SR 01-24-2017 6B
Ci ty Counci l
Report
City Council Meeting : January 24, 2017
Agenda Item: 6.B
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: David Martin, Director, Planning and Community Development , City Planning
Subject: Appeal (16ENT -0200) of the Planning Commission's Approval of
Development Review Permit 16ENT -0140 for the City Services Building
located a t 1685 Main Street (City Hall)
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council consider the Civic Center Specific Plan EIR
Sixth Addendum with the Final EIR and approve Development Review Permit 16ENT -
140 for the City Services Building.
Executi ve Summary
On November 16, 2016, the Planning Commission approved Development Review
Permit (DRP) 16ENT -0140 for a three -story, 50,200 square -foot, 45 -foot high rear
extension to Santa Monica City Hall. The approved plans included revisions proposed
by th e applicant in response to Commissioner, public and staff concerns. These
revisions include reconfigured solar panel locations; a reduced free -standing solar port
in the north parking lot; and relocated bike lockers, parking and loading spaces, and
trash receptacle area. The Commission’s decision, findings, and conditions of approval
are set forth in a Statement of Official Action (Attachment B).
The Planning Commission’s decision was appealed on November 29, 2016 by David
Garden. The appellant states that the application should be delayed for reasons related
to design, public health, and Municipal Code requirements (Attachment C). This report
summarizes the Planning Commission’s action, the points of each appeal provided by
the appellant, and staff’s analysis. This report concludes with a recommendation from
staff to uphold the Planning Commission’s approval of the Development Review Permit
based upon the findings and subject to the conditions adopted by the Planning
Commission on November 16, 2016, e xcept for the removal of Condition #6.
The Planning Commission also adopted a resolution recommending that the Council
amend the Civic Center Specific Plan (CCSP) in order to change the project location
within the City Hall site and increase its height, a long with an addendum to the CCSP
Environmental Impact Report. The specific plan amendment request is being forwarded
to Council as a separate hearing item on this agenda.
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Background
Existing Conditions and Setting
City Hall is on a parcel that also inclu des the Public Safety Facility (PSF) and the Civic
Center Parking Garage. The PSF building, to the east of City Hall, was completed in
2003 and was the first City facility to be awarded the US Green Building Council’s LEED
Silver certification. PSF has bal conies facing City Hall and a corner entrance plaza on
Olympic Drive. In between PSF and City Hall is a three -sided courtyard of
approximately 8,000 square feet that opens toward a service road (Avenida Mazatlan).
The courtyard includes landscaping (inst alled as “temporary” in 2005), picnic benches,
bike parking and a semi -circular walkway that pays homage to the original road behind
City Hall. Also on the site to the north of City Hall is a 30 -space surface parking lot,
mechanical equipment, and refuse/recycling bins. The I -10 freeway borders the property
on the north.
Special considerations for the project’s building design are the property’s status as a
City Landmark (and Landmark parcel) and the Council’s direction to design the project
to achieve cer tification through the Living Building Challenge, which requires registration
and going through the certification process of the International Living Futures Institute
(ILFI). The building aims to be compatible yet distinct from the Landmark while
reflect ing current technology and environmental sensibilities to create a building that is
self -sufficient in its energy and water use.
The City Services Building requires consistency with the Secretary of Interior’s
Standards for the Treatment of Historic Pro perties (SOI Standards), and a Certificate of
Appropriateness to be approved the City’s Landmarks Commission. In addition, an
amendment to the Civic Center Specific Plan (CCSP) is required in order to approve the
proposed project, because the CCSP specifi es a different location for this anticipated
additional government office space.
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Aerial View and Map of Site Location
Zoning District: CC
Land Use Element Designation: Institutional/Public Lands
Parcel Area: 7.36 acres
Existing On -Site Improve ments (Year
Built):
City Hall (1939), Public Safety Building (2003), Ken Genser
Square (2014)
Adjacent Land Uses: Tongva Park; County Courthouse
Historic Resource Inventory Designated City Landmark (1979)
Project Description
The project, known as the C ity Services Building (CSB), is located on a City Landmark -
designated parcel. The proposed extension on the east side of City Hall would form an
enclosed courtyard with City Hall, with its rear elevation facing Avenida Mazatlan and
the Public Safety Buildi ng. The proposed City Services Building (CSB) is a 50,200
square -foot, three -story (45 feet) plus basement addition to the rear of the 1939
Moderne Style City Hall Building, along Avenida Mazatlan, covering some of the eastern
portion of the City Hall cou rtyard to create a 6,700 square -foot, four -sided interior
courtyard. Although it will appear to be part of the building, the CSB is being designed
as a structurally separate building. Small, accessory structures, including a solar port,
RRR enclosures and bike lockers, are also proposed on the site.
Figure 4: Project
Site
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The proposed project includes the removal of some original building components: 1) an
exterior stairwell on the building’s north wing; and 2) the rear 37 feet of the south wing,
which originally housed the City’s Fire Department and specifically the firetruck bays.
The eastern building walls that will be adjacent to the CSB wing will remain but a total of
seven windows (one on the south wing and six on the north wing) would be removed
and filled in to create a 3 -hour fire wall together with the walls of the new structure. The
windows to be removed are not original; they are compatible “in -kind” replacements
installed in the original openings that were revealed when the police building was
removed.
Anothe r minor alteration to City Hall’s exterior is the conversion of one window at the
eastern end of the south façade of City Hall to an egress door for fire exit requirements.
The existing historic sash and frame will be removed, the sill will be cut down to floor
level, and a new door assembly will be installed. The replacement of one existing
window with a new door will be a minor alteration on a secondary façade and will have
minimal visual and material impact on the building’s historic integrity.
The prop osed new building , which would be clearly differentiated from the historic
building, would be higher than the adjacent second floor parapet but lower than the front
of City Hall and its cupola.
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Analysis of Potential Historic Resource Impacts
Historic R esources Group (HRG) prepared a Historic Resources Technical Report
(Appendix A of Attachment E ) assessing the proposed project for consistency with each
of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (the Standards). In
analyzing the pro posed demolition and modifications to City Hall, HRG examined
whether these alterations would result in new impacts to a historic resource that the
CCSP EIR did not consider and would substantially reduce the integrity or significance
of the resource. To make this determination, the proposed alterations were reviewed in
the context of several relevant Preservation Briefs and for consistency with the
Standards . Each proposed alteration is described and analyzed to determine whether it
might impact the stab ility or integrity of the historic structure or parcel. The report also
looked at whether the alterations taken together might cause the resource to lose its
eligibility as a State or National historic landmark.
HRG ’s conclusion that the proposed demol ition “will not substantially reduce the
integrity or significance of important resources on the site or in the vicinity” is based on
the determination that the original building components proposed for removal are
located in the rear of the building, are not the most important character -defining features
and that their removal will leave the majority of character -defining spaces and features
of City Hall substantially intact. For these reasons, after removal of these two
components, City Hall will retain sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance and
remain eligible for listing on the California State Register and the National Register of
Historic Places.