Residents will be asked to make tough land decisions
CITY HALL — The future of Santa Monica became clearer this week when the City Council approved a set of overarching goals that will drive development and the use of open space for the next 25 years.
Still, there were few surprises. In a series of community meetings, surveys and forums held over the past couple of years, roughly 5,000 Santa Monicans reaffirmed their preferences for a city that maintains its current scale and density, with a focus on creating more environmentally-sensitive modes of transportation that limit traffic congestion.
There was also a call for more housing that can cater to an economically-diverse community and link residents to goods and services. The preservation of historic structures, and maintaining the local identity by properly managing regional pressures were also identified.
Apparently, Santa Monicans want it all. The only problems is they can’t have it.
Compromises will have to be made as city staff moves forward with the reshaping of the city, something which has not been done on such a grand scale in 20 years, said Eileen Fogarty, City Hall’s planning director.
“There is a consensus about creating a pattern of development in the city where there is a range of transportation choices, housing choices — workforce housing, transitional housing, special needs housing — a diverse economy with goods and services, a retention of local businesses and opportunities to serve all income levels, and a community that has a mixture of ages, incomes...” Fogarty told the City Council on Tuesday.
“But there must be some understanding that you can fit all of those things in some of the corridors, or some of those things in all of the corridors, but you can’t do it all.”
Now that the wish list identified by community members has been adopted, city staff can move to the next phase of the project, and one of the more difficult, which is to explain to the public specific trade-offs that must be made when enacting new zoning policies.
Residents and business owners will have to decide what type of growth they want, where to concentrate it and how to create it, all while maintaining the distinct, small beach-town ambiance of Santa Monica. Among the choices they will be forced to choose between are more bus lanes or wider sidewalks and bike lanes; more open space or more housing; better job opportunities or less commercial growth; or even something as specific as putting a median in a major street.
“It’s time to get into the nitty gritty.”
“People love mixed use... but what is the issue?” Fogarty posed. “It’s how do we transition. What do we need to do to have enough activity to support it? How much housing do we need to create the right level of activity?”
GOING WITH THE FLOW With development and concerns about traffic flow dominating the recent City Council election, there could be many roadblocks ahead. Already there is disagreement as to what type of growth Santa Monicans want. Some would prefer no growth, others like slow growth.
Then there’s the balanced approach, which is development that serves the community, the economy and the environment. But where does balanced growth fit in with a city that is already suffering from an inadequate supply of workforce housing, forcing thousands to drive in and out of Santa Monica during daily commutes?
Jacob Samuel, a resident of Ocean Park, said his neighborhood is prime real estate for developers looking to create more condominiums and commercial spaces, and he is concerned about what effect this may have on the city’s aging infrastructure.
“It is important that Santa Monica not become a developer’s playground,” said Samuel. “Mixed-use can be a sanitized term for full built-out.”
Fogarty said the definition of balanced growth would ultimately be decided “by the community, the (planning) commission and the council.”
“I’ve worked on a dozen plans... and all of them were successfully implemented and the key ingredient in all of them is the commitment of the community,” Fogarty said, reassuring the council that aggressive outreach will continue as the process moves forward.“When the community is involved and committed, the plans become reality... The debate is not around really basic issues, but more refined and much less contentious. It really is an opportunity for different interest groups to find avenues of agreement.”
The completion date for the plan is Fall of 2008,however,Fogarty said she would like it to be sooner. That all depends on the confidence the community has in the way in which City Hall measures traffic flow and other variables.
The process has already been delayed because of a change in leadership in the planning department and there is a sense that the community and the council would like to move forward without haste.
“We need to take the time to get through the process, but my concern is it is consuming your resources and the community hasn’t been able to move forward until this is completed,” said Councilman Richard Bloom.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 16, 2006. Read the original PDF.