City Council to Address Smoking Ban and Saint John's Health Center Parking Controversies

The Santa Monica City Council will meet Tuesday night to discuss such topics as parking at , a proposed resolution for taxicab franchise credits and fees and smoking bans.

Also on the agenda are two of Santa Monica’s bigger civic projects: the Palisades Garden Walk and Town Square, and the .

An amendment concerning a revised parking program for , instead of the previously approved 442-space subterranean parking garage agreed upon in 1998, will be considered by the council. The health center is planning to add hundreds of parking spaces both on- and off-site but has come under much public scrutiny for a long delay in development. 

The City Council will also look to approve a resolution for a prorated credit formula on taxicab franchise fees and also adjust the airport flat rate to a maximum of $35. City staff are recommending to the council that a 33 percent credit fee be applied to vehicle, permit and franchise fees paid in 2011 by the city’s five approved taxicab companies.

Also included in the meeting’s administrative items are two design/build contracts up for authorization that meet or exceed $35 million as well as a recommendation to prepare an ordinance concerning residential secondhand smoke policies.

City staffers have recommended the preparation of an ordinance that would require owners/landlord  to designate and disclose to potential renters and buyers the status of each unit as smoking or non-smoking, as well as prohibit smoking in newly constructed hotels, in a follow-up to a city council meeting last month. The staff report indicates that several other cities such as Burbank, Glendale and South Pasadena already have similar laws in place but it says that staffers in the Santa Monica city attorney's office have received only six formal complaints for the fiscal year under existing city smoking laws.

Another section of the report looks at the impact of these regulations on low-income and affordable housing populations and comes to the conclusion that a smoking ban in individual units would “run counter to the city’s policies.”

The staff report for the recommends W.E. O’Neil Construction Co. be contracted to build the park and town square. The company previously upgraded Santa Monica parking structures 7 and 8.

Similarly, the second contract seeks to employ Morley Builders to for an amount not to exceed $35 million. The auditorium was designated a city landmark in 2001 and will undergo a seismic upgrade and remodeling.

Both contracts, which include preconstruction and construction services, will have a portion of their budgets listed in the Adopted Budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and the remainder for 2011-2012.

Staff reports for both projects indicate that staffers will seek authorization from the council for possible additional funds of $7 million (garden walk) and $11.8 million (auditorium) for third party contract services such as inspection and testing.

Redistricting and Big Blue Bus

Mayor Richard Bloom and Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis have requested that, in light of the current district maps drawn by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, staffers be directed to advocate that Santa Monica be in a congressional district that is more reflective of the Westside Cities Council of Governments of which the city is a part.

As of the first draft, Santa Monica is included with the Palos Verdes region—and other coastal cities south of Santa Monica—in both congressional and state Senate district maps. The inclusion in the proposed districts would mean that Rep. Henry Waxman and state Sen. Fran Pavley would no longer represent Santa Monica.

Council members Pam O’Connor and Terry O’Day have also requested that development of a lifetime and long-term transit pass be looked into as an offering by the Big Blue Bus system. The request calls for staffers to evaluate similar systems in other cities and find a way to integrate the product with other Los Angeles area transit agencies.

City Council meetings take place in the Council of Chambers at City Hall at 5:30 p.m.