City Council to Review Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance

Santa Monica city officials will be met with another decision regarding the implementation of overarching land use and traffic planning goals at Tuesday’s meeting.

City staffers have recommended an emergency interim ordinance for Council’s approval which, if adopted, would extend the currently in effect until October 2012, allowing city staff to maintain building and planning regulations consistent with the vision outlined in the city’s .

The proposed changes will ensure that the LUCE’s goals are met by existing and pipeline projects; an extension to the Interim Ordinance would mandate a development agreement process for such projects.

Requiring such a process would provide city officials and staff and members of the public sufficient opportunity to review and rebut plans based on their adherence to the city’s land use and circulation benchmarks.

The amended ordinance would require development agreements proceedings for all Tier 2 and Tier 3 projects, or those projects that are not designed entirely for community benefits. Staff reports suggested that the extended review would help guarantee that the LUCE’s goals can be put to work throughout Santa Monica neighborhoods as well as at individual development sites.

The Council will be asked to decide between a number of options regarding a handful of development applications currently pending review. The projects include both administrative and discretionary projects totaling some 700,000 square feet throughout Santa Monica, 500,000 of which is in the Downtown area.

Council members will also hear discussion tonight regarding an amendment to Zoning Ordinances for the redevelopment of Downtown Parking Structure 6. City staff has recommended that the Council approve small changes to the design requirements for the structure’s ground-floor height and retail space allotments.

The Council will also visit the issue during discussions of Administrative Item 8-A, in which Council members will be asked to review and provide feedback on a schematic drawing of the planned developments to Structure 6. The Council members will be expected to approve the design direction and authorize staff to proceed with design development.

The council is also expected to adopt a handful of ordinance amendments, especially those pertaining to the use and parking of oversize vehicles and trailers in Santa Monica, and pertaining to smoking spaces on the and in multi-unit housing complexes.

Council members will also review and vote on budget items for the program, including a $760,000 contract for mechanical maintenance on buses and a $1.5 million contract for security services.

The Council will visit a budget item on the consent calendar for the replacement of Santa Monica City water mainlines, a project expected to cost over $2.5 million in construction and management expenses.

Another consent calendar item would, if passed, authorize City Manager Rod Gould to negotiate a five-year contract for the operation and maintenance of the landfill gas extraction system at city yards, expected to cost just over $870,000.

The City is also expected to renew its contract with Oracle Financial Systems, a $700,000 four-year agreement for the continued maintenance and service of city software.