To: City Council

From: Board of Directors, Friends of Sunset Park

RE: 7/26/11 agenda item 7-B — Development Agreement and Final EIR for proposed 4-story, 191,982 square foot creative arts/entertainment production facility at 2834 Colorado Avenue – recommendation to conduct a public hearing, receive public comment and consider proposal; certify the Final Environmental Impact Report; adopt a resolution making findings necessary to adopting a Statement of Overriding Considerations and Mitigation Monitoring Program for the 2834 Colorado Avenue Creative Studio Project; and introduce and hold first reading of an ordinance approving the Development Agreement between the City of Santa Monica, a municipal corporation, and Colorado Creative Studios, LLC, a California limited liability company.

The FOSP Board took the following position when the Lantana Campus (on Olympic between Stewart/28th and Centinela) was expanded with two new office buildings:

“The FOSP Board opposes any large development whose traffic impacts on
residential neighborhoods cannot be mitigated.”

For that reason, we oppose the Development Agreement for the Colorado Creative Studio Project.

- The Colorado Creative Studio Project is a 191,982 sq ft office project with 640 parking spaces (on Colorado Avenue and Stewart/28th) and will generate additional cut-through commuter traffic in Sunset Park.

- The FOSP Board feels that this project should be considered in conjunction with the adjacent Roberts Center and the Village Trailer Park in order to preserve affordable home ownership at the trailer park.

- In the staff report, it states that “The LUCE recognizes that achieving transportation goals, including no net new PM vehicle trips, will require the reduction in trips for a particular development in concert with changing the structure of transportation in Santa Monica to influence trip making for the greater population.”

Is the staff saying that it’s okay for the city government to keep approving Development Agreements for more and more large office projects that will further exacerbate the jobs/housing imbalance in Santa Monica because residents will be expected to walk, cycle, or ride the bus in order to compensate for the increase in commuter vehicle traffic caused by these large development projects?

If so, the FOSP Board of Directors strongly disagrees with that policy/philosophy.

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Background:

In December 2009, FOSP compiled a summary of large development projects
with traffic impacts on our residential neighborhood, Sunset Park. Here’s an updated version of that summary:

1. Bergamot Transit Village — The Bergamot Village proposal is for a
969,000 sq ft development including commercial, residential, and creative
office space on the former Paper Mate property at 1681 26th St. (north side of Olympic between 26th & Stewart/28th, adjacent to and about the same size as, the Water Gardens).

The project consists of about 579,000 sq ft of creative office space, about 330,000 sq ft of residential, and about 60,000 ft of retail space. According to current zoning, Hines could build 310,000 sq ft on the property.

The 1.3 million sq ft Bundy Village and Medical Park Draft EIR projected 20,073 daily car trips for that mixed use project, which is also near a Expo Light Rail stop.

So looking at that ratio of square footage to traffic, one can “guesstimate”
that the Bergamot Village project could generate about 15,000 daily car trips.

2. Colorado Creative Studio Project — 2834 Colorado — a 191,982 sq ft office project with 640 parking spaces (ca. 2,560 daily car trips?)

3. Roberts Business Center — 2848-2912 Colorado — 135,000 sq ft office space, 12,000 sq ft of commercial space, 84 residential units and 538 parking spaces. (ca. 2,152 daily car trips?)

4. Village Trailer Park re-development — 230,000 sq ft of commercial, retail, and 349 residential units, with 503 parking spaces. (ca. 2,012 daily car trips?)

5. NMS Properties (Paseo Nebraska) — a 3.5 acre parcel, including the former
Santa Monica Studios on Olympic Blvd. and the former SCI-Arc property at
3030 Nebraska, will be used for a 5-story project, including 75,000 sq ft
creative space, 5,000 sq ft retail space, and 545 apartments.

6. New Roads High School — 3131 Olympic Blvd., with access to Nebraska Avenue — a 116,957 sq ft expansion.

7. Santa Monica College — Academy for Entertainment and Technology -
Stewart/28th between Olympic and Colorado — The 2009 Master Plan Updates describe a 3-story building for KCRW, a 2-story expansion of the Academy, including a 180-seat theater, for a total addition of 47,170 sq ft and 450 parking spaces. (ca. 2,700 daily car trips?)

8. Santa Monica College — Performing Arts Campus — Santa Monica and 11th — The 2009 Master Plan Update describes a new 3-story 40,600 sq ft building, plus an addition of 18,800 sq ft to existing buildings, for a total addition of 59,400 sq ft, with 650 parking spaces. (ca. 3,900 daily car trips?)

9. Santa Monica College — Main Campus — 1900 Pico Blvd. — with over 37,000 students enrolled in Fall 2009, construction is underway for a new Student Services/Administration building near Pico and 20th. It will have 500 underground parking spaces, with entrance/exit access to alleys next to and behind residences on both 20th and Pearl Streets. (ca. 3,000 daily car trips?)

10. St. John’s Health Center and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center –
Phase 1 of St. John’s expansion was approved around 1997 for 475,000 sq ft, with up to 864,000 sq ft approved over a 30-year period for Phase 2. An additional 29,000 daily car trips were estimated.

11. Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center — The Santa Monica/Orthopaedic
Replacement Hospital project added 261,000 sq ft and required 1055 parking spaces. (ca. 6,330 daily car trips?)

12. Bundy Village and Medical Park (postponed) — on Bundy and Olympic
(an L-shaped property that surrounds Martin Cadillac) — 1.3 million sq ft of office, retail, and residential, with 20,073 additional daily car trips projected
in the EIR. The developers proposed to run 205 dump trucks per day south on Centinela to the east 10 freeway entrance for 66 days as they excavated the site, plus additional dump trucks during demolition.

In June 2009, the Santa Monica Planning Department sent “Comments on
DEIR for Bundy Village and Medical Park Project” to L.A. City Planners,
stating that “The City of Santa Monica is deeply concerned about the impacts of this project on Santa Monica streets.”

It found that 15 intersections in Santa Monica would be significantly impacted, including:

Centinela Avenue I-10 freeway on- and off-ramps
Colorado Avenue at Stewart St.
Ocean Park Blvd. at Centinela and 23rd
Olympic Blvd. at Centinela, Stewart, Cloverfield, and 20th
Pico Blvd. at Centinela, 1-10 eastbound off-ramp at 34th St.,
Cloverfield, 23rd, & Lincoln
Santa Monica Blvd. at Cloverfield

The city’s comments also included complaints about the methodologies
used and about proposed mitigations that would have a negative impact
on Santa Monica residents.

13. Martin Cadillac — NE corner of Bundy and Olympic — In a letter included
in the EIR for the Bundy Village, the owner of this property proposed a
650,000 sq ft project on his parcel, with over 2,000 parking spaces.
(ca. 8,000 daily car trips?)

14. Playa Vista — On Jefferson Blvd. between Lincoln and Centinela,
Playa Vista Phase 2, on 111 acres, has been approved by the LA Planning
Commission. This will include office buildings, a shopping center, and 2,600
homes. An estimated 24,000 daily car trips will be added to local streets,
including Lincoln and Centinela. The City of Santa Monica filed a petition
for writ of mandate in 2004, challenging the City of Los Angeles’ approval
of the project under CEQA.

15. Lantana — In 2005, Hines added the Lantana South building at 3131 Exposition Blvd. with 130,000 sq ft of post production and office space and 520 parking spaces, as well as Lantana East at 3030 Olympic Blvd. with 65,000 sq ft of post production and office space and 438 parking spaces. The Lantana Media Entertainment Campus contains 543,000 sq ft of rentable space. (ca. 3,832 daily car trips from the two new buildings?)