1 OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE CULVER CITY
MOBILITY, TRAFFIC, AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE October 25, 2022
CULVER CITY MOBILITY, 3:00 p.m.
TRAFFIC, AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA
Call to Order & Roll Call
Council Member Fisch called the special meeting of the
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee to order at 3:01 p.m. in the Dan Patacchia Meeting Room at City Hall
Present: Alex Fisch, Council Member
Göran Eriksson, Council Member
Staff Present: Yanni Demetri, Public Works Director
Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic
Engineering Manager
Erika Ramirez, Current Planning Manager
Gabriela Silva, Associate Planner
Rolando Cruz, Chief Transportation Officer
Diana Chang, Transportation and Mobility
Planning Manager
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst
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Pledge of Allegiance
Alex Fisch led the Pledge of Allegiance.
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Items from Members/Staff
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
2 None.
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Public Comment for Items NOT On the Agenda
Council Member Fisch invited public comment.
The following member of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Karim Sahli thanked staff for making hybrid meetings of the Committee possible.
Council Member Fisch echoed comments in appreciation to staff for doing the work to enable hybrid meetings.
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Receive and File Correspondence
MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ERIKSSON, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER
FISCH AND UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED, THAT THE MOBILTY, TRAFFIC, AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE RECEIVE AND FILE CORRESPONDENCE.
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Consent Calendar Items
Item C-1
Approval of Minutes for the Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee Special Meeting of August 9, 2022
Council Member Fisch invited public comment.
Michael Racine was called to speak but was not present online.
MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ERIKSSON, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER
FISCH AND UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED, THAT THE MOBILITY, TRAFFIC,
AND PARKING SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVE MINUTES FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING OF AUGUST 9, 2022.
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Order of the Agenda
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
3 No changes were made.
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Action Items
Item A-1
(1) Discussion Regarding Parking Maximums and Developer Feedback and (2) Direction to Staff
Erika Ramirez, Current Planning Manager, introduced the Parking Minimums Development Stakeholder discussion.
Staff provided a presentation on parking maximums; discussed efforts to update parking requirements; objectives; parking maximums; approaches to implementation; providing
flexibility; the intent of the discussion; determining
appropriate rates; implementation; potential issues; options for achieving the goals of parking maximums; current minimums in Culver City; and example scenarios.
Council Member Fisch invited public comment.
The following members of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Jim Suhr asserted that there could not be a single rate; discussed the need for a nuanced, location-based decision; project scale; available amenities; providing the least amount of parking that would still work; support for
eliminating parking minimums; evolution of use over time; mode splits; operational evolution; localized maximums; distance of the site from parking and transportation; and he felt that imposing parking maximums was dangerous.
David Voncannon, Chamber of Commerce, echoed comments from the previous speaker; reported communication with developers indicating concern with the potential implementation of parking maximums that are not location specific; concern that insufficient parking would cause a project to fail and not provide a return on the investment; and he noted the
importance of taking neighborhood specifics and variations into consideration.
Kevin Lachoff provided background on himself; echoed comments Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
4 made by Jim Suhr; discussed unleasable buildings; and the need to provide a desirable level of parking.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding getting a sense of where parking maximums should apply; what to derive the rates from; useful studies to generate information from; the actions of neighboring cities; concern with making the City less appealing for developers; the complicated issue; parts of the City where large-scale commercial development is not desirable; neighborhood
impacts; the General Plan; zoning; incentives; and
determining values to guide parking maximums.
Jim Suhr discussed Ivy Station; parking mandated by Metro and by the Culver City Municipal Code; market demand; the
inability of municipal codes to keep up with the evolution of different uses; support for the elimination of parking
minimums to allow the ultimate flexibility; and support for working with staff to address anticipated tenant demand base.
Additional discussion ensued between staff and Committee Members regarding potential impacts of parking maximums of different types of new development and approaches to
implementation.
