VILLAGE TRAILER PARK, LLC (VTP) IS taking the first steps to obtain a development agreement at Planning Commission, Wednesday night. The developer wants to turn the Village Trailer Park at 2930 Colorado Ave. into a mixed-use project with sizable residential, studio and retail components.
The proposal consists of an 109-unit rent-controlled, affordable, single room occupancy (SRO) apartment building, 240 market-rate condominiums, 40,030 square feet of creative studio/office space and 8,030 square feet of “neighborhood-serving” retail floor area on the 3.85 acre site.
The property is zoned R-MH (Residential-Mobile Home) so the developer is requesting a change of zoning to LMSD (Light Manufacturing and Studio District) to allow mixed-use development and a broad range of development options. Three buildings are proposed -— one with an extra (fourth) floor and a 50-foot height for another structure which exceeds the current code height of 45 feet.
The developer also proposes an extended stay for mobile home park residents facing eviction and priority to current residents for 52 of the SRO units. Discounts and priority on condominium purchases for park residents, Santa Monica employees and teachers are also promised.
Nevertheless, the size of this project is frightening and the timing couldn’t be worse. Developers are rushing to get their projects underway now because more restrictive codes are expected once the 1984 General Plan update is approved. The VTP proposal exceeds size, density and permitted land uses under the current code and is inconsistent with the 1984 General Plan. Moreover, It would probably not be approved under the more restrictive housing, land-use and circulation elements of the pending Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) revisions to the General Plan. It’s why the developer is seeking this development agreement, now.
Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC), a citywide residents land use advocacy group, agrees with me in a letter recently sent to Planning Commission, City Council and planning staff that says the VTP redevelopment is inconsistent with the goals and principles articulated during the LUCE process.
“Those principles include protection of existing housing stock, not replacing it by high-density projects that do not meet existing housing needs, worsen the work/housing imbalance and creates additional traffic in a highly congested area,” SMCLC says. “This project is at odds with those goals and destroys the very housing residents have endeavored to retain.”
This is one more example of a development rushing into the pipeline before a revised LUCE/citywide General Plan is implemented. Last month, City Council refused to approve a citywide moratorium on new projects. As a result, a growing list of pending developments like this will add to the hodge-podge of piecemeal growth (if approved) before an all-encompassing and consistent vision for the city’s future is implemented.
Unfortunately, our city government continues to ignore the majority of the people who want restrictions on development and growth. Perhaps, the recourse is to place a charter amendment on the 2008 ballot that would require all development agreements to be approved by the public -— or not vote for pro-development council persons and candidates running for office next year.
A few weeks ago, the Santa Monica/Malibu Unified School District Board of Education quietly approved a moratorium on “nondisclosure agreements” opening the door for a transfer of the $530,000 increase in the City’s annual facilities payment to the schools. Everybody is breathing a sigh of relief but there are still serious problems remaining including a lack of transparency and the ongoing fiscal misadventures by district administration and the board — such as the one involving "unbudgeted” teacher pay raises that started the latest fiscal crisis, last fall.
Santa Monica for Renters’ Rights insider, Ralph Mechur, an architect and education supporter whose been active in school fundraising, has been appointed by the board to replace board member, Emily Bloomfield who’s moving out of town, mid-term.
It seems the district is still up to it’s old tricks. Forgoing a special election and after a virtually “secret” public meeting where replacement candidates were interviewed (SMDP, Aug. 9, page 9, “Board of Education adds one"), the board gave Mechur their blessings.
I hope Mechur doesn’t have the same “head-in-the-sand” attitude about district management that his SMRR cronies on the school board do. Unfortunately, his involvement promoting more and bigger parcel taxes and city subsidies for schools over the years tells me he’s not going to be guarding the purses strings very closely.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 13, 2007. Read the original PDF.