BLOG: What $16 Million Buys for a Robo-Garage – Part 3

LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT $16 MILLION BUYS THESE DAYS

Stepping back from the controversies and opinions to be fair, WE (the city and the residents who will not just have the annual budget impacted almost indefinitely with the cost to build, then run and maintain this giant machine clad in materials to look like a building) will get from the 'scheme' devised by our highly paid professional City Manager and large staff.

1. First we WILL GET (as we did with the new library) a brand new LEED-certified new public building structure. 

That is more than just the award the Council Members will add to their wall of self honors that I imagine fills the 3rd floor office walls of City Hall.

Getting LEED Green Building Certification give enormous financial benefits for meeting stringent requirements. 

Well, perhaps I should say the State gives very desirable "INCENTIVES to build green.”

That should certainly sound more familiar to regular meeting attendees. The "INCENTIVES" we hear that are thrown out of Council Members mouths like a sneeze in a room full of allergy suffers.

2. And there are INCENTIVES given for creating NEW PARKING SPACES.

And for creating new green open public Meeting Space - you all saw the design

3. Likewise we get "INCENTIVES" for the planned, low water planting and landscaping that will be put in once the City removes the giant old pine tree that stands in front of what will be the driveway entry to the new garage.

BUT WAIT TREE LOVERS!

According to the latest post-design spin, the City is not losing any mature trees by the loss of the giant pine that currently stands at the street side of the current City Hall parking lot.

We were just told that a paid tree expert was hired ($$$). Surprising to everyone (especially the designer who had already designed the driveway to go where the tree now stands), it is not a loss because that tree, as the current City story goes, cannot be saved due to it being trimmed over the years in such a way that it is going to fall one day on to the new garage and thus must be removed.

Funny how that poor old tree was discovered to be a falling hazard only AFTER the plans were completed which happened to have been made with the entry driveway only possible where the now discovered poor sick old tree stands.

4. Councilman John Heilman asked, and it looked obvious he finally understood, at the July 16 Council meeting if the large setbacks the blueprints show on the south-east side of the project will in fact be set back at street level as it shows, but will be completely overhung by the four remaining stories of the 5-story structure that fills the whole site, unlike the artist’s rendering which depicts it as a large open setback on the entire south-east side of the massive structure. 

Heilman finally understood and didn't see any problem once it was explained to him. Nor did it seem to contradict that it could be used to augment the already large 27-foot wide new public space between City Hall and the equally tall robo-garage behind.

5. But I suspect there are "INCENTIVES" for 'setbacks' which apparently the Robo-Garage overhanging above will still be counted as actual 'setbacks' from the street for "INCENTIVE" qualification.

In sum, we (the city) may just have made a quite lucrative deal for a massive number of extremely sought after "STATE BUILDING INCENTIVES" to enhance livability in new construction .... all combined on such a small tiny parcel of City land that was once just a perfectly sized lot for regular City Hall use.

Could our wise and financially savvy City Manager just invest a mere $16 Million in exchange for not just one or two "STATE BUILDING INCENTIVES" but a whole bunch stacked into what resulted in the robo-design?

The imagination could run wild with how to best spend the windfall of stacking of state incentives!

Actually - imagination or not, the INCENTIVES are useless to the city.

The STATE BUILDING INCENTIVES - are what they say they are. An INCENTIVE for private developers to increase parking, add low-income units, add setbacks, go green (all costly and would consume much of the land to be developed) and in return they can build 2/3 bigger than existing zoning for height/setbacks/square footage would ever allow.

The City can't use the earned State Building Incentives since the City does not develop giant mixed-use projects. 

Private developers invest money for profit (nothing wrong there - that's what America is all about) and within the existing established zoning and building codes, get as much profit possible from their development.

SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON??

Is the city spending $16 million dollars to take city owned property and build this robo-garage to get as many 'STATE INCENTIVES' as possible and then pass those 'STATE INCENTIVES' over to the private developers of the two La Brea mega projects so that they could get the multiple-zoning increases under the State Incentive Program?....

The City IS planning to use the City's property (not the precious and limited lots that once had a Carl’s Jr. and Jon’s market) to put the parking, LEED Certified, Public Space., Setback and other stacked STATE INCENTIVES ....

And then the city is paying the outrageous costs of constructing a ridiculous project that was designed only for getting incentives on top of incentives and has nothing to do with parking needs, fiscal city budgeting or the parking and traffic problems this 'solution' will actually make the city much worse for having built it.

We are getting a hell of a lot for that $16 million robo-garage.

Ordinarily a quip about yeah we're getting a lot, just have us turn around, bend over and give it to us real good.

Of course the common euphemism has to be re-written to fit the perspective of our very gay city. What we get is obvious, I just don't know how to phrase it to make it sound like the 'really bad thing' it really is and not a new booth for next year’s festival.

(snarky - I know, but it may get the attention of the people who have been following the various changing story and focused on one or two issues making the big picture hard to see)

Check out this old LA Times article about the true story about Sal's Memorial Fountain and the millions of dollars that were 'donated' by the Sunset Developers.

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/mar/22/local/me-41178

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/oct/05/local/me-53643