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SR 01-24-2017 6B Ci ty Counci l Report City Council Meeting : January 24, 2017 Agenda Item: 6.B 1 of 18 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. 2 of 18 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. 3 of 18 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 4 of 18 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. 5 of 18 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.