Maybe it’s time for a new section in City Hall’s building and zoning code — one that rewards an applicant’s “social activism” when determining a variance or project’s merits.
Last week, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to allow a local church to expand facilities and remove precious parking in the process. Why when shortage of parking is a such major issue in the neighborhood would an applicant be allowed to provide no on-site parking?
The Unitarian Universalist Community Church, at the corner of 18th Street and Arizona Avenue, had requested a Conditional Use Permit to remodel their main sanctuary, a satellite building at 1256-1260 18th St. and add a two-story, 1,818-square-foot addition to another existing church building at 1253 17th St. But a shortage of on-site church parking was the fly in the ointment.
The church currently has no on-site parking because of its long time legal non-conforming use. It requested a variance to eliminate three unused parking spots at 1253 17th St. and set aside 13 parking spaces required by code for the remodel. Never mind that by today’s standards, the on-site parking requirement would be 97 spaces after remodeling.
Parking is a major quality of life issue for neighbors and a critical component of good city planning. An applicant request which increases traffic and street parking needs is clearly not in the best interest of the community, no matter how noble the applicant.
The commission’s discussion centered on membership growth and increased use of church facilities. Barbara Kerncohan, chair of the church building committee, said, “The church does not want to grow nor anticipates adding weekday programs.” However, the church will probably not turn worshippers away or cap church activities. The anticipation of something “not happening” inevitably leads to just the opposite, without any recourse.
Today’s unanticipated situations have a habit of becoming tomorrow’s frightening reality. For example, the Santa Monica Community Church at 1320 Arizona Ave. recently started feeding transients, which has created a noticeable impact on the neighborhood. The church shrugs off neighbors’ complaints with “We’re doing God’s work,” while the city is “Looking into it.”
The Unitarian Universalist Community Church has an informal agreement to share 50 spaces at UCLA-Santa Monica Hospital’s parking lot at 16th Street and Arizona Avenue on Sunday mornings. Although the project’s architect, Ralph Mechur, says the arrangement is “not likely to change,” with the hospital in the middle of a major rebuilding program, that informal agreement could be terminated on short notice.
Chances are increasing sanctuary seating from 200 to 240 as a result of remodeling will attract more Sunday worship-pers, thus outstripping even the current off-site parking availability. Expanded classroom, nursery and meeting room activity weekdays also will generate more traffic and exacerbate demand for parking.
The crux of the issue for the Planning Commission was not good urban planning or neighborhood livability, it was the church’s roll as a community “social activist” supporting the homeless, labor movements, affordable housing and other favorite City Hall social causes.
Vivian Rothstein, a local labor activist, union organizer and former executive director of Ocean Park Community Center — the city’s largest homeless services agency — told the commission the church nurtures social justice and was just one of a dwindling number of organizations in the city that welcomes social activism.
Planning commissioner Julie Lopez Dad summed up the commission’s feel good mood by stating that the commission had declined variances like this in the past. “This one is different from others we’ve seen,” she said. It looks like an applicant’s support for totally unrelated to development “social issues” has become a major factor in commission urban growth and planning decisions.
On top of commission support for what appears to be strictly political reasons, we have the specter of chair Darrel Clark and commissioner Jay Johnson, who were married at the church voting for the CUP and variance when they should have recused themselves. C’mon guys. How could you vote against the church that married you?
Want your project your way, need a variance or want to skirt a planning problem? New rule: Support City Hall’s favorite social issues. With this Planning Commission, chances are you won’t have to wait for heaven to be rewarded. (Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and a freelance writer)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 12, 2004. Read the original PDF.