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Council approves EIR, Specific Plan for Boeing site
March 15th, 2002
Includes new Kaiser Hospital
By John Adams
DOWNEY-After a public hearing the City Council has adopted a resolution certifying the Environmental Impact Report and introduced an ordinance approving a Specific Plan for the 160 acre Boeing/NASA site.
The action was at Tuesday's regular Council meeting.
The Planning Commission recommended the action on Feb. 20. The City contracted with EIP Associates of Los Angeles to help prepare both the plan and EIR. Spokesmen for both Downey Landing, LLC and Kaiser Permanente spoke glowingly of the Council's approval which allows the project to go ahead.
Major hospital plan
Greg Adams of Kaiser, headed a team of speakers including an architect who explained how a six-story hospital and two four-story office buildings will be blended through landscapes and accessed through a Downey Landing Drive that will cut across the project. Councilman Keith McCarthy immediately saw the possibility of a bicycle route. Adams' team also explained how the parking structure can be expanded.
Doug Gray, president of Downey Landing, LLC, told how walkways 20 to 28 feet wide will give the commercial center a special look.
And a Downey Landing, LLC traffic expert allayed Council fears that traffic impact might be unmanageable. He said there was plenty of room to extend left turn lanes to handle increased traffic flow, and that there was even space to add a regular traffic lane in key areas.
Customized zoning
The Specific Plan is customized zoning for the 160 acre project site of the former NASA Industrial Plant. It contains land use regulations for the new development, as well as developmental standards for rehabilitating existing buildings on the property. It replaces the existing General Manufacturing zoning (M-2), and Parking Buffer (P-B). Staff found the existing zoning inconsistent and not designed to accommodate the variety of commercial and business park uses (including movie/TV production) that are planned for the site. The recommended Specific Plan provides these land use standards to guide the site's transition from its former use as an aerospace industrial plant to its future as a multiple-use development. The staff report notes the site is bounded by Stewart and Gray Road on the north, Lakewood Boulevard and Clark Avenue on the west, Imperial Highway on the south, and Bellflower Boulevard on the east.
The official applicants are Downey Landing, LLC and Kaiser Permanente. Downey Landing's proposal included multiple uses for 117 acres of the 160 acre site, including a 28 acre retail center that will occupy the northern portion, a movie/TV production studio complex for the central portion, and a business/technology park on the eastern portion. Kaiser Permanente plans a new hospital/medical office complex for 30 acres on the southern portion of the property. It will include a six-story hospital and a four-story medical office building. The remaining 13 acres of the 160 acres will be reserved for a school/park/learning center.
The final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) discusses the impact of the Specific Plan, and contains recommended mitigation measures designed to lessen the extent of those impacts.
Speakers at the Council meeting as well as the Feb. 20 Planning Commission meeting included Douglas Gray, president of Downey Landing, LLC; Greg Adams, senior vice president of Kaiser Permanente; and James Herrington, design and construction manager for Kaiser Permanente. Residents also expressed concern over traffic circulation, pedestrian access to the park, street parking and noise impacts. After discussion of mitigation measures in the report, the planners approved the resolution adopting the final EIR and recommended approval of the Specific Plan. The mitigation measures discussed included the possible installation of a traffic light at Clark Avenue (at the major entrance to the development); the application of the City's existing Noise Ordinance; the development of family-style restaurants rather than fast food eateries in the project; and the inclusion of the park/school/learning center as a integral part of the plan. After consideration, the Council approved both the EIR and Specific Plan by 4-0 votes (Councilman Richard Trejo was absent). Next
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