City Council to Discuss Arizona Avenue Site Redevelopment

Members of the will have an opportunity to hear public opinions regarding planned developments at the recently acquired city property on Arizona Avenue Tuesday evening, completing the second part of the city’s two-phase community decision process.

City officials hosted in late March, assessing the public’s interests and needs in preparation for council proceedings on the best possible uses for the site, which spans the breadth of a city block between Fourth and Fifth streets south of Arizona Avenue.

Community members described a number of visions for the site during the preliminary meetings. Among them were interests in large cultural gathering spaces; open-air markets; family-oriented restaurants; nightlife and youth-oriented establishments; affordable retail spaces; and outdoor cafe and dining options.

Underground parking and considerations for pedestrian and vehicular traffic to, from and throughout the site were also widely endorsed during the community hearings, staff reports said, highlighting the importance of the 127,000-square-foot site in long-term plans for the redevelopment of downtown Santa Monica.

Tuesday night the council will evaluate community input and provide feedback to staffers for alternative uses, along with guidelines for further analysis of site potential and community benefit.

The council will also rule Tuesday on the redevelopment of Parking Structure 6 on Second Street. A pending appeal of last month’s Planning Commission decision on the new structure proposal was evaluated at the April 26 meeting and public hearing. City staffers have requested that the council approve a Statement of Official Action reversing the Planning Commission’s denial of a conditional use permit for the redevelopment site. In so doing, the council would authorize the demolition of the existing structure and the construction of a new 748-space facility.

Council members will also deliberate and vote on resolutions regarding the treatment of water in Santa Monica. City staffers have requested that the council appropriate $5 million from the Charnock fund to the operating budget’s water fund for the treatment and disposal of brine water for this fiscal year.

Santa Monica’s brine water, a byproduct of the water purification process that takes place at the , has previously been treated in the Los Angeles sewer system.

But the ahead-of-schedule completion of a Santa Monica connecting pipeline will allow the city to process its own brine water in the municipal sewers and the Hyperion Treatment Plant, allowing for a $2.8 million savings over the next five years.

The council will also discuss and vote on a Comprehensive Urban Forest Maintenance Plan authorizing the city manager to arrange a contract with West Coast Arborists Inc. that would extend a decade-long agreement for the maintenance of the city’s trees.

The contract, not expected to cost more than $6 million over a five-year period, will cover any and all pruning, replacement and inventory keeping of Santa Monica’s nearly 34,000 trees on public property.

The council will adopt ordinances regarding cooperation agreements for the and regarding the city’s living wage laws as they pertain to same-sex spouses and domestic partnerships.

Administrative ordinances will be introduced and debated, including one governing and one eliminating emeritus positions on various community commissions.