Preliminary Feasibility Studywoodlandhillssc.com/resources/feasability-study.pdf · Preliminary Feasibility Study for Woodland Hills Senior Center 3 Introduction The purpose of this

Preliminary Feasibility Study For

Woodland Hills Senior Center

Prepared for Office of Council Member Bob Blumenfield

City of Los Angeles District 3

Author: Alex Farassati, Ph.D.

E‐mail: [email protected]

Website: www.woodlandhillsSC.com

September 12, 2019

Preliminary Feasibility Study for Woodland Hills Senior Center

2

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Why Woodland Hills Senior Center? 3

Options for Location 3 Proposed Site Description 4 Existing Site Conditions 5 Existing Trees and Vegetation 10 Hydrology and Drainage Pattern 11 Traffic and Circulation 12 Trash and Homeless Camper 13 Proposed Conceptual Design 14

a) Building 14 b) Parking 14 c) City Overlook Area 15 d) Driveway Access 15 e) Required Easement 16 f) Water Drainage 17 g) Tree Planting 18

Cost Estimate 18 Conclusion 19 Next Steps 19 Assessor Map 20 Conceptual Site Plan 21


3

Introduction The purpose of this report is to evaluate the feasibility of a city‐owned property on the corner of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, CA for a future Senior Center. The information used for preparation of this report include:

1. Site Visit 2. LA County Assessor Parcel Map 3. City of Los Angeles ZIMAS 4. Google Aerial Images

This report is intended to answer a key question on whether the proposed site is suitable for building a senior center or not. Why Woodland Hills Senior Center? 17% of Woodland Hills population is over the age of 65 years. 14% of the population is between 55 to 64 years old. In total, 31% of the population of woodland Hills is considered senior but there is not any senior center where they can enjoy activities that contribute to continued learning and enrichment, socialization with other seniors, and participation in recreational programs that promote healthy lifestyles. Most Woodland Hills seniors are highly educated and/or retired professionals. They deserve to have a center of their own rather than going to other communities for services that should be available to them within their community. The closest, top of the line senior center to Woodland Hills is the City of Calabasas Senior Center. More than 30% of daily users of the Calabasas Senior Center live in Woodland Hills. This shows a serious need in this community for active and professional seniors. There are senior programs in various City parks, Pierce College, YMCA, other communities’ senior centers, promoted and administered by local governments, non‐profit and private organizations however there is not a centralized location for all programs and a physical center for congregation and socialization in Woodland Hills with over 20,000 seniors. Options for Location Staff from Council Members Blumenfield office have looked into various options and locations for the future Woodland Hills Senior Center. Possible collaboration with the school board to use underutilized spaces on campuses were explored. Three schools have been identified:

1. Hughes Adult Learning Center, 2. Oso Avenue Elementary School, 3. Collins Street Elementary School.


4

Since the City of Los Angeles does not control these lands and the process of acquiring may take a long time. There isn’t much City owned land available for development in Woodland Hills. Council member staff proposed a city‐owned unutilized park on the corner of Topanga Canyon Blvd and Mulholland Drive. The park is known as Alizondo Drive Park and currently has not been designated for any activity or purpose. The focus of this Preliminary Feasibility Study is to evaluate this location with respect to topography, traffic and transportation, hydrology and possible design options.

Proposed Site Description The proposed site, Alizondo Drive Park, is composed of two distinct parcels:

A. APN 2173‐015‐900 along Mulholland Drive bordering Louisville High School on the west, Mulholland Drive to the north, 5 single family lots to the south and Alizondo Drive to the east. Per Los Angeles County Parcel Viewer, the property boundary description is TR=34211 LOT 43. The lot is vacant and doesn’t have any physical mailing address. Per ZIMAS, the lot area is 137,020.4 SF.

B. APN 2173‐015‐901 is a vacant lot on the south west corner of Topanga Canyon Blvd and Mulholland Drive. The lot is bordered on the west by Alizondo Drive and 7 single family lots, Mulholland Drive to the north, Topanga Canyon Blvd to the east and Anoka Place to


5

the south. Anoka Place is a private and gated road partially owned by the City of Los Angeles. Per the LA County Parcel Viewer website, the property boundary description is TR=34211 LOT 44. Per ZIMAS, the lot area is 152,831.7 SF.

Site “B” with APN 2173‐015‐901 is being evaluated for building the future Woodland Hills Senior Center.

Proposed lot is highlighted in Yellow

Existing Site Conditions The proposed site highlighted in yellow above is composed of a flat plain and uneven terrain. Currently the lot is vacant and the only resident is a homeless camper. Street right of way contribute to the land area and most dense trees along the roads are located on Mulholland Drive and Topanga Canyon Blvd. right of way. Behind the row of dense tress along the road, there’s a flat pad that can accommodate a building and a parking lot.


