III. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING

Transcription

1 III. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING A. OVERVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING Regional Setting The project site is located in Los Angeles County, within the Hollywood community of the City of Los Angeles (see Figure II-1, Regional and Vicinity Map). The project site is located on the southwest corner of Yucca Street, at the intersection with Argyle Avenue. The project site is located approximately six miles northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and approximately two miles northeast of West Hollywood. Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street serve as the primary arterial roadways providing access to the area containing the project site. Additional north-south access is provided by Argyle Avenue, Ivar Avenue, and Gower Street and additional east-west access is provided by Selma Avenue and Yucca Street. In addition, the Hollywood Freeway (US 101) is immediately north of the project site, across Yucca Street. The area is served by the Hollywood/Vine Station of the Metro Rail Red Line, which is located south of the project site on Hollywood Boulevard. The Metro Rail Red Line extends from the Union Station/Gateway Transit Center, through Downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood and along Wilshire Boulevard to Western Avenue. The Red Line provides access to other regional transit lines, including the Metro Rail Blue and Gold Lines, Metrolink commuter rail and regional and local bus lines. Local Setting The project site is an underutilized, approximately 0.58-acre site lot that is bound by Yucca Street on the north; Argyle Avenue on the east; the Capitol Records Tower, office building, and surface parking on the west; with more surface parking and the Pantages Theater to the south. On-Site Land Uses The project site is currently developed with an unoccupied office and radio station facility that is proposed to be removed as part of the proposed project (see Figures III-1 through III-4). The existing onsite improvements consist of an abandoned 18,614 square-foot radio station building (the KFWB Building ) and surface parking. The KFWB Building is functionally obsolete. At the time the applicant acquired the project site for purposes of redevelopment, the improvements on the property were already in a blighted condition and in need of redevelopment. The KFWB Building has been used for a variety of purposes and has been altered during these changes of uses. It was once used as a grocery store and had open archways. Then the open archways were enclosed and the building was intermittently used as a photography studio and as a film studio for low-budget independent film production. The KFWB Building is significantly under-parked at 18 spaces for 18,614 square feet of floor area. The KFWB Building is also in very poor condition. Certain areas of the building have not been maintained or Page III-1

2 improved to contemporary standards and other improvements were last made approximately 30 or more years ago. The KFWB Building has significant structural leaks. Figures III-3 and III-4 present photographs of existing interior conditions of the building. The existing masonry building has not been seismically upgraded. The prior operator, KFWB, abandoned the site because the building is functionally obsolete. Surrounding Land Uses The area surrounding the project site is developed with commercial and residential land uses and surface parking lots (see Figures III-5 through III-8). Commercial uses near the project site include local and regional serving retail and restaurant establishments. These uses are primarily concentrated along Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Cahuenga Boulevard, Vine Street, Yucca Street, and Ivar Avenue. The Capitol Records Tower, office building, and surface parking lot border the project site s west and south boundary. North of the project site, across Yucca Street, is LADWP Distributing Station No. 52, and on the northeast corner of Yucca Street and Argyle Avenue is an office building. Multi-family residences are located immediately east of the project site on the southeast corner of Argyle Avenue and Yucca Street. Single- and multi-family residences are located southeast of the project site, along Carlos Avenue and the segment of Vista Del Mar Avenue located north of Carlos Avenue to Yucca Street. Multi-family residential development also extends on Yucca Street, west of Vine Street. Several theaters and entertainment-oriented destinations are also located within the project area. There are a number of theaters located within one-quarter mile of the project site. These theaters include the Pantages Theater (directly south of the project site), The Palace, and the James A. Doolittle Theater. The Hollywood Palladium is also within a one-quarter mile radius of the project site. ArcLight Cinerama Dome is located southwest of the project site, on the south side of Sunset Boulevard between Ivar Avenue and Vine Street. West of the project site, tourist attractions are concentrated along Hollywood Boulevard, including Mann Chinese Theater and the Hollywood and Highland retail and entertainment center. Autorelated uses are located along Hollywood Boulevard immediately east of Argyle Avenue. The Hollywood/Vine Metro Rail Red Line Station is located south of the project site, on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard. The station portal and plaza are surrounded by surface parking lots. The station plaza, surrounding parking lots and a small number of buildings along Vine Street are being assembled into a project site. This site has been approved for development by the City of Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with a mixed commercial, hotel and residential development containing high-rise buildings up to 14 stories, along with transit facilities and enhanced connections to the Metro Rail station. Page III-2

