C I V I C C E N T E R S PE C I F I C P L A N

A D O P T E D J U N E 28, 2005

UPDATED WITH AMENDMENTS THROUGH May 22, 2018 C I T Y O F S A N T A M O N I C A

ADOPTED JUNE 28, 2005; LAST AMENDED May 22, 2018

ADOPTED JUNE 28, 2005; LAST AMENDED May 22, 2018

Amendments to the Civic Center Specific Plan

May 13, 2008: Amendments to the CCSP for the Civic Center Residential Village

June 14, 2011: Removing the Main Circle

June 14, 2011: Modifying Certain Aspects of the Early Childhood Center

May 14, 2013: Eliminate the Second Street Extension and to Replace this Policy with the Colorado Project to Second Street Alignment

June 9, 2015: Increase Maximum Height and Square Footage of the Early Childhood Education Center

January 24, 2017: Change location of the City Services Building within the Civic Core Special Use District to the rear of City Hall; increase size to maximum 55,000 square feet.

July 25, 2017: Remove references to the Colorado Special Use District in order to incorporate the geographic area into the Downtown Community Plan.

May 22, 2018: Amendments to rename “Civic Auditorium Park” as “Civic Auditorium Park and Multipurpose Sports Field” and make minor revisions to design standards and a parking policy to accommodate the Multipurpose Sports Field.

ADOPTED JUNE 28, 2005; LAST AMENDED May 22, 2018

ADOPTED JUNE 28, 2005; LAST AMENDED May 22, 2018

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Fourth Street ...... 52 Contents D E V E L O P M E N T S T A N D A R D S ...... 46 General Development Policies ...... 47 The Auditorium Special Use District ...... 48

T A B L E OF C O N T E N T S ...... i Civic Auditorium and Expansion ...... 48 I N T R O D U C T I O N ...... 1 Illustrative Plan ...... 49 The Site ...... 1 The Civic Core Special Use District ...... 55 Background ...... 2 City Hall ...... 55 The Planning Process ...... 3 City Services Building ...... 57 T H E V I S I O N ...... 6 Los Angeles County Courthouse ...... 58 The Civic Center in the Future ...... 8 Public Safety Facility ...... 59 O P EN S P A C E...... 19 Civic Center Parking Structure ...... 59 General Open Space Policies ...... 21 Park-Oriented Restaurant and Buildings...... 68 The Design of Civic Center Open Spaces ...... 15 Palisades Garden Walk (Tongva Park) Special Use District The Elements of the Civic Center Open Space System ...... 17 Ocean Lodge Hotel ...... 61 Parks and Recreation ...... 17 The Village Special Use District ...... 61 Greens and Courtyards ...... 29 Allowable Uses ...... 62 Promenades and Pathways ...... 31 Setbacks ...... 63 C I R C U L A T I O N ...... 28 Building Heights and Step Backs ...... 66 General Circulation Policies ...... 38 On-Site Open Space ...... 675 Vehicular Circulation ...... 38 Ground-Level Treatment ...... 68 Parking ...... 40 Parking ...... 68 Transit...... 41 Building Treatment and Materials ...... 68 Circulation ...... 35 Other Sites ...... 69 Street Design Standards ...... 37 S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y ...... 73 The Main/Second Street Corridor ...... 38 General Sustainability Policies ...... 73 Olympic Drive and Promenade ...... 48 Transportation and Development Patterns ...... 73 Civic Center Drive ...... 49 Open Space and Streetscape Design...... 74 Fujinomiya Douri ...... 50 “Green” Building Design and Energy Conservation ...... 75 Vicente Terrace...... 50 Water and Wastewater Facilities...... 76 Ocean Avenue ...... 51 Water ...... 77 Pico ...... 524 Sewer ...... 77 S A N T A M O N I C A C I V I C C E N T E R S P E C I F I C P L A i N Storm Drainage ...... 77 Conservation ...... 78 Solid Waste Disposal ...... 79 Energy ...... 79 Public Services ...... 86 I M P L E M E N T A T I O N ...... 81 Regulatory Program ...... 81 Implementation Responsibilities ...... 82 Financing Program...... 82 Phasing Program ...... 84 CONSISTENCY WITH THE GENERAL PLAN ...... 915 Land Use and Circulation Elements ...... 85 Land Uses ...... 85 Development Standards ...... 86 Other Land Use Issues ...... 86 Circulation ...... 87 Housing Element ...... 88 Conservation Element ...... 89 Open Space Element ...... 89 Scenic Corridors...... 89 Safety Element ...... 96 Noise Element ...... 96 A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S ...... 91

S A N T A M O N I C A C I V I C C E N T E R S P E C I F I C P L A i N Aerial overview of the site and surrounding context. i i ADOPTED JUNE 28, 2005; LAST AMENDED JULY 25, 2017

