TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL

FROM: DIRECTOR OF RECREATION AND PARKS

DATE: MARCH 21, 2006

SUBJECT: TEMPORARY LOCATION FOR SENIOR CENTER

Staff Coordinator: Karen Peterson, Administrative Analyst

RECOMMENDATION

Authorize the Peninsula Seniors to file a Special Use Permit application to allow two rented trailers, including an office trailer and a portable classroom, to be temporarily located at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Peninsula Seniors are seeking a temporary location for their Senior Center due to the expiration of their non-renewable lease on the office space that they currently occupy. They expect to have a permanent senior center built within two years as part of the proposed Crestridge Villas Senior Housing Project sited at the corner of Crestridge Road and Crenshaw Boulevard. In the interim, Staff and Peninsula Seniors representatives agree that Abalone Cove Shoreline Park would be the best site for two temporary trailers which the Seniors would use for their activities and for office space with no additional cost to the City.

BACKGROUND

For the past 25 years, the Peninsula Seniors, a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation, has provided services and activities primarily to senior citizens who live, for the most part, on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The Peninsula Seniors are supported by community and corporate contributions as well as membership fees and donations paid by their members. Currently, there are 1,560 Peninsula Senior members, including 936 Rancho Palos Verdes residents (60% of total membership). For a basic membership fee of $35 per year, members have access to a wide variety of services, including financial and legal counseling, income tax preparation, health fairs, a low vision support group, library loans, and A.A.R.P. Driver Safety Classes. Members can also participate in a number of weekday activities such as bridge, bingo, arts and crafts, exercise classes, weekly lectures, and bus trips to local theaters and other entertainment events.

Currently, the Peninsula Seniors lease over 2,800 square feet of office space located at 810 Silver Spur Road in Rolling Hills Estates. Their current lease will expire in February 2007 and the owner is unwilling to renew their lease. The Peninsula Seniors expect to have a permanent senior center built within the next two years as part of the proposed Crestridge Villas Senior Housing Project sited at the corner of Crestridge Road and Crenshaw Boulevard. In the meantime, representatives of the Peninsula Seniors have explored the option of renting office space elsewhere but have been unable to locate a suitable replacement.

DISCUSSION

Recently, Ken Dyda, Peninsula Seniors President, approached Staff with a request for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes to assist in providing temporary accommodations for the Peninsula Seniors. The Seniors want to maintain their current level of service and activities which primarily take place on weekdays during daytime hours.

Proposed Location for Temporary Peninsula Senior Center
Staff and Mr. Dyda explored several park sites as potential locations for a temporary senior center, including Hesse Park, Point Vicente Interpretive Center, City Hall, Ladera Linda, and Abalone Cove Shoreline Park. Each site had potential drawbacks, including factors such as limited or remotely located parking; potential view impact; remotely located or nonexistent utility hookups; inadequate space; or displacement of existing facility uses.

After analyzing various locations within Rancho Palos Verdes, Staff found that the parking lot at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park would provide the best location for the two Senior Center trailers. Abalone Cove is isolated from surrounding homes and would offer access to utilities plus ample parking for Peninsula Seniors and park patrons. View impact for nearby homes is expected to be minimal, particularly if the trailers were placed immediately west of the bushy vegetation located near the northwest corner of the parking lot near Annie’s Stand.

Locating the trailers at the Abalone Cove site may have minimal overall impact on the surrounding neighborhood and on the current uses of the park. Seniors activities would take place primarily during the daytime. School and public tours of the nearby tidepools held several times per month would continue and park patrons would still have access to ample parking, drop-in park use, the beach, and trails at the site. Currently, most Abalone Cove patrons park towards the eastern portion of the lot by the trailhead, which is on the opposite end of the lot from the proposed Senior Center location. No groups currently using the site would be displaced if the proposed trailers were moved to Abalone Cove. Seniors who use the proposed Center’s services would not pay a fee for parking in the Abalone Cove parking lot.

