Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3a: Direction Regarding Request from Church in Arcadia to Extend Financial Assistance uu u Po' Pi STAFF REPORT Arcadia Redevelopment Agency DATE: May 17, 2011 TO: Chairman and Redevelopment Agency Board FROM: Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager /Development Services Directorlt By: Amber Abeyta, Administrative Assistant f SUBJECT: REPORT, DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION REGARDING REQUEST FROM THE CHURCH IN ARCADIA TO EXTEND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE ARCADIA REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR THE LEASING OF MEETING HALL FACILITIES AND A WAIVER OF BUILDING PERMIT FEES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THEIR NEW FACILITY. Recommendation: Provide Direction BACKGROUND The Redevelopment Agency (Agency) approved a Purchase and Sale Agreement with the Church in Arcadia to purchase its property at 21 Morlan Place and include as part of the transaction a site on Live Oak Avenue for a new Church building. The agreement included a provision for paying the Church up to $2,000 per month for up to 18 months to cover costs if it were to relocate temporarily to facilitate the Rusnak expansion. This amount was doubled by the Agency Board to $4,000 per month at their meeting on January 20, 2009. The Agency has been expending up to $4,000 a month for the Church in Arcadia to lease space for meetings at Dana Middle School and office space at 43 East Huntington Drive. The 18 month period expired in July 2010; however the Church In Arcadia requested the Agency's assistance for another 12 month period due to unforeseen circumstances that delayed the planning and building of the new Church. The Board agreed that given the fact the delays were not in the City's control, the Agency couldn't fund a 12 month extension and approved a 6 month extension at the September 7, 2010 Board Meeting. The September 7, 2010 Staff Report (Attachment A) is included for your reference. This 6 month period has expired. The Church in Arcadia is now requesting an additional 12 month extension of financial assistance from the Agency for the leasing of Dana Middle School and a waiver of building permit fees for the construction of the new Church facility. DISCUSSION The Redevelopment Agency began paying for the Church in Arcadia's office and meeting space in January of 2009. Since that time, the Church has held office space at 43 East Huntington Drive and has held Sunday services and meetings at Dana Middle School for a total of 24 months. The 24 month period includes the 6 month extension approved by the Board on September 7, 2010. To date, the Redevelopment Agency has expended $88,314 for leasing of both facilities. Throughout this time the Church in Arcadia has worked with the City to submit plans and permit applications for their new building. There have been a number of delays in this process; however the project has now reached the construction phase and building permits were issued on April 14, 2011. On April 13, 2011, David Dong, President of the Church in Arcadia, submitted a letter requesting an additional 12 month extension for financial assistance from the Agency for leasing of meeting space at Dana Middle School and a waiver of building permit fees for the construction of the new Church facility. The Church is no longer leasing office space at 43 East Huntington Drive in order to reduce their monthly lease expense by $900. In the letter (Attachment B), Mr. Dong explains that because of delays in the preliminary stages and efforts to reduce the construction costs, they are only now at the point where construction can begin, and he estimates that it will take up to 12 months to complete the project. Additionally, the project budget is limited due to unanticipated delays and expenses. The 12 month extension requested would require a $66,920 appropriation from Agency unprogrammed reserves. This amount includes $36,000 for the continued leasing of Dana Middle School, $25,920 for the waiver of building permit fees and additional fees estimated at $5,000 for fire sprinklers, fire alarms and water meter connection. FISCAL IMPACT The impact to the Redevelopment Agency of the extension of financial assistance for leasing of Dana Middle School facilities and the waiver of building permit fees could be $66,920. This amount would be appropriated from the Agency's unprogrammed reserves; there would be no impact to the General Fund. RECOMMENDATION Provide direction. Approved: DO--d Donald Penman, Executive Director Attachment A: September 7, 2010 Staff Report Attachment B: April 13, 2011 letter from David Dong, President of the Church In Arcadia Church In Arcadia May 17, 2011 Page 2 of 2 ;1 1 P* PI iii 14' STAFF REPORT Arcadia Redevelopment Agency DATE: September 7, 2010 TO: Chairman and Redevelopment Agency Board FROM: Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager /Development Services Director �L SUBJECT: REPORT, DISCUSSION, AND DIRECTION REGARDING REQUEST FROM THE CHURCH IN ARCADIA TO EXTEND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE ARCADIA REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR THE LEASING OF OFFICE AND MEETING HALL FACILITIES. Recommendation: Provide Direction BACKGROUND The Redevelopment Agency approved a Purchase and Sale Agreement with the Church in Arcadia to purchase its property at 21 Morlan Place and include as part of the transaction a site on Live Oak Avenue for a new Church building. The agreement included a provision for paying the Church up to $2,000 per month for up to 18 months to cover costs if it were to relocate temporarily to facilitate the Rusnak expansion. This amount was doubled by the Redevelopment Agency Board to $4,000 per month at their meeting on January 20, 2009. The Agency has been expending up to $4,000 a month for the Church in Arcadia to lease space for meetings at Dana Middle School and office space at 43 East Huntington Drive. The 18 month period expired in July 2010. The Church in Arcadia is now requesting an extension of the Agency's assistance for another 12 month period, to conclude in July 2011. DISCUSSION The Redevelopment Agency began paying for the Church in Arcadia's office and meeting space in January of 2009. Since that time, the Church has held office space at 43 East Huntington Drive and has held Sunday services and meetings at Dana Middle School. Through the 18 month period, the Church has worked with the City to submit plans and permit applications for their new building. There have been a number of delays in this process, however, and final plans were submitted for a building permit on July 29, 2010. On August 2, Wendy Doo, attorney for the Church in Arcadia, submitted a letter that requested an extension to the City's 18 month reimbursement period. This letter (Attachment A) incorporated comments made by architect John Peruzzi and outlined a number of reasons why the project was delayed and is not under construction. In a letter dated August 10, the City /Agency responded with a timeline of events and facts related to the submittals and processing of this project (Attachment B). The City's letter offered to expend the remaining allocation approved by the Agency Board (roughly two months of rent for the meeting hall and four months for the office). On August 25, Ms. Doo submitted another letter, this time requesting a one year extension of the Agency's assistance, through July, 2011. Each of these letters provides additional detail on the reasons for the request and the Agency's response. The Church's building permit plans were submitted on July 29 and plan check fees were paid on August 23. The plans were routed upon receipt and are currently being reviewed by City Departments and the City's contract plans examiner. The August 25 letter from Ms. Doo states that the Church is hopeful they can complete the project in 12 months. The 12 month extension requested would require a $48,000 appropriation from Agency unprogrammed reserves. (Staff believes the Agency has performed in accordance with the agreement to provide rent assistance and in fact is recommending some added time. Therefore, staff does not see any justification for additional subsidy. ) FISCAL IMPACT The impact to the Redevelopment Agency of the extension of the Rent Subsidy Agreement with the Church in Arcadia will be $48,000. This amount would be appropriated from the Agency's unprogrammed reserves; there would be no impact to the General Fund. RECOMMENDATION Provide direction. Approved: 2 P Donald Penman, Executive Director Attachment A: August 2, 2010 letter from Wendy Doo, Attorney at Law Attachment B: August 10, 2010 letter from Jason Kruckeberg Attachment C: August 25, 2010 letter from Wendy Doo, Attorney at Law ATTACHMENT A LO= ivii lion atreet, quite JUL Mailing Address: P 0 Box 3156 l C ) San Marino CA 91108 South Pasadena CA 91031 -6156 August 2, 2010 CITY OF ARCADIA 240 W. HUNTINGTON DRIVE ARCADIA, CA 91007 JASON KRUCKEBURG, `? } 2010 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATOR RE: Church in Arcadia, 630 E. Live Oak Avenue DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Dear Mr. Kruckeburg: The purpose of this letter is to discuss the status of the relocation of the Church in Arcadia (the "Church ") and the temporary location leased from the City of Arcadia (the "City"). As you may be aware the development of the Church's new location is currently not on track to be completed within the original estimated timeframe. This is due to many unforeseen circumstances and a few mishaps which have delayed planning and development. This potentially creates a serious issue since the Church's temporary lease of the satellite location received in exchange for the agreement to relocate is soon expiring. Without a completed new location, and faced with the prospect of losing support from the City for the temporary location, the Church fears that it may have no reliable gathering place to continue serving the community of Arcadia. With this in mind, we would like to request an extension of the temporary lease paid for by the City to allow the Church to continue serving the community in its temporary satellite location until development of the new location is completed. An extension of the temporary lease would not only confirm the