Zoning, name change considered for Sepulveda
The City Council is considering a host of changes to Sepulveda Boulevard, including increasing allowable building heights to encourage more hotel development and zoning for mixed-use residential and senior care facilities. Also on the table is the boulevard’s potential renaming to Pacific Coast Highway.
The discussion regarding possible changes to the city’s main thoroughfare has been underway for the better part of a year and will culminate with a public hearing on July 17. The proposed name change will be considered in August.
At its July 3 meeting, the council received a report outlining suggested enhancements to Sepulveda generated by a council-appointed ad hoc working group comprised of two dozen community members and vetted by the Planning Commission.
Anne McIntosh, the city’s community development director, emphasized that the impetus behind any proposed changes is not that Sepulveda is a problem area for the city. McIntosh, in fact, was wearing a T-shirt adorned with “I [heart] Sepulveda.” She noted at an earlier meeting Mayor Amy Howorth expressed surprise when McIntosh began a presentation by declaring her love for a street not exactly known for inspiring such passion.
“I want to tell you why,” McIntosh said. “As we did our research about Sepulveda — the Sepulveda corridor and the boulevard itself — for our project, we learned, really, that from a planning perspective, Sepulveda is actually a very successful commercial corridor. It has a very low vacancy rate. It has a really well-balanced mix of uses. And it has businesses that serve the residents of Manhattan Beach that you don’t find in the downtown area — there’s car repair and car services, home furnishings, fitness, beauty salon, fast food, restaurants, schools and academies, offices and medical uses and…a plant nursery. And this is exactly what you want from a commercial corridor in a city.”
“It works,” she added. “It provides those essential uses to the residents in that area…So what we are doing tonight is we are talking about sort of the status of the boulevard. And with the backdrop of, we’re not trying to fix something that’s broken. We are trying to look to see if there are ways to enhance opportunities along the corridor.”
Two different issues arose on Sepulveda in the last year that sparked the council’s review of the corridor — the arrival of a new urgent care facility, Exer, and an application for a new senior care facility, Sunrise Senior Living. Concerned about the proliferation of such facilities, the council last August enacted an emergency ordinance on any new medical uses that will expire August 6; Sunrise Senior Living, meanwhile, submitted a proposal to build a facility on the Goat Hill area of Sepulveda. Senior living has not been deemed a permitted use on Sepulveda by the city.
As a staff report noted, the Sepulveda corridor has been studied several times over the last two decades “to determine if more intentional planning could result in more development cohesion along this arterial.” Most recently the notion of developing a Sepulveda Specific Plan was considered. Last September, the council and staff instead tasked the ad hoc working group with taking a broad look at the corridor and recommending possible improvements to its economic vitality, parking, traffic, and beautification. The group, which consisted of residents with various areas of expertise, including real estate and economic development, conducted five public meetings before compiling its report. Its suggestions were largely backed by the Planning Commission.
One of the report’s most significant recommendations was encouraging uses seen as lacking on the corridor, such as high-end restaurants, mixed-use development, hotels, and community related amenities like a local theater and/or children’s museum.
“To be honest, I think hotel [use] was kind of the driver,” McIntosh said. “A lot of people have talked about additional hotels on Sepulveda, and that seems to be the one type of use we are hearing interest in that just can’t happen.”
Developers and architects, McIntosh said, suggested that new hotels have not been locating on Sepulveda because of an existing height restriction that limits building to 30 feet but also requires pitched roofs that in practice often limit usable height to 22 feet. The working group suggested allowing a height limit of up to 45 feet for hotel uses.
“I think that’s kind of the missing piece, if you are interested in more hotels…” McIntosh said.
“Interested in more T.O.T.[Transient Occupancy Tax],” Councilperson Steve Napolitano interjected.
Neither the working group or Planning Commission recommended restricting medical uses. Both groups somewhat cautiously recommended adding mixed use at certain sites along the corridor, suggesting the city review its current mixed-use guidelines and investigate what types of mixed-use might best fit Sepulveda. The working group identified several potential sites for possible redevelopment with hotel or mixed-use projects, including the former Rite Aid property, Goat Hill, the location of the El Torito restaurant, and the 2nd Half Sports bar.
The working group also recommended overall beautification of the corridor, widening sidewalks, and installing better nighttime lighting for pedestrian safety.
The public hearing was continued from July 3 to July 17 in part because Howorth was absent. Councilmembers were limited in their comments, waiting for the full public hearing to conclude. Napolitano thanked the working group, who were volunteers, for saving the city the cost of hiring consultants to study Sepulveda.
“This is a group that is home grown,” he said. “They are residents of Manhattan Beach, they have vast experience in real estate and in this community, and it’s something different we undertook and we gave a specific timeline and they came in under that time line. It’s very much appreciated, we saved the citizens thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. ”
The notion of changing the name of the boulevard to Pacific Coast Highway is tentatively slated to be explored at the council’s first meeting in August.
Councilperson Richard Montgomery, who agendize he preliminary discussion the issue, said he did so at the request of local businesses and residents near Sepulveda. He also noted that El Segundo last month renamed its portion of Sepulveda to PCH, as have all other nearby cities.
“It could have an impact on the city, and visitors,” Montgomery said. “That is why I want council to discuss it.”
Montgomery asked the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce to poll members regarding the name change. Mark Lipps, the CEO of the MB Chamber, said that thus far 24 businesses — including such heavy hitters as Skechers and the Manhattan Village Mall and small businesses such as Grow and Tin Roof Bistro — have expressed support for the name change. Lipps said six businesses, including Manhattan Postal Center, Kaiser, and Union Bank, oppose the name change.
“Yet there are many who believe the name change is in the name of progress and, if this is a positive for business development along Sepulveda, then so be it,” Lipps said. “They believe marketing as Pacific Coast Highway is a positive for business in our beach community. And some naysayers will respond the beach is a mile away. Plus just the GPS logistic issues. Skechers new buildout will live in both MB and Hermosa.”
“If it were a vote among local business on Sepulveda then I think the name change would pass,” Lipps said. “More business for than against.”