Council Recap: Traffic calming; sidewalk repairs; mixed-use standards
Published on May 29, 2024
At their Tuesday evening meeting, Lakewood City Council Members approved a contract for an engineering study on traffic hotspots in neighborhoods throughout the city and methods for calming the traffic at those locations. The study will look at the data on localized speeding, the running of stop signs and other dangerous driving, and recommend tools to improve safety for pedestrians and other motorists in those areas. The City Council has made traffic safety a priority in recent years, with the installation of advanced crosswalk safety devices, the purchase of radar speed displays, and the hiring of two Deputy Sheriffs dedicated to traffic safety enforcement.
The council also approved a contract with Precision Concrete Cutting, Inc. to cut and remove vertical displacements of city sidewalks. Precision Concrete Cutting utilizes a process with quicker and cleaner results compared to conventional concrete grinding techniques, and is more cost effective in some cases than the removal and replacement of a section of concrete. Lakewood is undertaking a $4.5 million major effort at fixing city sidewalks, some of which are experiencing vertical rises from tree roots and other causes. The city will utilize precision cutting to address areas of minor sidewalk displacement combined with the traditional approach of removal and replacement for major sidewalk displacements.
The council also introduced a city ordinance for consideration that would allow for mixed-use developments on certain commercial properties. Mixed-use developments involve the inclusion of both residential and commercial elements in a property, an example of which would be a development that has retail on the ground floor with housing above, which is very common in older downtowns.
As has been widely reported, the State of California has adopted a large number of mandates on cities to rezone their land to require the construction of more housing. Because the City of Lakewood does not have many vacant developable sites and is largely built-out with existing residential neighborhoods, the only way that Lakewood can comply with the state mandates is to incorporate housing in commercial areas. This action will not directly result in the building of such units (the city does not build housing itself; for-profit and non-profit developers do), but the city’s action will satisfy the requirement that it make changes to its zoning map to allow for it.
“In Lakewood, we want to preserve our existing residential neighborhoods as much as possible from adding increased housing density,” said City Manager Thaddeus McCormack, “so we are proposing this change in our zoning rules to relieve the pressure on our residential neighborhoods by allowing for more units to go into commercial sites. In so doing, we are making sure that these sites remain economically viable and that there are strict standards to safeguard nearby neighborhoods and the overall look and feel of the city.
“The strict standards we are proposing include: (1) on-site parking requirements to safeguard nearby homes, (2) set-back requirements to provide a buffer of space between any new housing on commercial sites and nearby existing homes, and (3) height restrictions to prevent visual intrusion into nearby neighborhoods. In the months ahead, we will also add requirements for design features so that any new housing on commercial sites is attractive and fits in well with the look and feel of Lakewood,” said McCormack.
Although there are no formal mixed-use proposals currently, one area where a mixed commercial/residential development has been discussed in the near future is Lakewood Center mall.
“Retail spaces, like malls, are struggling to keep commercial tenants amid the rise in online shopping and the shrinking of needed retail space,” said McCormack. “We all read about that regularly in the news. Lakewood Center is eager to consider the addition of more housing (e.g. condominiums and apartments) that would add a vibrancy to the mall, as well as a built-in network of likely shoppers. The city is certainly supportive of enhancing the economic viability of Lakewood Center, especially if it’s done in a way that benefits the entire community. We think the development standards and zoning regulations we are proposing are designed to do just that.”
The mixed-use development standards were approved for introduction at the May 28 council meeting, and will come before the council for a public hearing and final approval at the June 11 council meeting that will start at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers at 5000 Clark Ave. The proposed ordinance is available at www.lakewoodcity.org/MixedUse.