1 OFFICIAL MINUTES OF
THE CULVER CITY STANDING MOBILITY SUBCOMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CULVER CITY June 12, 2025
STANDING MOBILITY SUBCOMMITTEE 6:00 p.m.
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA
Call to Order & Roll Call
Vice Mayor Puza called the special meeting of the Standing Mobility Subcommittee to order at 6:03 p.m. in the Dan Patacchia Meeting Room at City Hall and online.
Present: Freddy Puza, Vice Mayor
Bubba Fish, Council Member
Staff Present: Mark Muenzer, Planning and Development Director Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic Engineering
Manager
Diana Chang, Chief Transportation Officer
Troy Evangelho, Advance Planning Manager
Seth Contreras, Transportation and Mobility
Planning Manager
Gabriel Barreras, Senior Planner
Alicia Ide, Public Works Management Analyst
Ryan Hund, Transportation Management Analyst
Kate Saunders-Britton, Transportation
Administrative Secretary
o0o
Pledge of Allegiance
Vice Mayor Puza led the Pledge of Allegiance.
O0o
Community Announcements from Members
Vice Mayor Puza expressed appreciation for the signage for the meeting.
o0o
Information Items from Staff
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
2 Diana Chang, Chief Transportation Officer, introduced new Transportation and Mobility Planning Manager Seth Contreras.
Seth Contreras, Transportation and Mobility Planning Manager, provided background on himself and expressed excitement at being able to support the team in Culver City.
Diana Chang, Chief Transportation Officer, discussed the Comprehensive Mobility Services Plan (CMSP); the Automated Bus Lane Enforcement (ABLE) Program that began on May 19, 2025; average number of violations per day during the warning period; additional information will be coming forward; the Transit Ambassador Program; drafting of the summary analysis for the City Council; minimal change in perception of safety from bus operations; passengers’ sense of security and safety; work to improve the program; and progress on the Sepulveda Corridor program.
Discussion ensued between staff and Committee Members regarding the analysis of the STC; review of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) in collaboration with all relevant City departments; project benefits, impact, and costs; cost benefit analysis; compilation of comments; alignments; the Metro Board; ensuring that Metro and other representatives are always aware of which alignments the City supports; providing additional information to the City Council; looking at whether the finding and recommendation has changed; and providing public comment to Metro.
Ryan Hund, Transportation Management Analyst, provided an update on the MOVE Culver City project.
Thomas Check, Senior Traffic Engineer, discussed the exclusive pedestrian phase at intersection of Culver and Main; behind the scenes signal timing strategies; and time of day-based changes at certain locations to make biking and walking through the MOVE corridor easier while also managing congestion.
Ryan Hund, Transportation Management Analyst, discussed the eastern segment of the downtown MOVE corridor and pre-planning activities on the Sepulveda corridor.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding timing for the Sepulveda corridor; the Connect Culver project; benefits of splitting the Ambassador program to have more people spread through the program; the goal to show more presence of personnel outside of the operators; the expense of program; leveraging the existing two people; maximizing resources; and community input for the Mobility Service Plan.
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
3 Thomas Check, Senior Traffic Engineer, discussed City Council consideration of the Complete Streets Design Standards at the June 23, 2025 meeting; the new section added on car-free zones; the Safer Fox Hills Project; competition for resources with MOVE Culver City; contractor availability; Overland Phase One; grants; the Metro Active Transportation Grant Program; the recent meeting with Metro; potential funding; submission of a Safe Streets for All grant application; and upcoming community engagement for Overland between Culver and the Creek.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding Phase 3 of the Overland project; leveraging library parking; communication efforts; and Connect Culver Boulevard.
o0o
Public Comment - Items NOT on the Agenda
Vice Mayor Puza invited public comment.
The following members of the public addressed the Subcommittee:
David Coles discussed lack of a pedestrian crossing on the south side of the intersection at Cota Street and Jefferson Boulevard; concern with inconvenience for pedestrians and prioritization of drivers; and he hoped that Council Members would endorse a change.