community's belief in the City's compassion and support of its residents, but we believe that an extension is also warranted given the events and circumstances leading to the delay in development. Please find attached a letter from John P. Peruzzi, the architect working with the Church on this development, discussing in detail the various reasons for the project's delay. As outlined in Mr. Peruzzi's letter, there have been several contributing factors leading to the delay, which included inadvertent delays during the City's own procedures in the planning phase. During the plan review process of the civil engineering drawings, the civil engineer originally submitted a set of drawings to resolve issues related to hydrology and the site's proximity to the LA County flood control basin. After an all- department meeting resulted in an agreement on the design, the second plan check was submitted. When the Church was notified that the corrections were ready, it was discovered that the City had inadvertently failed to route the drawings to Public Works for approval. The drawings had to be routed back, delaying the progress by four weeks. Once the Church was called to pick up the third round of comments, it was discovered that the City had inadvertently failed to route the plans to John L. Hunter. Once again, Wendy L. Doo Attorney at Law telephone (626) 403.3332 facsimile (626) 403.7733 LC) �.,.,,, ,.,,�����1 J uCrl, rune JUL San Marino CA 91108 Mailing Address: P 0 Box 3156 South Pasadena CA 91031 -6156 the progress was delayed by four additional weeks to correct the oversight and allow for a full and proper plan check by all necessary parties. In addition, there have been several other reasons for the delay in development, many of which cannot be attributed to any particular party. These include: the unusual nature of the site that the City selected for the Church; complex challenges caused by strict standards and the location's proximity to the LA County flood control basin; additional months required for final site zoning and parcel map recordation; and the overly ambitious timeline set by the original temporary lease. I will refer you to Mr. Peruzzi's letter which discusses in detail the circumstances surrounding these other reasons for the delay. One consideration I do want to draw attention to is the fact that the time originally allotted for the new development was much too ambitious for this type of project. A development facing these types of design hurdles would be a challenge even for the most experienced design and development team. In this case, the team leading the project is a group of inexperienced Church members, volunteering their time to guide the project in order to help the Church. While we understand that this consideration does not justify delays in the project's development, we believe that it must be taken into account when considering the reasonableness of the project's original demanding timeframe. For these reasons, we request the City to grant an extension of the Church's temporary lease paid for by the City while the new location development is completed. Without this support from the City, the Church in Arcadia faces the prospect of being without a place to gather and serve the community, as well as losing membership of those who may feel let down and abandoned by the Church and the City of Arcadia. We would greatly appreciate your immediate attention to this matter as the expiration of the temporary lease is fast approaching. If there is any further information you require during the City's evaluation of this request, or if you have questions or would like to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact our office. Very Truly Yours, WENDY L. DOO Attorney at Law WD:jl cc: Don Penman; Church in Arcadia Wendy L. Doo Attomey at Law telephone (626) 403.3332 facsimile (626) 403.7733 P[kUZZI ARCHITECTS 2010 July 15 Jason Kruckeberg - Community Development Administrator City of Arcadia 240 W. Huntington Drive Arcadia, CA 91007 T: 626.574.5442 RE: Church in Arcadia — 630 E. Live Oak Avenue Dear Mr. Kruckeberg, I write this letter after a meeting with the members of the Church in Arcadia. We jointly discussed that this project has moved forward very slowly, and discussed some of the reasons associated with the slower than normal process. Together, we have exposed some of the reasons, and feel that the nature & location of this project is in many ways responsible for a large portion of the delay. I have been asked to document some of these reasons, such that the Church in Arcadia might request the City of Arcadia to participate in continued support of their "satellite location'. Reason #1 — Site Appropriateness: One of the largest struggles for our way forward has been the unusual nature of the site that the City has selected for the Church. It's aspect ratio is highly unusual at more than 5:1, being 100' wide, and over 500' deep. We realized early in the process that we were going to need much more design time to create a building that works with a site this unusual, with it's access issues, etc. For this reason, we even had to revise the site plan at an additional public hearing as we