1 / 8

Central District Park Conversion: Acquire Existing Parking Lot for New Park Space

This agenda item proposes the acquisition of a portion of an existing parking lot to create park space in the underserved Central District. The proposal includes preserving parking spaces and integrating the design of the park with the Playhouse District Association's plans for future event programming. The recommendation also includes amending the budget for the acquisition and adding the proposed park to the list of dedicated parklands.

reedm
Download Presentation

Central District Park Conversion: Acquire Existing Parking Lot for New Park Space

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Establish New Park Space in the Central District&Appropriate Funds to Acquire a Portion of an Existing Parking Lot for Conversion to Park SpaceMarch 11, 2019Agenda Item No. 10

  2. Background • On October 16, 2017, the City Council received an update on the City’s efforts to identify potential park space within the underserved Central District. • Council directed staff to gather community input about conversion of a portion of a city-owned parking lot into park space and return for further discussion. • On January 8, 2018, the City Council approved the purchase of Banner Bank site located at 717 East Union Street, adjacent to a city-owned small lot and City’s Union/El Molino Parking Lot. • Banner Bank Site 9,750sf (0.224 acre) • City-owned Lot 2,730sf (0.063 acre) • Union/El Molino Lot 32,950sf (0.756 acre)

  3. Aerial Plan

  4. Background On February 22, 2018, a community meeting was held to discuss the desirability of parks in the Central District. • 5600 notices mailed out; 60 residents and business owners attended. • Attendees demonstrated the desire for park space and support for the City’s recent acquisition of the Banner Bank parcel for park use. • Majority favored use of a portion of Union/El Molino site for park space (in conjunction with the Banner Bank site) rather than use of City’s Madison Parking Lot.

  5. Background • The Playhouse District Association (PDA): • Supports the development of park space and combining portion of Union/El Molino Parking Lot with the Banner Bank site. • Desires to retain roughly half the parking lot (a minimum of 48 parking spaces of 101 existing) and improve the parking lot by integrating it with the design of the new park for future event programming. • Desires to replace any lost parking through on-street parking and pedestrian enhancements or other approaches outlined in its Playhouse District Strategic Economic Development and Vision Implementation plan. • City staff is committed to working with PDA to explore various concepts and strategies proposed by PDA and will return to Council as appropriate.

  6. Conclusion • In February 2019, the City entered into a Parking License Agreement that moves the 91 Laemmle Theater parking entitlement spaces from the Union/El Molino lot to a parking structure located at 40 South Oakland Avenue. • Based on monitoring the occupancy of the parking lot by DOT it was shown lot to be approximately 50% occupied at any one time. In Conclusion: • Staff recommends preserving approximately half of the existing Union/El Molino lot for parking; and, • Combining the Banner Bank site, the City’s Union/Oak Knoll corner lot and up to one-half of the Union/El Molino parking lot to yield up to 28,955 square foot (0.665 acre) site for park space.

  7. Recommendation Find that the proposed action are not “project” as defined in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Public Resources Code Section 21065 and Section 15378(b)(4) and (5) of the State CEQA Guidelines, and as such, are not subject to environmental review; Amend the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Adopted Operating Budget by appropriating up to $2,500,000 from the Residential Impact Fees-Central District to the Off-Street Parking Facilities Fund for acquisition of real property located at 100 N. El Molino Avenue for park development purposes; and Direct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance that will amend Chapter 3.23.010 of the Pasadena Municipal Code to add the proposed park (its three pertaining properties) to the list of dedicated parklands.

  8. Next Steps: Park Planning Phase Continue robust community engagement process in developing a well integrated design for both the proposed park and the remaining parking site. Staff is soliciting proposals from its short-listed landscape architecture firms to hire a design team. Will establish a Steering Committee comprised of key community stakeholders, including but not limited to the Playhouse District Association to partake in planning and development process of the new park and parking lot. Establish boundary line adjustment for parking lot once conceptual design of the park is vetted and finalized. Planning, environmental review and entitlements, as well as design development will be completed in FY 2020.

More Related