TO:
Honorable Mayor Powell and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
David N. Carmany, City Manager
FROM:
Jim Arndt, Public Works Director
Sona Kalapura, Environmental Programs Manager
SUBJECT: Title
Request for Proposal for Landscape Master Planning Services for the Veterans Parkway.
APPROVE
Body
____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council approve the Request for Proposal for Landscape Master Planning Services for the Veterans Parkway.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
$40,000 in funding for the Veterans Parkway landscape master plan project was approved in the fiscal year 2012-13 budget. Additionally, staff time will be required to manage the proposal process and consultant team should the City Council decide to move forward with the project.
BACKGROUND:
One of the 3-year goals of the City's adopted Strategic Plan is to "Maintain and enhance city facilities, programs and the infrastructure." The Veterans Parkway, commonly known as the Greenbelt, is a 21-acre park that crosses the City of Manhattan Beach from north to south along Valley Drive and Ardmore Avenue from Sepulveda Boulevard to the border of Hermosa Beach. It was developed in 1986, and renamed from Manhattan Parkway in 1998. (As a historical reference, the Santa Fe Railroad completed a single track line to Redondo Beach, along the present-day location of the Greenbelt between Valley and Ardmore, in 1888.)
Project Site and Amenities
The Veterans Parkway includes a 1.5 mile jogging trail and wheelchair accessible par course with four workout stations between the intersections of 10th and 11th Streets. It is the only park in the City in which leashed dogs are allowed (other than dedicated dog parks). Park benches and shade trees provide resting spots every quarter-mile along the path. There are also drinking fountains for dogs and their human companions. Lastly, the Mariposa Pathway, a 250-foot section of the parkway near Ninth Street, provides a beautiful rest stop for joggers and others who enjoy a walk along this park.
Community Involvement and Landscaping the Greenbelt
The landscape and maintenance plan for the Veterans Parkway area has moved forward without a specific design in place. Some residents who live directly across Valley Drive or Ardmore would address the land immediately in front of their homes, adding specimens to the landscape and watering by hand. The intention was to improve the view of the parkway in front of their properties, and the community as a whole benefits from this donation. In the case of other donations or memorials, residents would choose spots to have a tree planted, at times paying a fee to do the City to do so.
Unfortunately, many of the residents interested in beautifying the parkway were operating without a landscape master plan and did not understand how much space various specimens required to grow to maturity, or their irrigation requirements, and how this would impact future maintenance. Further, because the parkway is public land, residents are frequently not sure of the rules regarding new installations in the public space.
In 2010, a grassroots organization known as the Greenbelt Restoration Project was initiated by a local resident, to transform a blank section of the Veterans Parkway that had not been attended to by other residents. The Greenbelt Restoration Project has introduced environmentally appropriate plants throughout several blocks of the parkway, utilizing volunteer labor, and thousands of dollars in donations. This effort was coordinated through the Public Works Department, but was largely self-funded, including provision of most labor. The community response has been positive, and the benefits of partnering with these volunteers are valuable. However, as previously stated, there were no guidelines for plant species to use, or a process to select planting locations with general public input.
DISCUSSION:
Landscape architecture is an important facet of good urban design. The staff is proposing a planning process that would begin with the solicitation of proposals from qualified firms. The selected firm will work in conjunction with City staff and interested residents to provide landscape design and master planning services for the City's Veterans Parkway. The overall goal of the Landscape Master Plan is to work with the community to develop a blueprint for use and potential improvements to the Veterans Parkway. An important first step in any urban design process is to determine what to develop, and what to leave as undisturbed as possible. Coordinating with interested residents, the Landscape Master Plan will also propose guidelines to structure volunteer involvement in the design and implementation of future projects, if any, on the Veterans Parkway.
Should City Council approve the Request for Proposal for the Veterans Parkway Landscape Master Plan, City staff will select a consultant team to provide professional and technical services for this project based on the Scope of Work summarized in this report, and return to City Council to award the contract.
Project Description and Scope of Work
The Landscape Master Plan will serve as a template for long-term improvements on the Veterans Parkway. The Landscape Master Plan will capture the parkway's uniqueness and potential and will provide a comprehensive vision which will address the challenges of the site location. As a part of the vision for Veterans Parkway, the plan will address the plant material used in the on-going maintenance and enhancement of the parkway and will include a recommended plant palette. The plan shall include an analysis of the existing site conditions, recommendations for improvements, phasing/priority recommendations and cost estimates. The plan shall emphasize sustainability, ease of access and egress, consider a balance between active and passive usage, and create a coherent design statement within the City of Manhattan Beach.
Concurrently, but on a different timeline, the City will be undertaking a Master Plan update for all park lands that will review existing active use amenities (AUA) and potential additional uses at all parks. This effort will be under the direction of the Parks and Recreation Department. There will be an element for landscaping at each park included within this update.
Finally, the City is undertaking a separate Request for Proposal that will include consideration of traffic circles at 15th Street and Valley/Ardmore, as well as at the intersection of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Valley/Ardmore. This proposal will also consider bike paths on Valley/Ardmore and Veterans Parkway. This effort will be under the direction of the Community Development department.
The Veterans Parkway Landscape Master Plan is a standalone project, but impacts of the other master plans will be layered over the completed Veterans Parkway Landscape Master Plan. The Scope of Work for the Veterans Parkway Landscape Master Plan includes, but is not limited to:
1. Site Analysis and Assessment;
2. Development of Community Outreach, Public Input Process, and Consensus Building;
3. Parkway Master Plan Schematics and Plant Palette;
4. Cost Estimates and Maintenance Plan;
5. Policy for Donations and Volunteers; and a
6. Presentation to City Council for Action
Importance is placed on effective community outreach and public input that maximizes opportunities to develop a community consensus for the proposed plan. The City would like to ensure that the majority of the needs identified by the community are effectively addressed. Please refer to Attachment A: Draft Request for Proposal, for a detailed summary of the Scope of Work items requested as part of the Landscape Master Plan.
Evaluation and Selection Process
Selected City staff and community representatives will review proposals for experience, qualifications, and project approach of the firms to address the Scope of Work included in the Request for Proposal. In a separate envelope to be opened after review of proposal qualifications and project approach, the Consultant should include the fee to provide the services in the timeline provided in the proposal.
Project Timeline
Should City Council approve the Request for Proposal for the Landscape Master Plan, the contract can be brought back to City Council for award in December. It is anticipated that the site analysis and assessment, community outreach and public input, and master plan schematics will take approximately five months to complete. Once the Landscape Master Plan is completed, the Consultant will make a presentation to City Council.
CONCLUSION:
In order to move forward with community involvement and landscape design of the Greenbelt, staff recommends that City Council approve the Request for Proposal for Landscape Master Planning Services for the Veterans Parkway.
Attachment:
1. Draft Request for Proposal