III. Environmental Setting III
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III. Environmental Setting III. Environmental Setting A. Overview of Environmental Setting This section of the Draft EIR provides an overview of the existing regional and local setting in which the Project Site is located and a brief description of the existing conditions at the Project Site. Detailed environmental setting information is provided in each of the environmental issue analyses found in Section IV (Environmental Impact Analysis) of this Draft EIR. In addition, Section II, Project Description, of this Draft EIR, provides additional information regarding existing conditions at the Project Site. 1. Project Location and Environmental Setting The Project Site is located in the Hollywood Community of the City of Los Angeles, approximately 7 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 12 miles east of the Pacific Ocean. Primary regional access is provided by US-101 (Hollywood Freeway), which runs southeast-northwest approximately 1 mile east of the Project Site. The major arterials providing regional and sub-regional access to the Project Site vicinity include Hollywood Boulevard to the north, Cahuenga Boulevard to the east, Sunset Boulevard to the south, and Highland Avenue to the west. The Project Site is irregularly-shaped and consists of 29 individual parcels across four City blocks. In addition, the Project includes realignment of Las Palmas Avenue between Selma Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The individual parcels are grouped into four Project areas referred to as Development Parcels A, B, C, and D, as shown in Figure II-1 in Section II, Project Description, of this Draft EIR. The majority of the Project Site is bounded by Selma Avenue to the north, the Blessed Sacrament Church and School and associated surface parking to the east, Sunset Boulevard to the south, and Highland Avenue to the west. Development Parcel D is the only development parcel located north of Selma Avenue at Las Palmas Avenue. a. On-Site Conditions The Project Site is currently developed with various uses, including low-density commercial/retail and office uses in the historic Crossroads of the World property; two residential duplexes, totaling four dwelling units at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Selma Avenue and McCadden Place; three two-story, multi-family apartment City of Los Angeles Crossroads Hollywood SCH No. 201510107 May 2017 Page III-1 III. Environmental Setting buildings with a total of 80 dwelling units (one building at the southwestern corner of the intersection of Selma Avenue and Las Palmas Avenue and the other two buildings along Las Palmas Avenue); one- and two-story structures used for commercial/retail and office uses along Highland Avenue, Selma Avenue, McCadden Place, Las Palmas Avenue, and Sunset Boulevard; and surface parking lots associated with these uses. Overall, the existing on-site uses include a total of approximately 172,573 square feet of floor area. Intermittent landscaping is dispersed throughout the Project Site and generally consists of ornamental trees and shrubs. Existing development on Development Parcel A of the Project Site includes one- and two-story commercial/retail uses located at 1540–1552 Highland Avenue and 6750–6760 Selma Avenue, single-story commercial uses at 1543 McCadden Place and 1547–1549 McCadden Place, and surface parking areas. Existing development on Development Parcel B includes a single-story commercial use (Healthy by Nature) at 1542 McCadden Place, two residential duplexes on the south side of Selma Avenue at 6732–6738 Selma Avenue, three two-story multi-family residential buildings at 6700– 6718 Selma Avenue and 1535–1555 Las Palmas Avenue, a small single-story chiropractic office (Jara Chiropractic) at 1507 Las Palmas Avenue, a one- to two-story building consisting of community-serving small retail shops (Javista Organic Coffee Bar and Highland Smoke Shop) at 6701–6709 Sunset Boulevard, and a one- to three-story office building at 6713–6715 Sunset Boulevard. Existing development on Development Parcel C of the Project Site includes the Crossroads of the World Cultural-Historic Monument (Monument #134), which is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources. The approximately 50,000-square-foot Crossroads of the World complex consists of one- and two-story office, retail, and recording studio uses in a variety of architectural styles, such as Moderne and French-, English-, Moorish-, and Spanish- influenced styles. The buildings are connected by a series of landscaped walkways with pedestrian entrances on Sunset Boulevard, Las Palmas Avenue, and Selma Avenue. The complex was designed in 1936 as an international shopping center and was the City’s first outdoor pedestrian village that included a mix of retail and office uses. Over the years, the property has been adaptively reused and is currently used primarily as a creative office complex for entertainment industry companies. Development Parcel C of the Project Site also includes a two-story office/retail building west of Crossroads of the World at 6683–6689 Sunset Boulevard, one- and