City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: September 27, 2022
Agenda Item: 7.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Architecture Services Subject: Memorial Park Expansion
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Review and comment on restarting the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project with a reduced initial phase that is still in line with the approved master plan;
2. Provide direction to staff to reengage Santa Monica College (SMC) and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) in negotiations for potential fiscal and use agreements; and
3. Direct staff to study possible temporary relocation sites for the Public Landscape Division’s operation yard and return with a recommended alternative.
Summary
The City of Santa Monica parks system includes 32 parks encompassing more than 130 acres. Memorial Park was established in the 1950’s and is geographically located in the center of the City. It is important to the overall park system, serving as the primary park for baseball and softball, offering a space for pickleball and tennis and being the home of the City’s only public gymnasium and skate park.
The Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project (Project) would combine the existing 10.3-acre Memorial Park with the former Fisher Lumber site – a City-owned,
2.9-acre property adjacent to the existing park – into a 13.2-acre newly renovated and expanded community park that meets the increasing demand for recreational activities.
The combined site is bound by Colorado Avenue to the north, 16th Street to the east, Olympic Boulevard to the south, and 14th Street to the west. The Project would 2 of 13
integrate components of the Pedestrian Action Plan and Bicycle Action Plan and require the relocation of the City’s Public Landscape Division (PLD). An extensive community outreach process guided the development of a master plan layout and park program for the future renovation and expansion of Memorial Park that would include additional diamond sports fields and other highly desired community amenities. A subsequent community outreach effort identified potential relocation sites for PLD. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic both the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project and the PLD relocation effort were suspended. With reduced funding available and significant increases in construction costs over the past two and a half years, Project implementation today would require segmenting the Project into smaller phases than originally planned.
Staff recommends the Council review and provide direction to staff on the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project with a reduced initial phase that is in line with the approved master plan; provide direction to staff to reengage Santa Monica College (SMC) and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) in negotiations for potential fiscal and use agreements; and direct staff to study possible temporary relocation sites for the PLD’s operation yard and return with a recommended alternative that includes costs and timeframes.
Background
The need to expand and redefine the role of Memorial Park was established in Santa Monica’s 1997 Parks and Recreation Master Plan (Attachment A). The City purchased the Fisher Lumber site in 2004 with the intention of expanding Memorial Park. The City took occupancy of the site in 2005 and has since used the property to house the PLD staff, materials and equipment.
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Figure 1: Site Map
In March 2016, the Council adopted and formally selected the expansion of Memorial Park as one of the City’s highest priority park projects and incorporated it into the Los Angeles Countywide Parks Needs Assessment Report (Attachment B). After a competitive procurement process, Council awarded an agreement to AHBE Landscape Architects in January 2018 to provide professional design services for the development of a feasibility study and master plan layout for an expanded and redeveloped park that would meet the following objectives:
• Maximize opportunities for fields with a focus on diamond sports; • Consider community programs such as the gymnasium, Santa Monica Police Activities League (PAL), and fitness facilities;
• Integrate appropriate buffering along busy vehicular corridors; • Integrate the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plans; and • Consider the park’s relationship to the surrounding neighborhood and City context.
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On October 15, 2019, City Council reviewed the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Master Plan that was the product of a community engagement process and directed staff to seek proposals for the design and preconstruction services of phases 1 and 2 of the park redevelopment and expansion. In addition, Council authorized staff to negotiate Fiscal and Use Agreements with SMC and SMMUSD.
On February 11, 2020, City Council awarded a design-build agreement to W.E. O’Neil Corporation to begin design of the Project, but before the contract could be fully executed, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, and the project was suspended.
Public Landscape Relocation
The City’s PLD has been operating out of the former Fisher Lumber site adjacent to Memorial Park since being relocated from the airport in 2005. From this location, the city Park Maintenance and Urban Forestry crews care for the landscaping and irrigation in 28 parks and nearly 300 medians and public open spaces throughout the city and maintain over 35,000 public trees. The site hosts over 40 city employees, contains staff locker rooms and offices, repair shops, bulk material and equipment storage, as well as parking for staff and their work vehicles. The site also accommodates a limited number of parking spaces for the City’s contracted land care and urban forest contractors.
As part of the original effort to expand Memorial Park in 2019, staff explored a variety of relocation sites including the City Yards, and other publicly owned property at the Santa Monica Airport (SMO). Public Works ultimately selected an underutilized maintenance hangar on the airport property as a temporary location (5-10 years) for the PLD operations until a permanent location could be identified that would adequately meet the space and logistical needs of this critical work unit. Concerns from local residents about the proximity of municipal operations to a residential neighborhood led staff to conduct a broader citywide evaluation of alternative sites. In early 2020 staff developed and implemented a public outreach process to identify and assess additional sites that could be well suited to house PLD staff, equipment and materials storage. Assessment criteria included availability of land over twenty-five thousand square feet (PLD’s land size requirements are actually closer to fifty thousand square feet), functionality for PLD 5 of 13
operations to access all parts of Santa Monica efficiently and effectively, neighborhood impacts, and development costs and timeline, among others.