Mary Daval proposed reconsideration of previous discussions regarding making changes to the streets that would interfere with studio agreements; discussed reinvestigating green bike lanes in certain areas of Culver City; changing technology; clarification that green bike lanes are not being suggested as a substitution for Class 4 bike lanes; providing a stopgap safety measure for places where Class 4 bike lanes are not currently possible; green bike lanes that stand out more than the fading white stripes; traffic calming effects of the green bike lanes in Santa Monica; and painting and repainting for filming.
Karim Sahli congratulated Andrew Maximous and Thomas Check on their work on the intersection of Baldwin and Jackson noting comments from people indicating that it was over-engineered; indicated that he was not speaking on behalf of Bike Culver City in expressing concern with the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in the Complete Streets Guidelines; discussed his intent to ensure that everyone responsible to give grants to Culver City knows that the current Complete Streets Guidelines is a farce; and he indicated that he did not want to see taxpayer dollars granted to Culver City on the belief that residents would be protected.
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
4 Michelle Weiner received clarification that staff was working on addressing the bike light heading east on Washington toward Ince that provides insufficient timing to get all the way across the intersection; she was glad that there would be additional opportunity to allow people to speak about Overland improvements; was eager to see protected lanes installed; and she expressed appreciation for installation of the signal at the library.
o0o
Receive and File Correspondence
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst, indicated that no correspondence had been received.
o0o
Consent Calendar Items
Item C-1
Approval of Minutes for the Standing Mobility Subcommittee Special Meeting of April 10, 2025
MOVED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FISH, SECONDED BY VICE MAYOR PUZA AND
UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED, THAT THE STANDING MOBILITY SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVE MINUTES FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING OF APRIL 10, 2025.
o0o
Action Items
Item A-1
(1) Discussion Regarding Parking Maximums; and (2) Direction to Staff
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst, provided background on the item.
Troy Evangelho, Advance Planning Manager, indicated that the agenda item was a continuation of a discussion that began in 2022 and directed staff to examine parking maximums for Culver City; discussed parking maximums; recent Culver City parking reforms; AB2097; elimination of parking requirements City-wide; feedback from outreach efforts; case studies for other jurisdictions; and benefits and challenges to imposing parking maximums.
Vice Mayor Puza invited public input.
The following members of the public addressed the Subcommittee:
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
5 David Coles was happy to see the item coming before the Committee; indicated being a small-scale developer; challenged Council Members to request data indicating lenders refused to finance projects due to parking maximums; he felt that parking maximums would codify the situation so that lenders would not be able to push back on the amount of parking; discussed examples of lost opportunity with the Ivy Station and Cumulus developments; and the need to incentivize a mode shift.
Mary Daval discussed lost opportunity with the Apple campus; excessive parking; the need to be bold and visionary;
identification of actual data about potential financing issues; examination of the experiences of other cities with parking maximums; the meeting back in 2023; difficulty of finding places to develop on the westside; the importance of involving the Transportation Department from the beginning; the need for more robust transportation in Culver City; tying transportation into the housing discussion; and she expressed support for moving forward.
Karim Sahli stated that unlimited parking invited unlimited cars; noted the 1,500 parking spots right in front of the Metro station in the Transit Oriented District (TOD); discussed other unacceptable projects in the pipeline; policy failure; the need for parking maximums to help cities grow smarter not wider; cars that sit idle 95% of the time; use of the land for affordable housing, green spaces, and local shops that bring life to the streets; he thanked Council Members for their vote to support affordable housing; discussed simple ways to reduce congestion, make streets calmer and safer for everyone, reduce pollution, and to meet climate goals; and he expressed support for parking caps and taxing parking spaces.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding city-wide policies in other areas; the map showing the amount of Culver City covered by AB2097; a meeting with the Deputy of Staff and Policy Director for the City Council President in San Diego who acknowledged developer opposition and unprecedented growth in the city since parking maximums were passed; dynamic parking pricing; the experience of Hartford; studies by Michael Manville at UCLA indicating that ridership and use of transit depends on how easy it is to drive; nuance; support for a City-wide baseline; large companies with unlimited resources that can add large amounts of parking to the community with no recourse; longevity of parking structures; younger people buying fewer cars; Waymo, scooters, and BikeShare; concern with unfettered parking development that does not have the future in mind; and refining a policy to address different neighborhoods and access to transportation.
