ITEM 12-B
Council Mtg: March 28, 1989
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Appeal of Planning Commission Approval of Development
Review 441, Variance 88-016, EIA 870, 1919 Santa Monica
Boulevard to Construct a Four-story, 46,832 square-foot
Office Building with 158 Parking Spaces provided
On-grade and within a Two-level Subterranean Parking
Garage in the C4 zone
Applicant: 1919 Associates
Appellants: Council Member Ken Genser and
1919 Associates
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council deny both appeals
and uphold the Planning Commission's approval of and conditions
for Development Review 441, Variance 88-016 and certification of
Environmental Impact Report, EIA 870, to permit construction of a
four-story, 46,832 square-foot office building with 158 parking
spaces.
At the meeting of January 18, 1989, the Planning Commission
approved the project with conditions on a 6-1 vote. Council
Member Genser is appealing the approval on the basis that the
project "will have adverse environmental consequences, the
project is not deserving of a variance under the terms of the
Zoning Ordinance and the EIR is potentially inadequate." The
applicant is appealing two of the project's conditions of
approval, namely, that: 1) the floor area shall be reduced from
51,832 square feet to 46,832 square feet; and 2) circulation
between the surface level parking area and the subterranean
garage shall be provided on-site. The letters of appeal are
included in Attachment A.
BACKGROUND
The development is proposed to be constructed on a 22,500
square-foot parcel on the northwest corner of Santa Monica
Boulevard and 20th Street. The project was originally proposed
to be four stories, 51,832 square feet with 5,622 square feet of
covered surface parking, 6,366 square feet of ground floor retail
space and 39,844 square feet of upper level office space. The
applicant is now proposing an all-office scenario with no retail,
based on the lower traffic generation rates associated with
office rather than retail uses.
At the Planning Commission meeting of January 18, 1989, the
project was approved with two major conditions: that the project
be reduced by 5,000 square feet of rentable floor area and that
the parking be redesigned to provide on-site circulation between
the surface and subterranean parking levels.
A Site Review Permit is required to permit the development of a
four story/56' structure with an F.A.R. of 2.5. The development
of a three story/45' structure with an F.A.R. of 2.0 is permitted
by Development Review Permit. The originally proposed
development has a height of four stories/56' and an F.A.R. of
2.3, which consists of 2.05 F.A.R. attributable to commercial
space and .25 F.A.R. attributable to covered, surface parking.
With the imposed reduction of 5,000 square feet of project area,
the total F.A.R. decreases to 2.08.
ANALYSIS
Variance
The project is subject to consideration under the previous zoning
code. The proposed project is consistent with all code
requirements and in conformity with the General Plan, with the
exception that 40% of the provided parking consists of compact
parking spaces. A variance was approved by the Planning
Commission as part of the application, since compact parking
required a variance under the previous zoning code. The current
code permits 40% compact spaces as a matter of right. Numerous
projects were approved under the previous zoning ordinance which
included 40% compact parking spaces.
Environmental Impact Report
The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) analyzed various areas of
potential project-related impacts, including: land use, traffic
and circulation, noise, shadows, sewer service and neighborhood
effects. The EIR determined that no long-term, significant
impacts would result from the project. The EIR proposed a number
of mitigation measures which are included in the conditions of
approval for the project.
Traffic and Circulation
Five intersections were analyzed in the EIR to determine detailed
level of service and volume/capacity ratios during the morning
and evening peak hours in accordance with the Critical Movement
Analysis method of intersection capacity analysis. The EIR
determined that for the originally proposed project of 51,832
square feet with ground floor retail uses and upper level office
uses, there would be a significant traffic impact at 20th Street
and Santa Monica Boulevard under unmitigated conditions. The
traffic impact would be reduced to an insignificant level with
the following mitigation measures:
- Restripe Santa Monica Boulevard east of 20th Street to
accommodate a total of six lanes within the existing
pavement width. The restriping would create an
exclusive right-turn pocket on the westbound Santa
Monica approach to 20th Street.
- Restripe Santa Monica Boulevard west of 20th Street to
shift existing lanes southward within existing pavement
width to realign with the restriping east of 20th
Street.
The analysis showed that assuming the implementation of the above
mitigation measures, the projected volume/capacity ratio would be
improved from 0.99 to 0.93 during the evening peak hour, thus not
only reducing the traffic impact at that intersection to a
nonsignificant level, but actually improving its operational
capacity.
All-Office Scenario and Related Traffic Issues
The developer has volunteered and the Planning Commission has
required that the project be limited to office uses only with no
retail activity in order to further reduce traffic impacts. An
Addendum to the EIR has been prepared (please refer to Attachment
G) to evaluate the potential traffic impacts associated with a
solely office building.
The Addendum determined that an all-office project alternative at
the full scale of 51,832 square feet would not create any
significant traffic impacts and would not require any mitigation
measures to alleviate project-related traffic impacts. The
applicant is requesting that the mitigation measures of
restriping Santa Monica Boulevard to the east and west of 20th
Street, if requested by the Parking and Traffic Engineer, not be
imposed since there will be no significant traffic impacts
created by the all-office alternative. The Planning Commission
imposed this mitigation measure on the reduced, all-office
alternative in order to improve traffic conditions.
A more detailed description and analysis of the project and
environmental issues is provided in the Planning Commission staff
report (please refer to Attachment C).
APPEAL ISSUES
Reduction of Building Area
The first basis of the applicant's appeal is that the Planning
Commission imposed a condition of approval that the project be
reduced by 5,000 square feet of rentable floor area. This
condition would reduce the overall project area, including
covered, surface parking, to 46,832 square feet and the office
area to 41,210 square feet, while reducing the F.A.R. to 2.08.
As noted above, the EIR determined that there would be no
significant, project-related, traffic impacts as a result of
construction of a 51,832 square-foot, all-office development.
Although the project would be reduced nearly to an F.A.R. which
does not require Site Review, the Planning Commission directed
that the project could still be four stories, which does require
a Site Review Permit.
On-Site Circulation
The second basis of the applicant's appeal is the condition that
the project be redesigned to provide on-site circulation between
the surface and subterranean parking levels. This redesign would
effect a good planning principle in that all turning movements
between levels of parking would be accomplished on-site. In
staff's judgement, the project should support all such activity
on-site without requiring a vehicle to exit onto the public
right-of-way in order to move between levels of parking.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendation presented in this report does not have any
budget or fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the Council deny both appeals
and approve Development Review 441 and Variance 88-016, and
certify EIA 870 as approved by Planning Commission with the
findings and conditions contained in the January 18, 1989
Planning Commission Statement of Official Action.
Prepared by: Shari Laham, Associate Planner
Paul Berlant, Director of Planning
Attachments: A. Letters of Appeal from Council Member Genser and
1919 Associates
B. Planning Commission Statement of Official Action, dated
1/18/89
C. Planning Commission Staff Report, dated 1/18/89
D. Protest Letters, dated 3/13/89
E. Memo from City Parking and Traffic Engineer, dated
1/18/89
F. Letter received from Applicant's Representa- tive,
dated 1/17/89
G. Addendum to EIR for All-Office Scenario Traffic Study
H. Minutes of Planning Commission Meeting of 1/18/89
I. Resolution of Certification of EIR
J. Addendum to EIR, dated November, 1988
K. Final Environmental Impact Report No. 870
L. Plot Plan, Floor Plans, Elevations and Sections
SL
PC/CCDR441
$N-Date