Agenda Item: 8
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: January 11, 2022
SUBJECT: BLACKHALL STUDIOS EIR CONTRACT
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
PRESENTER: Mike Marshall
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Award a contract for the preparation of the Blackhall Studios Project Environmental Impact Report (Master Case 21-109) to Michael Baker International in the amount of $382,689, and authorize a contingency in the amount of $38,268, for a total contract amount not to exceed $420,957.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all documents, subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
The Blackhall Studios Development Project, Master Case 21-109, is a request by LA Railroad 93, LLC (Applicant), to develop an approximately 93-acre site located east of Railroad Avenue and north of 12th Street and 13th Street in the community of Newhall. The property is located in the Mixed Use Neighborhood zone, Planned Development Overlay Zone, and is within the Placerita Canyon Special Standards District.
The Applicant is requesting entitlements for the construction and operation of a full-service television and movie studio campus (Project). The proposed campus would consist of approximately 1.3 million square feet of studio uses, consisting of 473,225 square feet of sound stages, 587,170 square feet of supportive warehouse uses, 197,670 square feet of office uses, and approximately 44,517 square feet for catering and other specialty uses. The portion of the Project site located north of Placerita Creek is proposed to be used for code-required on-site parking and occasional temporary outdoor filming uses. An aerial-view site map and a detailed Project description with a list of Project entitlements are attached.
This proposed Project replaces the previously proposed project, which was submitted in December 2016 and withdrawn in May 2021, and consisted of a 310-unit residential development project.
The current Project was formally submitted on May 28, 2021. It has been circulated for initial review by City of Santa Clarita (City) staff and has been through one iteration of Development Review Committee (DRC) comments. The next steps in the entitlement process are to circulate the Project for a second iteration of DRC comments and conduct an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Based on anticipated impacts associated with the Project, the appropriate CEQA document required for the Project is an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Because the City does not have the in-house expertise or resources available to complete an EIR, an outside environmental consulting firm is necessary to complete this task.
City staff is recommending that the environmental consultant, Michael Baker International (MBI), that was selected through an RFP process and awarded a contract by the City Council in December 2017 to prepare the EIR for the prior residential project proposed on the project site, be awarded the contract for the newly proposed Project.
The City’s Purchasing Policy allows for the City to award single source contracts within limited circumstances as detailed below. The City’s Purchasing Policy, Section 9.0 Policy Exceptions, indicates:
Single Source - (1) The supplier is the only source known to the City after a reasonable search for other suppliers has been conducted; - or - (2) The current work requirements are an extension of the original work and substantially rely on the experience gained during the original work; - or - (3) Professional services work requirements are such that in the discretion of the City Manager or City Council the City’s interests are best served by awarding a contract without competition.
The Scope of Work required for the Blackhall Studios Project is a reasonable extension of the original site-specific work conducted by MBI for the previous application for a 310-unit residential project. MBI completed substantial work for that project EIR, including a summary of existing conditions and regulatory framework and the preparation of various environmental studies. Based on prior experience gained during the original work, MBI qualifies for the award of a contract on a single source basis.
The total cost of the MBI proposal is $382,679. The Scope of Work includes the coordination of two CEQA Scoping Meetings, preparation of the Draft EIR, a Mitigation Monitoring Reporting Plan, response to comments, attendance at public hearings as needed, completion of the Final EIR, and an addendum to the EIR prepared for the City’s Dockweiler Drive project. MBI anticipates a 20-month schedule to prepare the EIR. Given the complexities of the Project and adjacency to existing neighborhoods, staff has included a 10 percent contingency, in the amount of $38,268, for a total contract amount not to exceed $420,947. The contingency will allow for additional analysis for unexpected issues that may be identified during the EIR process. A copy of the MBI proposal has been attached as reading file material for your reference. The Applicant
is responsible for the cost of the preparation of the EIR and its associated contract. Upon award of the contract, the Applicant will deposit funds into a trust account to be maintained by the City.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
All costs associated with the preparation of the EIR will be the responsibility of the Applicant for the Blackhall Studios Development Project. There will be no fiscal impact to the City.
ATTACHMENTS
Blackhall Studios Development Project Description with Entitlements Blackhall Studios Aerial
Blackhall Studios EIR and Addendum Proposal (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)