3 Figure III-1, Views of the Project Site 1-3 Page III-3

4 Figure III-2, Views of the Project Site 4-6 Page III-4

5 Figure III-3, Interior Photos of 6230 Yucca Street Page III-5

6 Figure III-4, Interior Photos of 6230 Yucca Street Page III-6

7 Figure III-5, Views of the Surrounding Land Uses 1-3 Page III-7

8 Figure III-6, Views of the Surrounding Land Uses 4-6 Page III-8

9 Figure III-7, Views of the Surrounding Land Uses 7-9 Page III-9

10 Figure III-8, Views of the Surrounding Land Uses Page III-10

11 Light industrial uses in the project area are located along portions of Sunset Boulevard. These light industrial uses are primarily movie, radio and television studios, and auxiliary facilities for the entertainment industry, including Columbia Square, a large former broadcast center located southeast of the project site. In addition, auto-related uses are located along Hollywood Boulevard immediately east of Argyle Avenue. B. RELATED PROJECTS Sections and of the State CEQA Guidelines provide that EIRs consider the significant environmental effects of a proposed project as well as cumulative impacts. Cumulative impacts refer to two or more individual effects which, when considered together, are considerable or which compound or increase other environmental impacts (CEQA Guidelines Section 15355). Cumulative impacts may be analyzed by considering a list of past, present, and probable future projects producing related or cumulative impacts (CEQA Guidelines Section (b)(1)(a)). All proposed (those with pending applications), recently approved, under construction, or reasonably foreseeable projects that could produce a related or cumulative impact on the local environment when considered in conjunction with the proposed project are included in the EIR. For an analysis of the cumulative impacts associated with these related projects and the proposed project, cumulative impact discussions are provided under each individual environmental impact category in Chapter IV of this EIR. The list of related projects consists of 113 projects (see Table III-1). Sources for the list include the City of Los Angeles Planning Department, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). This list includes all approved, proposed, or potential projects within an approximately 2.5 mile radius of the project site that are expected to be completed by project opening. Since this list was compiled, some of the listed projects have opened or have been reduced in scope. For purposes of the traffic analysis, these projects continue to be shown on the related projects list because they were not generating traffic at the time the traffic counts were taken, but will be generating traffic at the time the proposed project opens. The locations of the related projects are shown in Figure III-9. Table III-1 Related Projects No. Location Land Use Size North Serrano Avenue 16 du Tamarind Avenue Santa Monica New Primary School 380 students Mariposa Street Ramona Elementary School (addition) 8 classrooms Las Palmas Avenue Day Care/Preschool 75 students Wilton Place Central LA Area New HS No. 1 1,875 students North Detroit Street 25 du Hudson Avenue Office 29,000 sq. ft Cole Place 50 du Page III-11

12 Table III-1 Related Projects (Continued) No. Location Land Use Size Gower Street Office 115,000 sq. ft North Poinsettia Place 28 du North Gordon Street 12 du Cosmo Street Residential 47 du Gramercy Place 50 du Kingsley Drive 13 du Orange Drive ASC Screening Room 25,573 sq. ft Whitley Avenue 32 du North Fuller Avenue 35 du Fuller Avenue Parking Lot 80 spaces Cahuenga Boulevard Restaurant 12,000 sq. ft Cahuenga Boulevard 32 du 7,000 sq. ft North Cahuenga Boulevard Restaurant 61 seats Cahuenga Boulevard Gas Station with Mini-mart 8 vfp Cahuenga Avenue Townhomes 75 du North Wilcox Avenue 14 du North Wilcox Avenue 16 du Wilcox Avenue 40 du 27 Highland Avenue/Yucca Avenue 270 du (The Jefferson at Hollywood) 8,500 sq. ft North Highland Avenue Live/Work 27 du North Alta Vista Boulevard 17 du North Alta Vista Boulevard 12 du North Formosa Avenue 12 du Western Avenue 63 du 13,500 sq. ft. 33 Vine Street/Selma Avenue Senior Housing 102 du North Vine Street Van Ness Elementary School 230 students Vine Street 306 du 68,000 sq. ft Vine Street Cocktail Lounge 11,884 sq. ft Vine Street Office 120,000 sq. ft Vine Street 96 du Vine Street Restaurant (expansion) 1,297 sq. ft Vine Street Residential 57 du Restaurant 5,489 sq. ft Vine Street Office 400,000 sq. ft La Brea Avenue Shopping Center 18,610 sq. ft La Brea Avenue 203 du 45,300 sq. ft La Brea Avenue 180 du 13,700 sq. ft La Brea Avenue 180 du 16,000 sq. ft. Page III-12