6

Aerial Image of the Proposed Lot

Alizondo Drive from Mulholland Drive


7

Topanga Canyon Blvd, Southbound

Street parking along Topanga Canyon Blvd adjacent to Proposed Site

The middle section of the lot is flat land with an approximate area of 1 acre. The elevation increases towards Alizondo Drive as well as towards Anoka Place. This flat pad can accommodate the main building with approximately 10,000 square feet footprint and huge parking lot of the future senior center.


8

Views of lower flat pad

The 7 single family lots are located at a higher elevation approximately 30 feet above the flat surface of the lot. Their property boundaries stretch towards the park on a gentle slope but the back yard of all 7 homes are fenced off on top of the slope. Basically, between ½ to 2/3 of those lots are on the slope and unutilized.


9

Back fences of single family home on top of slope

There is another flat pad closer to Alizondo Drive at about 20 feet higher elevation than the main pad with an approximate area of 1/3 of an acre. This pad provides a nice view of the surrounding communities and the Warner Center.

Upper Flat Pad

View of surrounding communities from the upper flat pad


10

It seems that the topography of proposed lot followed a natural slope prior to building the two major thoroughfares and Anoka Place. Filling dirt for accommodating the roads created an uneven elevation between the flat surface and the roads. Currently, the elevation of the flat pad in the middle of the lot is about 4‐5 feet below the elevation of sidewalk at the intersection of Mulholland Drive and Topanga Canyon Blvd. The elevation could be raised by importing free dirt and 90% compaction prior to building any structure on site. Existing Trees and Vegetation This is a highly dense woodland with over 100 trees, both native and non‐native. Non‐native trees such as palm trees and pepper trees dominate the landscape and have overgrown. To create the flat pad for future construction, about 40‐50 trees of different sizes must be removed. Oak trees can be mitigated on a basis of 1” to 1” tree trunk diameter. There’s plenty of room on the slope between the lot and single family homes to plant new 15 gallon oak trees with an irrigation system to mitigate for removed oak trees and slope stabilization.


11

Hydrology and Drainage Pattern The slope leading to the top of the slope house are supported by 2 rows of horizontal and 3 rows of vertical concrete V‐ditches to transfer rain water to the old drainage system closer to Topanga Canyon Road.

There are two concrete culverts on this lot:

a. One under Anoka Place with 4 feet diameter concrete pipe and metal protection grill, and two concrete wing walls;

b. One under Mulholland Drive with 4 feet diameter concrete pipe and metal grill, and two concrete wing walls.


12

It seems that the two culverts were initially connected by a natural V‐ditch to carry rain water out of the lot through the Mulholland Drive culvert. The two culverts are filled with dirt and sediment up to 2/3 of their height.

Graffiti has covered the wing walls and trash is all over, indicating that the culvert have been maintained for decades and were used by gangs and homeless people. Trees have grown in front of the culvert thus turning then dysfunctional.

Old natural ditch connecting two culverts

A separate hydrology study is needed to evaluate the volume of rain water, capacity of the culverts, and capacity of the V‐ditches, in order to design a new channel to connect the two culverts. Traffic and Circulation Topanga Canyon Blvd is heavily used by commuters living in neighborhoods south of the intersection, in communities within the Santa Monica Mountain and drivers needing access to


13

the beach and cities of Malibu and Santa Monica. Northbound traffic connects to Ventura Blvd., 101 freeway and Warner Center.

Intersection of Mulholland Drive and Topanga Canyon Blvd with Bus Stop

Mulholland Drive is mainly used by local commuters to access 101 freeway, City of Calabasas and several schools in the vicinity of the proposed lot. Anoka Place is a private and gate road. The pipe gate is not locked but prevents outsiders from accessing the road. Anoka Place leads to Duliciea Court and the residential community west of the proposed lot. Trash and Homeless Camper The site is filled with trash and there’s at least one homeless camper on this lot.


14

It seems that the site has not been cleaned up and maintained for many years. Furniture, scrap metals and miscellaneous trash are all over especially near the culverts and around the homeless camp. Additionally, the two culvert wing walls are covered with graffiti. This condition requires immediate attention of the City officials.