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
6 Additional discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding benefits to reduced parking; looking at existing conditions; support for additional information about marketability and lender requirements; parking intrusion into neighborhoods; support for consideration of a menu of options including tiered caps throughout the City; investment in Mobility and Transit; establishing a residential track and a non-residential track; dynamic pricing; the Housing Pipeline Report; the intent to make an actual impact on the market; building less than the average amount of parking currently being provided with no restrictions; concern with setting the ceiling too high; developments that are too far along in the process to effect; state streamlining legislation; next steps; the work plan; necessary staff and fiscal resources in order to pursue the item; the feeling that time is of the essence; the generational impact of developments; balancing competing duties; the ability for the City Council to instruct other projects to be put on hold; providing an update at the next Subcommittee meeting; taking the policy in stages to lessen the workload; providing options to the Subcommittee; revisiting community and developer engagement; changes over the last few years; and appreciation to staff for the presentation.
o0o
Item A-2
(1) Receive a Report and Discuss Safety Improvements at Wesley Street/National Boulevard and along National Boulevard between Jefferson Boulevard and Washington Boulevard; and (2) Give Direction to Staff
Andrew Maximous, Mobility and Traffic Engineering Manager, provided a summary of the material of record.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding reduction of people driving 10 miles per hour over the speed limit travelling eastbound; implementation of Rest in Red at National and Hayden; Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI) at National and Wesley; the intent to slow people down; and implementation in groups of three or four.
Vice Mayor Puza invited public input.
The following members of the public addressed the Subcommittee:
David Coles expressed appreciation to staff for giving the area the attention it deserves; discussed early returns on some of the changes; support for the Rest in Red concept; speed feedback signs; Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
7 he felt the speed limit was too high on the street and wanted to see the City aiming to get the speed limit lowered policy-wise and through design; proposed narrowing lane widths; discussed street parking vs. sidewalks; staggered paint markings that make people more conscious of their speed; and he questioned why the name of the person killed at Wesley and National had not been made available.
Mary Daval expressed appreciation for implementation of Rest in Red; discussed history of the intersection of Wesley and National; the bike route designation for Wesley; concern with making people wait too long to cross; a pedestrian she observed who became impatient and ran across the street against a red signal; and she felt that intersection needed some attention.
Karim Sahli discussed installation of a crosswalk following the axis of the sidewalk; adding paint, a beg button on the existing traffic pole, and a curb cut to install the bicycle ramp; he felt that the tree would not need to be moved; and he noted the need to fix the situation as soon as possible.
Michelle Weiner echoed comments made by Mary Daval and Karim Sahli about the difficulties of the intersection; discussed the bike lane designation; concern with the speed of traffic; safety issues; daytime use; and she questioned what kind of traffic calming measures were possible to create less of a freeway atmosphere there.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding appreciation for the data; the gap in between the trees offset back toward the median; the inability to go straight across; the traffic signal pole; trade-offs; introduction of a left turn conflict for pedestrians; convenience vs. what is needed; a similar condition at Jefferson and Duquesne; cost estimate to make changes; the deadly intersection; whether safety would be improved; the determination that a person under the influence of a controlled substance walked out into the street and that geometry and speed of the driver were not mitigating factors in the fatality; liability; and other intersections in Culver City with similar conditions.
Additional discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding two other fatalities before the last one; enhancing safety; the blind curve; sidewalks in the area; not being able to walk down the sidewalk with a stroller; a suggestion to remove the median; lane width; community outcry; creating a project; the need to bring Engineering into the process as they handle sidewalks; encouragement for Council Members to review the discussion at the recent BPAC meeting; clarification that minutes Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
8 and video for CBCs (Commissions, Boards, and Committees) are available to Council Members and they are welcome to attend those meetings any time; background on the BPAC; the recommendation made at the budget meeting; identification of Wesley and National as an issue by the BPAC; and staff indicated that they had been trying some traffic calming ideas for the area and would continue with other ideas.
Further discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the process; current projects; prioritization; safety; design costs; the Local Road Safety Plan (LRSP); identification of high-risk corridors and high injury intersections; the need for an adopted plan that identifies intersections with a problem; curb extensions and physical changes to the roadway; workload; the need for a consultant to produce a 30% design to inform potential costs; concept planning; and conducting a study to examine options.