began to realize how not only the site, circulation, parking, and security would work, but the hydrology as well. We believe that these issues slowed our effort about 4 months. Reason #2 — Site Civil Engineering and Hydrology: Due to the strict state standards, and being next to the LA County flood control basin, we confronted the issue of the how to deal with on site water, as well as the zone around the project that we would be responsible for. The issue became complex enough that we had a meeting at the City with all the departments represented, as well as John L. Hunter. Mr. Hunter agreed that it was a complex issue, and felt that the Civil Engineer (G4 Group) presented a good knowledge of what is required. The meeting adjourned with the conclusion that we would 8800 VENICE BLVD SURE 317 LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA 90034 TEL 310.838.9766 FAX 310.838.0760 PLkJJZZI ARCHITECTS study alternate site designs which would require a revision to the site plan. Once this site plan was revised, we would send these plans around to the agencies for review, using methods proposed by the Civil Engineer for the NPDES standards. We believe that this issue took in the neighborhood of 3 months to come to an equitable condusion. Reason #3 — Delay in Plan Check of Civil Engineering: Although this is in no way a complaint nor an indictment of the City procedures, the City did inadvertently delay the plan review process of the Civil Engineering drawings. The Civil Engineer originally submitted a set of drawings for flush out the items in "Reason #2" within this letter, which led to the all department meeting. Once we had an agreement to the way forward, the second plan check was submitted. When we were called that corrections were ready, we went to pick them up and it was then discovered that the City had forgotten to route the drawings to Public Works. The drawings needed to be routed back, taking approximately 4 additional weeks. Once we were called for to pick up the 3" round comments, we discovered that the plans had not been routed to John L. Hunter, so once again, there was an approximate 4 week wait to get the full plan check routed. Total time delay, approximately 2 months. Reason #4 — Client Sophistication and Readiness: This is a delicate category, but I feel the need to show the effect of this issue on our timing. The typical client who is developing complex properties and buildings costing in the millions of dollars has lots of experience in the process leading up to the commencement of construction. You would obviously assume that the members in the Church in Arcadia had none. Whereas you might not see this as an unknown or additional time delay, I differ in that opinion. When the members of the Church were approached by the City to relocate their Church, I'm sure their belief at that time is let's hire an architect and a builder, and get going ". However, as anyone is the development and building trade is well aware, you cannot simply hire people to do for you what is not yet defined. It is a long and complex track to complete a design process of a building this complex that will house 1,000 people. To add to that complexity, the Church in Arcadia makes all their decisions through "fellowship', or committee, as most churches in the United States do. This complexity in our process has drawn out our solution anywhere from 6 to 12 months. 8800 VENICE BLVD SUITE 317 LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA 90034 TEL 310.838.9766 FAX 310.838.0760 P[kUZZI ARCHITECTS Again, I'm sure you are asking yourself "why would this be the City of Arcadia's problem ? ". I am not writing to place blame on the Church members, nor the City. However, the Church members, due to their lack of knowledge and sophistication in this field, had no idea of what they were getting into, so could not have known that they needed to give themselves more time than an experienced development team would have needed. Not knowing this, they blindly assumed that the timelines presented by the City were reasonable. Although this time line may have been reasonable for an experienced development team, Church members forming a committee without multiple development experiences could not be expected to understand the process, and all the requirements that they would need, to move the project along as fast as possible. This phase of a project involves constant owner decisions, as everything we design, draw, and engineer is a manifestation of their needs. Reason #5 — Final Site Zoning and Parcel Map Recordation: Once the Church in Arcadia had their first approval through the planning process, the City still was required to executed a plan amendment for a zoning change to the parcel, as well as record the final parcel map. This process took approximately 6 additional months. We hope you understand all these issues, and would be more than happy to provide further disclosure of time lines and dates. Please do not hesitate to call should you have any further questions or comments. Sincerely, • PERUZZI CHITECTS John P. Pe - , A.LA, N.C.A.R.B. Cc: David Dong, Church in Arcadia 8800 VENICE BLVD SUITE 317 LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA 90034 TEL 310.838.9766 FAX 310.838.0760 ATTACHMENT B 0 R G wi p y 4 11' nip August 10, 2010 \% o� o ¢ °' Wendy Doo, Attorney at Law 14 Ualty of Doo & Chong City O r 2596 Mission Street, Suite 302 r San Marino, CA 91108 A rcadia RE: Church in Arcadia, 630 East Live Oak Avenue Dear Ms. Doo: The City of Arcadia and Arcadia Redevelopment Agency (City) is in receipt of Development your letter dated August 2, 2010 regarding the status of the relocation of the Services Church in Arcadia and the City's assistance to the Church. Your letter requests De artment an extension of the temporary payments by the City to the Church for both the p office space and the meeting space the Church is currently utilizing for an undetermined amount of time. Attached to your letter is a letter from John Peruzzi, project architect, which outlines some of the perceived reasons for the Jason Kruckcberg delays in completing the Church planning and development. Assistant City Manager/ As you know, the City and the Church entered into a Purchase and Sale Development Services Agreement that outlined an 18 month period within which the City would Director reimburse the Church up to $2,000 per month. Through a subsequent Council action on January 20, 2009 the City Council, sitting as the Redevelopment Agency Board (Agency Board) doubled the amount of reimbursement to the Church to $4,000 per month for a total amount of $72,000. Even though escrow closed in September of 2008, this 18 month period was "kicked off' by the submittal of grading plans (as per the Purchase and Sale Agreement) in January of 2009. As a result, the 18 month timeframe ended in July, 2010. Any extension of financial assistance by the City would need to be approved by the Agency Board in a public meeting format. Mr. Peruzzi's letter outlines five reasons why the project has moved forward more slowly that expected or desired. While we agree that the site is a challenging site (Reason #1) and there is an issue with the Church in Arcadia's sophistication in dealing with land use issues (Reason #4), these are not issues the City can control. In fact, in an initial meeting with Church representatives and the City, Mr. Peruzzi specifically indicated he was familiar with the City development process and that he could easily meet the schedule outlined in the agreement. With regard to the final site zoning and parcel map recordation process (Reason #5), we acknowledge this was a long and cumbersome process. However, the Purchase and Sale Agreement was predicated upon the entering into escrow which did not begin until January of 2009. The map was recorded in July of 2008 so this timeframe is really not germane to your issues. Mr. Peruzzi's letter also lists reasons related to the Civil Engineering and Hydrology for the site and perceived delays in the plan check process. It will be helpful to look at the facts of these two issues. The Purchase and Sale Agreement stipulated that "grading plans" be submitted within 4 months of the close of escrow in order for the Church to trigger the 18 240 West Huntington Drive month reimbursement plan from the City. A grading sheet was submitted in Post Office Box 60021 Arcadia, CA 91066 -6021 (626) 574 -5415 (626) 447 -3309 Fax www.ci.arcadia.ca.us January 2009 by Kevin Garrity, Civil Engineer. Mr. Garrity acknowledged that what was submitted in January 2009 was far from a complete grading and drainage plan. Mr. Garrity had discovered that there were some issues related to overall site drainage and the proximity to the Flood Control Channel that needed to be addressed prior to a complete plan being submitted. The City acknowledged these issues and allowed this preliminary grading sheet as a qualifying "grading plan" to keep the process moving and trigger the reimbursement schedule. An "all hands" meeting was held as you describe on February 2, 2009 with our consultants. An alternative was derived that saved considerable expense and that also required a change to the parking layout. Tandem parking was needed to approve this change and this is not allowed in the City. A modification was granted in April, 2009 to allow the Church to utilize tandem parking. Below is a timeline of overall events through the plan check process: • January 13, 2009 — Grading Sheet submitted • February 2, 2009 — Applicant, staff, and consultant meeting on grading and drainage • March - April, 2009 — New plans drawn up to create better drainage situation, plan for tandem parking approved through Modification Committee. • May 1, 2009 — Original plans available for pick up by Mr. Garrity • October 21, 2009 — Grading /drainage plans resubmitted for second plan check (5% month delay) • December 9, 2009 — Second round of grading /drainage plans returned to Mr. Garrity • January 28, 2010 — Plans resubmitted for third round of plan check • March 2, 2010 — Plans made available again for Mr. Garrity to pick up • July 29, 2010 — Full building plans submitted including grading plans (nearly 5 months delay). During this period the building was significantly redesigned. Since the building was significantly modified from the original approved design, it was