COUNCIL MEETING:  November 28, 1995     Santa Monica, California

TO:       Mayor and City Council 

FROM:     City Staff

SUBJECT:  Recommendation to Authorize Staff to Prepare a Comment
          Letter to the Los Angeles City Council on the Proposed
          Playa Vista Entertainment, Media and Technology
          District Project. 

INTRODUCTION
This staff report recommends that the City Council authorize
staff to prepare a comment letter to the Los Angeles City Council
on the Proposed Playa Vista Entertainment, Media and Technology
District Project.  The letter will request that the City of Los
Angeles not approve the project until a properly noticed
Environmental Impact Report has been completed to fully analyze
the impacts of the project, especially regarding impacts of jet
and helicopter traffic at Santa Monica Airport.

BACKGROUND
Maguire Thomas Partners has proposed establishing a Playa Vista
Entertainment, Media and Technology District near the corner of
Jefferson and Centinela as part of the development of their Playa
Vista project in the City of Los Angeles.  The entertainment
project would include the following:
     o    Convert the existing Howard Hughes Plant Site of
          approximately 1,700,000 square feet of permitted use
          buildings to the same amount of entertainment, media
          and technology office, sound stages, and studio
          support.

     o    Modify Plan Area D from the Phase I Playa Vista
          Project.  Plan Area D, previously approved by the Los
          Angeles City Council, called for 850,000 square feet of
          office, a 300 room hotel (approximately 255,000 square
          feet), and 55,000 square feet of community serving
          uses.  The modification would convert the 300 room
          hotel and 850,000 square feet of office use to
          1,105,000 square feet of Entertainment, Media and
          Technology office use. 

     
It is assumed from reports in local newspapers that the District
would become the future headquarters for Dreamworks/SKG, and
other major companies.

The City of Los Angeles, in response to the project by Maguire
Thomas Partners, has proposed a mitigated negative declaration
for the Howard Hughes Plant Site.  The documentation states that
the 1,700,000 of office and industrial space has been occupied
within the last four years, so conversion to entertainment, media
and technology uses will not have any adverse impacts.  

The City of Los Angeles is also proposing an Addendum to the
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for Phase I of the
Playa Vista Project for Planning Area D, stating that the
conversion from office and hotel uses to the entertainment uses
will not have any significant impacts after mitigation, and in
fact will create less vehicular traffic. 

A November 21, 1995 letter from Friends of Sunset Park to the
City of Santa Monica identified potential impacts this project
would have on Santa Monica, especially as it relates to jet and
helicopter traffic at Santa Monica Airport (see Attachment A). 
After analysis by City staff, it was determined that these
impacts should be more thoroughly analyzed in an Environmental
Impact Report prepared by the City of Los Angeles, since there is
no discussion of air traffic impacts in the current mitigated
negative declaration or Addendum to the Playa Vista Phase I EIR. 

If authorized by the Council, staff will prepare a letter which
will request that the City of Los Angeles not approve the project
until a properly noticed Environmental Impact Report has been
completed to fully analyze the impacts of the project, especially
regarding impacts of jet and helicopter traffic at Santa Monica
Airport.

The Planning Committee of the Los Angeles City Council is
scheduled to hear an appeal of the project on December 5, 1995 at
1:30 P.M..  The matter is then expected to be presented to the
City Council on December 8th, 1995.

BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendation in this report will not have a budget or
fiscal impact to the City.  



RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council authorize staff to
prepare a comment letter to the Los Angeles City Council on the
Proposed Playa Vista Entertainment, Media and Technology District
Project.  The letter will request that the City of Los Angeles
not approve the project until a properly noticed Environmental
Impact Report has been completed to fully analyze the impacts of
the project, especially regarding impacts of jet and helicopter
traffic at Santa Monica Airport.

Prepared by:   Suzanne Frick, Director, PCD
               Jeff Mathieu, Director Resource Management
               Paul Casey, Assistant to the Director, PCD
               Tim Walsh, Airport Manager



Attachment A:  November 21, 1995 Friends of Sunset Park Letter






















                           ATTACHMENT A