Western Avenue Corridor

Palos Verdes Drive N WESTERN AVENUE CORRIDOR VISION PLAN 75% DRAFT The preparation of this report has been financed in part through grant[s] from the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of the U.S. Department of Transportation. W Summerland Ave May 22, 2013 This is a project for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes with funding provided by the Southern California Association of Governments’ (SCAG) Compass Blueprint Program. Compass Blueprint assists Southern Californiaa cities and other organizations in evaluating planning options and stimulating development consistent with the region’s goals. Compass Blueprint tools support visioning efforts, infill analyses, economic and policy analyses, and marketing and communication programs. The preparation of this report has been financed in part through grant(s) from the Federal Highway Administration (FHW A) and the Federal Transit Administration (FT A) through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in accordance with the provisions under the Metropolitan Planning Program as set forth in Section 104(f) of Title 23 of the U.S. Code. The contents of this report reflect the views of the author who is responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of SCAG, DOT or the State of California. This report does not constitute a standard, specification or regulation. SCAG shall not be responsible for the City’s future use or adaptation of the report. Looking north on Western Avenue at W Park Western Drive Table of Contents 0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 PROCESS 1.1 Goals 1.2 Public Outreach 1.3 Vision Committee 2 ANALYSIS 2.1 What is the Corridor? 2.2 Economics and Demographics 2.3 Public Realm and Streetscape 2.4 Mobility (Bicycle and Transit) 2.5 Branding and Signage 2.6 Precedents of Great Streets 3 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 Summary of Recommendations 3.2 Northern Segment 3.3 Middle Segment 3.4 Southern Segment 3.5 Mobility (Bicycle) 3.6 Mobility (Transit) 4 IMPLEMENTATION 5.1 Next Steps 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ‘WESTERN PLAZA’ ‘THE TERRACES SHOPPING CENTER’ US Post Office Tabacco Sport Medicine 31 DESTINATIONS be considered acceptable today. Further, the study corridor lacks special Liquor Starlight Cinema Pizza Place Cleanners Tae Kwan Do Executive Summary Bakery Medi spa Carls Jr. L Star Chinese H&R Block Nails Saloon places – plazas, parks, and other hubs of community life. These are Food Market Pet Grooming Bully Fitness Japanese Eatery In 2012, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes embarked on a community-led Papa Johns Massages Fed Ex Massage Ros & Nails GNC Baskin Robins Marshalls Nancy Nails Dodson Chinese Food Dentistry Trader Joe’s Day Spa essential for a successful, if not great, boulevard. Chiropractor K Williams Realty Cleanners Middle Auto Body Shop IHop effort to improve Western Avenue for residents, businesses, and visitors Farmers Westview Escrow Muscle Market School Oil Change Medicine Center America’s Tire Co. Loan Office Remax Others Cleaners Centinela Pet Dentistry Americas Kobe Grill ‘PALOS VERDES PLAZA’ Steak House Physicians Auto Parts alike. This document summarizes and illustrates the shared vision, ideas, Best Value Inn Health Food Village Subs Rus Drapery Vac Sew & Carpet El Pollo Loco The message heard resoundingly from stakeholders and the community Fish & Chips Chevron Maui Chicken Good Night Hair Cut Domino’s Pizza Mattres Green Hills Denny’s Green Hills and process that underlie the year-long planning effort. Memorial Park Jack in the Box Asaka Grill 14 Florist was to improve storefronts, quality of the public realm, and perception of Destinations Eastview Marie Callender’s Destinations13 Townhouse 16 4 Destinations Self Storage Destinations the corridor. It was felt that the corridor also needed to create diversity Eastview Park The significance of this effort, for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and Destinations7 13 Peck Destinations Smart & Final Park Alberstons Mc Donalds 24 Strip Mall 11-12 in its retail, access, and mobility options. If the needs of locals were Stix 17 Destinations Vendors/Retail US Bank Destinations the adjoining communities, cannot be overstated. It will shape Western Shell Destinations5 Carrows Restaurant Wells Fargo AT&T Del Taco Bank Starbucks Fantastic Sams addressed by providing amenities and improving the Avenue’s image, Christ Lutheran School Defense Support Lomita Little Blinds & Drapes Avenue for the next generation and its recommendations will impact Tarragona Plaza Point San Pedro (DFSP) League ‘PARK PLAZA’ Office Taxco Opus Bank Coco’s Bakery Restaurant Milestone Mortage Shell Gasoline Animal Hospital Chiropractor surely visitors and business activity would follow thereafter. Ross Office Farmers Mary the quality of life of residents and visitors, the potential of property CVS US Bank Star ‘HARBOR COVE’ 0 DESTINATIONS Office Depot of the Atomic Boxing Ralphs Tanning Sea HS Petco Del Taco Circus Donuts Taper holdings, the provision