Council Mtg: October 28, 2003 Santa
Monica, California
TO: Mayor and Councilmembers
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Downtown Design Guidelines Discussion
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council conduct a discussion on the Downtown Design Guidelines Project, consider input and feedback from the public, Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission, and provide direction to staff and consultants regarding the project.
Over the past few years, there has been an increasing
focus on the quality of design of projects proposed in the downtown area of the
city. Many projects have been reviewed
multiple times by first the ARB and later the Planning Commission on appeal
requiring repeated redesign. In response, the City Council lowered the
development review thresholds on an interim basis and directed staff to propose
a new development process for the downtown, re-examine the development
standards currently in place in the downtown area and propose changes where
appropriate, and develop new design guidelines for the downtown. The goal of
this exercise is to produce projects that better represent the community’s
values with respect to design, quality and livability, and create clearer
guidelines while achieving a more timely and predictable review process for
applicants.
The City hired ROMA Design Group to assist staff with
this project. ROMA began its work by conducting individual interviews with
community members involved in the downtown development process including
architects, property owners and developers, the Bayside District Corp., ARB
members and Planning Commissioners. In
July a community-wide workshop was held to discuss issues of concern and gather
information. A similar session was held in August with representatives of the
Bayside District Corp.
ROMA and staff are still in the process of gathering
information from those involved in the development process. A joint meeting of
the Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission was held in
September. ROMA reviewed with the ARB
and Planning Commission the issues and concerns that were identified by the
community regarding development in the downtown and identified potential
responses to those issues.
Attached to this staff report is a summary document
prepared by the consultant that outlines issues identified by the community,
Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission thus far and includes an
array of potential responses. Staff is
requesting Council provide interim direction on the proposed elements of the
design guidelines to determine if the preliminary concepts are acceptable.
Following interim Council direction, additional
community meetings and hearings before the Architectural Review Board and
Planning Commission will be scheduled to refine the recommendations, for the
Council’s ultimate review in the form of proposed ordinance amendments.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
A notice of the discussion was published in the
“California Section” of the Los Angeles Times and mailed to persons or
organizations on the City Planning Division’s comprehensive list of community
organizations, boards and commissions, neighborhood groups and interested
persons. A copy of the notice is contained
in Attachment A.
The recommendation presented in this report does not have any budgetary or financial impact.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council conduct a discussion regarding the Downtown Design Guidelines, consider input and feedback from the public, Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission and provide direction to staff and consultants regarding the preliminary concepts.
Prepared
by: Suzanne Frick, Director
Jay M. Trevino, AICP, Planning Manager
Amanda Schachter, Principal Planner
Paul Foley, Senior Planner
John Chase, Urban Designer
City Planning Division
Planning and Community Development Department
Attachments: A. Public
notice
B. Downtown Urban Design Guidelines – Issues and Potential Responses
ATTACHMENT A
Public Notice
DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
AND DESIGN GUIDELINES
MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
7:00 p.m.
Council Chambers, Room 213
City Hall, 1685 Main Street
Santa Monica
The
City of Santa Monica along with the City’s urban design consultants, ROMA
Design Group, invite you to attend a meeting of the City Council concerning new
development standards and design guidelines for development in the downtown
area of Santa Monica.
ROMA
will present preliminary information gathered to date concerning the vision for
the Downtown and the ideas and concerns that the community, Architectural
Review Board and Planning Commission have expressed so far. In addition, ROMA will present draft
standards that have been developed based upon this information. This meeting
will provide an opportunity for ROMA and the City to gather additional public
input regarding the draft development standards and design elements that should
be established for the City’s downtown.
This input will be used to further refine the draft development
standards and design guidelines for consideration by the Architectural Review
Board, Planning Commission and City Council.
F:\ppd\share\downtown
development\Council meeting notice 10-28.doc
ATTACHMENT B
Downtown Urban Design Guidelines – Issues and
Potential Responses
Electronic
version of attachment is not available for review. Document is available for review at the City Clerk’s Office and
the Libraries.