City Council
Meeting: June 26, 2007
Agenda Item: 8-B
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Andy Agle, Director, Housing and
Economic Development
Subject: Request for Conceptual Approval of Proposed
Relocation of Angels
Attic Museum
and Building to Heritage Square
Staff recommends that the Council refer this
project to the Landmarks Commission to provide preliminary input on the impact to
historic resources from the proposed relocation of the Angels Attic museum and
building to Heritage Square. If the preliminary input from the Landmarks
Commission is favorable, staff recommends that the Council authorize
negotiations pursuant to criteria detailed in this report.
The Friends of Heritage Square Committee,
whose members include the Ocean Park Restaurant Association, operators of The
Victorian; the California Heritage Museum; and Volunteers of America, operators
of Angels Attic, (collectively “the Heritage Square Committee“) propose
relocating the Angels Attic building and museum collection from its existing
location at Colorado Avenue and 5th Street to Heritage Square,
property owned by the City and leased to Ocean Park Restaurant Corporation (OPRC)
and the Heritage Museum. The Committee’s
proposal was briefly described in a November 15, 2006, letter to the City
Manager (Attachment A) and in a follow-up letter and Fact Sheet to the City
Manager dated March 15, 2007 (Attachment B).
The Angels Attic relocation proposal is
still conceptual and requires more detailed plans and information on proposed
operations. Staff’s current assessment
is that the relocation as proposed will negatively impact the functionality and
appearance of the property. Therefore, there
are several significant issues that would need to be fully addressed for the
project to move forward. These issues
include parking for the museum, the impact on the historic integrity of the Heritage Museum after the relocation of the
Angels Attic building to Heritage
Square, potential impacts on the Sunday Farmers’
Market, vehicular and pedestrian access, and overall operations of the three
facilities. Landmarks Commission’s input
will be beneficial to determining how best to move forward with the proposed development. The Heritage Square Committee states that its
development project will be privately financed and it will not require any City
funds.
Discussion
Background
Angels Attic, located at 516 Colorado Avenue, is a nonprofit
miniatures and dollhouse museum that was founded in 1984 by Jackie McMahan,
Eleanor LaVove and friends, with the goal of donating the proceeds from the
museum to benefit autistic and developmentally disabled children.
In 2004, Angels Attic joined forces with
Volunteers of America of Greater Los Angeles (VOA), a nonprofit human services
organization, for the management of the museum.
This merger was expected to expand the mission of the museum to include
art and music therapy programs for disadvantaged children and cultural enrichment
programs for senior citizens.
The City owns and leases the majority of Heritage Square to
Ocean Park Restaurant Corporation (OPRC).
The lease term is 30 years plus five five-year options. The 30-year term expires on May 15, 2008, and
if all options are exercised the lease term is extended until May 15, 2033. OPRC operates a special events facility at The
Victorian and recently began to offer breakfast and lunch in its patio and
indoor areas. Included in the leased
area is the adjacent parking lot.
The Heritage Museum
occupies a portion of the site through an Operating Agreement with a 44-year
lease term followed by an unspecified number of successive 50-year period
extensions, until amended or terminated.
The original 44-year lease term expires in 2025.
The Sunday Farmers’ Market operates at Heritage Square
under a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) each Sunday and allows for set-up,
operations, and breakdown between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. The Sunday Farmers’ Market has operated at
this location since January 1995.
Proposal
On November 15, 2006, and on March 15, 2007,
the Heritage Square Committee submitted a letter and Fact Sheet to the City
Manager requesting consideration by the City Council of their proposal to
relocate the Angels Attic building and museum to Heritage Square and to assign
the project to the City Manager’s Office so it can receive priority
consideration through the development review process. The Heritage Square Committee members believe
that relocating the Angels Attic structure and museum collection to Heritage Square
will create a cultural center and a point of interest for both Santa Monica visitors and residents. The proposal, while offering a number of
benefits to the community, also raises a number of issues that require further
consideration.
Considerations
Based on staff’s understanding of the
proposal, approvals will be required from various City commissions, and a
variety of operational issues will need to be addressed through lease
negotiations and public approvals, including:
1. Site
Plan: A site plan submitted to the City by the
Heritage Square Committee shows the Angels Attic building being placed on the
lawn area in front of the Heritage
Museum. The building will be sited so that it is
slightly southwest of the Heritage Museum building with the front of the Angels
Attic building facing south (Attachment C).
