PREFERENTIAL PARKING TO BE UPDATED 

SM Dispatch
SM Daily Press

At the Planning Commission’s October 1st, developers and consultants came out in force to demand an increase of height and density on Wilshire Blvd. and Montana Ave. in both the new Zoning Ordinance Update (ZOU) and the LUCE (Land Use Circulation Element – the General Plan for the city’s development). These documents, if finalized, will outline permissible heights and density for decades.

Please note four areas of focus.

• October 1, 2014 City Staff recommends a LUCE Amendment to eliminate the 14th St. and Centinela Activity Centers on Wilshire Blvd. but developers, architects, attorneys and others who are involved in large construction projects strongly disagree with this recommendation and will continue to fight it. (See City Staff Report agenda item 9-A -#4)
• 14th St. Activity Center would run from Euclid to 16th St.  Its footprint would be bigger that Santa Monica Place.

• What is an “Activity” Center?  It’s called an “activity” center because it would be active 17 hours/day. The LUCE proposed multiple “activity” centers, but the two on Wilshire are the highest and densest.
• 14th ST ACTIVITY CENTER could be a 70 ft. tall, mixed-use project, have a HOTEL and VAST UNDERGROUND PARKING LOT. Entrances to the parking lot would be on residential streets, like the entrance to Whole Foods on 23rd St/Wilshire.  We believe all aspects of this "activity center" would create more traffic, and push traffic and parking problems deeper into our residential neighborhood. 
  

• 60 foot high buildings all along Wilshire that are 2.6 times taller than most 2-story Wilmont residences
• Huge mixed-use projects on north and south sides of Wilshire, would create “Wall Wilshire.” These projects would push out resident-serving, local businesses, increase traffic, and push parking problems deeper into our neighborhood.
• Finally, although the Staff recommended removing Tier 3 from Wilshire Blvd. “thereby preserving the scale, character, and quality of life in these neighborhoods,” developers and their consultants continue to fight this recommendation. Some Planning Commissioners and City Council members agree with the developers.

• Montana Ave is a protected zone called Neighborhood Commercial in the LUCE.
• The LUCE, adopted in 2010, specified no significant changes to Montana Ave.
• The developers’ request for height changes would allow housing above the shops and restaurants on Montana Ave. This allowance would be the tipping point, increasing height and density along all of Montana, an area with very little public transportation and almost no parking. (At its nearest point, Montana Ave is a mile from the nearest Expo Station.)

• 50-60+ foot high, multi-use buildings would cover the whole 2 acres, including the surface parking lot.

• 2-acre underground parking lot (among the largest in city) would have entrances on 18^th and 19^th streets, not on Wilshire.

• This property currently has a “mixed” zoning designation. The front along Wilshire is zoned Mixed Use. The back, now a surface parking lot, is zoned Low Density Housing. This makes sense because Wilmont homes and apartments are low density and low rise (23 feet high). But City Staff wants to amend the LUCE and change the whole property to high density, 50-60-foot Mixed Use.

  • That would mean hundreds of new residents would exit and enter the underground parking lot every day.

  • We believe that changing the zoning of 1801 Wilshire would increase traffic and parking problems on 16th,17th, 18th 19th and 20th, streets, as well as California and Idaho.

ACTION ITEM REQUEST TO WILMONT RESIDENTS:

Please email the City Planning Commission and City Council.

Email your views on these 4 topics:

1. 14^th St. Activity Center

2. Tier 3 (huge buildings) on Wilshire

3. Height Bonus on Montana

4. 1801 Wilshire Blvd.

Send your email to:

kyle.ferstead@smgov.net(Planning Commission Clerk) and copy: council@smgov.net(City Council Clerk)