graphically illustrated, easy to read Land Use and Circulation policy documents.
The MIG Team will work with City staff and the community to create a concept plan, a
public engagement process and an adopted Land Use and Circulation Element in the
coming months.
The Dyett & Bhatia contract contained a limited scope for economic trend analysis that
was completed and incorporated into the Opportunities and Challenges Report. There
has been an ongoing dialogue concerning the need for additional analysis to address
proposed components of the plan, as they are developed. One need is to assess the
proposed districts outlined in the Industrial Lands workshop/Council staff report and
understand what would be required to generate revenue to fund some of the proposed
public improvements and infrastructure in the plan. This work requires actual pro-forma
financial analysis of possible development prototypes. Whitney & Whitney, Inc. are
being brought on for their expertise in this type of analysis.
Whitney & Whitney will also be assessing various sectors as they may relate to the City
of Santa Monica's long-term economic strategy to encourage an "economic future" that
will reflect the City's goals and objectives. The proposed sectors include:
• Housing
• Health Care & Medical Center related
• Visitor Service & Tourism
• Automobile Dealers & Services
• Entertainment, High Tech &Information-related
• Small Retail & Service Businesses
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• Arts & Educational Institutions
Additionally, HR&A Advisors, Inc., the economic and fiscal sub-consultant to Dyett &
Bhatia, will analyze the fiscal impacts/benefits to the City's financial outlook. This work
will overlay the work of Whitney & Whitney and will asses the results of both the pro-
forma and the market impact analysis
Contractor/Consultant Selection
In December, 2006 a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was widely distributed through to
develop a list of qualified urban design, planning, transportation planning, architecture
and community facilitation firms for specific work efforts related to LUCE and other
planning needs. Nine firms responded. Nelson/Nygaard and MIG were two of the
responding firms.
The firm of Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates was selected as outstanding leader
in the field of transportation planning. Jeffery Tumlin, as the. project lead, is known
throughout the country as an extremely knowledgeable and creative leader in the field
of transportation planning. Jeffrey Tumlin, with Nelson/Nygaard, has successfully
developed and implemented innovative plans and strategies in many progressive spots,
including the Cities of Seattle, Portland and Boulder.
The firm of Moore lacofano Goltsman, Inc is a national leader in the area of facilitation
and urban planning. Daniel lacofano is a founding principal of MIG with expertise in
strategic planning, urban and transportation planning, public participation and outreach,
and facilitation. He is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert, innovator
and published author in the fields of facilitation and community relations and outreach,
specifically for sustainable plans, urban and transportation planning, and design
projects that incorporate sustainable principles. His projects have won many awards,
including acknowledgement from the National League of Cities, the International
Downtown Association, the American Planning Association, and the American Society
of Landscape Architects.
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An RFO was recently distributed to five firms to procure additional economic and
financial expertise in order to develop a list of qualified consultants. Whitney & Whitney
has extensive public and private sector experience in the areas of financial feasibility
studies for proposed real estate investments and particularly mixed-use development,
master planning for large-scale urban parks and open space programs, and
maximization of public benefits from utilization of public land. He has established both a
national and international presence. William Whitney participated as a panelist at the
first Industrial Lands workshop and received favorable feedback concerning the depth
and breadth of the analysis provided.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
These are one-time expenditures for professional services to assist in the preparation of
the Land Use and Circulation Element concept plan and a final adopted plan and do not
necessitate on-going costs for operations, maintenance, repair, or replacement. The
contracts are being funded by developer mitigation funds in the Special Revenue 04
Fund in the amount of $277,000 and available funds in the Land Use and Circulation
Element account in the amount of $493,000. The contract amount to be awarded to
Nelson/ Nygaard is $250,000. The contract amount to be awarded to MIG is $375,000.
The contract amount to be awarded to Whitney & Whitney is $145,000. Funds are
available at the following account P040880.589000 in the amount of $277,000 and
account P010880.589000 in the amount of $493,000.
Necessary budget actions are as followed:
1. Release designations from the following accounts
4.342303 Maguire-Thomas $ 2,596.54
4.342304 Arboretum -Phase II $ 94,991.43
4.342305 Arboretum -Phase III $ 84,514.24
4.342307 Arboretum/Colorado Place II $ 8,206.39
4.342308 2600 Colorado $ 79,191.40
4.342309 1323 Ocean Avenue $ 7,500.00
Total $277,000.00
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2. Appropriate $277,000 from various developer mitigation fund reserves to account
P040880.589000
3. Transfer $493,000 from account 0010874.589000 to the LUCE CIP account
P010880.589000
Prepared by: Ellen Gelbard, Assistant Director
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
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Eileen Fogarty G P. a ont Ewell
Director, Planning and Community C anager
Development
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