City Council
Meeting: August 11, 2009
Agenda Item: 8-A
To: Mayor and City Council
From:
Subject: Exposition Light Rail Phase 2
Maintenance Facility Update – Expo Construction Authority Consideration of
Verizon Site and Exploration of Possible New Hybrid Site within the City of
Recommended Action
Staff
recommends that the City Council:
1.
Authorize
the City Manager to continue to work with the Exposition Construction Authority
(Expo) to further explore a new hybrid site consisting of the Verizon property,
the Santa Monica College (SMC) parking lot and a portion of the City Yard as
the location for the required Phase 2 light rail maintenance facility
(Attachment A). Such an alternative
might include a tightly configured storage and maintenance facility on the
Verizon/SMC site adjacent to the railroad right of way, a linear buffer of 120
feet for most of the frontage facing residents on
2.
Request
Expo to continue working with the City and community to ensure that any environmental
impacts associated with the new hybrid Verizon site are fully mitigated.
3.
Direct
City staff to work with Expo and other agencies on layout and financial issues
associated with the newly proposed alternative. Efforts will include discussion
with Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), the
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and SMC.
4.
Direct
City staff to analyze options and work with Expo to meet applicable relocation
needs and the exploration of joint use and/or co-location of facilities.
5.
Direct
City staff to work with
6.
Direct
staff to work with Expo to minimize the visual and environmental impacts of the
maintenance facility and enhance its aesthetic interface with the community.
7.
Direct
staff to work with Expo to develop any necessary agreements regarding the
co-location/joint use of the City Yard site if the new hybrid site is recommended
and adjust the final budget for the Expo Phase 2 project as appropriate.
Executive Summary
The Exposition Light Rail (Expo
LR) Phase 2 Draft Environmental
Impact Report (DEIR), issued in January 2009, summarizes the review of a number
of candidate sites for a Phase 2 maintenance facility, but concludes that the
Verizon site is the only viable alternative. The City
Council expressed concern about locating the proposed maintenance yard adjacent
to a residential area and requested Expo to continue to look for an alternative
location. The Expo Authority has
provided additional information regarding the many sites they had considered
during the project development process. The
City also hired both real estate and design professionals to perform an independent
review of possible sites.
Last month a “split alternative”
developed cooperatively by the City and Expo was considered by City
Council. The proposed layout utilized
the Verizon site, an adjacent SMC parking lot and the City’s
More recently, City staff and
Expo have explored a new hybrid alterative utilizing the Verizon site, the
City staff, as well as Expo
staff, have recently discussed this new hybrid concept with some residents in the
adjacent community to garner input and address concerns. In addition, the City has discussed this
alternative with the College. Both the
City and Expo will continue to work with the community and College to ensure
that concerns are addressed and any impacts are fully mitigated in accordance
with CEQA requirements. Further, Expo has pledged to host a workshop and meet
with the community to receive design input into the maintenance facility
building. The City will also work with
the community to discuss options for the 120 foot buffer if the hybrid site is
recommended as the preferred option.
Expo will be making the final
decisions about the project in consultation with the funding and operating
agency, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The regional agencies are responsible for
deciding on the final project. The
project budget in the Phase 2 DEIR currently assumes that Expo will acquire the
Verizon site. The City is requesting that the Expo Phase 2 budget be
adjusted, as necessary, if the new hybrid alternative is selected.
Background
In January 2009, the Expo issued a DEIR
for the project. On February 10 and
March 3, 2009 the City Council held hearings on the contents of the DEIR. The
City also held a community workshop on February 17th
The DEIR included the
proposed maintenance yard just east of
Proposed Maintenance
Facility in the DEIR
A recent City Council
meeting on July
14, 2009 considered a “split” maintenance facility alternative
cooperatively developed by the City and Expo.
