Actual Measure P, Marymount Language and My Considerations

I have specific issues with specific elements of the Campus Specific Plan proposed by Marymount College and its Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

What I have done is re-read through the entire document twice during a recent evening and brought out language I have problems with. I am going to input my concerns using a different color of font when I think it needs it as a way of helping me and you understand what Marymount is trying to get into the General Plan of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Title 17 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code ("RPVMC" or "Municipal Code")
and the zoning map are amended to create Specific Plan District V, referred to generally as the Campus Specific Plan and herein as the Specific Plan, and to apply it to the Specific Plan area.

A new Section 17.38.100 and related subsections, as described below, are added to Title 17, Chapter 38 of the Municipal Code, as set forth below.

17.38.100.020. Uses and Development Permitted.

O. Temporary special uses and developments.

We all know the other uses and development Measure P would permit to ‘possibly’ be built but item ‘O’ stands out for me because it doesn’t mention what types of “Temporary special uses and developments” would be allowed. There is no language within the Measure that would exclude any third-party entity from sub-leasing facilities at Marymount College to do whatever they want to do.

17.38.100.040. Development Conditions and Limitations.

Development within the Specific Plan area shall be subject to the Campus Requirements
listed in Attachment F, which include provisions relating to restrictions and limitations upon development and operations within the Specific Plan area.

The Campus Requirements are on file in the office of the director. The city shall have available to it for enforcing the Campus Requirements the same enforcement mechanisms as it would have for conditions of approval of other development projects, except that the city shall not have the power to revoke, repeal, amend or stay the Specific Plan or any or all of its components. The city may also substitute equivalent measures, without the need for a vote of the people, subject to the consent of the Campus owner.

17.38.100.050. Applications for Development.

If an application for development consistent with the Specific Plan is submitted to the city, and is also consistent with all applicable city grading and building standards, then the application shall be issued ministerially. Certificates of occupancy shall also issue ministerially provided only that construction conforms to applicable building and grading requirements for issuance of such certificates, and to the provisions of the Specific Plan.

Title 17 of the RPVMC is hereby amended to create and include Section 17.96.1202 as
follows:

17.96.1202 - Campus Specific Plan

D. Zoning Code; Conflicts with Specific Plan

Except as may be otherwise expressly set forth in the Specific Plan, the standards and definitions of the Specific Plan shall govern in lieu of any provisions of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code and all related zoning regulations and definitions that conflict with any provision of the Specific Plan.

A. Campus Specific Plan.

The only zoning district that is consistent with this Specific Plan is Specific Plan District V.

2. Demolition, Repair and Reconstruction Permitted

The Specific Plan allows for the demolition of any building, structure or other facility within the Specific Plan area. Only a demolition permit, and no other permit or discretionary process or approval, may be required for the demolition, repair or reconstruction of any building, structure or other facility within the Specific Plan area as of the date the Specific Plan becomes effective.

Only building permits and other ministerial permits and processes will be required for the completion of the renovations expressly permitted by the Specific Plan as set forth herein. No discretionary permits, approvals, or processes will be required.

No discretionary permits, approvals, or processes shall be required for any new facility or program expressly permitted within the Specific Plan.

A total of 463 off-street parking spaces are required prior to issuance of the first Certificate of Occupancy for any new building including 391 standard parking spaces and a maximum of 72 compact parking spaces.

This is FEWER parking spaces than what is required under the current municipal codes of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, WITHOUT a variance.

4. New Facilities Permitted

The Specific Plan permits the development of the following uses and facilities within the Specific Plan area:

Library. A new 26,710-square foot library and lecture hall may replace the existing
4,072-square foot library that is connected to the existing academic building, and would include a partial remodel of the facade of the existing academic building.

The Residence Halls, Athletic Facilities, and Gallery are the other new facilities that MAY be permitted but there is no language in the text that states any of these ‘would’, ‘will’, or ‘shall’ be constructed at any time.

B. Ministerial Modifications

1. The applicant for any building permit or other ministerial permit shall have
the right to deviate from the development standards and conditions required in
the Specific Plan as follows:

(a) Adjustments of not more than 5 percent to the locations and footprints
of land uses and facilities on the Specific Plan Land Use Plan may be
permitted by right.

(b) A deviation of not more than 5 percent from any regulation of the
Specific Plan may be permitted by right, except with regard to building
height, parking, fixed classroom seating, setbacks, and maximum
permitted net new development square footage for which no
Ministerial Modifications are permitted.