Staff, along with a community advisory working group, analyzed the feasibility of 42 potential sites over twenty-five thousand square feet throughout the city before narrowing it down to four final scenarios that met the balance of the criteria as shown in Figures 2 and 3 below. All four final sites were on the Santa Monica Airport campus, including the original site that had been identified previously. No other public or private parcels in Santa Monica were identified despite rigorous analysis and vetting by the community advisory working group. Each Airport alternative required the undertaking of the design/development process (2-3 years) as well as several million dollars in development costs for facilities. In addition, siting PLD at SMO would require significant land lease expenditures (the City is required to pay fair market value to the Airport Fund for use of airport land) between $250,000 - $500,000 annually. Before those final options could be presented to Council, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, and all additional work was cancelled. The final report is included here as Attachment G.
Figure 2: Map of All Parcels Greater than 25K Square Feet in City of Santa Monica 6 of 13
Figure 3: Map of Four Final Relocation Scenarios and Original Relocation Site at SMO If directed to proceed with Memorial Park redevelopment, a critical first step is to accommodate the needs of the City’s PLD on a separate parcel. Without an operational base of sufficient size and location, the City’s 28 parks, 300 medians and public open spaces, and urban forest of over 35,000 public canopy trees cannot be adequately maintained to the City’s standard of care.
Discussion
Restarting the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project comes with several challenges that would need to be addressed for the project to move forward:
• A revised project budget and funding schedule needs to be established; • The project scope needs to be revised to accommodate the new budget and available funding; and
• A temporary location (5-10 years) for the PLD operations must be selected until a permanent location that adequately meets the space and logistical needs of this critical work unit can be identified.
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Funding
In 2016, Santa Monica voters passed Measure V, a Santa Monica College bond measure that included up to $20 million in funding for construction of Phase 1 of the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project. Upon approval of the master plan in 2019, staff also began working with SMMUSD to potentially identify additional construction funding with a goal of approximately $5 million for the project from Measure SMS bonds. The contributions of College and District funding were conditioned upon programmed joint uses of the completed Memorial Park facilities. These funds, along with approximately $5 million in City Capital Improvement Project (CIP) funding, made up the previous project budget of $30 million for the design and construction of phase 1 and the schematic design of phase 2. The total cost estimate to complete design and construction of all three phases of the Project was $100 – $116 million in capital costs in 2019. In addition, the estimate to relocate PLD in 2020 was between $1.4 - $3 million in capital costs for facility development and would require significant land lease expenditures between $250,000 - $500,000 annually depending on final location selection.
Currently, the only project funds available may be up to $20 million dedicated to park redevelopment from the SMC bond measure that have been preserved for this park expansion since the project was suspended by the City as a result of the pandemic.
Staff would need to engage in new negotiations with SMC and SMMUSD on potential fiscal and use agreement terms. No funding is currently available for PLD relocation and staff would return with funding requests based on a recommended location.
Scope
The feasibility study and master planning process included an examination of existing conditions and park program elements, and the completion of an extensive community outreach process. The result is a single, cohesive master plan layout that addresses long-standing issues at Memorial Park, including but not limited to inadequate field functionality, restrictive perimeter and edge conditions, poor connections to the surrounding neighborhood, and misused restrooms and other amenities. The existing condition and approved master plan are shown below in Figure 4. 8 of 13
Figure 4: Existing Memorial Park and Approved Memorial Park Master Plan Layout The master plan always envisioned a phased approach that would be implemented over time as funding was available. Phase 1 is shown below in Figure 5 and was originally conceived as the northern half of the park, including four synthetic turf baseball/softball combination fields, a temporary natural turf practice field, the covered parking lot, pickleball/tennis courts, the Community Hub building, and the playground. 9 of 13
Figure 5: Approved Phase 1 and Anticipated Reduced Phase 1 of Memorial Park Master Plan Layout In order to begin implementation of the master plan now, it would be necessary to segment the Project into additional smaller phases. With a reduced project budget and the significant increases in construction costs over the past two and a half years, staff now estimate phase 1 of the Project could include construction of fields 1-2, the covered parking lot, and the pickleball/tennis courts. Mobility and streetscape improvements on 14th Street and Colorado Avenue would be included to the extent the budget allows. 10 of 13
The reduced scope of the proposed phase 1 aligns with the objectives that were outlined in the development of the feasibility study and master plan layout for an expanded and redeveloped park. However, due to funding limitations, the remaining scope of the original phase 1, including fields 3-4, the temporary natural turf practice field, the Community Hub building, and the playground would now be included in phase
2. This would leave the park without a playground until phase 2 was complete.
The balance of Memorial Park would be maintained in its current condition and the remaining land of the former Fisher Lumber site would be used temporarily as a dog run and park maintenance material storage until funding is identified to begin phase 2.
