3.0 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING Section 15125 of the State CEQA Guidelines requires that an EIR include a description of the existing environment. This chapter provides a general overview of the environmental setting for the Project, however, detailed information on existing conditions is provided for each environmental topic studied in Chapter 4.0, Environmental Impact Analysis. This chapter also provides an overview of related projects that are considered as part of the future conditions in evaluating cumulative impacts. A. OVERVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING 1. On‐Site Conditions The Project Site is located within the mid‐City area, on the Miracle Mile corridor along Wilshire Boulevard. Specifically, the Project Site is within the LACMA Campus on an approximately 2.2‐acre site at 6067 Wilshire Boulevard at the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The majority of the Project Site is currently developed with the approximately 265,900‐square‐foot, five‐level May Company Building. The remainder of the Project Site includes a loading dock, service driveways, and a gravel area north of the May Company Building, and pedestrian walkways that provide access from the Pritzker Garage and LACMA. Vehicular access to the LACMA Campus and Project Site is provided via Wilshire Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue, and Sixth Street. Sixth Street provides access to the underground Pritzker Garage that serves LACMA. Access to LACMA’s Spaulding Lot is provided on Spaulding Avenue south of the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Spaulding Avenue. Regional access is provided by the Santa Monica freeway (I‐10) and Hollywood freeway (US 101). Public transit service is provided along Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Pedestrian and bicycle access to the Project Site is provided from Wilshire Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue, and Sixth Street. The building is currently used by LACMA for art storage and is also temporarily housing some Academy staff during renovation of the Academy’s existing Beverly Hills headquarters. 2. Surrounding Uses The Project Site is located at the western edge of the LACMA Campus. LACMA serves as the anchor and western edge of Museum Row, a stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue. Museum Row includes five museums: LACMA, Page Museum, the Petersen Automotive Museum, the A+D Architecture and Design Museum, and the Craft and Folk Art Museum. The LACMA Campus is comprised of LACMA West and LACMA East, generally west and east of the vacated Ogden Drive. LACMA West encompasses approximately 8 acres and includes the May Company Building, Broad Contemporary Art Museum, and the Resnick Exhibition Pavilion. LACMA East is located within the approximately 23‐acre Hancock Park, along with the Page Museum/La Brea Tar Pits, on land owned by the County. LACMA East includes five buildings: the Ahmanson, Hammer, Art of the Americas, Bing Center, and the Pavilion for Japanese Art. Surrounding off‐site land uses include the 160‐acre Park La Brea residential neighborhood to the north across Sixth Street; a mix of museums, galleries, cultural institutions, and commercial business along Wilshire Boulevard to the south including the Petersen Automotive Museum and A+D Architecture and Design Museum; commercial uses to the west across Fairfax Avenue; and commercial uses to the east across Curson Avenue. The future Metro Westside Subway Extension (anticipated to be operational in 2023) will be located beneath the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue and the Wilshire/Fairfax Station entrance will be located on the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Orange Grove Avenue. City of Los Angeles Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Project SCH #2013051086 3‐1 3.0 General Description of Environmental Setting August 2014 Specifically, the Project Site is bordered on the north by the Resnick North Lawn, which contains the “Levitated Mass” outdoor installation; on the northeast by the Resnick Exhibition Pavilion; and on the east by the Broad Contemporary Art Museum and stairs to the Pritzker Garage. 3. Existing Conditions For more detailed descriptions of existing conditions that are specific to each of the environmental issues analyzed in this Draft EIR, see Chapter 4, Sections 4.A through 4.J. B. RELATED PROJECTS CEQA requires that EIRs analyze cumulative impacts. As defined in the State CEQA Guidelines Section 15355, a cumulative impact consists of an impact which is created as a result of the combination of the project evaluated in the EIR together with other projects causing related impacts. State CEQA Guidelines Section 15130(a) states that an EIR must discuss cumulative impacts of a project when the project's incremental effect is cumulatively considerable, as defined in Section 15065(a)(3). Where a lead agency is examining a project with an incremental effect that is not “cumulatively considerable,” a lead agency need not consider that effect significant, but must briefly describe its basis for concluding that the incremental effect is not cumulatively considerable (Section 15130(a)). However, an EIR should not discuss impacts