Santa Monica : Environment Study OKd

The City Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to authorize the spending of up to $208,042 for a major environmental study that will be used by the city to make decisions on development.

In the same motion, the council approved the city staff’s recommendation to hire Los Angeles-based Michael Brandman Associates to conduct the study, which will entail analysis of existing environmental data in the city and a new traffic study.

There has been debate on the council about what method of traffic counting to use. Shortly before Tuesday’s meeting, the council held a joint study session with the Planning Commission on traffic counting and analysis. The council later agreed on a method that costs more than other methods and that requires more details on traffic, parking and pedestrians.

The study is part of the city’s Growth Management Strategy Implementation Plan, essentially, a program to limit the amount of growth that will be allowed by changing zoning and limiting building size. While the study is in progress, a moratorium on nearly all large-scale commercial developments will remain in effect.

Because the environmental study will be a cornerstone of environmental studies in the city, and thus will have a great effect on the shape of future development, city staff scheduled several meetings to gauge the public’s concerns.

The next--and last--of the four meetings is on Saturday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Virginia Park Community Room, 2200 Virginia Ave.