13 Table III-1 Related Projects (Continued) No. Location Land Use Size McCadden Place 218 du McCadden Place 218 du Argyle Avenue Restaurant 5,273 sq. ft. Theater 5,273 sq. ft Argyle Avenue 90 du Office (removed) - 38,000 sq. ft North Bronson Avenue 10 du Bronson Avenue 126 du (removed) - 81 du Rosewood Avenue 43 du Maplewood Avenue 20 du Maplewood Avenue 24 du Fountain Avenue 110 du 56 Fountain Avenue/Serrano Avenue Central Region Middle School 891 students 57 Fountain Avenue at Wilcox Avenue Townhouses 37 du Franklin Avenue Dormitory 296 du Franklin Avenue 130 du 60 SWC Franklin Avenue/ 126 du Gower Avenue (removed) - 20 du 61 NWC Sunset Boulevard/Vine Street Entertainment 30,000 sq. ft. 62 SEC Sunset Boulevard/Vine Street Residential 63 du 11,000 sq. ft Sunset Boulevard Hospital (expansion) 460 beds Sunset Boulevard Gas Station 10 vfp Sunset Boulevard Office 740,987 sq. ft. Sound Stage 82,500 sq. ft Sunset Boulevard Office 40,000 sq. ft. 74 du Sunset Boulevard Live/Work Unit 5 du Industrial (removed) - 7,500 sq. ft. Office 38,000 sq. ft Sunset Boulevard 125 du 10,000 sq. ft. 124 du Sunset Boulevard Office 40,000 sq. ft. 10,000 sq. ft. Restaurant (removed) -13,500 sq. ft Sunset Boulevard Office 120,000 sq. ft Sunset Boulevard Restaurant 49 seats Sunset Boulevard Drugstore 16,000 sq. ft Sunset Boulevard Shopping Center 15,750 sq. ft. 8,179 sq. ft du Hollywood Boulevard/ Affordable Rental Housing 76 du Western Avenue Hotel 140 rooms Hollywood Boulevard 83 du Page III-13

14 Table III-1 Related Projects (Continued) No. Location Land Use Size 220 du 30,000 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard 42 du 6,778 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Residential 108 du 9,937 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Fast food restaurant 3,236 sq. ft. Specialty 5,275 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Auto Sales (expansion) 31,000 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Dance Hall 17,208 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Hotel 86 rooms Specialty 5,000 sq. ft. 82/ Hollywood Boulevard 1,042 du 175,000 sq. ft. 375 du 150 du Hollywood Boulevard Hotel 296 rooms Restaurant 49,500 sq. ft. Specialty 12,000 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Residential 60 du Hollywood Boulevard Restaurant/Dance Club 12,751 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard 40 du Hollywood Boulevard Restaurant 23,035 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Basement Club 5,390 sq. ft. Restaurant 931 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Specialty 60,200 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Drinking Place 7,500 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Restaurant 13,132 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard 72,248 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Fitness Center 53,000 sq. ft. Pharmacy 11,000 sq. ft Hollywood Boulevard Residential 42 du Hollywood Boulevard 130 du Theater 99 seats Harold Way 18 du Harold Way 12 du Santa Monica Boulevard 437 du 377,900 sq. ft Santa Monica Boulevard Restaurant (expansion) 2,370 sq. ft La Mirada Avenue 28 du Waring Avenue 15 du Carlton Way 12 du Carlton Way 32 du Melrose Avenue 54 du 16,000 sq. ft Melrose Avenue 13 du Page III-14

15 Table III-1 Related Projects (Continued) No. Location Land Use Size 7,500 sq. ft Melrose Avenue Restaurant 11,345 sq. ft Vine Street Museum/Open Space 7 acres Yucca Street 54 du Yucca Street 270 du 8,500 sq. ft Lexington Avenue 93 du Hawthorn Avenue Outdoor Theater 800 seats Hawthorn Avenue 18 du Hawthorn Avenue 50 du Source: Kaku Associates, October a In the related projects list contained in the traffic study, related project numbers 82 and 83 refer to the same project. Page III-15

16 FIGURE III-9 LOCATION OF RELATED PROJECTS Page III-16