David Voncannon expressed concern that the proposed changes could be a very powerful tool used to kill development or to control project size.
Kevin Lachoff expressed concern with the cumulative impact of the changes on multiple projects.
Tim Jacobsen questioned whether a study of utilization of existing parking in the City had been conducted; discussed anecdotal evidence of empty lots; and he noted the difficulty of telling what is Culver City and what is Los Angeles.
David Metzler discussed privately owned parking and
segregated parking for residents and businesses.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding unbundling parking assets; use of parking in the Brick and Machine project; the impacts of parking maximums on decisions to develop new projects in the City; and alternative strategies for reducing parking demand.
Mary Daval wanted to see incentives for providing less
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
5 parking; asserted that the future is changing and the City needs to change with it; discussed the need for housing; parking that has already been approved; concern with Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT) and greenhouse gases; the Living
Communities Initiative (LCI); and the importance of being open to all possibilities while looking toward the future.
David Voncannon acknowledged the changing world but felt that while transportation is changing, cars would not go away; discussed driverless cars; length of time for changes to happen; planning for now and for the future; making parking garages adaptable to other uses in the future; ensuring that projects are profitable or they will not be built at all; and he urged caution in moving forward.
Jim Suhr discussed the unpredictability of the speed of change in the transportation world; options available to tenants to get to and from wherever they are going; the speed of
municipal code modifications; building in maximum
flexibility; oversight of the application process; and
distinguishing between well-thought through and not well thought through proposals.
Kevin Lachoff discussed providing flexibility for the
development community to react to changing trends; autonomous vehicles; and keeping up with and adapting to the dynamic situation.
David Coles provided background on himself; expressed support for the elimination of parking maximums; noted comments about the government getting things wrong; concern with letting the free market sort things out; discussed the Ivy Station
development; the role of government to limit parking at a transit station; building parking that can be adapted to other uses; reduced parking demand in the future; young people who are comfortable not owning a car; multi-modal transportation; and paying attention to trends.
Tim Jacobsen discussed maximizing use of existing parking; adaptive reuse; and building in nuance to address different types of parking spots and their impacts.
David Metzler felt that government would probably get it wrong; discussed formulas used; electric cars; and the need for a vision to incentivize reducing parking spaces.
Stephen Jones indicated being a Planning Commissioner but Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
6 speaking as an individual, discussed reasons for having the discussion; he asserted that every parking space continues to generate new VMT; he did not want to see any parking built except as necessary to get housing, or commercial built; discussed parking businesses that make development more feasible; communication with developers; decreased parking with the elimination of parking minimums; the suggestion from Donald Shoup to take parking minimums and make them maximums and then collect data; smart growth; parking control; and he recommended setting maximums where minimums were and
requiring substantial evidence to justify building additional parking.
Kimberly Fontaine was called to speak but was not present.
Ryan Smith discussed the perception that there is already a parking maximum by proxy; practices of the current Planning Commission to request parking lower than required by the code with no justification for doing so; the importance of
landlords being responsible de velopers; developer
responsiveness to the marketplace; clarification that parking is a necessity and developers do not make money on parking; market demand; and concern with putting the City at a
significant disadvantage as compared to neighboring cities.
Karim Sahli expressed frustration that in-person attendees were given more opportunity to speak than those who were attending online; he felt it important to use the same process as is used in Council Chambers for the Subcommittee meetings; discussed the heavy presence of Hackman Capital; the failure of cars in society; climate change; traffic congestion; safety; cars as the number one killer in Culver City; ensuring the ability to move around freely in the City; tackling parking maximum issues; he echoed comments from Stephen Jones in support of making parking minimums into parking maximums and reducing parking around the Metro Station; concern that Apple or Hackman Capital can get out of any kind of
restrictions; the myth of the autonomous car; he noted that bicycles take less space and less energy; he pointed out that half of transport in the United States is under 5 miles and can be safely accomplished with a bicycle; he reported that he did not own a car and works at home; discussed changing society and changing habits; society as forcing people to use cars; Bike Culver City; and enacting parking maximums to avoid multi-national companies from perpetuating the obsession with cars.
