Category Archives: Developers Agreement

Community Meeting Saint John’s Health Center

Community Meeting for Proposed Saint John’s Health Center
Development Agreement Amendment
1328 22nd Street, Santa Monica

 

When:     Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 7:00 PM
Where:    Santa Monica Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard,
Multi-Purpose Room, 2nd Floor

You are invited to attend a community meeting to learn more about and provide feedback on the pending Saint John’s Health Center Development Agreement Amendment.

Saint John’s Health Center proposes to amend its approved Development Agreement with the City of Santa Monica for the Saint John’s Hospital and Health Center Project.  In lieu of constructing an on-site parking structure and the Entry Plaza as proposed by the original project approved in 1998, the Amendment would authorize a modified Entry Plaza and parking program to meet the peak parking demand of SJHC’s various user groups, and ensure that parking that is functionally equivalent to the previously-approved North Subterranean Parking Garage is provided.  The proposed Amendment would allow for the coordinated planning and design of two adjacent Phase II sites approved for health care facilities and subterranean parking.

The parking program and modified Entry Plaza would consist of the following key components:

  • Provide approx. 1,540 parking spaces on Saint John’s property and at leased, off-site facilities.
  • Provide a full-service parking valet at the hospital’s main entrance on Santa Monica Boulevard for visitors, patients, and physicians.
  • Provide a modified Entry Plaza at the hospital’s main entrance on Santa Monica Boulevard (signalized u-shaped drive with new landscape/hardscape design).
  • Implement a new Transportation Demand Management Program to reduce vehicle trips to the facility.

Community comments from this meeting will be provided to the Planning Commission and City Council in advance of their review of the pending Development Agreement Amendment.  For more information, please contact Roxanne Tanemori, AICP, Senior Planner, at (310) 458-8341, or by e-mail at roxanne.tanemori@smgov.net. RSVP appreciated to (310) 458-8341.

 

The meeting facility is wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodations, please contact (310) 458-8341 or (310) 458-8696 TTY at least 72 hours in advance. Every attempt will made to provide the requested accommodation. The Main Library is served by the following Big Blue Bus Lines: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10.

ESPANOL
Esto es una noticia de una reunión de la comunidad para revisar el diseño de la applicaciónes proponiendo desarrollo en Santa Monica.  Si deseas más información, favor de llamar a Carmen Gutierrez en la División de Planificación al número (310) 458-8341.

 

 

Bergamot Transit Village,
Michigan Avenue Bicycle Blvd-
at Council Meeting Tuesday 3/22

Plans for the proposed Begamot Transit Village will be presented to council this Tuesday night along with a vote on whether to move forward with the request for grant funding for the Michigan Avenue Bicycle Boulevard.  We would like to invite the bicycle community to come out and hear about, and give input on these two important projects that will impact our city.

Agenda City Council Meeting

Item 3-F
Transportation Planning Grant Program related to Michigan Avenue Bike Boulevard
STAFF REPORT
More info here

Item 8-B
Bergamot Transit Village – Proposed development agreement for a mixed used project at 1681 26th Street by Hines (former Papermate site)
STAFF REPORT
More info from the city here

When Tuesday, March 22, 2010

Where Santa Monica City Hall,  1685 Main Street, 2nd floor

Time 6:30pm

 

City Meetings – Bike Parking and SuperBlock development project

City Council scheduled to move forward on Bicycle Parking Facilities

At tonights meeting , City Council is due to move forward on the plan for the Grant-Funded Bicycle Parking Facilities in Parking Structures 7 & 8 at just under $1.4 million dollars.
See tonights agenda here.  Staff report here.
Here is an excerpt of the staff report concerning this project:

Background

The City’s Downtown Urban Design Plan adopted in 1997 emphasizes balancing the streets to accommodate mixed modes of traffic, making streets bicycle-friendly, and providing bicycle parking throughout downtown with activated storefronts to enliven the pedestrian experience.  The City’s Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) adopted this year identifies an increase in bicycling as necessary for the City to reach its goals of reducing auto trips, meeting its greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments, and promoting active living.  Facilities listed in the LUCE to support increased bicycling include secure bike parking and bicycle-transit centers with additional amenities such as showers and repair services.

Is this really the beginning of what we’ve been asking for?  It’s certainly a start.  I have to wonder what happened to the initially proposed plan that included Parking Structure #2. That would ultimately seem to have been better because it afforded facilities at both ends of the of the Promenade.  We can add that to our wish list.

Tomorrow night, Major Santa Monica Development,
SuperBlock at the old PaperMate Site

Wednesday night, City officials will hold a public meeting at Virginia Avenue Park at 7pm to discuss the Bergamot Transit Village Center Project. Officials are set to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the mixed-use village comprised of creative arts, residential and retail uses on the site of the old PaperMate Plant .  The Development Agreement from a special meeting of the Cities Planning Commission back in January can be found here in section 5-A.

See the article in the todays LookOut News, which describes in more detail the sheer magnitude of this project and how it will likely impact this already congested area.

I paraphrase what Allison Kendall, of Kendall Planning + Design recently had this to say about this the proposed project.

This PaperMate site is enormous, and nearly as critical to bicycle and pedestrian access to the Expo station as the Agensys site.  …..Currently, the fact that the current development doesn’t include a sidewalk on Olympic and forces a strange geometry on the 26th and Olympic intersection means lots of high speed car traffic and danger for both pedestrians and cyclists, especially those coming South down 26th to Bergamot station , ….

