Culver City Observer -

December 21, 2012

Community Development Department

• City dog Club – Work has been completed on an 8,600 square foot tenant improvement for a new dog boarding/grooming kennel located at 3940 Higuera Street.

• Which Wich? - Plans have been submitted for a new sandwich shop located at 3849 Main Street.

• Starbucks Coffee Co. – Located at 4114 Sepulveda Boulevard is now open.

• Pei Wei Asian Restaurant – The restaurant, located at 4114 Sepulveda Boulevard is now under construction.

• Enjoeat – Plans have been submitted for a new café and bakery located at 3912 Van Buren Place.

• Smashbox Studios / Cosmetics – Plans have been submitted to renovate the existing office space to allow for a production facility located at 8538 Warner Drive.

• Cherry On Top – A new drive-thru frozen yogurt shop, located at 12350 Washington Place, is under construction and near completion.

• 8770 Washington Boulevard – The Planning Commission approved a Comprehensive Plan to allow a mixed use development in the City’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) District adjacent to the Expo light rail line consisting of 31,240 square feet of commercial uses, 115 residential dwelling units, and 7,198 square feet of public open space.

• Public Parking Facilities – The City Council approved the rezoning of City owned parking facilities to a new Public Parking Facilities (PPF) zoning designation.

• 4043 Irving – This project is approximately 49% complete, on budget and scheduled for completion in May 2013.

• Economic Development – Economic Development staff in conjunction with the Chamber, the Economic Development Subcommittee and Muni Services concluded initial outreach with the business community and will be scheduling regular meetings going forward. A meeting was held on December 18 with the Economic Subcommittee to discuss next steps pertaining to the Economic Development Strategy and to examine activities that can quickly be implemented.

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department

· Parks and Playgrounds – The Culver City After School Recreation Program (CCARP) is celebrating the holiday season with a party on Friday, December 21 after which time, the program will be on a two-week holiday break.

· Culver City Events – The City of Culver City and the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics co-presented a free Gymnastics Spectacular on Sunday, December 16 in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. More than 40 gymnastic students participated in this family-friendly event and approximately 175 people attended.

· Veterans Memorial Complex Rentals – Staff has completed new web pages on the City’s website for the Veterans Memorial Complex rental operation. New photos and layouts for the Veterans Memorial Building, the Teen Center and the Senior Center, as well as rental information, have been added to assist prospective renters. Web links have also been added to the Home, Residents, Business, Visitors and Arts & Culture pages. Renters may visit the website at www.culvercity.org and contact rental staff at VMC.Booking@culvercity.org or (310) 253-6625.

Public Works Department

· Parking Meter Installations/Retrofits– The Public Works Department’s Maintenance Operations Division has completed the retrofit and/or installation of approximately 360 meters along the following routes:

1) North and south side of Washington Boulevard from Sepulveda Boulevard to Wade Street

2) North and south side of Culver Boulevard from Overland Avenue to Duquesne Avenue

The work included the retrofit of existing coin operated mechanical meters and the new installation of meters utilizing IPS meters that accept coins and credit cards. These meters also alert the Parking Meter Technician of common alarms such as coin jams.

· Holiday Slowdown - In order to promote vehicular and pedestrian access to the retail and commercial centers during the holiday season, the following Holiday Slowdown periods shall be observed in which work in the public right-of-way shall be prohibited:

A. Those commercial streets identified as Primary and Secondary Arteries in the City’s Circulation Element of the General Plan:

o Seven calendar days prior to and including Christmas Day.

o The week between Christmas Day and New Years’ Day.

B. Those residential streets identified as Local Streets and Neighborhood Feeders in the City’s Circulation Element of the General Plan:

o Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after Christmas.

o New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.

During the slowdown, each job site shall be maintained in a clean and safe manner. Any deviation from the Holiday slowdown shall be approved by the City Engineer.

· Tree Removals- Over the course of the past three weeks, a total of 13 trees were removed from City parkways. The removals were determined to be necessary by the City’s Arborist for the following reasons: deteriorated health; need for sidewalk repair requiring extensive tree root removal; emergency water main repair; unstable root structure; and tree failure.

· On-Bill Financing Street Light Project - The City completed the replacement of 436 high pressure sodium street lights with energy-efficient induction lights. The project will save roughly 283,911 kWh of energy per year. Through Southern California Edison’s On-Bill Financing program, these energy savings will be used to pay off a zero interest loan that funded the project. The project will also result in a rebate of over $14,000, which will make the street light retrofits even more cost-effective.

· Sepulveda Sharrow Installation – On December 10 the City Council approved the installation of Shared Lane Markings (“Sharrows”) on Sepulveda Boulevard between the Culver Boulevard and the City boundary south of Franklin Avenue. Per the City Council’s direction at the December 10^th meeting, Culver City Public Works Department staff contacted City of Los Angeles staff and received confirmation that the City of Los Angeles plans to install Sharrows from the City boundary to Ballona Creek. Together, these installations by the City of Culver City and the City of Los Angeles will provide bike connectivity between the Culver Boulevard and Ballona Creek Class I Bike Paths. The installations will be coordinated, as feasible, and are currently anticipated to occur in late January or early February 2013.