With an unusually long gap between scheduled City Council meetings, civic enthusiasts lamenting their suddenly open schedule can look forward to a busy week. No less than six city commissions will meet over the next four days.
The Landmarks Commission, Airport Commission, Planning Commission, Commission for the Senior Community, Housing Commission and Recreation and Parks Commission will meet between Monday and Thursday.
The Monday Landmark's Commission meeting (7 p.m. at City Hall, 1685 Main St.) will include the first hearing of the week related to the old post office on 5th Street and the installation of a fence surrounding the property.
“The proposed color for the perimeter fence will complement the proposed color of the landmark former U.S. Post Office building. The color choice for the five foot high maximum security fence will not detrimentally change, destroy or adversely affect any exterior feature of the landmark Post Office building. All work will be completed in a manner that is consistent with the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation,” said their report.
The Commission will review demolition permits and consider filing applications for structure of merit or landmark status for 15 properties. All are residential in nature and two are currently identified on the Historic Resources Inventory.
One commercial property at 3355 Barnard Way will be considered for landmark status and the Commission has 13 items for discussion ranging from interaction with other government agencies to administrative updates to miscellaneous outreach topics.
The Santa Monica Airport Commission will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, March 15 (7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1685 Main St.). Agenda items include a report on airport leasing policy, a report on noise management and a discussion of internal commission rules.
Airport leases have been controversial since the City forced all aviation related businesses into month-to-month leases. The recent departure of a master tenant has increased interest in the topic with questions about the fate of several sub-tenants.
The Commission for the Senior Community will meet March 16 at 1:30 p.m. in the Ken Edwards Center (1527 4th St.). The meeting will include a presentation on the Local Coastal Plan, discussion of the boards videos and budget, possible proclamation for the Older American's Act and various reports from other commissions.
Planning Commission will also meet Wednesday. The meeting, held at City Hall, 1685 Main St. at 7 p.m., will have the week's second discussion of the old post office location.
According to the staff report, an application has been filed to “adaptively reuse and expand the former U.S. Post Office building at 1248 5th Street to add 14,490 square feet of new creative office space within a 32 feet tall, three-story building. The project would include construction of a proposed addition to the rear exterior of the building along 4th Court while preserving and rehabilitating its historic character-defining features in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior standards.”
Staff is recommending approval of the project.
Planning Commission's agenda also includes clerical changes to the Zoning Code (such as spelling mistakes and formatting changes). A discussion is scheduled for the meeting to identify policy issues that have arisen since adoption of the Zoning Code.
Housing Commission is the first of Thursday's meetings. It will be held at the Main Library (601 Santa Monica Blvd.) in the Community Meeting Room (2nd Floor) at 4:30 p.m. On their agenda is a discussion of transitioning Mountain View Mobile Hope Park to private ownership while preserving the property as affordable housing, discussion of the Commission's retreat, a review of the Downtown Community Plan, election of a new chairperson and several informational reports.
The final meeting of the week is scheduled to be Recreation and Parks. The Commission meets on the third Tuesday of each month at City Hall (1685 Main St.) at 7:30 p.m. The March 17 meeting is listed on the City's calendar of eventsm, however no agenda has been posted for the meeting as of press time.
For a complete list of the City's boards, commissions and appointed bodies, including agendas and meeting times, visit www.smgov.net/departments/clerk/boards.