Inserting 1 million square feet of mixed use development onto an area which already has some of the worst congestion in the city will call for some amazingly effective disincentives to driving and amenities for other modes.  A full scale BikeStation and bike sharing/rental facility, plus showers, widened and improved bike lanes in all directions, major subdivisions of the “superblock” and onsite eating and retail might be among the amenities.

There is also an obvious need to provide frequent future transit service along 26th and probably Stewart as well to serve the Expo station and the transit village.  Amenities for transit riders and provision of free monthly Metro or BBB passes to all employees and residents provided by employers or building owners should be a requirement—this was very effective in Santa Clara County with the “EcoPass”.

It’s also been noted that it’s not just the sheer volume of parking but the fact that parking costs are “bundled” into housing unit costs rather than paid for as an amenity by car owners.  This drives up the cost of the units for all tenants regardless of whether they have a car or not and does nothing to promote the car free lifestyle the city has stated they want to support.

Come out to hear first hand what the city has planned with this SuperBlock project and how they propose handling the congestion it will surely bring to the surrounding area.  Will the city make good on all the talk about committing to active living and bicycle infrastructure?

Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Virginia Avenue Park.

City council will vote on Agensys tonight

This evening Agensys will come before City Council for the first of two major votes needed to finalize the Development Agreement of the parcel at 1800 Stewart Street.

It will go up without objection from Santa Monica Spoke as it did when it went before the Planning Commission two weeks ago.  Contrary to being described as a “dissenting group” we have never wanted to see Agensys leave Santa Monica.  This new campus which consolidates several current locations should not only provide the city with much needed revenue, additional jobs and substantial community benefits not afforded by the current lease holder.  We are confident at this juncture that both the city and Agensys have been involved in “good faith” negotiating to solve this less than perfect development that has fallen short of the objectives set forth in the LUCE and Sustainability Goals set by the City of Santa Monica.  Other than the lack of bicycle access through the project it appears to be on target and provide many benefits to the community.

For those of you who have been following this contentious issue, the cycling community and Santa Monica Spoke have been more than a little upset by the apparent lack of commitment by both the city to enforce the LUCE document and Agensys to implement the bike infrastructure that is so badly needed through this large parcel development.  For a more detailed background on the Agensys Development, read this article.

As we see it several key events have contributed TO the situation we now find ourselves in:

  • Agensys is working on a nearly impossible deadline to get this project approved, taking over the lease from the current lease holder Lionstone.
  • Partially due to this deadline it was not made clear by the city to Agensys the need for bicycle infrastructure in the form of a bike path through their development until late in the process making it difficult to impossible to implement (according to them).  For this we are sympathetic, but distressed and not completely convinced.
  • Additionally this project and the implementation of the LUCE overlapped in the political process.

We feel the important issue here is the bike access that serves the community in ways we have described previously and as is called for in the LUCE.  At this late date we can actuate that access in several possible ways now that it appears we will not get the MUCH-NEEDED bike path through the Agensys Development.  The city, Agensys and Santa Monica Spoke committee members have been negotiating possible resolutions in an effort to provide viable solutions for bike access around the 1800 Stewart Street parcel.

Among these is the proposed compensation by Agensys that we support of an additional $20,000 specifically for bikes as well as dedicating most of the $70,000 already promised for transit improvements at the Expo station to emphasize bicycle infrastructure.  It is being considered that the bidding should start at $20,000 to compensate for the loss of this crucial east / west bicycle path connection through 1800 Stewart Street that would provide so much for the community over the next 50 years that Agensys will hold this lease when approved.  $20,000 is a mere fraction of the value a bike path would provide, this would however be considered a very meaningful precedent for the other ten or so Development Agreements pending in this part of town.  Agensys would be paying into a “pool” fund for bicycle infrastructure around Bergamot Station (the Transit Infrastructure Contribution) while at the same time be making a contribution to active transportation concerns raised specifically by their project.

Accelerating the building of the Michigan Slow Street on the neighboring city yard property would be a top preference since it would provide a second, back door access to the Expo rail station for the Pico Neighborhood and Sunset Park residents.  In addition it would connect Michigan to Stewart thus opening the much needed and essential east / west connection while promoting the safe route to schools access to SaMoHi, SMC, etc.

This incident demonstrates the considerable oversight required to meet the goals set forth by the LUCE. Ultimately it demonstrates the pressing need FOR a City Bicycle Advisory Committee or Bicycle Czar that is intricately involved in the projects at the outset so as to determine in sufficient time that which would impact the development of bicycle infrastructure through accommodations.  It is imperative, regardless of form, that representatives of the cycling community are included.

Bicycles are an integral asset of our “New” Santa Monica and the failure of this project to institute essential bike infrastructure is a signal to the council, staff, developers and ancillary consultants, lawyers etc that active tranpostation must be included as an integral component to any new Development Agreements in the City if Santa Monica .

Cynthia Rose

Action Alert: Making a Push At Wednesday Night Planning Commission Meeting

View Agensys Bike Access Issues in a larger map. Based on Barbara  Fillet’s diagrams I also plotted out the area onto a google map to help illustrate why connectivity matters here, and how problematic existing alternative routes are going around the block to connect from Stewart, which is already classified a bike route

Planning Commission Meeting
Wednesday, September 1st, 7PM
Santa Monica City Council Chambers, SM Civic Center on Main Street

Things are moving fast and time is ticking on the bike access through proposed Agensys redevelopment of city land issue. The planning commission meeting this week is one of our last chances to voice community support for bike access through the property.

Read complete article on Gary Rides Bikes blog here