Introduction

This report recommends that the City Council take the following actions: 1) Conduct a public hearing and adopt a resolution certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Mountain View Mobile Home Park; 2) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a purchase agreement with Ring Trading Corporation for the acquisition of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park; and 3) Approve related budget changes.

Background

Mountain View is a 141-space mobile home park located at 1930 Stewart Street and currently owned by Ring Trading Corporation. The mobile home park is approximately 4.8 acres and is bounded by Stewart Street on the east, the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) on the south, and Stewart Street Park and a portion of the City maintenance yard on the north. The property has a zoning designation of R-MH (Residential Mobile Home Park) District. Surrounding uses consist of Light Manufacturing and Studio District (LMSD) to the north, single family residential (R1) to the east and Industrial Conservation (M1) and Designated Parks (DP) Districts to the west.

Tenants of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park organized as the Mountain View Mobile Inn Residents Association (MVMIRA) in 1990. The MVMIRA, representing a majority of the residents, requested City financial assistance in the early 1990s to convert the mobile home park to tenant ownership. In response to this request, the City Council appropriated $4 million in December 1992 for potential financing of the proposed acquisition by the residents. In July 1996 the MVMIRA filed an application under Santa Monica's Tenant Ownership Rights Charter Amendment (TORCA) to convert the property to tenant ownership.

In May 1997 while the City was working with the park owner, Ring Trading, and tenant representatives to move the proposed tenant conversion forward, Ring Trading filed a lawsuit against the City for damages allegedly caused by an adjacent City-owned abandoned landfill. In early 1998, some of the Mountain View residents filed related lawsuits against Ring and the City for damages allegedly resulting from the abandoned landfill. The residents' lawsuits against the City also sought to carry out the TORCA conversion project. The Ring lawsuit against the City will be resolved by the proposed Purchase Agreement and a related Settlement Agreement. The residents' lawsuits against Ring are still pending, but the residents' lawsuits against the City were dismissed by the court in December 1998.

The City Council directs staff to initiate negotiations for the settlement of lawsuits and the acquisition of real estate. Based on direction received in closed session, staff initiated discussions with Ring Trading regarding Purchase Agreement and Settlement Agreement terms. On April 28, 2000 the City entered into an Access Agreement to grant the City a license to enter the site so due diligence could be completed. To further guide and inform the City in its negotiations, staff obtained preliminary title reports, detailed environmental assessments, and a property appraisal.

Project Description

The City now has the opportunity to settle the Ring Trading lawsuit and protect affordable housing by purchasing the Mountain View Mobile Home Park. In addition to the acquisition, future infrastructure upgrades are under consideration, including water, sewer, electrical systems, roadways, and sidewalks. After City acquisition, the mobile home park may be converted from rental to tenant ownership through the TORCA condominium conversion process.

Acquisition of the property will allow for the preservation of a mobile home park which has provided an important affordable housing alternative for Santa Monica residents during the past 50 years. Mobile home parks are not subject to the Ellis Act and are governed by rent control. Preservation of Mountain View as a mobile home park is consistent with the City's General Plan objectives and policies.

The City currently operates and will continue to operate a landfill gas control system to collect and treat subsurface gases generated from the former landfill which underlies Stewart Street Park, the City Maintenance yard, as well as a small portion of Mountain View. Environmental studies show that the City's landfill gas control system has been successful in both removing landfill gas and mitigating subsurface landfill gas migration.

Terms of the Purchase Agreement

Below is a summary of the material terms of the Purchase Agreement.

CEQA Status

After preparation of the Initial Study (IS), the City's Environmental Review Committee determined that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) would be prepared for this project (Attachment B). On April 27, 2000 the Notice of Completion/Notice of Availability for the Initial Study and Draft EIR was published in the Our Times newspaper, posted by the County Clerk, and mailed to the State and neighbors. The required 45-day comment period expired on June 12, 2000. By the close of the comment period, three (3) comment letters were received, and these letters and the responses to them are included in Appendix E of the Final EIR that is attached to this report as Attachment B.