2. All ministerial modifications shall be reviewed as part of plan check for the
underlying permit, and shall not be denied by the city unless the requested
ministerial modification fails to comply with this Specific Plan.

C. Administrative Modifications

3. The Director of City Planning, Building and Code Enforcement or the
Director's designee(s) shall have the authority to approve deviations from the
development standards and conditions required In the Specific Plan as
follows:

a. The maximum permitted 118,000 square feet of net new
development may be exceeded by not more than 15 percent.

h. Adjustments of more than 5 percent and not more than 15 percent to the locations and footprints of land uses and facilities as described in the Specific Plan Land Use Plan are permitted. Any such adjustment may not increase any view impairment.

c. Except as may be permitted as a ministerial modification, a
deviation of not more than 15 percent from any regulation of the
Specific Plan may be permitted.

E. Relationship to the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code

The provisions of this Specific Plan are in addition to those set forth in the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code ("RPVMC") and do not convey any rights not otherwise granted under the provisions contained therein, except as specifically provided for herein. Whenever provisions of this Specific Plan differ either in being more restrictive or less restrictive from provisions contained in the RPVMC, or any other land development ordinance, statute, regulation or policy, this Specific Plan shall supersede those other provisions. Whenever this Specific Plan is silent with respect to a matter, the provisions of the RPVMC or any other land development ordinance, statute, regulation or policy shall apply. Any ambiguity shall be resolved in favor of the goals and purposes of the Specific Plan.

This is the language that Measure P was created for so as to permit Marymount extraordinary rights and authorities greater than any other business and every resident of the city of Rancho Palos Verdes

F. Interpretation

Whenever any ambiguity or uncertainty related to the application of this Specific Plan exists so that it is difficult to determine the precise application of these provisions, the Director of City Planning, Building and Code Enforcement or his or her designee shall, upon application by the Campus owner, issue binding interpretations of the Specific Plan requirements consistent with the purpose and intent of this Specific Plan. Ambiguity between the Specific Plan and RPVMC shall be interpreted in favor of and consistent with the goals and purposes of this
Specific Plan, and the Specific Plan shall control even if the applicable Municipal Code provision is more recent or more restrictive.

These two portions of Measure P are what sets it apart from a measure that would simply approve the construction of on-campus housing and the language gives Marymount the right to do pretty much whatever it wants according to its Specific Plan which is can change just about any time it wishes to.

The language also supersedes language in The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project that set construction phasing and time limits on Marymount College’s construction program and eliminates timetables and all calendar requirements insofar as when demolition must begin, what new construction is begun and when, and the language allows Marymount to just build the on-campus housing, dining hall redevelopment, student union, and whatever athletic facilities it really “MAY” plan to build, none of any of this would necessarily become any kind of useful benefit to local Rancho Palos Verdes residents or the public in general.


SECTION 5: INTENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS MEASURE

A. Determining Consistency.

To ensure that our intent prevails, and to ensure that development of the Specific Plan is subject to express, objective standards that cannot be changed through subsequent discretionary actions or interpretations, words shall be interpreted according to the intent expressed in this initiative measure, and shall be applied according to their plain meaning, rather than according to the contrary provision of the RPVMC. Determinations of consistency of the Specific Plan and of any proposed construction with the General Plan and zoning regulations of the City, shall be limited to a determination of consistency with the Specific Plan, as adopted by this initiative.'

F. Severability.

If any word or words of this initiative measure, or its application to any situation, are held invalid or unenforceable, in a final judgment that is no longer subject to rehearing, review or appeal by a court of competent jurisdiction, then the word or words are severed, and the remaining parts of this initiative measure, and the application of any part of this initiative measure to other situations, shall continue in full force and effect. We, the people of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, declare that we would have adopted this initiative measure, and each word of it, irrespective of the fact that any other word, condition, or application to any situation, be held invalid. It is our intent that any portion of this initiative measure that can lawfully be implemented be implemented, even if doing so would not permit development of the Specific Plan and even if doing so would otherwise appear trivial or inconsequential.

This lets Marymount ‘off the hook’ in terms of providing a “state-of-the-art library available to Rancho Palos Verdes residents.

