ITEM 6-G
COUNCIL MEETING: September 29, 1992 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Approve a Memorandum of Understanding
between Westside Summit Cities and the Southern
California Association of Governments Concerning
Preparation of the Regional Comprehensive Plan
INTRODUCTION
This report requests that the City Council approve a Memorandum
of Understanding between the City of Santa Monica and the
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) outlining
each agency's responsibilities in the preparation of the Regional
Comprehensive Plan (RCP).
BACKGROUND
The Southern California Association of Governments has begun
preparing a new Regional Comprehensive Plan (RCP) which will
affect all local jurisdictions in the SCAG region. The SCAG
region consists of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San
Bernardino, and Ventura counties. The new plan has been prompted
in part by State and Federal legislation, and in part by new
projections showing the region's 2010 population to be
substantially greater than previously estimated.
The RCP will address on a regional level many of the same issues
included in State mandated local general plans. Among the
mandated elements of the SCAG plan are the Mobility, Air Quality,
Housing, and Growth Management Elements. Other elements include
Economic, Energy, Open Space and Resources, Human Resources,
Water, Water Quality, Safety, Integrated Waste Management, and
Rural Development.
SCAG has sought input from the fourteen subregions that make up
the SCAG area. Four of the five Westside Summit cities,
including Beverly Hills, Culver City, Santa Monica, and West
Hollywood, have been identified as one of these subregions. (The
City of Los Angeles, also part of the Westside Summit, has been
defined as a subregion unto itself.) While the subregions may
contribute to all elements of the RCP, they are being asked to
focus particularly on the following issues: major strategies for
dealing with regional planning issues; population, employment and
housing projections for 2000 and 2010; the Regional Housing Needs
Assessment; preparation of a regional Master Environmental
Assessment (MEA); and, transportation issues focusing on
containing vehicle miles travelled in the region.
The Draft RCP will be released in December, 1992. SCAG is
offering Westside Summit cities funds to collectively hire and
work with a consultant of their choice to assist in the
preparation of the draft RCP. The Westside Summit cities must
enter into an Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) with SCAG in
order to become eligible for use of these funds. One of the
consultant's primary roles will be to coordinate responses of the
cities. Among the consultant's other responsibilities will be to
assist the cities in developing recommendations regarding the
general strategies the RCP should embrace in addressing the
region's growth issues; compile baseline environmental data from
all four cities; work with the cities to provide input into draft
RCP goals and policies; review SCAG's population, employment, and
housing forecasts to evaluate methodologies and model
implications; assist in reviewing and evaluating five year
housing need estimates contained in the Regional Housing Needs
Assessment (RHNA); work with cities to evaluate subregional
emissions budgets (related to vehicle miles travelled, or VMT);
and, prepare analyses and comments on the draft RCP.
It is anticipated that, with consultant assistance, the cities
will contribute to the Draft RCP on a staff level before
December, and that once the Draft RCP is released it will be
presented to the respective City Councils for review and comment
during the first part of 1993.
During the last month, City staff has been working with the three
other Westside Summit cities and SCAG to draft and finalize the
Memorandum of Understanding. The City Attorney has reviewed and
approved the M.O.U. contained in Attachment A.
The most significant parts of the M.O.U. are sections VI and VII,
which outline the respective responsibilities of SCAG and
Westside Cities. Each city will enter into a separate M.O.U.
with SCAG; however, the M.O.U. is the same for all cities. Under
the agreement, SCAG's primary responsibilities include the
following:
o work with local jurisdictions to establish regional goals
and objectives for the RCP;
o identify federal and state mandates which must be addressed
in the RCP;
o develop an EIR on the RCP;
o with cooperation of local jurisdictions, produce a
subregional Master Environmental Assessment; and,
o actively involve subregional associations in the RCP
planning process.
The City's primary responsibilities under the M.O.U. are as
follows:
o prepare recommendations for regional RCP goals and
objectives;
o conduct background data analyses, including environmental
data;
o review and comment on the Draft RCP; and,
o continue involvement in the subregional planning process
with other Westside Summit cities.
Following execution of the M.O.U., the Westside Summit cities
will work with a consulting team of their choice to assist in
carrying out their responsibilities under the M.O.U.
The RCP planning process represents an important step toward
voluntary, inter-jurisdictional coordination on regional planning
issues. In light of the compressed schedule for completion of
the RCP, the complexity of the issues involved, the difficulty in
coordination between four cities, and previous staff commitments,
consultant assistance is critical to the success of this process.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The four cities will be required to provide a total of $25,000 in
in-kind staff time, or $6,250 per city, in order to receive the
$100,000 in consulting fees from SCAG. Staff will keep track of
the time it spends on this project and provide periodic reports
to SCAG on its contribution.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve the Memorandum of
Understanding between SCAG and the City of Santa Monica so that
the City, together with the other Westside Summit cities, may
begin their participation in the RCP planning process.
Prepared By: Paul Berlant, Director of LUTM
Suzanne Frick, Planning Manager
Tad Read, Associates Planner
Land Use and Transportation Management Department
Program and Policy Development Division
Attachments: A - M.O.U. between SCAG and City of Santa Monica