It’s time for a reprieve and study of the Impact of All Projects at Washington & National. Please see attached map showing related Developments to help illustrate the massive change to come to the livability of the Arts District. Click here.
On Feb. 17, the Ivy Station Project was approved by the Planning Commission with minor modifications to the conditions of approval.
This evening, approval-rejection-or modification comes before the City Council at its 7 o’clock meeting
As we, the Arts District Residents for Responsible Development, see it, the city has not fully analyzed the impact of this project, and the cumulative effect of all the Washington/National projects on our neighborhood, as they relate to traffic, parking, ability for our fire and police to provide emergency response during bumper-to-bumper rush-hours, and demand for services at Syd Kronenthal Park and the nearby elementary school, Lin Howe.
A lot more needs to be analyzed regarding construction logistics and lane closures, bike paths, methods to promote the use of the Metro for those who work at the Ivy Complex, and methods for Metro riders to tackle The Last Mile once they get off the train.
These considerations need to be fully vetted – with community input — prior to the Council signing off on the project as it is currently planned. We have the opportunity to shape this project into something great for our community.
While the proposed development is better than some of what is going up nearby, there still is much room for improvement.
Many of my neighbors are concerned that the developer is seeking a height exemption to 80 feet. At the Planning Commission meeting, the developer and city staff defended this height exemption as the only viable way to provide the amount of open space desired by the city.
There was an unwillingness to discuss any middle ground to the questions posed by our Commissioners that night. When asked by one of the Commissioners if it would be possible to step back the upper floors of the faces of the 80-foot hotel at the sharp northwest corner of Washington and National, the only response given was deferred to the developer’s architect. His response was to the effect of “it will diminish the strong aesthetic statement we are trying to make……blah, blah, blah.’
While sitting in the current unbearable morning traffic heading west into Culver City, which will be dramatically worsened in years to come, this strong aesthetic statement will be a looming, constant insult to the Arts District Residents.
Many Arts District Residents are concerned that the city never performed an environmental study of the cumulative effect of all the projects in the Transit-Oriented District, and instead deferred its study to each individual project. We believe that the city and developer have failed to prove that an EIR is not necessary for the Ivy Station Development, and is attempting to shortcut the system by using a CEQA Mitigated Negative Declaration.
There are even conflicting traffic reports performed by a huge nearby project in L.A. that determined Washington and National to have level of service of “F” in the morning rush and “F” in the evening rush in 2018.
Somehow the Ivy’s most current traffic report states the level of service is less significant. Please keep in mind that the Arts District neighborhood between National Boulevard and east to La Cienega Boulevard is all cul-de-sacs.
We solely depend upon Washington Boulevard for access in and out of our homes.
In the presentation at the requisite Developer Community Outreach meetings, this project was hailed as being a Grand Gateway into Culver City. What they forgot is you are already in Culver City, and the Arts District Residents are going to be figuratively decapitated from the body of the city to which it belongs.
Downtown Culver City was carefully planned throughout the last decade and maintains the small town charm that Culver City thrives upon.
Careful planning is needed now at Washington and National, not just regarding the livability of the Arts District, but the values that make Culver City great. Please support our concerns and attend tonight’s City Council meeting and/or email our Council members.
Mr. Mand is president of Arts District Residents for Responsible Development. He may be contacted via CulverCityADRRD@gmail.com.
Yes, Ken. This is very well put. There are so many residents in our neighborhood who have been in Culver City for 30+ years. What an affront to them, especially, to cut them off from the city they have helped to transform. Development is inevitable, but awful development is not. Thank you for leading the charge to help our WHOLE city to thrive during this boom.
THANK YOU! I leave my street on Fay Avenue and immediately hit bumper to bumper on Washington. I WORK in Culver City, yet it takes me 15 minutes to get to downtown, I can walk there faster. Now, only one of the 4 projects slated for Washington and National are open. Where the heck are all the additional cars from the residents and employees going to go. We already have no room for more cars! This is ridiculous! Washington is the only road in and out.
The Zoning Changed because the train is there and is supporting alternate means of transportation. When doing so, nobody figured out a comprehensive plan for how to truly support this effort.
Right now it just feels like an excuse to maximize building and subsequent tax base.
City Council needs to direct staff to take a look at the net sum of all the developments to figure what can be sustained, while not putting all the burden on the shoulders of the Arts District Residents. As I stated before, it is time for a reprieve.
Thanks again, Ken, for spearheading this effort of the CC Arts District Residents and surrounding CC population. It doesn’t make any sense to me that I work out in the valley, yet the bulk of my commute time is spent in the last 2 miles of my trek back home…usually via Downtown CC and Washington Blvd., which has gotten steadily worse over the past year or so, *before* any of these projects have even opened. I can’t imagine how bad it’s going to be when everything is up.