More detailed site plans will be required in order for the City to adequately
evaluate how the Angels Attic building will relate to other improvements on the
site, and how existing programs, special events, and the Farmers’ Market will
operate.
2.
Historic Characteristics: Both
The Victorian and the California
Heritage Museum
were relocated to the current location to create Heritage Square. The California
Heritage Museum,
historically known as the First Roy Jones House, is the earliest known American
Colonial Revival-style building designed by prominent Southern
California architect Sumner P. Hunt. Built in 1894, the house was moved from Ocean Avenue to Main Street in 1977
and designated a City Landmark in 1979.
The Victorian, known historically as the Kyte House, is a Shingle Style
house constructed in approximately 1900.
This building was also relocated from Ocean Avenue in 1977. The City’s Historic Resources Inventory
identifies this building as eligible for local landmark designation.
The Heritage Committee’s Fact Sheet states
that the Angels Attic building was originally constructed in 1894 and was moved
twice before being located to its current location on Colorado Avenue. The building is listed on the City’s Historic Resources
Inventory as potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of
Historic Places, in accordance with a survey that was prepared in 1983 and
subsequently updated in 1985 and 1998. However,
the building has been modified to create its current appearance. The Heritage Square Committee provided to the
City a photograph of the Angels Attic building at an earlier time (Attachment
D). Based on that analysis, modifications
to the building may be necessary to restore its historic integrity or to remove
incompatible architectural modifications, which the Executive Director of the Heritage Museum suggested would be done. However, even if the Landmarks Commission
determined that the Angels Attic building did not qualify for Landmark status, the
Landmarks Commission, through the Certificate of Appropriateness process, would
need to review and approve the proposal because the proposal would place a new
building on a Landmark parcel. Clustering
historic buildings in their non-original location is generally not considered
an appropriate historic preservation approach, as it creates a representation
of a historically inaccurate past that can impair the integrity of the existing
historic buildings on a site. In this
case, such a proposal would likely face challenges in the approval
process. In addition to other required
environmental analysis, CEQA analysis of cultural resources impacts could be
necessary.
The Fact Sheet attached to the March 15,
2007 letter from the Heritage Square Committee mentions that in 1977 the
California Heritage Museum and The Victorian buildings were relocated to Main
Street under a plan that contemplated yet a third building to form a “Heritage
Square” and that the Angels Attic building would fulfill this plan. In addition, the Heritage Square Committee
letter points out that although the Angels Attic building is not designated a
historical building, its architectural style, as restored, would complement the
two existing buildings at Heritage Square.
3.
Parking: The parking lot behind The Victorian and California Heritage
Museum has 87 parking
spaces. The Agreement with OPRC requires
them to provide 25 spaces to the California
Heritage Museum. The Zoning Ordinance requires 1 parking space
per 300 square feet for museums. The two-story
Angels Attic building has a footprint of 34’ x 65’. If the total building area is approximately
3,500 sq. ft., this size building would require an additional 12 parking
spaces. An evaluation of the parking demand
created by this project may need to take into consideration opportunities for shared
parking, off-site parking, and re-striping of the existing parking lot which
may achieve additional spaces. If
private, off-site parking could not be secured, there could be an impact on
nearby public parking. Any alternative
parking arrangements would require approval of a parking variance. CEQA analysis of parking impacts may be
necessary.
4.
Traffic Circulation: The Fact Sheet indicates that access to the
site would remain as it is now. However,
effective site planning and design may require City consideration of Lot 10 as a point for ingress or egress from Hill Street to the
project. Appropriate analysis of impacts
would likely be necessary.
5.
Farmers’ Market: The
Sunday Farmers’ Market operates on the parking lot of Heritage Square and on the lawn and
center driveway between The Victorian and the California Heritage
Museum (Attachment E). The Proposal mentions that relocating the
Angels Attic building to Heritage
Square will not impact the Sunday Farmers’ Market,
even though the current site plan depicts the Angels Attic building being
placed on the lawn area to the immediate southwest of the Heritage Museum
building. The Heritage Square Committee
will need to provide a more detailed site plan. A concern is that placement of the Angels
Attic building on Heritage Square
may reduce visibility to the Farmers Market. Moreover, the 3,500 sq. ft. footprint of
Angels Attic may require relocation of some Farmers Market activities (music,
picnicking, manager’s booth, or pony rides) to other areas of the site, or
necessitate use of City Parking Lot 10 for the Farmers Market. Any change to the Farmers’ Market operation
will also require an amendment to its Conditional Use Permit.
