The mayor reaffirmed the city’s commitment to following the suggestions made by the Urban Land Institute for the city’s downtown at the Feb. 3 Manhattan Beach City Council meeting.
The council had asked for staff to report on the conference in an effort to keep the momentum created by having the nonprofit city planning panel visit the town.
“This was the epitome of community engagement,” said Mayor Wayne Powell. “The only thing left to do is for us to implement it. I guarantee you, it will be forthcoming.”
Community Development Director Marisa Lundstedt laid out the timeline for the city’s immediate action, saying there would be a study session for the council on February 23. She said the city would look into awarding a contract for the crosswalk/streetscape preparation at the council’s February 17 meeting. The next steps, she said, would be to organize the rest of the suggestions into four categories: “quick wins,” which would take less resources and have great value; “big hitters,” which would take more resources but have great value; “low-hanging fruit,” which would cst little but also not deliver as much; and “money pit,” which would cost a lot and not be worth much, and which they hoped to avoid.
Lundstedt highlighted certain suggestions in her report Tuesday.
Among them was ULI’s suggestion to come up with a parking management plan and to charge more for parking. In the ULI’s final report, Erin Talkington emphasized that improving parking was critical to downtown’s success. She noted that visitors support 60 percent of the overall retail space and make up almost 75 percent of restaurant patrons, but that traffic and a lack of parking could serve as a deterrent to visitors. Alternatively, she said, the city could reduce downtown’s footprint. Like the rest of the ULI panel, she urged action now, saying that “prolonging these conversations creates uncertainly and inefficiency which is bad for business and the community.”
To solve the parking problem, ULI had a few solutions. They suggested using technology to do demand pricing — charging more for parking when spaces are fewer — which would insure that spaces would be available. To reduce congestion, they offered shuttling visitors from the Manhattan Village Mall to downtown, instituting residential parking permits in certain neighborhoods, having more valet parking, and charging more for parking to pay for future upgrades.
ULI was also critical of the city’s current streetscape, saying that some of it was in disrepair and that its aesthetics could be improved. The Institute suggested improving landscaping, which it said was “inconsistent” and “non-descript,” lighting for safety; the use of plazas; and making sidewalks wider for various uses, like outdoor dining.
The panel suggested creating a Downtown Specific Plan, which the city had already designated the consultant firm PMC to do.
The rest of the ideas highlighted by Lundstedt were less tangible, such as using the city’s AAA bond rating to “invest in the future,” identify opportunites for public-private partnerships, fill the economic development manager position, develop consistent design guidelines and create a downtown retail strategy and public art plan. ER
