sr-040709-8c~~
;tYO, City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: April 7, 2009
Agenda Item: ~-C--
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lee. E. Swain, Director,. Public Works
Subject: Neighborhood Impacts of Group Exercise on the 4t" Street Median at
Adelaide Drive and Surrounding Areas
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council provide direction to City staff to:
1. explore restricting commercial and/or group use on the 4th Street median;
2. consolidate and update signage to direct people to available public restrooms
and parking;
3. incorporate regular trash pick up within the regular work schedule of City
Community Maintenance staff;
4. explore restricting access to the stairs during nighttime hours;
5. explore further parking restrictions;
6. encourage residents and users to form a Good Neighbor Working Group; and
7. look into grant opportunities to explore the feasibility of alternative
recreational stairs at Palisades Park with possible access to the Annenberg
Community Beach House.
Executive Summary
The 4th Street median south of Adelaide Drive is regularly used for exercising,
stretching, and group fitness classes. Nearby residents have expressed to the City their
concerns regarding large groups and increasing noise, traffic and litter at this location.
In spite of several previous City attempts to address this issue through education, new
signs, additional parking restrictions and intermittent park ranger enforcement, the 4m
Street median at Adelaide Drive has attracted increasing numbers of people utilizing the
area for exercise and other activities. Staff conducted a 1,000 foot radius survey of
residents to gauge community concerns, held two community neighborhood meetings
and has received broad consensus from participants on seven (7) potential ways to
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address neighborhood concerns which are recommended in this staff report. If the City
Council proposes other actions that have fiscal impacts, funds will need to be identified
in the proposed fiscal year 2009-10 budget.
Background
Staff received complaints from neighbors over the last year and a half requesting
assistance to stem the increase in commercial and group exercise activities on the
median at 4th Street and Adelaide Drive. Recently, there has been a noticeable
increase in organized group exercise activities. Neighborhood impacts include street
and sidewalk congestion from group classes, stationing gym or massage equipment in
the median, and increased traffic, litter and noise. Stair users have expressed many
positive benefits while acknowledging the impacts to the neighborhood.
Discussion
Residents proximate to 4th Street and Adelaide Drive have become increasingly
frustrated with impacts of the use of the median. Although the 4th Street median has
had signs posted for years discouraging uses other than walking and jogging and. more
recently ground level signs have been installed, these signs have been widely ignored
by group exercisers. The use of the median for other purposes has been increasing.
The median has become a gathering spot for groups, paid fitness coaches and
individual exercisers, many of whom create noise, trash and human waste .issues.
Neighbors report that the noise sometimes starts as early as 4:00 a.m. and often
continues well into the evening. Recently, Park Rangers have been assigned to
oversee the area as part of a regular rotation which has resulted in fewer neighborhood
complaints. Despite many proactive attempts to mitigate neighborhood concerns
including education, new signs, and intermittent enforcement, the 4th Street median at
Adelaide Drive has attracted increasing numbers of people utilizing the area for exercise
related activities.
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Public Outreach
Staff gathered community input through a number of efforts beginning with a survey of
neighbors within 1,000 feet of the median to gauge their concern about the activities.
Following this, two community neighborhood meetings were held. The first meeting on
October 30, 2008, was attended by about fifty (50) participants. The goal of that
meeting was to allow community members to express their concerns and then to
identify possible solutions to address them. A list of the potential solutions was then
reviewed by staff. A second meeting was held on January 8, 2009, with over one
hundred ten (110) participants attending. The goal for that meeting was to present staff
analysis, hear further perspectives, and to capture broad areas of agreement regarding
further action and potential solutions.
Staff evaluated the seven areas of the participants' broad agreement and has already
taken steps to implement solutions where- this has been possible. Staff now
recommends that the City Council direct staff to further pursue actions in each of these
areas as follows.
1. Explore restricting commerciaF and/or group use on the 4th Street median.
The City Attorney's Office and the Departments of Planning and Commuhity
Development and Community and Cultural Services will explore ways to
restrict commercial and/or group use. One approach to address this in a
manner which would facilitate reasonable. enforcement would be to regulate
the use of certain types. of equipment associated with group fitness activities.
This, and other methods, will be further discussed and any specific
recommendations will be presented to the City Council for approval.
2. Consolidate and update signage to direct people to available public restrooms
and parking. Existing signs will be updated to include this new information.
3. Incorporate regular trash pickup within the regular work schedule of City
Community Maintenance staff. Trash pick up is now scheduled three times
per week.
4. Explore restricting access to the stairs during nighttime hours. In order to
determine what rights, if any, the City had to restrict access to either set of
stairs, the City procured a property title report for each set of stairs.
According to the recently completed title reports of both the 4th Street and the
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Adelaide stairs, adjoining property owners have an underlying title right to the
two sets of 10-foot wide "walks" between upper Adelaide Drive (within the City
of Santa Monica) and Entrada Drive (within the City of Los Angeles).
Approximately thirteen (13) feet of the 4tr, Street "walk" is within the
jurisdiction of the City of Santa Monica with the rest within the jurisdiction of
the City of Los Angeles. In addition, the City of Santa Monica owns a ten (10)
foot by fifteen (15) foot area near the top of the 4th Street "walk" adjacent to
Adelaide Drive.
Approximately fifteen (15) feet of the Adelaide "walk" is within the jurisdiction
of the City of Santa Monica with the rest within the jurisdiction of the City of
Los Angeles.
The City Attorney's Office will explore restricting access to the stairs during
nighttime hours as suggested by the residents and report back to the City
Council with any recommendations they may have.
5. Explore further parking restrictions. The City Attorney's Office and Planning
and Community Development will explore ways to restrict commercial and/or
group use and report back to the City Council with any recommendations they
may have.
6. Encourage residents and users to form a Good Neighbor Working Group. It
is recommended that the Council encourage residents and users to form a
Good Neighbor Work Group; however; no staff involvement in this process is
recommended.
7. Explore the feasibility of alternative recreational stairs at Palisades Park with
possible access to the Annenberg Beach House. It is recommended that the
City Council direct staff to seek grant funding to explore the feasibility of
alternative recreational stairs at Palisades Park if grant funding is available.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
There is minimal financial impact to implementing resident's recommendations 2
(signage replacement) and 3 (trash pickup). Recommendations 1 (exploring restricting
commercial and/or group use), 4 (exploring restricting access to the stairs during
nighttime hours) and 5 (exploring further parking restrictions). simply involve additional
staff time to develop any further recommendations for City Council action.
Recommendation 6 (formation of a Good Neighbor Working Group) will have no
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financial impact to the City. Recommendation 7 (seek grant funding to explore the
feasibility of alternative recreational stairs at Palisades Park) has no immediate financial
impact to the City.
Prepared by: Lee E. Swain, Director of Public Works
Approved:
Forwarded to Council:
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Lee E. Swain, Director P.
Department of Public Works Ci
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