two-story office buildings at 1510–1512 Las Palmas Avenue, and a surface parking lot between the First Baptist Church and the Crossroads of the World. Existing development on Development Parcel D of the Project Site includes a two-story commercial/retail City of Los Angeles Crossroads Hollywood SCH No. 201510107 May 2017 Page III-2 III. Environmental Setting building at 1608 Las Palmas Avenue and a surface parking lot on the northeastern corner of the intersection of Las Palmas Avenue and Selma Avenue. The Project Site also includes the segment of the Las Palmas Avenue right-of-way located between Development Parcel B and Development Parcel C. Under the Project, Las Palmas Avenue would be realigned south of Selma Avenue and north of Sunset Boulevard. b. Surrounding Uses The surrounding area is urbanized and includes historic and modern low- to high- rise buildings occupied by neighborhood-serving commercial/retail uses, tourist and entertainment-related commercial/retail uses, offices, hotels, educational institutions, and multi-family residences. In the immediate vicinity of Development Parcel A are Hollywood High School to the west across Highland Avenue; a new residential development to the north across Selma Avenue; a multi-family apartment building on the north side of Selma Avenue, where McCadden Place forms a T-intersection with Selma Avenue; two other multi-family apartment buildings on the west side of McCadden Place immediately south of the development parcel; a plant nursery at the northwestern corner of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place; a strip mall at the northeastern corner of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue; and one- and two-story commercial buildings along Highland Avenue between Selma Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. At the northeastern corner of the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place is a multi-story office building with a detached parking structure immediately to the south and west of Development Parcel B. Immediately north of the detached parking structure (on the east side of McCadden) are a one-story building, identified as Café des Artistes at 1534 McCadden Place, and a two-story building, identified as “Stages” at 1540 McCadden Place, both of which are currently vacant. In the immediate vicinity of Development Parcels B and D, and directly adjacent to the north and east of Development Parcel C is the First Baptist Church at the southeastern corner of Selma Avenue and Las Palmas Avenue. The Blessed Sacrament Church and School is directly adjacent to the east of Crossroads of the World complex. A Panavision office and surface parking lots are located along Selma Avenue to the north of Development Parcels B and C. Immediately to the east of Development Parcel D are a new multi-family apartment building and Selma Avenue Elementary School and its co-located Larchmont Charter School facility. South of Development Parcels B and C, on the south side of Sunset Boulevard across from the Project Site are a mix of commercial/retail, restaurant, and entertainment- related uses, including the Hollywood Guest Inn and the Los Angeles Recording School at the southwestern corner and southeastern corner of Las Palmas Avenue and Sunset City of Los Angeles Crossroads Hollywood SCH No. 201510107 May 2017 Page III-3 III. Environmental Setting Boulevard, respectively; and Cherokee Plaza (commercial strip mall at 6660 Sunset Boulevard). The Hollywood & Highland Center and entertainment complex is located within 1,000 feet northwest of the Project Site at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue. The Project area, particularly Hollywood Boulevard, is characterized by considerable pedestrian activity generated by several tourist attractions in this portion of Hollywood Boulevard, including, but not limited to, El Capitan Theatre, Madame Tussauds, Hollywood Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium, Hollywood Museum, and Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Metro Red Line Hollywood/Highland Station, which is part of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) rail system, is located within 1,000 feet of the Project Site at the northwestern corner of the intersection of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. In addition, the Project area is served by 28 transit lines that operate adjacent to or in close proximity of the Project Site, including several Metro Rapid (Lines 704 and 780) and Local bus services (e.g., Lines 2, 217, 302, 312, and 656 along Sunset Boulevard, Highland Avenue, and Hollywood Boulevard), Los Department of Transportation (LADOT) DASH lines (e.g., Hollywood Route), and City of West Hollywood Cityline (a free mini bus service). Many of these bus lines provide a frequency of service intervals of 15 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods. The nearest bus stops to the Project Site are located in front of the Blessed Sacrament Church (westbound transit), across from Crossroads of the World (eastbound transit), and at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, which are located within 600 feet of the Project Site.