The Initial Study identified six (6) environmental factors considered to be potentially affected by the project including potential impacts related to air, earth, hazardous materials, human health, financial impact, and utilities. Analysis of these environmental categories is included in the Final EIR. Potential adverse impacts identified in the study which require mitigation include residential disruption (the project may temporarily displace residents during the property repair construction period); noise (repairs and property upgrades will result in increased noise levels during the construction period); and earth and geologic (the project is located near an abandoned landfill).

Mitigation measures have been incorporated to reduce these potential adverse impacts to less than significant levels. They include: (a) required assistance with moving belongings and finding suitable short term housing units in the unlikely event tenant relocation is necessary; (b) development and implementation of a noise mitigation plan during the construction period; and (c) an ongoing variety of subsurface monitoring and remediation measures to control and safely remove gases from the former landfill. These measures are more fully described in the Summary of Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures in Section 3 of the EIR (Attachment B). Because the City has been actively involved in mitigating the landfill gases from the site for some time, further discussion of this issue is warranted below.

Earth and Geologic Hazards

The western portion of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park is located over the ramp area of a former clay mining pit which was later filled with construction debris in the late 1940s. The City operated a municipal landfill adjacent to the property in the 1940s. As municipal garbage and other fill materials naturally decompose over time they create landfill gases (LFG), consisting primarily of methane. While not toxic, methane can be explosive if a significant amount migrates to the surface and is allowed to collect in enclosed areas. Accordingly, the City has been operating a landfill gas control system since June 1998 to mitigate the potential hazard under permits issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and the Southern California Air Quality Management District. The system is designed to gradually collect, treat, and vent subsurface gases. Two recent studies, summarized in the attached EIR, show that the City's landfill gas control system has been successful in both removing LFG beneath the site and mitigating subsurface migration of LFG. Although the EIR concludes that the potential for migration of LFG to the surface is considered low, the EIR recommends additional preventative mitigation measures. These measures are more fully described in the Summary of Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures in Section 3 of the EIR, items E1 through E10 (Attachment B).

Budget/Financial Impact

The total cost of the acquisition is $7,028,240. Funds of $5,304,209 are appropriated in the following accounts:

The remaining $1,724,031 required to complete the transaction will need to be appropriated in account number C14073301.589000 from available TORCA revenues. In addition, $2,000,000 will need to be appropriated to account C14073401.589000 for TORCA conversion projects.

These funds were appropriated in 1992 to account C14034893.589000 for acquisition of the mobile home park by the tenants. In order to use these funds for acquisition by the City under current TORCA charter requirements and current Council policy, this appropriation must be canceled and the funds re-appropriated to the accounts listed above.

In addition, the City must provide for annual expenditures of about $200,000 for Park operations to cover such expenses as maintenance and management. Annual revenues of about $300,000 will cover the projected expenses. On a pro-rata basis for this fiscal year, budgeted expenditures in account 01264.533220 should be increased by $117,000 and budgeted revenues in account 01264.400950 should be increased by $175,000.

Recommendation

Staff recommends that the City Council take the following actions:

1) Conduct a public hearing on the EIR

2) Adopt a resolution certifying the final Environmental Impact Report for the acquisition and possible infrastructure improvements of the Park (Attachment A); and

3) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a Purchase Agreement with Ring Trading Corporation for the acquisition of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park.

4) Approve the budget changes set forth above.

RESOLUTION NO.

(City Council Series)

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL

OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA

CERTIFYING THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT ON THE

MOUNTAIN VIEW MOBILE HOME PARK AT 1930 STEWART STREET

WHEREAS, a Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Mountain View Mobile Home Park, located at 1930 Stewart Street (the Project) was published in April, 2000 in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the City of Santa Monica CEQA Guidelines; and

WHEREAS, on November 14, 2000, the City Council, as Lead City Agency, reviewed the Final Environmental Impact Report.

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. The City Council finds that the Final Environmental Impact Report identified potentially significant effects in the following areas: the project may temporarily displace residents during the property repair construction period; repairs and property upgrades could result in increased noise levels during the construction period; and the project is located near an abandoned landfill which generates subsurface landfill gases.

SECTION 2. Consistent with Section 15074 of the State CEQA Guidelines, and as detailed in the Final Environment Impact Report Section 3, the City Council finds that the following conditions of approval imposed on the Project and agreed to by The City of Santa Monica (the Applicant) will mitigate the impacts on residential disruption, noise, earth and geologic hazards created by the project to below a level of significance:

1. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure PEH1, the applicant shall assist all affected tenants with moving belongings and finding a suitable temporary unit in the event temporary on-site relocation becomes necessary.

2. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure N1, the applicant shall ensure that the contractors establish haul truck routes and staging areas which avoid residential and school areas where feasible.

3. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure N2, the applicant shall ensure that the contractors schedule construction activities to avoid simultaneous operation of high noise emitting equipment.

4. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure N3, the applicant shall ensure that the contractors use highly noticeable signage to notify tenants and neighbors of especially noisy construction days, at least 24 hours prior to such activities.

5. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E1, the applicant and/or the property owner shall operate the existing landfill gas control system (LGCS) as necessary to protect the project site from potential hazards related to subsurface LFG (methane gas) migration (e.g., maintain subsurface methane concentrations at the project site/Park and City Yard property boundary at less than 5 percent and less than 1.25 percent in any project site structure which is located at grade). Sufficient backup equipment (e.g., extraction blower) shall be immediately available to the City to minimize system downtime in the event of equipment breakdown. A set-aside fund for operation and maintenance of the LFGCS shall be developed.

6. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E2, the applicant and/or the property owner shall continue to perform appropriate methane gas monitoring as required by current regulation at Stewart Street Park, the City Yard and project site to determine if the LFGCS is providing the necessary protection as noted in mitigation measure E1 above.

7. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E3, the applicant and/or property owner shall prepare a contingency action plan delineating all necessary steps to be performed by the City and/or property owner to ensure protection of health and safety on the project site in the event monitoring data indicates such steps are warranted.

8. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E4, the applicant and/or the property owner shall perform routine methane gas monitoring during earthwork activities on the project site. Construction crews shall be instructed on appropriate safety measures, contingency measures, and emergency procedures as they relate to the existing subsurface landfill gases on-site. A construction health and safety plan detailing implementation of the above requirements should be submitted to and approved by the City's Environmental and Public Works Management Department/Environmental Programs.

9. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E5, the applicant will ensure that all skirting of all existing and new mobile home coaches shall be of mesh or screen typed materials to provide ventilation to achieve ambient air conditions under the coaches.

10. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E6, the applicant will ensure that the property owner and/or trailer owner shall install a 30-mil high-density polyethylene membrane beneath future at- or below-grade enclosures constructed at the project site (excluding trailers installed above grade with adequate ventilation, but including decks, sheds, etc.) with sufficient ventilation to prevent build-up of methane gas of 1.25 percent or greater within the enclosure.

11. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E7, the applicant and/or property owner shall install vapor seals (EYS or equal) on future, newly-constructed underground electrical conduits after exiting the ground surface.

12. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E8, the applicant and/or property owner shall install vapor-barriers in future, newly constructed utility trenches to inhibit methane migration along the trench/utilities.

13. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E9, the applicant and/or property owner shall continue to notify all tenants (and all potential future tenants) about LFG-related issues at the Project Site.

14. Pursuant to Final Environmental Impact Report Mitigation Measure E10, the applicant will ensure that the property owner shall provide each new tenant with a methane monitor and instructions for installation in the trailer.

SECTION 3. The City Council has reviewed and considered the Final Environmental Impact Report on the Project together with any comments received during the public review process, prior to acting on the project. The Final Environmental Impact Report reflects the City Council's independent judgement and analysis.

SECTION 4. The City Council finds that, based on the whole record before it including the Final Environmental Impact Report and comments received, there is no substantial evidence that the Project, with the conditions of approval outlined in Section 2, will have a significant effect on the environment, and hereby approves the Final Environmental Impact Report.

SECTION 5. The City Council adopts the Mitigation Monitoring Plan, which is included as Exhibit A, to ensure that the required mitigation measures will be implemented.

SECTION 6. The documents which constitute the record of proceedings for approving this project, the Final Environmental Impact Report, are located in the Housing Department, 1685 Main Street, Room 212, Santa Monica, California. The custodian of these documents is Ellen Alderman Comis, Senior Administrative Analyst.

SECTION 7. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

________________________

MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE

City Attorney

EXHIBIT A

MITIGATION MONITORING PLAN