COUNCIL DISTRICT: Council District 10

COMMENT DUE DATE: February 22, 2011

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Wilshire Boulevard Temple seeks to update its facilities to accommodate its evolving programs. The current facilities on the 3.9-acre Temple property (Project site) total approximately 124,000 square feet. The project applicant proposes to demolish approximately 51,000 square feet and develop approximately 172,000 new square feet of facilities, for a total of approximately 245,000 square feet on the project site at buildout (121,000 net new square feet). Additional parking also would be provided.

The Project site encompasses a city block in the Mid-Wilshire community of the City of Los Angeles and is bordered by Wilshire Boulevard on the south, 6th Street on the north, Harvard Boulevard on the east, and Hobart Boulevard on the west. Regional access to the Project site is provided from the Hollywood (U.S. 101) Freeway, 1.7 miles to the north, and the Santa Monica (I-10) Freeway, 1.75 miles to the south.

The Project site currently contains approximately 75,000 square feet of Temple-related facilities; approximately 36,600 square feet of elementary school facilities; and a 13,650–square-foot office building, for a total of approximately 124,000 square feet. The Project site also contains surface parking for the Temple (78 spaces) and on-site office building (25 spaces), accessible from Harvard Boulevard. The Temple is a designated City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and in the California Register of Historic Resources. The historic Temple building and historic school wing would remain. The 20,000 square-foot 1963 school building on the east side of the Project site and 13,650 square-foot 1953 office building at the corner of 6th Street and Harvard Boulevard would be removed.

The proposed project defines three districts on the Project site: the Community District, School District, and Parking District. The Community District would contain the historic Sanctuary and a new five-story building containing Temple administration facilities and event/reception halls and spaces. The School District would be divided in two: School District East would encompass the existing 1929 school wing and a new four-story school building housing a nursery school and parenting center, and School District West would contain a new four-story elementary school for kindergarten through sixth grade as well as a gymnasium. A six-level parking structure would occupy the northern portion of the Project site, or Parking District. The parking structure would contain parking for 500 vehicles, a net increase of 397 parking spaces over existing conditions, in three subterranean levels and three above-ground levels, with an outdoor play area on the top deck and approximately 9,000 square feet of storefront space on 6th Street for the Temple’s social services programs. Total on-site square footage at buildout would be approximately 245,000 square feet.

Discretionary approvals requested for the proposed Project would include Site Plan Review and may include, but would not be limited to, potential ancillary authorizations such as relief from street dedication/widening requirements, Zoning Administrator adjustments relating to setbacks and fencing and a variance for temporary off-site parking during construction of the parking structure. 

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS POTENTIALLY AFFECTED:

Aesthetics, Air Quality and Climate Change (i.e., emission of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases), Cultural Resources (i.e., historical resources), Geology and Soils, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Noise, Transportation/Circulation, and Water Conservation.

DOCUMENT REVIEW AND COMMENT:

If you wish to review a copy of the Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) or the documents referenced in the Final EIR, you may do so at the City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning at 200 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, 90012. Copies of the Draft and Final EIRs are also available at the following library locations:

1) Los Angeles Central Library - 630 W. 5^th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071
2) Pio Pico-Koreatown Branch Library- 694 S. Oxford Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005
3) Wilshire Branch Library - 149 N. Saint Andrews Place, Los Angeles, CA 90004
4) Felipe de Neve Branch Library - 2820 W. 6^th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057

The Final EIR is also available online at the Department of City Planning’s website [http://cityplanning.lacity.org/ (Click “Environmental,” and then “Final EIR”)]. The Final EIR can be purchased on CD-rom for $7.50. Contact Hadar Plafkin at 213-978-1357 to purchase one.