Civic center, sales tax, e-bikes, permit fees, public comments all in a night’s work for Hermosa Beach Council [UPDATE]
by Kevin Cody
A new civic center, a new sales tax, a new e-bike ordinance, new Conditional Use Permit fees, and new public comment guidelines are all on the agenda for a special Hermosa Beach Council meeting to be held Thursday, February 15.
Community input sought on new civic center
At top of the Thursday, February 15 council agenda is a new civic center.
Proposals for a civic center were presented to the city council last November by Jeffrey Fullerton, of Fullerton Consulting. The proposals included building a new city hall, a new police station and a new library
A city staff report for the February 15 meeting proposes a 12- to 18-month long “community engagement plan.” The first two months would focus on building a civic center website and a social media campaign; conducting an online survey, and eliciting public comment.
In subsequent months, the plan calls for public tours of the civic center, community meetings, and pop up presentations at the Farmers Markets and the Surfer’s Walk of Fame inductions in April.
The staff report proposes retention of a community engagement consultant, at a cost estimated to be $50,000 to $150,000. The report also proposes retaining Fullerton Consulting.
The staff report presents five options for the new civic center, with estimates ranging from $100 million to $130 million. Among the options is moving city hall to the community center parking lot and leasing the current city hall property to a hotel, or other private sector developer.
“If done right, I think this can have a positive contribution to the city’s budget, or at least be cost neutral,” Fullerton told the council at its November meeting.
‘Use it or lose it’ sales tax proposed
A Council discussion about placing a 3/4% to 1% Transaction and Use Tax (TUT or sales tax) on the November 5 ballot will follow the civic center discussion at the Thursday, February 15
A similar, 3/4% sales tax placed by the council on the November 2022 ballot failed by a vote of 45 percent in favor and 55 percent opposed. A sales tax increase requires the support of four council members to be placed on the ballot, and support from over 50 percent of voters to be approved.
A 3/4% increase would generate an estimated $3 million annually for the city’s general fund; a 1% increase would produce an estimated $4 million annually, according to the staff report.
If the sale tax is approved, it would nearly double the approximately $4 million the city currently receives in sales tax. According to the 2023-24 city budget, sales taxes account for 10 percent of the city’s budget. Almost 50 percent of the city’s sales taxes come from downtown businesses, according to the city budget.
The proposed sales tax increase is a “use it or lose” proposition because of a state law that caps sales taxes at 10.25 percent. Hermosa’s current sales tax is 9.5 percent. If Hermosa voters don’t approve the proposed tax increase, another County agency could ask voters’ approval for it, the staff report notes. (The sales tax increase available to Hermosa could increase to 1%, depending on the outcome of a County Homeless tax, according to the staff report.)
All of the sales tax increase from the proposed ballot measure would go to Hermosa’s general fund. Hermosa keeps only 1% of the current 9.5% sales tax. Another argument in favor of the sales tax increase, the staff report notes, is that an unquantified amount of the increased sales tax would be paid by Hermosa visitors.
CUP refill
The third agendized discussion for the Thursday, Feb. 15 Special Council Meeting is about Conditional Use Permit fees. Hermosa requires CUPs of restaurants, and bars. CUPs are subject to review by city departments and approval by the Planning Commission. They govern conditions such as hours, occupancy and parking. Restaurant dining decks also require CUPs
Hermosa’s application fee for a new CUP application is $5,900. The CUP amendment fee is $5,200. Amendments are typically required if a business wishes to changs its hours, occupancy or other similar operations. By comparison Manhattan Beach charges $11,294, and Redondo Beach charges $3,208 for new CUP applications. El Segundo’s fee of $17,246 is the highest among the six South Bay cities surveyed by the staff for its report to the City Council.
Hermosa’s CUP fees were set in 2016, and are subject to annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustments. The fees are intended to cover administrative costs, the staff report states.
Because of cost increases since 2016, the staff report “acknowledges that this [adjusting the CUP fees] would likely result in an increase to fees if the city were to achieve 100 percent recovery costs.”
Hermosa Beach Valley School students must have an e-bike sticker to park their e-bikes on campus. Students must complete a safety class to obtain a sticker. Over 100 e-bike stickers have been issued. Photo by Kevin Cody
E-bike impoundment at officer’s discretion
The fourth significant issue for discussion on the Feb. 15 Council agenda is a proposed ordinance regulating e-bikes. The ordinance would also apply to pedal bikes.
The ordinance would allow police to impound e-bikes and bicycles of riders cited for traffic violations. It would also require riders under 18 to wear helmets.
The ordinance would allow e-bikes on sidewalks, and on The Strand, but prohibit pedal assist on The Strand.
Manhattan Beach recently banned e-bikes on its sidewalks and Strand, but allows e-bikes on its bike path. Hermosa Council Members have expressed opposition to banning e-bikes on sidewalks because of concern for kids being forced to travel on busy streets, such as Pacific Coast Highway.
Comments welcomed, but keep ‘em brief
The fifth agendized item for discussion at the Feb. 15 special council meeting addresses changes to the public comment procedures.
Currently, the public is permitted to comment on non agendized items at the start of council meetings. Comments are limited to three minutes, but there is no limit to the number of speakers. The changes, as described in the staff report, would limit public comments to two minutes per individual, and 30 minutes total. Persons who do not have the opportunity to speak during the initial 30 minutes, would be allowed to comment on non agendized items at the end of the council meeting.
Additionally, people wishing to comment on non agendized items would have to do so in person. Currently, public comments may be delivered via Zoom.
Public comments on agendized items would continue to be allowed via Zoom. ER