West LA Planning Commision Hearing August 1st.

Wednesday, August 1st, at 4:30 PM
HENRY MEDINA WEST L.A. PARKING ENFORCEMENT FACILITY
11214 W. EXPOSITION BOULEVARD, SECOND FLOOR, ROLL CALL ROOM
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 90064

To submit your comments:

The project's file number: APCW 2006-9483-SPE-CDP-CU-SPP-SPR-MEL. It must be included at the top of any correspondence.

James Williams - james.k.williams@lacity.org or fax 213-978-1029 - West LA Planning Commission
Mike Bonin - mike.bonin@lacity.org - Councilman Rosendahl's chief of staff
Greig Asher - grieg.asher@lacity.org - Councilman Rosendahl's Planning Director
Marina Martos - marina.martos@lacity.org - Councilman Rosendahl's Assistant Planning Director
Mark Antonio Grant - mark.grant@lacity.org - Councilman Rosendahl's Venice Deputy
The Venice Neighborhood Council - board@grvnc.org
The Venice Neighborhood Council Land Use and Planning Committee - lupc@grvnc.org


Back in June, I sent out an email alerting everyone about a new 57-room luxury hotel being proposed for the corner of Abbot Kinney and Brooks (one block away from Main Street). Well, I have more information about the project, and contact information for anyone interested in giving input.

I met privately with the developers on Monday night. What I heard greatly concerned me because essentially they are proposing to put a small piece of the Sunset Strip on Abbot Kinney. Frankly, it appears our neighborhood is going to get absolutely killed on parking and traffic. As currently proposed, the developers are providing 88 parking spaces for a 57 room hotel, 80 seat restaurant, 24 seat screening room, 12 seat conference room, 3 bars, a day spa, two retail spaces (museum and surf shop), and all their employees.

Let's look at those numbers again.

57 room hotel
80 seat restaurant (which can, and probably will, hold much more if you account for the bar areas)
12 seat conference room
24 seat screening room
3 bars,
2 retail spaces (museum and surf shop)
1 day spa
an unknown number of employees.

88 parking spaces

If any one of those facilities - the hotel, the restaurant, the bars - are at capacity, the hotel will simply run out of parking spaces and their valet service will be forced to park cars on residential streets - just like every other valet service on Abbot Kinney. Worse, because these situations won't be considered "special events", but everyday overflow, hotel management will have no obligation to apply for a permit or arrange for additional parking as they would for a wedding or reception.

They are also asking to build a project higher and denser than anything surrounding it - 55' tall ( 20' taller than what's allowed by the Venice Specific Plan) and with a FAR (density) of 2.06:1, which is 37% denser than what's currently allowed.

Then there's the traffic. As I told you before in my previous email, the project is expect to generate 757 additional car trips a day. But I learned something in the mean time. Another hotel is set to break ground across the street. That's right, another hotel. This one, an extended stay hotel that I understand asked for no variances, has already gone through the planning process and is set to break ground next year.

So throw a couple of hundred car trips for that project on top of the 757 for the Ray Hotel, and now you're talking nearly a thousand extra car trips a day generated by these two projects.

Folks, I have no problem adding a hotel to Abbot Kinney, and I find the idea of building a "green" hotel such as the Ray very attractive. But my concern is the developer is using "green technology" to encourage the community and our city planners to look past the negative aspects of this project. This hotel sailed through the neighborhood council last year (with very little input from the community) largely because the developer made numerous promises to utilize " green" technology in the building process. So far, these are just promises. The Ambrose Group won't receive sustainable ratings until after construction is completed. And in the mean time, they're using this rating as a shield. Take parking for instance. The developer claims they can't include more parking because LEEDS - the agency granting the "green" certification - won't let them. The theory being that it would discourage cars and encourage public transportation. Of course this is completely counterintuitive, since all it will do is encourage people to park on the neighboring streets instead.

So, while I think the "green" aspects of this building are extremely attractive, is it worth the tradeoff? Is it "green" to build a project that is out of scale with the neighborhood? Is it "green" to generate more traffic and parking overflow than the neighborhood can handle?

Why can't "green" translate into both sustainability and compatibility for the neighborhood?

When I raised my concerns to the developer, she stated that her one building shouldn't be held responsible for all the traffic and parking problems on Abbot Kinney. But according to sources inside the architect/development community, every developer on the Westside is watching this case to see if it's going to trump the Venice Specific Plan. So the hotel may be green, but its effect is going to be concrete - lots of it.

If this is what we're dealing with, then we have to start asking the hard questions. This project does not exist in a vacuum.

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SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK:
Will the Ray be disqualified from receiving any LEEDS rating if it increases parking, or will it just have accept a lower rating?
What is their capacity in the public areas?
Is the green area in the front to be used as a patio for an outdoor bar & restaurant? Current renderings show this space as a park-like space with a tree out front, but does not indicate how it would be utilized.
What are the restrictions on the liquor license?
What is their security? Will the outdoor areas (roof pool area and bar/restaurant patio) be open for liquor service late into the night?
When asked about the bar in the lobby, the developer focused on it being used during the day for breakfast items. This seemed disengenuous. Ask if they would accept that liquor not be served in the lobby.
Ask if the patio and roof would be closed at 10:00 p.m. due to noise considerations.
Ask if there will be music outside and if so until what time? Will live music be permitted?