Planning Commission Turns Down Large Apartment Complex

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

Feb. 20 -- Worried that it would open the floodgates to development in the City’s light industrial corridor, the Planning Commission Wednesday night unanimously shot down a plan to build a 145-unit apartment complex despite the inclusion of 15 low-income units.

The developer is expected to appeal the 6 to 0 vote to reject amending the zoning laws that would have paved the way the first large-scale apartment community in an area of town with one of lowest residential densities.

The proposed 115,150 square-foot project comprised of 18 buildings -- varying in heights of one to four stories -- along Stewart Street south of Colorado Avenue would replace a mostly single-story, 38,000-square foot structure that is home to nearly 30 small businesses.

Although several commissioners commended the developer’s efforts to create much-needed housing in Santa Monica -- especially the 15 one-bedrooms set aside on-site for low-income families -- the board worried about the impacts of opening the entire Light Manufacturing and Studio District to such projects without further study.

Commissioners Jay Johnson and Arlene Hopkins warned that amending the zoning laws for the whole district could trigger a real estate rush on the area.

“Property will be worth four times what it is now overnight,” said Johnson, adding that while he could not support a “wholesale approach” to re-zoning the district for residential housing, he would be open to “break(ing) the zone down into more manageable pieces.”

Staff, however, said that such an approach might be considered illegal “spot zoning.”

“I’m concerned with the loss of light industrial and small businesses” in the district, said Hopkins, one of several board members who wondered aloud about the fate of the nearly 100 employees who will have to relocate if the plan is approved.

On the site now is a grayish, U-shaped set of small warehouses that are home to a series of businesses ranging from mechanics, carpenters and metal workshops to an interior-support beam business and screen and shade shop.

Several of the business owners shudder at the prospect losing the building.

“I am a building contractor and a specialty contractor,” Gregg Amato, who owns Bay Screens and Shades, wrote in a November letter to the City Planning Division. “I believe in the right to build and develop property. But I am perplexed. There is no place to go.

“Manufacturing, that is the manufacturing zone, is disappearing. That is our current zoning. This development will change the zoning and put us out on the street.”

Commissioner Johnson suggested that the owner and developer of the site -- Colorado Creative Studios LLC -- should “strongly” consider helping to relocate the existing businesses.

But Monica Witt, the attorney representing the developer, responded that it is not their responsibility and that businesses have received sufficient notice on the proposed project.

The City, Witt said, should try to balance the businesses’ right to exist against the greater good of bringing affordable housing to Santa Monica. Furthermore, Witt said, amending the ordinance for more residential housing would not exclude the light manufacturing businesses and live/work studios already in the area.

“Yes, there will be some impacts, but again the overriding theme here is we need to bring in additional housing,” said Witt. “People will live where they work.”

Commissioners had other apprehensions besides the effects of amending the zoning ordinance. Traffic was one issue revisited, sometimes passionately, throughout the nearly four-hour meeting by both commissioners and the eight stakeholders and residents who spoke.

According to the final Environmental Impact Report, circulated for the first time at the meeting, three intersections and two streets will suffer a “significant and unavoidable” impact from increased traffic flow.

The affected intersections cited in the report are at Centinela and Nebraska avenues, Stewart Street and Olympic Boulevard and Yale Street and Colorado Avenue. The affected streets sited in the report are Yale Street and Nebraska Avenue.

“Traffic is already unbearable in the area,” said Michelle Page, a Yale Street resident, as she leaned into the wooden podium for emphasis. “It says in the report that ten intersections will go to “e”, (meaning) poor (conditions). That’s my street! Can you imagine what this will do to our air quality?”

Commissioner Johnson inquired whether cutting the 771 additional daily trips estimated in the report in half would be acceptable to residents. Project alternatives include a reduction of nearly “one-half of the proposal in all respects,” though the buildings would remain between two or four stories. At their maximum height, the buildings would be 45 feet tall.

That reduced option could help satisfy many of the residents who, when they spoke, repeatedly called the project “too large” or “too big.”

The second project alternative was a commercial development. Instead of 29 studios, 109 one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom units spread over about 115,000 feet, the commercial project would span 76,000 square feet and contain production-related studio and office uses.

Witt responded to the traffic concerns by saying the developer is taking many steps to lessen the impact, including plans for 228 parking spaces in a pass-through subterranean garage that only allows a right-hand turn onto Colorado.

In addition, Witt said, no street parking would be disturbed by the new project. Residents, however, said they were leery that 228 spaces would be enough for 145 units, but planning staff said it meets the minimum requirements.

While Commissioner Johnson joked during a pause that it would take less time to walk to the freeway if the project was built, residents recounted a litany of other concerns, such as building heights and temporary air pollution due to painting during constructions.

One last item addressed was the developer’s track record. Witt told the commission that she represents three clients who are partners, one with a background in leasing. She said this is their largest development to date and that they have not developed any property in Santa Monica.

Witt indicated that her clients were fully aware of Santa Monica’s values and expectations. Furthermore, she said, the apartments would be professionally managed according to State law.

In the end, the commission voted down the staff recommendation to approve the text amendment to the zoning ordinance, as well as the two permits needed for the project. They also postponed certifying the Environmental Impact Report.

The decisions are expected to be appealed to the City Council, where Johnson speculated it would have a good chance of being passed.

The commission rejected referring the text amendment to staff to find a way to amend the zoning ordinance for this one project. Hopkins led the decision to turn down the project, with Commissioner Julie Lopez Dad saying she is “not afraid of the City Council.”

Noting that he was not taking a position so he can reserve his vote on the City Council, Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown, the council liaison to the commission, cautioned that the city was running out of areas for housing.

“Downtown has had a good run, but it’s almost done,” said McKeown, referring to a housing boom that has added more than 600 units downtown in the past five years. “Where is (new housing) going to go?”

Although many of the commissioners said they would like to revisit this project after some further study on the impact to the neighborhood, the parting comments by Commissioners Darrell Clarke and Gwynne Pugh seemed to sum up many of the more general thoughts about the project as it now stands.

The proposed project, Clarke said, “doesn’t embody the thinking of where we are going for smart-growth. It lacks an urban pedestrian quality… It is a stand-alone project where everyone is going to get in their cars and go someplace else.”

Pugh’s comments on the development’s overall design were more blunt.