The proposed expansion would convert an additional two acres of the northern parcel (formerly the Fisher Lumber site) into public park land to allow for the development of the reduced phase 1 that would include:
Sports Fields
Fields 1-2, referred to as a combination (or combo) field, would utilize synthetic turf to create adaptable play space for baseball and softball groups of all ages. It is designed for flexibility. The combo field could accommodate a single regulation high school baseball game, adult softball game or collegiate softball game. Additionally, the field could be divided with temporary fencing to accommodate two youth baseball, or two youth fast pitch softball games played simultaneously. The field would feature covered dugouts, shaded spectator seating, and LED sports lighting. A batting cage for shared use sits adjacent to the combo field. Amenities such as pitchers’ bullpens and additional batting cages would be considered in the design phase and in coordination with the fiscal and use agreements with SMC and SMMUSD.
Pickleball/Tennis Courts
Sixteen pickleball courts with overlapping striping for four tennis courts would be elevated over the new on-site surface parking lot and would include stairs and an 11 of 13
elevator. The courts would feature LED sports lighting, wide perimeter clearance spaces, and dedicated equipment storage immediately adjacent to the play area.
Parking
The covered parking lot would increase parking inventory to be used exclusively by park patrons and would include a safe and convenient passenger loading zone and turnaround area. The parking lot’s central location would make it easily accessible from all areas of the park.
Mobility and Streetscape Improvements
Mobility and streetscape improvements on 14th Street and Colorado Avenue would be included to the extent the budget allows. The proposed master plan includes 4’-wide planted areas that would provide a buffer between generous 8’-wide perimeter sidewalks and field activity within the park. Street trees and parkway planters would create a sense of comfort for pedestrians walking along the street and a shared use bike path completely separated from the street along the Colorado Avenue park frontage (Class I bike path) would allow for future connection to the Exposition Corridor Bike Path.
Public Landscape Relocation
If directed to proceed, staff would restart the study of possible temporary relocation sites for PLD’s operation yard and return to discuss findings and outline a potential recommendation that includes costs and timeframes. At this time no additional new sites at the scale required to host PLD are known and some of the previous alternatives may no longer be viable as other plans have moved forward in the past two and a half years.
Next Steps
If directed to proceed, staff would restart the Memorial Park Expansion Project with a reduced initial phase that is in line with the approved master plan, reengage SMC and SMMUSD in negotiations for potential fiscal and use agreements, and study possible temporary relocation sites, including associated costs, for the PLD’s operation yard. 12 of 13
Staff would return to Council by April 2023 for approval to proceed with Request for Bid for design and pre-construction services of the reduced phase 1 of the Memorial Park Expansion Project, enter into fiscal and use agreements with the SMC and SMMUSD, and begin planning the relocation of the PLD’s operation yard subject to a Councilapproved location and budget.
If directed to do so, the relocation of the PLD’s operation yard would be submitted to City Council for approval as part of the CIP exception-based budget in 2023. If prioritized and approved, staff anticipates the design, construction, and relocation would be completed by the end of 2024.
If approved to bid the reduced phase 1 of the Memorial Park Expansion Project in April 2023, and contingent on available CIP funding and the schedule outlined above for the relocation of the PLD, it is anticipated that bidding, design, and permitting of the reduced phase 1 would be completed by Spring of 2025 and construction would be completed in 2026.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
07/01/97 (attachment A) Adopt Santa Monica Parks and Recreation Master Plan 03/22/16 (attachment B) Selection of Priority Park Projects for Inclusion in the Los Angeles Countywide Comprehensive Parks & Recreation
Needs Assessment Report
01/23/18 (attachment C) Award of Design Agreement for the Memorial Park Feasibility Study and Master Plan
10/15/19 (attachment D) Review of Master Plan layout and park program for renovation and expansion of Memorial Park
02/11/20 (attachment E) Award Bid and enter into a Design-Build Contract with W.E. O'Neil Corporation for Memorial Park
Redevelopment and Expansion Project
05/05/20 (attachment F) Santa Monica: A Plan for Our Future - City Restructuring and Associated Modifications to the Fiscal Year 2020-21 Budget Resulting from Economic Impacts of COVID-19
Pandemic
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Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. However, no City funds are currently available to restart the Memorial Park Redevelopment and Expansion Project or to relocate PLD and these projects were not included in the City’s 5-year CIP projection. Currently the only project funds available for the park redevelopment and expansion may be up to $20 million from the SMC bond measure. Staff would return with a recommended location and funding request for the relocation of PLD. Any City financial contribution to these projects would require additional revenue recovery or reprioritization of projects.
Prepared By: Amelia Feichtner, Senior Architect
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. July 1, 1997 Staff Report
B. March 22, 2016 Staff Report (Web Link)
C. January 23, 2018 Staff Report (Web Link)
D. October 15, 2019 Staff Report (Web Link)
E. February 11, 2020 Staff Report (Web Link)
F. May 05, 2020 Staff Report (Web Link)
G. Public Landscape Division Relocation Analysis Summary H. ADD-TO: RPC Letter to Council re Memorial Park SMC
I. Written Comment