presented to Planning Commission again on June 22, 2010. The plans were submitted on June 7, 2010 so this approval process was less than three weeks long; however, staff had originally seen elevations of these plans nearly six months prior to official submittal. The revised plans were approved as the new design is very good and much improved from the original. To summarize, there are at least 10 months of "down time" within the timeframe where the applicant had plans and the City was simply waiting for a new submittal. This does not include the nearly six months from the first view of changes to the building to the submittal date of the revisions in June, 2010. Mr. Peruzzi's letter makes mention of two 4 week periods that were lost because of processing errors on the part of the City. Looking back through the City's tracking records, it is clear that there was an error made on February 8, 2010 where plans were not routed to John Hunter appropriately. It appears from our records this was a two week gap. We do not see the additional alleged four week gap in the tracking records. In addition, the City sent the Church letters dated September 21, 2009 and February 17, 2010 (at the one year and 6 month marks) reminding the Church of the deadline for reimbursement and urging the Church to put priority into their plans. These letters are attached and both were sent to Mr. Peruzzi at the time of mailing. As of the date of this letter, all 18 months of rent have been paid for the office space at 43 -A East Huntington Drive and 16 months of rent have been paid to Dana Middle School. We are awaiting a bill from Dana Middle School for these final two months. Even though the records do not reflect the two month delay in City processing mentioned in Mr. Peruzzi's letter, the City is willing to expend the remainder of the $72,000 allocated by the Agency Board. According to our records, this amounts to $3,600 for the office (up to four months of rent) and $6,162 for Dana Middle School (up to two months of rent). Your letter does not suggest any projected completion date for the building or any specific time frame for continued Agency assistance. Any further assistance desired by the Church would need to be requested of the Agency Board. While the Church is to be commended for upgrading the exterior design of their building, this change has caused delays for which the City is not responsible. The City has made every effort to work with the Church both in terms of project processing and financing. In addition to the original purchase of the property and transfer of the Live Oak site to the Church, the City also agreed to construct a dedicated left turn pocket into the property off of Live Oak and pave a parking area near the water tanks to accommodate overflow parking needs. The City believes that the Meeting Hall will be an excellent addition to the City once completed and we look forward to working with Mr. Peruzzi and the rest of the Church team through the remainder of the process. Please call me at 626-574 - 5414 if you have any questions. Sincerely, 6, Jason Kruckeberg Assistant City Manager /Development Services Director CC: Don Penman, City Manager Jim Kasama, Community Development Administrator Jerry Schwartz, Economic Development Manager John Peruzzi, Peruzzi Architects Attachments 1_11 1 Poi 19 101 eir Arcadia Redevelopment Agency 240 W Huntington Dr. • P.O Box 60021 • Arcadia, CA 91066 -6021 • 626-574-5409 • fax 626 - 447 -3309 September 21, 2009 Mr. David Dong Church in Arcadia 43 -A East Huntington Drive Arcadia, CA 91007 Subject: Status of New Building at 630 East Live Oak Avenue and Reimbursements from the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency Dear David: As you are aware, the Church in Arcadia and the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency has an agreement by which you are reimbursed for lease costs as part of the temporary relocation from 21 Morlan Place. The Church vacated that building, in its entirety, in time to hold your first Sunday service at Dana Middle School on February 15, 2009. You moved to the office on 43 East Huntington Drive in January, 2009, for which the Agency had already paid the first and last month's rents directly to your landlord. The Church's use of Dana Middle School and occupancy of the office at 43 East Huntington Drive are intended to be short term during the construction of your new facility at 630 East Live Oak Avenue. To that end, the agreement provides for the Agency to reimburse the Church for a period of up to 18 months, with the expectation that your congregation will have occupied the new building before the reimbursement period ends. As a reminder, escrow closed on the Agency's purchase of Morlan Place and the Church's acquisition of the Live Oak property on September 12, 2008. There was a requirement for you to submit grading plans within four months of the closing date (January 12, 2009), and that timing was met. Staff met with your architect and engineer on February 2, 2009 to discuss grading, parking, and drainage issues. However, in the 7 '/2 months since that meeting, the grading plan has not been resubmitted for approval. During