which do not result in part from the project evaluated in the EIR. Furthermore, when the combined cumulative impact associated with the project's incremental effect and the effects of other projects is not significant, the EIR must briefly indicate why the cumulative impact is not significant and is not discussed in further detail in the EIR. A lead agency must identify facts and analysis supporting the lead agency’s conclusion that the cumulative impact is less than significant. In addition, State CEQA Guidelines Section 15130(b) indicates that the analysis of cumulative impacts shall reflect the severity of the impacts and the likelihood of occurrence, but the discussion need not provide as great of detail as provided for the effects attributable to the project alone. Instead, the discussion should be guided by the standards of practicality and reasonableness, and should focus on the cumulative impact to which the identified other projects contribute rather than the attributes of the other projects which do not contribute to the cumulative impact. A project has “cumulatively considerable” or significant cumulative impacts, when its incremental effects “are considerable when viewed in connection with the effects of past projects, the effects of other current projects, and the effects of probable future projects.” For an adequate discussion of significant cumulative impacts, the State CEQA Guidelines (Section 15130(b)(1)(A) and (B)) allow an EIR to determine cumulative impacts and reasonably foreseeable growth based on either of the following methods: . A list of past, present, and probable future projects producing related or cumulative impacts; or . A summary of projections contained in an adopted general plan or related planning document, or in a prior environmental planning document which has been adopted or certified, which described or evaluated regional or area‐wide conditions contributing to the cumulative impact. City of Los Angeles Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Project SCH #2013051086 3‐2 August 2014 3.0 General Description of Environmental Setting For the purposes of the cumulative impacts analysis for the Project, the City has opted to use the list approach for evaluating cumulative effects. Based on information provided by the cities of Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood, the City developed a list of past, present and probable future projects. The list of identified related projects is provided in Table 3‐1, Related Projects List, with the locations of each of the related projects listed in Figure 3‐1, Related Projects Map. Although the projects listed in Table 3‐1 serve as the primary bases for evaluation of cumulative impacts, the approach to these analyses vary for certain environmental issues. The cumulative analyses for each environmental issue are provided in their applicable sections in Chapter 4.0, Environmental Impact Analysis, of this Draft EIR. In addition to the above list of related projects, the Metro Westside Subway Extension is planned beneath Wilshire Boulevard south of the Project Site, and the station entrance will be located on the south side of Wilshire Boulevard between Orange Grove Avenue and Ogden Drive (see Figure 2‐2, Aerial Photograph of Project Site and Vicinity, of this Draft EIR). Service to this future station is anticipated to begin in 2023. Accordingly, the Metro Westside Subway Extension project is also considered in the analysis for certain topics where there is potential for cumulative impacts in association with the Project. City of Los Angeles Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Project SCH #2013051086 3‐3 August 2014 3.0 General Description of Environmental Setting Table 3‐1 Related Projects List* Map No. Project Address City Land Use Size 1 Wilshire Skyline 6411 W Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles Apartments 130 du Retail 32,000 sf (Remove Restaurant) (9,600 sf) 2 Desmond's Tower 5500 W Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles Multi‐Family Residential 175 dua 2005‐CEN‐2081 3 LA Holocaust Museum 7600 W Beverly Blvd Los Angeles Museum 8,375 sf 4 La Brea Mixed Use 101 S La Brea Ave Los Angeles Condominiums 118 du Retail 26,400 sf Restaurant 3,000 sf 5 Third Street Mixed Use 5863 W 3rd St Los Angeles Apartments 60 du Retail 5,250 sf 6 Office and Restaurant 725 S Curson Ave Los Angeles Office 28,800 sf Restaurant 800 sf 7 Existing Office – 5900 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles Office Expansion 7,000 sf Add Restaurants and High‐Turnover Rest. 3,500 sf Expand Office Lobby Restaurant 15,613 sf 8 Condominiums 300 S Wetherly Dr Los Angeles Condominiums 140 du 9 Mixed Use 915 La Brea Ave Los Angeles Apartments 219 du Market 35,000 sf Office 14,530 sf Studio 42,136 sf 10 Pico Community Center 9001 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles Private School 425 students Retail 9,000 sf Apartments 31 du 11 Cedars‐Sinai Medical 8723 W Alden Dr Los Angeles Hospital Medical Building 100 beds Center ‐ West Tower with New Parking Facility City of Los Angeles Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Project SCH #2013051086 3‐4 August 2014 3.0 General Description of Environmental Setting Table 3‐1 (Continued) Related Projects List* Map No.