Uncertainty
Three of the five Council members said they needed to know whether promises or considerations were made to the developers to ease highly visible project through the sometimes perilous approval process.
After defining entitlements as pre-approved conditions under which a project can be approved, Mr. Weisman said that when 9900 was sold, it was not pre-entitled. Approval would have to come after the fact.
9900 was merely a piece of property (intended) for mixed-use development What it would look like eventually was a subject for discussion before the Planning Commission and the City Council.
No Surprise Endings
No one should expect to uncover exotically mysterious or revelatory information in the sale papers, the Planning Commissioner said.
9900 is really no different from anything else the city has considered, Mr. Weisman said.
He asserted that 9900 Culver the several-parcel parking lot of the U.S. Post Office at Culver and Duquesne, across from City Hall has followed the same trajectory as other Culver City redevelopment projects.
A Closer Look
It is receiving microscopic scrutiny this week because the project has made the normal progression from generalities to specificities.
Here is the dilemma:
There probably was little doubt at the time of the sale last year that both the Redevelopment Agency and the developers had an idea of what the final project would look like. But that is all, just an idea. I dont think the city said more than that.
9900 Culver may be plain-jane in a legalistic sense, but judging by the language invoked on the dais on Monday night, the project is at least distinctive if not unique.
Changing Status
The unusually vague positions held by a majority of City Council members, the volatility of their lengthy debate and their inability to articulate a clear course of strategy for reaching a solution all have tended to elevate 9900 Culver from a routine redevelopment to an extraordinary project.
Mr. Weisman acknowledged that several unsettled aspects of 9900 Culver were almost bound to fuel heated debate.
Adjustments Necessary
Because of the location of the land and the fact that the several-parcel parking lot was multi-zoned, code-tweaking or concessions would be needed to build a mixed-use building.
Concessions became a loaded term at the last Council meeting.
Something would have to give. This is where the ultimate approval by the City Council comes in.
Given certain physical and legal properties of the land, Mr. Weisman said the project could not have been pre-approved.
Even if a developer with an unassailable resume and a sinless character had acquired the property, controversy likely would have ensued.
Location of the land Since 9900 is feet beyond the boundary line that determines the (more forgiving) zoning code for Downtown properties, a code concession would be required.
Multi-zoned parcels Since the parking lot is governed by more than one zoning designation, and since the property was sold as a single plot, City Council approval would be required to achieve commonality so the mixed-use project could be built.
A Matter of Order
With the City Council scheduled to take a determining vote on 9900 on Monday, July 23, the project may be proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Whether there is order or orderliness beyond that is debatable.