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Site

Within the study area, there are a number of significant and Santa Monica’s Civic Center Specific Plan encompasses a unique uses. It is the principal location of city and county number of areas that provide critical opportunities for governmental functions, including City Hall, the City’s new redevelopment and rejuvenation. The Specific Plan area is Public Safety Facility, and the County Courthouse. The Santa bounded by Pico Boulevard on the south, Fourth Street on the Monica Civic Auditorium, which has hosted many citywide and east, Ocean Avenue on the west and the north side of the I-10 regional civic and cultural events, is also located here. Freeway serving as the northern boundary.. The Specific Furthermore, the area has long been the location for the RAND Plan area is unique in that it engages several major activity Corporation, an institution with a uniquely distinguished history centers – the Civic Center, the Beach, Palisades Park, Santa and one of the largest employers in the City. Other private land Monica High School, Ocean Park and the Main Street uses within the area include the recently completed office commercial area. The area offers enormous potential for building at 1733 Ocean Avenue; and two hotels including the redevelopment and open space improvements that can reknit Viceroy Hotel and Ocean Lodge. the city fabric, realize strong linkages between key districts

and neighborhoods and create a “seam” where there once was a Santa Monica City Hall and the Civic Auditorium are the most barrier. distinctive buildings within the specific plan area, reflecting

the architectural merit of the periods in which they were built. The area is of significant size - as large as Santa Monica’s City Hall reflects a 1930s moderne style. The Civic Auditorium downtown core with the majority of the land in public is a 1950’s streamlined moderne period piece. ownership. The extent of surface parking and the lack of east/west and north/ south gives the area the Although the site has been significantly modified over time and appearance of an isolated service district which separates and appears relatively flat, there is a twelve-foot difference in grade divides the city. The only north/ south connector through the from Fourth Street on the east to Ocean Avenue on the west. site – Main Street – is awkwardly discontinuous and excessively wide. The street changes direction at the Civic Auditorium, while on the north it abruptly terminates just past the District boundary at the Santa Monica Place parking structure. Due to the lack of circulation through the site, the perimeter streets are overburdened and intersections are congested.

S A N T A M O N I C A C I V I C C E N T E R S P E C I F I C P L A 1 N

Today, the primary physiographic features that distinguish the site are the banks of the Santa Monica Freeway that recall the historic landscape and topography of the coastal bluffs and arroyos, characteristic of the Los Angeles region before most of the natural drainages were channelized.

Background

The purpose of this document is to establish the planning policies, and land use and development regulations related to the Civic Center Specific Plan area. This document builds upon, and supersedes, the 1993 Civic Center Specific Plan, as amended in 2000. The previous Plan established policies for public and private development. At that time, approximately half of the land within the Civic Center area was publicly owned; the remainder was predominantly owned by a single private property owner the RAND Corporation. The Plan established the land use and development regulations for the RAND property as well as for the publicly owned land. Another privately owned parcel - 1733 Ocean Avenue – was the subject of a previously established Development Agreement.

Since the 1993 Plan was adopted, several public facility improvements set forth in the Plan have been initiated, including a new City Public Safety Facility, a major public parking structure, and the extension of Olympic Drive from Fourth to Main Street. During this period, the 1733 Ocean Avenue private office building was also constructed. In 2000, the RAND

Numerous public workshops provided valuable input to the process.

2 ADOPTED JUNE 28, 2005; LAST AMENDED JULY 25, 2017

Corporation sold 11.3 acres of its property to the Santa Monica Redevelopment Agency and focused its development efforts exclusively on constructing a new headquarters facility Key Planning Issues on the remainder of its site. Later that year, the City approved a development agreement and amended the Specific Plan to • The appropriate balance between open space permit the development of a new RAND headquarters on a and housing

3.7-acre site opposite the Civic Auditorium. This allowed • The intensity, mix and type of housing to be RAND to remain in their existing facilities pending the pursued completion of the new facility. With completion of the new RAND headquarters, RAND has now been cleared and • The nature and quality of the open space areas turned over the remaining property and will turn it over to the Santa Monica Redevelopment Agency. • The character and quality of parkland and the balance between informal recreation and structured play The Planning Process • The future of the Civic Auditorium With the significant changes in conditions and the need for more precise plans for the Agency’s newly acquired property, • The integration of cultural and community the City Council decided that the Civic Center Specific Plan amenities needed to be fully reconsidered and updated. The City Council initiated the planning process by appointing a • The location, program and Working Group to guide the efforts in preparing a new configuration of an early childhood Specific Plan. education center

• The distribution and location of parking During the eighteen-month planning process, which commenced in the spring of 2001, the Working Group held eight public • Improvements to the meetings including two weekend community workshops. pedestrian and bicycle circulation system Ultimately, the conclusions and results of the planning process were presented at two public meetings held by the City Council, • Accommodation of future light rail which gave direction for the preparation of a draft Specific Plan to service into the project area be the subject of environmental review and further public comment.

S A N T A M O N I C A C I V I C C E N T E R S P E C I F I C P L A 3 N The Village Housing Project Once the design for the Palisades Garden Walk, the Auditorium, and the Civic Core special use districts have been defined, the Civic The Civic Center Specific Plan sets forth a vision for the Village Center Specific Plan will likely be amended again to address these Special Use District as a mixed-use, urban neighborhood. The refined designs. introduction of housing into the Village District is an important objective of the Specific Plan in addressing citywide housing Update for the 2017-2018 Amendments needs and in transforming the Civic Center from a single-purpose district into a vibrant district with daytime and nighttime