the meeting, your representatives were concerned about some issues related to the auxiliary parking lot and indicated that the only solution was to design it as a tandem lot. To accommodate that concern, staff processed a parking modification since tandem parking is not allowed in the City. Staff has completed the left turn pocket that was required for access to your site, and will be going out for bids soon to pave and stripe the parking lot that we agreed to complete. The Church has been using the Dana Middle School for seven months, meaning that the Agency is responsible for reimbursing for another approximately 11 months. During that time, the Church might consider moving quickly with its grading and construction plans and the actual work at the site. Obviously, once you occupy the new building, all Church activities can be consolidated from the two locations where they occur now. We have received additional complaints from other tenants in the building about Church events or activities that are large and loud, thus disrupting others in the operation of their businesses. It is important to make sure that the office space is used for Church administration and small meetings. It should not be used for large gatherings, services, singing, or any other church -type activity that could disturb the other businesses in the building or would be more appropriate to be held in a church rather than an office. Please feel free to contact me about the status of construction- related activities or any aspect of this letter. i erely, if Schwa - Economic - velopment Manager Cc: John Peruzzi, Peruzzi Architects Page 2 I I I PI arcadia redevelopment agency 240 west huntington drive • p.o. box 60021 • arcadia, ca 91066-6021 • 626 - 574 -5408 • fax 626 -447 -3309 February 17, 2010 Mr. David Dong Church in Arcadia 43 -A East Huntington Drive Arcadia, CA 91007 Subject: Status of New Building at 630 East Live Oak Avenue and Reimbursements from The Arcadia Redevelopment Agency Dear David: As you know, the Church in Arcadia and the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency have an agreement through which you are reimbursed for lease costs as part of the Church's temporary relocation from 21 Morlan Place. The Church vacated the site on Morlan Place in its entirety, in time to hold your first Sunday service at Dana Middle School on February 15, 2009, exactly one year ago. You moved to the office at 43 East Huntington Drive in January 2009, for which the Agency paid first and last month's rent directly to your landlord. The Church's use of Dana Middle School and occupancy of the office at 43 East Huntington Drive were intended to be short term alternatives during the construction of your new facility at 630 East Live Oak Avenue. To that end, the agreement provides for the Agency to reimburse the Church for a period of up to 18 months, with the expectation that your congregation will have occupied the new building before the reimbursement period ends. Escrow closed on the Agency's purchase of 21 Morlan Place and the Church's acquisition of the Live Oak property on September 12, 2008. There was a requirement for you to submit grading plans within four months of the closing date (January 12, 2009), and the plans were submitted within that timeframe. Revised grading plans are currently in plan check, but a grading permit has still not been obtained. As you are aware, staff has already completed the left turn pocket for to allow entry into the Church site and processed a parking modification to allow tandem parking, which is otherwise not allowed in the City. Staff is ready to pave and stripe the lot once the Church is further along in the development process. The Church has been using Dana Middle School for one year, meaning that the Agency is responsible for six additional months of reimbursements, until mid- August 2010. Given the status of your construction activities, there is still much to be done before construction of the new building can even be started. It appears now that there will be a period of time after the Agency reimbursements end but before your new building is ready for occupancy. You can control the length of that gap by making the construction of the building a high priority. Our Building Services Division reviews all plans promptly once they are submitted, so the City of Arcadia will never slow down the building process. The Church is responsible to keep things moving. Please feel free to contact me about the status of construction - related activities or any aspect of this letter. Si erely, J rry Sc wartz Economic Development Manager CC: John Peruzzi, Peruzzi Architects ATTACHMENT C U 2596 Mission Street, Suite 302 Mailing Address: P 0 Box 3156 C San Marino CA 91108 South Pasadena CA 91031 -6156 August 25, 2010 AFDENE"{l CITY OF ARCADIA 3 ► 2010 240 W. HUNTINGTON DRIVE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES ARCADIA, CA 91007 ATTN: JASON KRUCKEBURG, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR RE: Church in Arcadia, 630 E. Live Oak Avenue Dear Mr. Kruckeburg: Thank you for your letter dated August 10, 2010 in response to our request regarding the temporary lease for the Church