6.
Zoning Ordinance: Heritage
Square is situated in the CM2 Zone. A site plan
and elevations will need to be prepared to conform to existing zoning
requirements. If the zoning standards cannot be met, the Project may need a variance. Heritage Square is located in the Coastal
Zone and a Coastal Commission Development Permit would be needed.
7.
Museum Operations: The
Fact Sheet mentions that both museums will be governed by one Board of
Directors and that the Director of the California Heritage
Museum will oversee both
facilities. The Zoning Ordinance requires Conditional Use Permits for museums. A more detailed description of the museum’s
operations and its relationship to the operation of The California Heritage
Museum will be required to provide a better understanding about hours of
operation, estimated visitors, staffing, nature of the programming, duration of
exhibits, type of educational programming that is planned, and the range of
special events and cultural programming that is envisioned.
8.
Lease Modifications: The
Heritage Square Committee will need to request modifications of the Lease and
Operating Agreement to reflect changes, which would require City Council
approval.
9.
Public Outreach: Letters
of support have been received from the Ocean Park Association (OPA) and the
Main Street Business Improvement Association (MSBIA) (Attachments F and G,
respectively). The Heritage Square
Committee should continue to discuss its plans with community groups.
10. Financial
Feasibility: The Heritage
Square Committee states that this project will be financed at no cost to the
City and that the VOA will guarantee an endowment of $10.0 million to support
the operations of both the California Heritage Museum
and Angels Attic Museum.
The City will want to ensure that there
are sufficient resources to complete the entire project.
Staff supports the objectives of the
Heritage Committee to relocate the Angels Attic building and museum collection
to a more visitor-oriented location and that this location meets this criterion.
However, it is staff’s assessment that the proposed location of the building in
the lawn area will negatively impact the current functionality and appearance
of the property, while recognizing it may be possible to place Angels Attic on
the Heritage Square site in such a way that the above issues may be adequately addressed.
Therefore, if Council refers this project to
the Landmarks Commission for their assessment of how the relocation of Angels
Attic will affect the historic integrity of Heritage Square and Landmarks Commission’s
preliminary review is favorable, staff could begin negotiations in accordance
with the parameters listed below.
·
Maintain
the current operations of the Farmers’ Market;
·
Satisfy
parking requirements for the three uses without impacting adjacent public parking
resources;
·
Preserve
the historic integrity of Heritage
Square;
·
Provide
vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle access to the site which is equivalent to or
better than current access;
·
Provide programs for Angels Attic and the California Heritage Museum
that create significant public benefits.
Previous Council Actions
At the October 3, 2000 City Council meeting,
Jackie McMahan submitted a proposal asking for the City’s assistance with
relocating Angels Attic to the City-owned Heritage Square. In exchange, Angels Attic proposed donating
to the City their current 6,263‑square foot Colorado Avenue site as
compensation. At the meeting, Council directed
staff to review the proposal and report on its feasibility. The May 8, 2001, Information Item (Attachment
H) summarized the proposal which included moving Angels Attic to the area
between The Victorian and California
Heritage Museum
and a need for City financing. Subsequent
to these events, the Angels Attic founders redirected their efforts to finding
a partner, and in 2004, joined forces with VOA to manage the museum. In 2005, VOA, along with the operators of The
Victorian and the Heritage Museum, re-introduced to the City the proposal to
move the Angels Attic building and collection to Heritage Square.
Alternatives
Given the significant barriers related to
locating Angel’s Attic at Heritage
Square, the Council may wish to encourage the
Heritage Square Committee to consider another site for the project.
The Heritage Square Committee states that its development project
will be privately financed and will not require any City funds.
Prepared by:
Erika
Cavicante, Senior Administrative Analyst
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Forwarded to Council:
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Housing and Economic Development
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P. Lamont Ewell
City
Manager
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