Mar Vista Community Council Community Plan Committee INITIAL INPUT DOCUMENT MARCH 12, 2019 Table of Contents Introduction 5 Part A: General Considerations 6 I. Zoning .............................................................................6 Background 6 II. Mobility ..........................................................................15 Traffic 15 Emergency Evacuation 16 III. Infrastructure .................................................................16 Streets, the Urban Canopy and Urban Runoff 16 a. Streets 16 b. Urban Canopy 17 c. Urban Runoff 19 Summary ............................................................................21 Part B: Zone-Specific Input 22 Zone 1 .................................................................................22 Background 22 Goals 23 Zone 2 .................................................................................27 Zone 3 .................................................................................28 Zone 4 .................................................................................29 Housing 29 Transit Considerations 29 reCode LA 31 MVCC - Master Input Document $2 of $61 MAR VISTA - Boyer’s Grove 34 Biona Hills (Boyer’s Grove) 36 A Hidden Jewel 36! ZIMAS Map of Parcels Affected 37 Assessor Parcel Numbers for 11314 - 11325 38! Assessor Parcel Numbers for 11328 - 11335 39! Assessor Parcel Numbers for 11338 - 11345 40! Assessor Parcel Numbers for 11348 - 11361 41! Assessor Parcel Numbers for 11404 - 11421 42! Assessor Parcel Numbers for 11424 - 11435 43! reCode LA - Preserve Westward-Ho Multi-family 44! Biona Hills: The Phantom Tract 46 Boyer’s Grove 46! Biona Hills and the Westward Ho Club of California 47! The Artland Club and the Westward Ho Country Club 47! The Peerless Tract 49! 11406 Victoria Ave (13) 49! 11410 Victoria Ave (14) 50! 11354 Victoria Ave (15) 50! 11350 Victoria Ave (16) 51! 11359 Biona Dr (17) 51! About the author 51 Zone 5 .................................................................................52! Preserve R1 Zones 52 Design elements: Building Height 52 Infrastructure 53 Traffic Safety 54 Restore Venice Blvd 54 Adequate Parking 55 MVCC - Master Input Document $3 of $61 Commercial Zoned Properties 55 Building Mural Art 55 Green Space 56 Multi Unit Zoned Areas 56 Zone 6 .................................................................................57! Preserve R1 Zones 57 Design elements: Building Height 57 Infrastructure 58 Traffic Safety 58 Restore Venice Blvd 59 Adequate Parking 59 Commercial Zoned Properties 60 Building Mural Art 60 Green Space 60 Multi Unit Zoned Areas 60 Appendix A 61! Distant Vistas ......................................................................61 MVCC - Master Input Document $4 of $61 Introduction Welcome to Mar Vista, Department of City Planning!! Though it will entail some time commitment, we, the citizens of Mar Vista, invite you to read the following History of Mar Vista, prepared by Mar Vista Historical Society Docent, S. Ravi Tam. It is in the Appendix or follow this link: Distant Vistas (http:// www.marvistahistoricalsociety.net/pdf/Distant_Vistas.pdf)! You will be glad you did, and you will appreciate what we value every day.! ! MVCC - Master Input Document $5 of $61 Part A: General Considerations I. Zoning ! II. Mobility! III. Infrastructure! I. Zoning! Background 2019 will mark the 92nd anniversary of Mar Vista as part of the city of Los Angeles. It has a colorful history and many facets, but all converge on its ocean views and its combination of the pastoral and the urban.! It began its journey as a family neighborhood as a part of Abbot Kinney’s Ocean Park Resort, and was ceded to his partner George Sanford as Ocean Park Heights in 1904. Grand View Blvd between Venice Blvd and Palms Blvd (Originally Ocean Park Ave) was the first gated community in Los Angeles County. A mammoth wrought iron gate spanning Grand View at Venice with “Ocean Park Heights” provided an impressive introduction to the community.! In 1923, another George, George Sunday, established subdivisions in Ocean Park Heights called Mar Vista and New Mar Vista, and in 1924, the newly formed Chamber of Commerce decided to change the name of Ocean Park Heights to Mar Vista. In 1927 Mar Vista was annexed into the City of Los Angeles.! During WWII, Mar Vista Hill was the site of an army anti-aircraft installation and, because of their proximity to the Douglas Aircraft Company, (in what is now Santa Monica Airport), who produced military aircraft for the US government, many tracts of Mar Vista were zoned to provide housing for Douglas employees, who at its production peak, numbered 44,000. After the war, most of the remaining tracts of Mar Vista were eventually all developed as residential tracts.! MVCC - Master Input Document $6 of $61 The outward character of the Mar Vista community has changed over time, but not its devotion and cherishment of family residential space. Mar Vista community expectations with regard to zoning can be delineated as follows: • There is a profound sense of family and place here. It is where generations are born and live their entire lives. Neighbors, businesses, and streets become an integral part of the fabric of peoples’ memories, and there is much to remember. • In 2003 the Gregory Ain Mar Vista Tract became the first Historic Preservation Overlay Zone containing solely modern-style, post-World War II homes. • The Department of City Planning (DCP) Office of Historic Resources lists 7 Historic Districts in Mar Vista: o The Barrington Multi-Family Residential Historic District o Colonial Corners Commercial Historic District o Venice/Grand View Commercial Historic District o The “Oval” Planning district o The Golden State Water Company o The Sepulveda Rose Apartments o The Westdale Residential Planning District • East of Interstate 405, there is Westside Village, a pre-war development designed specifically by Fritz Burns, to be affordable housing for families. The Districts can be accessed here, in detail: SuveyLA Mar Vista (http://preservation.lacity.org/files/Palms%20Mar%20Vista%20Appendix %20C_Final.pdf) As one can see, there is a healthy mix of commercial, single-family, and multi-family residential, and its common themes are low scale with lots of room for families to grow. As such, the Mar Vista Community expects the following for Mar Vista in the new Community Plan: • Retain the Gregory Ain Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) as is • Retain the 7 Historic Districts mentioned above as is, possibly via the use of MVCC - Master Input Document &7 of &61 %"Alternative Form Districts in ReCode! % Retain ALL OPEN SPACE. This includes, but is not limited to, Mar Vista Park, the 15-acre Los Angeles Department Water & Power (LADWP) Reservoir site (currently being leased by DRP to the North Venice Little League, ALL PARKWAYS, including - but not limited to - those along Venice Blvd., McLaughlin Ave., Grand View Blvd., Centinela Ave., National Blvd., and Barrington Ave.! This aligns with the Public Recreation Plan Section of the Service Systems! Element of the General Plan, which mandates one acre of Neighborhood Park for every 1,000 residents. Per Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE), 2016 estimates, the population of Mar Vista is 53,346. Mar Vista Recreation Center is 19 acres, the DWP site is 15 acres. Even considering all of the parkways, Mar Vista still falls short of this requirement.! We would suggest developing local public school areas for public use on weekends, particularly the large open tract at Daniel Webster Middle School.! RETAIN ALL R1 ZONES: There is a long history in Mar Vista of active e#orts to retain its low-scale, residential nature. Please refer to the following Ordinances:! 159643 (1984/1985): Moratorium to preserve the low residential category Generally on E/S of Mclaughlin Ave. South of Charnock Road to Venice Blvd Preservation of well- established single-family area in Various portions generally between National Blvd. and Venice Blvd. and between Centinela Ave. and Sawtelle Blvd. Zone change from R3-1 to R1-1 (CF-84-0772-S1 and CF84-0772-S2).! 161141 (1986): Change of Height District from No 1 to No 1VL for Commercial parcels on Nation Blvd at the Intersections of National and Barrington, Sawtelle and Sepulveda and on Palms Blvd. at Centinela and Sepulveda.! 164177 (1988): Downzoning of parcels on 339 Subareas in Mar Vista, Palms, and Del Rey as part of the General Plan Zoning Consistency Program: R4 and C changed to R3, R3 changed to R1.! MVCC - Master Input Document $8 of $61 ! Numerous Q restrictions to reduce height to not exceed two stores on residential and to restrict residential on certain C zones.! ! 164475 (1989): Density, height, parking and lighting restrictions on Commercial and residential parcels along Centinela Ave. between National and Venice Blvds.! 183497 (2015): Interim control ordinance to prevent “mansionization” in 15 neighborhoods, including Mar Vista.! 184814 (2017): Anti-“Mansionization” ordinance to supersede ordinance 183497 and changing all R1 zones in Mar Vista (with the exception of Westside Village) from R1 to R1V2 (ReCode).! 184802 (2017): Ordinance to define R1 variation zones in single family Residential lots and Hillside lots. Establishes R1 Variable Mass, R1 Front Mass and R1 Rear Mass Zones (ReCode).! RETAIN ALL R1V2 ZONES AS IS AND, FOR THOSE CURRENTLY R1, TRANSLATE TO EITHER R1V2 OR R1V1.! Refer also, to motions passed by the Mar Vista Community Council regarding neighborhood scale and density:! January, 2014: O&cial Low Density