in Arcadia. We appreciate your thoughtful response and the gracious offer for the remaining amount of the $72,000 allocated by the Agency Board for the full lease of the office building and Dana Middle School facilities. However, the Church requires additional assistance and an extension of the City's lease of these facilities while the new construction project is completed. The Church would like to request an extension of the temporary lease paid for by the City to allow the Church to continue serving the community in its temporary satellite location until development of the new location is completed. Therefore, the Church hereby requests that this matter be brought before the City Council Redevelopment Agency Board at its next meeting for the Board's decision. Considering the setbacks and delays the new construction project has suffered, the Church is cautiously hopeful that the project can be completed within 12 months. Therefore, the Church will request an extension of the temporary leases paid by the City up to and including July, 2011. If any information is required in placing this matter on the Agency Board's agenda for the next meeting, please contact our office. In addition, information regarding this request, the Agency Board's meeting details, or the procedure for having this hearing heard would be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this matter further, please contact our office. Very Truly Yours, •- WENDY L. DOO Attorney at Law WD:jl cc: client Wendy L. Doo Attomey at Law telephone (626) 403.3332 facsimile (626) 403.7733 2596 Mission Street, Suite 302 C Mailing San Marino CA 91108 Address: P 0 Box 3156 South Pasadena CA 91031 -6156 cc: Don Penman, City Manager Jim Kasama, Community Development Administrator Jerry Schwartz, Economic Development Manager John Peruzzi, Peruzzi Architects Wendy L. Doo Attorney at Law telephone (626) 403.3332 facsimile (626) 403.7733 The Church in Arcadia 630 East Live Oak Avenue Arcadia, California 91006 "To announce ... the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel" - -- Ephesians 3:8 ATTACHMENT B April 13, 2011 Mr. Don Penman, City Manager City of Arcadia Council Members City of Arcadia, California Dear Sirs: We are pleased to report that we have finally arrived at the construction stage of our meeting hall. The permits are in their final stage and we have selected a general contractor, Pan Construction Inc. However, this process has not been free of unanticipated delays and expenses. Therefore, we are requesting that the City aid us by 1) waiving all or part of the permit fees, and 2) extending the rent reimbursement. When Mr. Penman first approached us about the City acquiring our property, our goal was to come to a solution that would allow the City to have our old property and allow us to have a meeting hall for our use. His proposal was to exchange our property for the City -owned parcel at 630 E. Live Oak Avenue. With our proceeds from the sale, about $3.4 million, we could build a new meeting hall. To make it possible for us to continue to operate in the interim, he promised to help us get the building permits quickly, and offered to reimburse us for the rent on a temporary meeting space for eighteen months. We agreed to the proposal with the assumption that this would give us enough time and money to construct a new meeting hall. This turned out to be unrealistic on both counts. We have met with sixteen general contractors, and on average they estimated the project would take four years and 4 million dollars — this in addition to the design and engineering expenses of $260,000 we have already incurred. With interest rates declining from 4% two years ago to below 1% for the past eighteen months, our budget is stretched very thin. We were able to negotiate with Pan Construction to reduce the construction cost to $3.2 million, which leaves us very little for fees and contingencies. (The standard contingency for this type of project is 5% of the total, $160,000 in our case. In addition, we need to prepare $110,000 for project management, deputy inspection and building, engineering and grating permit fees.) Dividing and mapping the parcel and designing rainwater drainage were complicated by the proximity of the land to the County flood control channel. Because of delays in the preliminary stages, we are only now at the point where construction can begin. This is estimated to take ten months, but a full year is more realistic. The City Council previously granted us an additional six months of rent reimbursement with the opportunity to request an additional extension if necessary. We have done our part to move the project forward and reduce the construction costs; we have also moved out of our office to reduce our monthly rent expense from $4,000 to $3,000. We embarked on this project with the understanding that the City would work with us to complete it successfully. With the end now in sight, we are appealing to the City's promise to help us, and ask that the City waive part of all of the permit fees and grant us an extension of the rent reimbursement. Thank you very much for your consideration. Sincerely yours, David Dong, President