The current unsanitary conditions constitutes health hazard to the surrounding communities. There a bus stop on Mulholland Drive near the intersection of Topanga Canyon Blvd and it seems that bus commuters use it often. The availability of city public transportation is a plus for future users of the Senior Center. Proposed Conceptual Design

a) Building: The lot provides great opportunities for future development. Any improvement will make the current dire condition better. The flat pad in the middle of the lot is approximately 1 acre and it provides enough space for the future Woodland Hills Senior Center. It can accommodate a building with 10,000 SF footprint in two stories with the total floor area of 20,000 SF. The future building can accommodate various rooms for senior activities, offices, auditorium, kitchen, lunch room, recreation/activity room, restroom, storage, etc. A private patio/courtyard with some water features can be built in the back of the Center. Please see the conceptual site plan for more details.

b) Parking: The lower pad can accommodate at least 75 car parking spaces and 2 large prking spaces for busses. Handicapped spaces and electric vehicle charging stations can be added to the parking lot.


15

Buildable Lot with Future Easement

c) City Overlook Area

The upper flat pad is approciately 18,000 SF and can be accessed by ramp or a set of staircases. The pad has a great view of the surroeunding communities and can be used as an overlook area with a gazebo, benches and other park amenities. This area can be accessed directly from Mulholland Drive for members of the public to use.

d) Drieway Access: Due to heavy traffic on Mulholland Drive and Topanga Canyon Blvd, the safest driveway access to the site is through Anoka Place. The driveway ramp shall be built about 100 feet from the intersection of Topanga Canyon Blvd. To accommodate the ramp, an easement shall be secured from 3‐4 property owners of the single family home. There’s a natural slope can accommodate a 20 feet wide drieway for two way tradffic. The approximate driveway length is 350 feet and will desend about 20 feet, assuming that the pad elevation is raised to meet the elevation of the sidewalk at the intersection of Topanga and Mulholland.


16

Proposed Driveway Access Proposed Building Footprint

The pipe gate can be relocated about 100 feet away to open the road for public access. In the future, Anoka Place from Topanga to the Senior Center entrance will need guard rails on both sides for extra safety.

View of Anoka Place and pipe gate from both directions

e) Required Easement

Part of the future driveway shall pass through a portion of the adjcent properties. The good thing is that those homeowners have already fenced off their backyards on the top of the slope and


17

will appreciate the future improvement to this site. An easement shall be acquired from 3‐4 property owners to build the driveway through the bottom of their lots.

f) Water Drainage The two culvets built under Anoka Place and Mulholland Drive used to be connected through a natural drainage path. Currently the culverts and the drainage path are filled with dirt and sediment with overgrown vegetation and trees. The path shall be cleaned up and excavated with a new course of drinage along Topanga Canyon Blvd and covered with a 5 foot wide concrete channel to direct rain water from upper culvert (Anoka Place) to the lower culvert (Mulholland Dr.). All site drainage including the future paved parking lot shall end up in this new concrete channel. The channel could be built by cast‐in‐place concrte or by laid back rip rap. An option is precast Slurry Precast Concrete channel with or without cover.

There are two rows of horizontal V‐ditches on the slope below the 7 single family homes. They drain through 3 vertical V‐ditches to the pad. These V‐ditches shall be connected to 2’ x 4’ x 4’ pre‐cast concrete inlets and then drain to the concrete channel. All surface drainage shall be directed to this channel as well.


18

g) Tree Planting In exchange for removed oak trees, equal number of 15 gallon oak trees shall be planted on the slope below the 7 single family houses above the lot. Trees shall be planted 20 feet apart with irrigation system and 2 bubblers until they are established. Trees will stabilize the slopes and provide screening of the future building from the top. Oak trees grow 6 inches per year and it take 20 years for them to mature. Cost Estimate With respect to the preliminary analysis, it’s estimated that the project with all site improvements will cost between $4 to $5 million dollars.


19

CONCLUSION The proposed lot is an ideal site and location for the future Woodland Hills Senior Center. The site is away from the noise and traffic congestion of the Warner Center area and situated in the outskirt of Santa Monica Mountain, in the middle of woods with some view of the surrounding community. Availability of City‐owned land will expedite the project. Any improvement to this unutilized/abandoned park will be appreciated by the community and seniors. The lot has great potential for construction of a two story building with standard amenities for seniors as well as adequate parking spaces and access to public transportation. Next Steps:

1. Preparation of topographic survey of the lot by a licensed land survey 2. Preparation of Hydrology Report 3. Soil Testing and preparation of soils report for the future building 4. Hiring an architectural firm to design the site and the building 5. Securing easement from adjacent property owner to build the driveway 6. Securing construction funding

Woodland Hills Senior Center AdHoc Committee will be happy to assist with all steps above and provide community support for the project.


20

Assessor Parcel Map

APN 2173‐015‐901


21

Documents

Preliminary Feasibility Studywoodlandhillssc.com/resources/feasability-study.pdf · Preliminary Feasibility Study for Woodland Hills Senior Center 3 Introduction The purpose of this