July 26, 2011

To: City Council
From: Zina Josephs
RE: Colorado Creative Studios Project — 7/26/11 agenda item 7-B

I am writing this letter only on my own behalf.

1) This project is one of three adjacent projects: Colorado Creative Studios (Lionsgate), Roberts Business Center, and the Village Trailer Park.

The three projects total over 9 acres in a 19-acre block, and will stretch along Colorado Avenue between Stewart/28th and Stanford.

2) Two new road extensions will be created:

a. Pennsylvania between Stewart and Stanford
b. Yale between Colorado and the new Pennsylvania extension

3) The Village Trailer Park project contains more than 200 trees that are more than 50 years old, including two trees which are more than 100 years old. Migratory birds nest on this site and this spring three baby hawks were born at the trailer park.

4) One of the three projects will directly evict residents (109 family spaces for mobile homes). Mobile homes are the only form of low income resident-owned housing left in Santa Monica. Village Trailer Park residents own their home and rent their space. It is rent controlled.

Although the residents at Village Trailer Park range in age from one year to 90+, most are over 80 years old. They have resided, worked, and raised their families in Santa Monica, and they are now retired homeowners.

My understanding is that the new trailers at the city-owned Mountain View Trailer Park (on Stewart/28th next to the 10 freeway) are being sold for $150,000, which most VTP residents can’t afford. Many of them also have incomes too low to quality for apartments owned by Community Corporation of Santa Monica.

Where are they supposed to go if/when they’re evicted? One VTP resident who was persuaded to move out of the trailer park has already died of exposure while living in a car.

Recommendations to the City Council:

A. Honor the LUCE and require that Colorado Creative Studies fulfill the 50/50 housing/jobs balance for this district (Colorado Creative Studios is 100% commercial) by working with Village Trailer Park.

B. Honor the LUCE and require that these 3 projects work together and build around the Village Trailer Park.

C. Honor the LUCE and preserve/protect residential neighborhoods to the north and east of the projects by not creating additional car traffic from two new roads.

D. Honor the LUCE and meet the Circulation/TDM requirements by creating dedicated pedestrian/biking paths instead of new streets. These paths could connect the SMC Academy for Entertainment and Technology on Stewart, the office area to the west, and the bike street on Broadway without creating traffic impacts on residential neighborhoods that cannot be mitigated.

E. Honor Landmark and Sustainability objectives by preserving a historic site. Village Trailer Park was built in the late 1940’s and is one of only two such sites left in Santa Monica.

F. Honor the existing zoning, which designates Village Trailer Park as R-MH (residential mobile home) and ties the trailer park to the R1, R2 zoning directly across Colorado Avenue.

G. Honor the LUCE and insist that this activity center be compatible with the adjoining neighborhood to the north.

H. Honor the LUCE Housing Element by meeting the State requirements that Santa Monica retain all housing types, for all income levels, and for all family types and age groups.