of additional amenities and infrastructure, and the Radio Shack Beauty Supply Acupunture Elementary The core recommendation of this vision is to update the nature of Henry’s Farmers Market Jacaranda Gourmet Framing Gallery School Subway Hussey Insurance 1hr. Photo of the Avenue. Chase Dentistry overall image Countrywide Harbor Health SP Science development along the corridor and reverse the relationship Global Gifts Harbor Lights Escrow Center School Tuesday Morning School of Music and Art Jewelry Store that buildings and surface parking have with the The study area constitutes a small segment of Western Avenue, one of 80 DESTINATIONS street. New developments should be built along the property line the longest streets in Southern California. At 27.5 miles, it could well the frontier it represented, and Western Avenue today finds itself creating a strong street wall. Surface parking should not be located host the Los Angeles Marathon with room to spare. It is also the only occupying the heart rather than the periphery of the metropolitan region. adjacent to the sidewalk and should not serve as the arrival experience corridor in the region that connects the mountains (at Griffith Park) to It has become the pre-eminent north-south boulevard of of the corridor. With buildings located at the property edge on the the sea (at White’s Point). In its long journey to the bluffs of San Pedro, the region, and the only one that matches the iconic significance of the sidewalk, active, visitor-serving uses should be located at ground level. Western Avenue traverses some of the most iconic neighborhoods and region’s celebrated east-west boulevards – Sunset, Hollywood, Wilshire, With regards to each of the three segments of the corridor, the following communities in the region, successively adopting their identities, and Venice, Pico and Olympic. recommendations apply: serving as a lasting symbol of Southern California’s diversity and vitality. The cities that host Western Avenue include Los Angeles, Westmont, Western Avenue is the primary corridor of the South Southern Segment (Summerland to Caddington) Gardena, Torrance, Lomita, and Rancho Palos Verdes, as well as the Bay, Peninsula, and San Pedro communities. This study unincorporated communities of Westmont and West Athens. focuses on a two-mile stretch from Palos Verdes Drive North on the • This is the commercial heart of the study area, and its north to Peck Park at Summerland Avenue on the south. This segment experience and image needs updating to sustain its success. Western Avenue has an anachronistic name. Early in the twentieth of Western Avenue has historically provided services, amenities, century it did indeed serve as the western boundary of the city of Los • Reverse the relationship that buildings and surface parking connectivity, and residential opportunities to the region. Angeles. The city and the region have, since, decisively blown through have with the street. New developments should be built along The study corridor, for most of its length, constitutes the municipal the property line creating a strong street wall. Parking should Rolling Hills Estates boundary between the cities of Rancho Palos Verdes (on the west) and be located at the rear of the parcel and/or consolidated in Los Angeles (on the east). It provides a diversity of uses with commercial strategically located structures. City of Rancho Palos Verdes being concentrated on the south, a mix of commercial and residential • Active, visitor-serving uses should be located at the ground level. uses between Toscanini and John Montgomery Drives, and institutional City of Lomita uses located at the north end. Western Avenue is by no means • Sidewalks widths should be 15-feet at a minimum with WESTERN AVENUE homogenous. It provides a multitude of amenities to a multitude of users. streetscape (vegetation, furniture, lighting, and pedestrian SUMMERLAND AVE amenities) that promote a vibrant street life. PALOS VERDES DR The corridor is, however, dated. Its patterns of development City of Los Angeles are representative of a time and approach long past. The commercial • Opportunities ot create outdoors spaces and special places cluster on the south end of the study area is auto oriented; with a notably should be a priority on all new redevelopments. poor pedestrian experience. The residential uses in the middle and north • The Terraces parcel is a key redevelopment opportunity and, if 2.3 miles/45-min walk segment turn their backs to the street and do not contribute to the programmed and designed sensitively, can serve as the catalyst street’s vitality. Neither commercial nor residential developments would 6 WESTERN AVENUE VISION PLAN - 75% DRAFT for positive transformation up and down the corridor. storage infrastructure of the Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) repeatedly and decisively preferred precedents that exhibited these characteristics. The reality is that undoing a generation of development Middle Segment (Caddington to John Montgomery) San Pedro.

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