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
7 Bubba Fish discussed other cities that have taken steps to enact maximums; parking surplus that creates blight; Sofi Stadium and Dodger Stadium; responsibilities from climate and safety perspectives; the role of government in regulating the situation; Ivy Station; underutilized parking; neighborhoods dominated by car traffic; support for following the writings of Donald Shoup and switching parking minimums into parking maximums; the importance of creating a maximum for every type of land use; a study from when London made changes in 2004; deregulated markets; the high social cost of driving; concern with trusting developers to put in the right amount of
parking; money funneled into the election to elect people who will continue to put in car-centered infrastructure; lobbying against MOVE Culver City; big developers with unlimited parking; and concerns with the effect of parking on health and the environment.
Michael Racine, Hackman Capital, expressed appreciation for everyone’s comments; pointed out that parking was not a profit center for developers; he asserted that developers only build as much parking as is necessary to meet the market; discussed the lack of a correlation between less parking and less cars; increased parking in the neighborhoods; businesses finding more friendly places to work; and concern with making Culver City less vibrant and viable.
Cary Anderson was called to speak but was not present.
Matt Smith was called to speak but was not present.
Elisa Pasteur echoed previous comments; discussed good
examples of transit oriented development in Los Angeles; understanding parking rates; utilization studies; different requirements for different land uses; project location; feasibility; finding the right balance moving forward;
forward-thinking individuals; lenders; building -in
flexibility; allowing for a transition period; and
acknowledging that things don’t change overnight.
Trevor Abramson indicated being an architect for many Culver City projects; discussed the past practice of building
parking structures that allowed for people to visit area businesses cheaply; he did not support enacting a maximum; he expressed support for a transitionary period; felt that Culver City was getting ahead of itself; discussed the shuttle service that was discussed when The Platform was built; reasons to control maximum parking; addressing traffic issues Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
8 in other ways; creation of a well-established transit system; the undeveloped mass transit system in Los Angeles;
restricting parking in certain housing areas to create
affordable housing; short-sighted knee-jerk reactions; and he proposed analyzing the effects of eliminating parking
minimums before enacting parking maximums.
Eric Shabsis expressed appreciation for the follow-through of City Council to include stakeholders in the conversation; noted that solutions to the complex issue were not possible in one meeting; discussed different interests involved; the need for continued conversation to understand what the policy should be; important issues to think about; the pace of change; residential developer concerns about limits on
parking that may change the viability of a mixed income project; land use typology, location, and distance from transit; differences amongst neighborhoods; concern with a “one size fits all approach” and the need for a flexible approach.
Gabrielle Hackman discussed influential companies coming into the City; concern with putting the City at a disadvantage in the market; health and safety of residents; alternative transportation methods for everyone; and concern with
diminishing the vibrancy of the City.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the inadequate public transportation system;
concern with putting the cart before the horse; leaving people with no alternative; the light rail system; capacity; lack of solutions for the last mile; parking needed at transit; previous parking reductions made to meet changing needs; the new Apple development; the need for a regional transportation system serving most major corridors with 15-minute headways; the role of government; by-right flexibility; looking at a non-discretionary maximum; other issues to deal with; finding a pathway to action; examining utilization of parking
structures; combined usages; creation of parking districts; working with the private sector; direction to staff to bring back a summary report with suggested paths forward; and the upcoming City Council and subcommittee reorganization.
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Item A-2
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
9 Receive a Status Update and Discuss Active and Upcoming Mobility Projects
Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic Engineering Manager, provided a summary of the material of record.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding expiration of Temporary Use Permits (TUPs); the parklet; MOVE Culver City; City Council direction to keep Melville closed; the Washington portion; money invested by restaurants; support for businesses; bringing an item before the City Council to extend the TUP; the need for the
restaurants to make a request; and input into the final design from those in the vicinity who are impacted.
Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic Engineering Manager, discussed projects funded by grants received for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP).
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding safety concerns with yellow blinking lights;
installation at intersections; concern with a false sense of security with mid-block locations; driver expectations; reduced instances of collisions after installing in-roadway warning lights in West Hollywood; the Jackson Gate; Complete Streets; the inability to pursue grants; bringing several engineers in on a temporary basis to help; private development applications; plan review; and unsuccessful recruitment efforts.
Rolando Cruz, Chief Transportation Officer, provided an update on Transportation Strategic Initiatives; discussed shifting the mobility paradigm; MOVE Culver City; expansion of the Downtown Circulator; bus stop improvements;
Transportation Demand Management (TDM); the grant for the Comprehensive Service Analysis; vehicle electrification; evaluation of sites to charge vehicles; public charging; leveraging technology to improve the customer experience; ongoing projects; new priorities; financial sustainability; increased costs due to inflation; risks; subsidies; the need to increase service hours; staffing; the K-12 Go Pass; fare capping; and the need for Capital Funds to complete projects.
Council Member Fisch invited public input.
The following members of the public addressed the
Subcommittee:
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
10 Stephen Jones was called to speak but was not present.
Karim Sahli expressed support for comments made by staff regarding the need for a paradigm shift and the vision shared for transportation in the City and he felt that all
presentations should begin with a reminder of the vision; he asserted that Culver CityBus was one of the finest and safest in the nation; discussed comments made about the bus system; the need to move forward as a car-free society; Complete Streets guidelines; transparent transportation guidelines in Amsterdam; the importance of updating guidelines as new options are implemented; the successful opening of the
Jackson Gate; and pursuit of grants.
Additional discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the goal to hire more people so that all grants can be pursued; the previous grant writer; lack of an active Bike Patrol; and things going on in the Creek that should be limited when school children are present.
David Coles, discussed MOVE Culver City; police cars driving in the Bus Only lane; concern with community relations; bus performance; concern that the Circulator is not working well and ridership is too low; concern with a lack of
implementation of suggestions; the need for signage
indicating that the Circulator is free; and making the windows clear.
David Metzler asked for an update on the passageway between Jasmine and Jackson and the Bike Boulevard along Farragut.
Discussion ensued between Mr. Metzler, staff, and
Subcommittee Members regarding the timeline for the shared pedestrian pathway between Jasmine and Jackson; the planned ramp; increased construction prices; SB 1 funding; Prop C; funding for the differential; costs for the Farragut Bike Boulevard; curb extensions; implementing a traffic circle on Farragut; traffic calming measures; resurfacing on Jackson; ways to improve interest in the Circulator; removing the window wraps on the Circulator; issues with the head signs on the Circulator; increased ridership that needs to continue to improve; work with the Downtown Business Association (DBA); ridership in the mornings vs. in the afternoons; staff
agreement to provide additional information at the next meeting; and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) presentations on fluctuations in commutes.
Mobility, Traffic, and Parking Subcommittee
October 25, 2022
11 Karim Sahli discussed the need for communication between the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) and the Mobility Transportation and Parking Subcommittee (MTAP); lack of staff response to a report submitted by Bike Culver City discussing issues with MOVE Culver City; and concern that community involvement has not transpired.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding staff agreement to share minutes from the BPAC with the MTAP; timing; having BPAC Members attend MTAP meetings; ensuring that staff does not have to duplicate work;
implementation of recommendations from the Bike Culver City report; and scheduled community outreach as part of the evaluation and assessment in November and December to provide additional data to present to the City Council.
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Public Comment for Items NOT on the Agenda
Council Member Fisch invited public participation.
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst, reported no requests to speak.
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Items from Staff/Subcommittee Members
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding agreement that the next meeting would be held on January 24, 2023.
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