Two Trailers Option
Staff and Mr. Dyda discussed an alternative option involving two trailers dedicated solely to the Peninsula Seniors. One 50’x20’x12’ trailer, to be brought over from the Trump National Golf Course, would serve as an office while a second trailer would be used as a classroom for activities, classes, lectures, and social gatherings sponsored by the Peninsula Seniors. Trump National has offered to pay for all costs associated with their trailer’s relocation, utility hookups, and landscaping while the Seniors would assume Trump National’s monthly trailer lease payment of $600. The trailer will be available for use by the Peninsula Seniors in June 2006. A second trailer measuring 24’x56’x12’ would be positioned adjacent to the office trailer and provide classroom space. The Seniors would pay for the delivery, set-up, utility hookups, and landscaping for the second trailer. Both trailers would be wheelchair accessible with electricity, heating, and air conditioning included.

The Peninsula Seniors have agreed to pay for all of the following trailer related expenses, including:

1. Installation of the two trailers with skirting and ramp for access to both;
2. Installation of power and phone lines;
3. Installation of a water line;
4. Sewage connections or regular servicing of the sewage tank and pump that serve the restroom facilities inside both trailers;
5. Landscaping around the trailers;
6. Ongoing maintenance of the trailers;
7. Signage on the trailers to identify them;
8. Lighting on the ocean side of trailers to be used only when necessary for embarking and disembarking on trips; and
9. Returning the site to the condition it was in at the time of trailer installation.

Staff has determined that the cost to provide on-site staff for Seniors’ activities outside of regular park hours at Abalone Cove would be approximately $7,000 per year. On July 1, 2006 the Seniors are scheduled to receive a $7,000 grant for Fiscal Year 2006-2007. While they are at their temporary location, the Seniors are willing to forgo the City’s grant and have the $7,000 transferred to the Recreation & Parks Abalone Cove part-time staff budget to offset the increased staff cost.

Required Permits
Due to the nature of the proposed trailer use at Abalone Cove as well as its coastal location, the Peninsula Seniors would be required to obtain a Special Use Permit and a Coastal Permit from the City. The Special Use Permit application process would include notification to neighbors and a public hearing. A fee of $529 for the Special Use Permit would be automatically waived since the Peninsula Seniors are a non-profit organization.

Although the proposed trailer location does not fall within the coastal setback area, a Coastal Permit would also be required due to the site’s location within the City’s Coastal Zone. If the application is approved, the permit would be issued by the City’s Planning Department Director and carries a fee of $667.

Proposed Timeline
Since the office trailer being offered by the Trump Organization will be available for use in three to four months, the Peninsula Seniors propose to re-locate the trailer to Abalone Cove for their own use in June or July of this year. Given that the Peninsula Seniors are required to give 90 days of notice on their current lease, they are seeking City Council’s expedited approval in order to complete the Special Use Permit process and to make necessary arrangements for their relocation to the Abalone Cove site.

CONCLUSION

Abalone Cove Shoreline Park is a viable location for a temporary Peninsula Seniors Center. Allowing two trailers to be placed in the Abalone Cove parking lot for use by the Seniors would benefit older residents of Rancho Palos Verdes and the Peninsula without significantly impacting the park’s neighbors and patrons.

FISCAL IMPACT

There would be no cost to the City for temporarily locating two trailers at Abalone Cove Shoreline Park since the Peninsula Seniors have agreed to pay trailer set-up fees and recurring trailer rental fees. Staff has determined that the cost to provide additional on-site staff coverage for the Seniors’ activities outside of regular park hours at Abalone Cove would be approximately $7,000 per year. The Seniors are willing to forgo the City’s grant of $7,000 and have those funds transferred to the Recreation & Parks Abalone Cove part-time staff budget to offset the increased staff cost.

Respectfully submitted:

Ron Rosenfeld
Director of Recreation and Parks

Reviewed:

Les Evans
City Manager

Attachments

Letter of intent dated March 6, 2006 from Ken Dyda, Peninsula Seniors President