CAMPUS REQUIREMENTS

GENERAL CONDITIONS

2) The Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement shall be authorized to
approve minor modifications to any of the Campus Requirements if such
modifications achieve substantially the same results as would strict compliance
with such Requirements.

Say goodbye to City Council oversight.

GENERAL CONSTRUCTION CONDITIONS

11) All on-site construction and grading activities shall be limited to the hours
between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

a Haul Plan shall be submitted by the campus owner to the Public Works Department prior to issuance of grading permits.

Provisions contained in The Marymount College Facilities Expansion Project call for no large hauling of earth materials to or from the campus. This provision does not appear anywhere in the language contained in this document.

OPERATIONAL

116) Unless an earlier time is specified in these Campus Requirements, campus
facilities open for student, participant, and public use shall close by 10:00 p.m.
with the exception of the Library, Auditorium, Student Union and Athletic Facility
which shall close by 11 :00 p.m. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the campus
operator may hold up to six (6) student activity events, such as dances, within a
calendar year in which campus facilities for such events may remain open until
midnight provided that at least three (3) weeks before the event, the campus
operator provides written notice of the special event to the Director of Planning,
Building and Code Enforcement. All such events shall also be posted on the
campus website.

All this means is that Marymount must inform the Director of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement of the events but does NOT provide that Director having any oversight or control over any and all events of the nature in the paragraph.

117) Residence Halls shall be subject to "Quiet Hours" from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
daily. Late night driving shall be discouraged by requiring Residence Hall staff
approval for those drivers wishing to leave the campus between 11 :00 p.m. and
6:00 a.m., and by staff monitoring and recording of any resident vehicle returning
to the campus between 11 :00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

All persons residing anywhere they are not physically confined by court order or arrest are Constitutionally guaranteed the right to come and go as they please and there is no legal way Marymount can actively prohibit individuals, including adults living on Marymount’s campus from leaving or returning to any residential room on Marymount’s campus, at any time, on any day that that person pays to occupy the dorm room.

118) The following areas of the campus shall be closed for all use between sunset and
sunrise and such hours of closure shall be visibly posted in the applicable
location, unless a Special Use Permit is obtained:
• Athletic field
• Rose garden

119) Use of the outdoor pool shall be prohibited between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Monday through Friday, and between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on Saturday and
Sunday, unless a Special Use Permit is obtained.

“Special Use Permits” according to language in Measure P’s documentation are ministerial in nature with the city of Rancho Palos Verdes and basically MUST be granted over and above any municipal code in effect within every other part of Rancho Palos Verdes, EXCEPT on the campus of Marymount College, Palos Verdes.

124) A Neighborhood Advisory Committee shall be established consisting of one
representative selected by each of the following neighboring homeowner's
associations: EI Prado, San Ramon, Mira Catalina, Seacliff Hilltop, and
Mediterrania; two at-large representatives who live within 3000 feet of the
campus (one of which shall be selected by the Director of Planning, Building and
Code Enforcement and one by the campus owner); and a representative from
City Staff (non-voting member). The Committee shall meet, at a minimum of once
every fall and spring term, to review any campus operational and neighborhood
concerns. Reports on the meetings shall be provided to the City Council and the
Planning Commission.

No action of any kind may be given towards any entity or person representing Marymount College because of any and all problems considered by the Neighborhood Advisory Committee or with and by the report to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council.

PROGRAMS I STUDENT ENROLLMENT

125) The following academic and recreational programs and related activities may be
conducted on campus:

• Traditional Degree Programs
• Non-Traditional Degree Programs
• Continuing Educational Programs, such as but not limited to English as a
Second Language (ESL)
• Recreational Activities
• Summer Educational Programs

The use of the campus by groups or organizations unaffiliated with the campus
owner or operator for educational and recreational programs that would have
more than 100 participants or visitors present on campus at one time or would
occupy more than 20% of the 463 required parking spaces during such use shall
require a Special Use Permit.

129) The campus facilities may also be used for "Summer Educational Programs."
Summer Educational Programs are educational programs for persons generally
14 years or older such as college-credit classes for local high school students,
Upward Bound, and international students taking ESL classes along with other
educational classes and recreational activities. Persons enrolled in Summer
Educational Programs are referred to in this Ordinance as "participants" for the
purpose of establishing enrollment limitations.

131) The following enrollment limitations apply:

C. The maximum total permitted enrollment in any combination of Traditional
Degree Programs and Summer Educational Programs offered
concurrently during summer weekdays (June to August) is 600 students
and participants.