The “split alternative” site failed to win community support and was
opposed by the long-term lessee, Lionstone, who threatened legal proceedings
that would delay the project. Thus, the
spilt alternative did not mitigate community concerns, generated additional
opposition and may result in additional impacts. In addition, Metro Real Estate staff
determined that the full cost of the “split alternative” was prohibitive since
it includes at least a $30 million lease-hold investment as well as the value
of current site improvements and a potential substantial sub-lessee investment. Given these factors, Expo informed staff that
this split alternative was not a preferred option that they could recommend.
Discussion
As further directed by Council
at the July 14 meeting, staff redoubled its efforts to review sites using more
liberal criteria that did not preclude multiple ownerships. Metro and Expo, in determining the
appropriateness of a site, used the following criteria: safety factors;
operational considerations such as access to the right-of-way; functional site
considerations; proximity to any aerial grade separations; proximity to the
terminus; proximity to sensitive uses such as parks and schools; and
willingness of sellers/relocation costs.
All of these factors were taken into consideration when screening
potential sites. It should be noted that
Verizon is a willing seller. The City’s evaluation process included
information about ownership, size of site existing uses, description of
existing improvements, zoning and description of surrounding neighborhoods. The analysis confirmed that there were no
other sites within the Phase 1 or Phase 2 areas that met the criteria,
particularly with respect to safety, size and operational consideration. Attached please find a report by The Maxima
Group (Attachment B) on the sites considered.
Several community members have raised
questions regarding why Bergamot was not considered as an appropriate site for
the maintenance facility, particularly given that transit money was used to
purchase it. According to Expo, the
irregular shape and cost to make it functional, which would require utilizing
the adjacent
Proposed New “Hybrid Alternative” Currently
Being Developed
Given the result of the first and second
survey to identify another possible site within the Phase 2 area, the approach
has been to explore whether it is possible to develop a new hybrid alternative
that would still move or buffer most of the facility away from the residential
neighborhood frontage. Attachment A is a
conceptual diagram of a possible layout of the new hybrid site.
·
The car
wash, storage tracks, train washing facility, traction power station are
located behind a 120 foot linear buffer. This alignment assumes the removal of the
bikepath from the right-of-way. Once the maintenance facility location is
determined, there will be a process to identify the Expo bike path alignment
options.
·
Office space
and shop areas would be located in a fully enclosed structure in the area currently
occupied by SMC parking. The City has requested a buffer area in this location
as well.
·
The 120
foot linear buffer facing most of the residential neighborhood could be used
for housing and neighborhood serving uses.
·
City
Yard/Joint Use of Parking Structure: Expo requires 96 parking spaces and
replacement parking is required for a portion of the City Yard. City staff is
initiating a City yards master planning process that will incorporate
consideration for the proposed shared parking structure if it is decided to
proceed with this new hybrid alternative
In an effort to retain a sizable
residential buffer, City staff and SMC have agreed to use the SMC parking lot
as part of this new hybrid. SMC and its Board of Trustees are willing to
relocate their parking facility on the condition that SMC will be made whole or
better with a replacement site that will be acceptable to SMC. Also, Expo has initiated outreach with the adjacent
residential community and has committed to a series of meetings and a community
design charrette to explore ways to mitigate noise, vibration and air quality
concerns as well as solicit input regarding the aesthetic interface with the
surrounding neighborhood. The City has been in discussion with Lionstone and
they are amenable to work with the City to establish an easement to accommodate
the bikepath. The exact alignment and how the bike path will connect with the
station and the network would be determined through a community process.
Budget/Financial
Impact
Following further study of this alternative, cost issues will be refined
and brought back for Council consideration.
Prepared by:
Kathryn Vernez,
Assistant to the City Manager, Community and Government Relations
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Approved: |
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Forwarded to Council: |
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Kathryn Vernez Assistant
to the City Manager for Community and Government Relations |
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City Manager |
Attachment A: Conceptual Plan:
Hybrid Verizon-SMC-City Yards Alternative for Expo Maintenance Yard
Facility
Attachment B: The Maxima Group report on sites considered