September 16, 2008
City Council
Meeting: September 9, 2008
Agenda Item: 1-L
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lee E.
Swain, Director – Department of Public Works
Subject: Windward
School Side Yard Maintenance and Lot Tie Affidavits
Recommended
Action
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize
the City Manager to execute a Covenant and Agreement regarding Maintenance of
Yards for an Oversized Building, and a Covenant and Agreement to hold
Property as One Parcel for City owned property being leased to Windward School.
Executive
Summary
Windward School
leases property owned by Santa Monica located in
the City of Los Angeles.
The school is constructing additions to its recreational facilities on campus
as allowed in its lease agreement with the City of Santa Monica.
Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety requires that the property
owner (Santa Monica) execute an affidavit for
side yard maintenance and an affidavit for a lot tie before a certificate of
occupancy can be issued to Windward
School. The lot tie affidavit will create a single
lot from what are now four separate lots, and the side yard maintenance
affidavit establishes minimum clearance distances in side yard maintenance
areas. Santa Monica staff has reviewed the
affidavits and determined that neither of the affidavits presents a restriction
or obstruction to the continued use of the property for water production or
treatment purposes as stipulated in the lease.
There is no cost associated with the approval and execution of these agreements.
Discussion
Since 1983, the City of Santa
Monica has leased to Windward
School a portion of City property
located at Sawtelle Boulevard
and Palms Boulevard
in West Los Angeles. The property encompasses
the Charnock well field, comprising approximately 7.5 acres south of the flood
control channel at the location. Under the terms of the lease, Windward is
authorized to use the property for recreational purposes, principally as
outdoor play fields and as basketball courts. The lease, and its subsequent
modifications, also designates certain building zones in which Windward is
allowed to build structures to be used as educational and/or athletic
facilities. The initial duration of the lease was July 1, 1983 to June 30, 1998
(15 years). The fourth modification to
the lease, executed in 2005, extended the lease terms to 2055.
Language in the original lease and all
subsequent modifications remains very clear with respect to the property’s use
as the city of Santa Monica’s
well field. The most recent modification
reiterates that water production related use is deemed to be the primary use
for this site, and that Windward agrees not to interfere with any work
performed by the City related to these activities. Throughout the lease period, the City and Windward School have worked cooperatively in
maintaining the terms of the lease.
Windward School is presently constructing additional
classroom facilities and an expansion to its gymnasium facility within the
building zones allowed by the lease. As
a condition of issuing the certificate of occupancy for the new construction to
Windward, the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS)
requires that the property owner (Santa Monica) execute two separate
affidavits: a Covenant and Agreement regarding
Maintenance of Yards for an Oversized Building (Side Yard Maintenance), and a
Covenant and Agreement to Hold Property as One Parcel (Lot Tie).
The Side Yard Maintenance
affidavit is a requirement related to the additional building footprint being
added to the gymnasium facility. The
affidavit establishes a forty-foot wide maintenance area adjacent to the north
and east side of the gymnasium building, unobstructed from ground to sky, and
establishes minimum separation distances of future water wells from the
building (10 feet minimum) and from other water wells (minimum 50 feet between
adjacent wells) which the city may decide to install in the future. An existing water well within this area
remains in place and will be unaffected by this affidavit. Staff has determined
that the conditions of this affidavit will have no detrimental effect on the
operation of the property for water production purposes.
The Lot Tie affidavit is a
requirement related to the proximity of the parking area to the revised
gymnasium building. The additional
parking area necessary to accommodate the increased building size for the new
gymnasium resides on a non-contiguous parcel of the leased land. As a condition of granting the certificate of
occupancy to Windward, LADBS requires that a lot tie affidavit be executed by
the property owner, effectively creating a single lot from what are presently
four separate lots. Staff has
determined that the conditions of this affidavit will have no detrimental effect
on the operation of the property for water production purposes.
Financial
Impacts & Budget Actions
There are no financial impacts, budget actions, or costs
associated with this action.
Prepared by:
Gil Borboa, P.E., Water Resources Manager
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Forwarded to Council:
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Department
of Public Works
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P. Lamont
Ewell
City Manager
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