Can you say “ Residential Summer Band Camp” and “students residing in dorm rooms during Summer Cheerleading Camp”?

a Special Use Permit will only be required where, based on demonstrable evidence including, but not limited to, verifiable sound tests and reports based on similar past events and activities, a proposed special event or activity will exceed 65 dBA for a cumulative period of more than 15 minutes in any hour at the applicable property lines.

Please remember, the Special Use Permit is ministerial in nature and must be granted because all the items mentioned in the Measure fall within the scope of the Campus Specific Plan which governs and supersedes municipal action.

TRAFFIC

143) Prior to issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for a newly constructed Library,
Maintenance, or Athletic Facility, the following improvement shall be
implemented:

Palos Verdes Drive EastlMiraleste Drive - Signalize the intersection. The
intersection traffic signal shall be designed to include a westbound right turn
overlap, which would preclude u-turn movement from southbound to
northbound Palos Verdes Drive East.

Western Avenue (SR-213)/Trudie Drive-Capitol Drive - Re-stripe the
eastbound Trudie Drive approach from one shared left-turn/through lane
and one de-facto right-turn lane to consist of one left-turn lane and one
shared through/right-turn lane. Implementation of this measure shall be
coordinated with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, City of Los Angeles,
and Caltrans.

The Campus owner implementing this improvement may be eligible in the future
for partial reimbursement from future projects that result in impacts on this
intersection.

144) Prior to issuance of any Certificate of Occupancy, the Campus owner shall make
a one-time proportionate share contribution (13.21 % based on AM peak hour
cumulative impacts) to implement the following:

Palos Verdes Drive East/Palos Verdes Drive South - Modify the
intersection to provide a two-stage gap acceptance design for southbound
left-turning vehicles. A raised median refuge area shall be constructed for
vehicles to turn left from Palos Verdes Drive East to cross westbound
Palos Verdes Drive South while waiting for a gap in eastbound traffic to
complete the turn to eastbound Palos Verdes Drive South. Additionally,
the existing raised median shall be narrowed to provide an acceleration
lane along Palos Verdes Drive South to accommodate vehicles
accelerating to join eastbound Palos Verdes Drive South traffic flow.
Modifications to the Palos Verdes Drive East/Palos Verdes Drive South
intersection shall be designed taking into account truck turning radius
requirements and shall be to the satisfaction of the Public Works Director.
Since the Palos Verdes Drive East/Palos Verdes Drive South intersection
is impacted by the development anticipated in the Campus Specific Plan
for cumulative conditions, a proportionate share contribution (13.21 %
based on AM peak hour cumulative impacts) by the Campus owner
seeking the Certificate of Occupancy is applicable.

Traffic mitigation is mentioned in Measure P, The Marymount Plan as you can plainly read above. With Marymount’s 13.21% “Share Contribution” 86.79% of the remaining cost of the mitigation MUST be provided by funds NOT CONTROLLED by Marymount. The 86.79% funds can ONLY come from one source.

TAXPAYER FUNDS!

So, whenever you read “at no taxpayer expense” what Marymount is contending is that ONLY PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION ON MARYMOUNT’S CAMPUS “may” be done using no taxpayer funds.

Measure P, The Marymount Plan clearly and plainly states that some taxpayer funds must be used to accomplish the mitigation contained within The Marymount Plan, therefore, TAXPAYER FUNDS WILL BE USED should mitigation actually occur.

146) The total number of vehicles for those residing in the Residence Halls will be
limited to a maximum of 125. (allowed in Marymount’s parking lot.)

The language contained within Measure P does NOT INCLUDE any mention of students who may live on-campus and NOT park their vehicles on Marymount’s campus and who would have their personal vehicles either stored at an off-campus location or walk to and from their vehicles legally parked on local streets.

When Marymount asserts it will contribute “$200,000.00 towards the construction of a 1,000 foot concrete center barrier along the curve of Palos Verdes Drive East as it goes around Marymount’s campus, that mitigation is not mentioned anywhere in the wording of Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

It may be advertised and marketed by Marymount as a community benefit, but it doesn’t appear anywhere in the document Marymount seeks voter approval for.

Please vote “No” on Measure P, The Marymount Plan.

Safety. Everyone. Everywhere. Every hour.