Michelle Weiner proposed including the implications of removing a lane of traffic in each direction in the study.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding concern with removing traffic lanes from a designated primary arterial; the Rancho Higuera Neighborhood Traffic Study; looking at the best way to add safety features; City Council consideration of a CIP (Capital Improvement Project); corridor-wide improvements on National between Washington and Jefferson including
intersection improvements; and the focus on improved outcomes.
o0o
Public Comment for Items NOT on the Agenda (Continued)
Vice Mayor Puza invited public participation.
Alicia Ide, Management Analyst, indicated that Karim Sahli had signed up to speak but was no longer present in person or online.
o0o
Subcommittee Member Requests to Agendize Future Items
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding challenges with the intersection of Cota and Jefferson.
Michelle Weiner questioned how a pedestrian is supposed to get across the wide driveway to proceed on the sidewalk.
Vice Mayor Puza encouraged Ms. Weiner to send the question in an email or to ask about it after the meeting.
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
9 Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding ways to traverse the Target intersection; green bike lanes; the prohibition on using green paint; use of AI; the darker shade of green used at the request of the film industry; federal compliance; agreement to revisit the policy with the studios; ongoing dialogue with studio representatives related to mobility projects; the low volume of filming currently going on; and concern with sacrificing safety.
Council Member Fish noted that a review of the Mobility Fund had been agendized at the budget meeting and he wanted to discuss what projects were getting the limited funds.
Additional discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding waiting until construction bids for Fox Hills and Overland Phase One are received to understand the remaining balance; consideration of revenue; existing projects; and clarification that the money will be the same now as it will be then.
Council Member Fish discussed the Lease a Bike program; indicated that he would connect Lease a Bike with Ryan Hund in order to make a presentation; and discussed a potential presentation from Serve Robotics.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the past presentation from Coco; specific instructions to Coco to come back to the Subcommittee with details on what area they wanted to serve; ordinance language that would need to be added; differences between Coco and Serve Robotics; reducing people delivering meals in cars; greenhouse gases; and consideration of parameters for a pilot program for Culver City.
Additional discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding outstanding agenda items; consideration of restarting the conversation regarding Class 4 bike lanes on Overland from Culver to the Creek with parking mitigation at the July meeting after community outreach has been conducted; the request to have a police officer come to a meeting to have continued conversation about traffic investigations; the report on statistics provided on the website that will go to the City Council rather than the Subcommittee; addressing IT (Information Technology) challenges; formatting detailed information available; detail requested by the BPAC; encouragement to review the BPAC meeting; the request for additional information on the Wesley/National accident available online; and creating a dashboard with continuous information on how traffic fatalities and injuries change over time that people can monitor.
Standing Mobility Subcommittee
June 12, 2025
10 Further discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding the request to revisit the BPAP (Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan); updating the map of lanes and streets; workload; community outreach; the need for input into the depth of the update; updating the BPAP to reflect changes to bike facilities; Complete Streets Guidelines; the map created by a high level feasibility analysis that determined classifications and recommendations of the different corridors; amount of effort to conduct an in-depth analysis; current federal guidance and best practices for facility design that lowered the threshold for what a Class 4 should be; looking at curb to curb widths; consideration of feasibility for each project regardless of what is on the BPAP; the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan; Green Valley Circle; the application for a Caltrans Sustainable grant to hire a consultant; and agreement to wait on revisiting the BPAP.
Vice Mayor Puza requested a presentation on Ohmio and agreed to provide information to staff.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding a presentation from the Finance Department about parking tax in August, before the outcome of the election; agreement to hold on parking inventory; upcoming agenda items; and potential meeting dates.
Council Member Fish discussed meeting with Circuit noting that Ting was interested in doing another program in Culver City; discussed feedback from Fox Hills regarding the inability to get to the train station using transit; and he proposed receipt of a presentation from Ting.
Discussion ensued between staff and Subcommittee Members regarding lack of a formal relationship with Ting during their previous program in Culver City.
o0o
Public Comment for Items NOT on the Agenda (Continued)
Vice Mayor Puza invited public comment.
A member of the public spoke up regarding green paint; the Duquesne bike lane originally painted with the federally approved paint; and the request by Sony that the color of the paint be changed.
o0o
Items from Staff/Subcommittee Members