title
CC - ACTION ITEM: (1) Update on and Discussion of the Development of the Hayden Tract Specific Plan; and (2) Direction to the City Manager as Deemed Appropriate.
body
Meeting Date: April 28, 2025
Contact Person/Dept.: Lauren Wrenn, Planning & Development Department
Troy Evangelho, Planning & Development Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-5766 / (310) 253-5744
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [x] General Fund: Yes [] No [x]
Attachments: Yes [] No [x]
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (04/23/2025); (Posted) City website (04/03/2025); Social Media (04/03/2025)
Department Approval: Mark Muenzer, Planning & Development Director (04/11/2025) _____________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council (1) receive an update on and discuss the development of the Hayden Tract Specific Plan; and (2) provide direction to the City Manager as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND
The Culver City General Plan 2045 and Zoning Code update went into effect on October 9, 2024. Under the new plan and zoning code, the Hayden Tract neighborhood is designated Mixed Use Industrial, allowing commercial and light industrial uses, as well as a base residential density up to 65 dwelling units per acre (du/ac). This new designation reflects the area’s transition away from heavy industrial and warehouse uses toward less intensive tech and creative office uses, providing an opportunity to introduce housing to the area for the first time.
The General Plan also identifies the Hayden Tract as a special study area. To help shape this new neighborhood and provide amenities for future neighborhood residents, the City has initiated the Hayden Tract Specific Plan project. The specific plan will study the neighborhood in greater detail and is intended to provide regulations for development of the public and private realm, roadway standards, and guidance for parks and other public amenities.
The project team has begun engaging with the community to receive feedback on their experiences and perceptions of the neighborhood. A series of stakeholder meetings have been held and is in progress to hear from residents, architects and developers, local community organizations, schools, and businesses in the area.
The City hosted a Kickoff Open House on March 18, 2025 for the Hayden Tract Specific Plan and the Fox Hills Specific Plan, which is in progress concurrently. The open house was held in person at the Veterans Memorial Building, as well as virtually. Approximately 60 people attended in person or online.
To publicize the open house, City staff sent over 3,000 postcards to residents, businesses, and property owners in and around the project areas, as well as multiple emails to the City mailing lists and social media postings. These materials directed recipients to the project website, www.culvercity.org/haydentract <http://www.culvercity.org/haydentract>, which included information on the event and an ongoing survey about priorities and potential improvements for the neighborhood.
In addition to the in-person open house, there is an innovative virtual open house option available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The virtual open house includes project information and materials in a 3D room which can be navigated as if the viewer were there in person. Viewers have the option to provide feedback via an additional survey with long-form, open-ended questions, as well as a comment box to contact staff directly.
Open House and Survey Response Summary
The following section summarizes feedback gained from the open house attendees and 174 responses to the first community survey, as of March 24, 2025.
Participants generally supported a walkable, bike-friendly district with enhanced public areas focused on gathering spaces and community programming. Participants mentioned the area’s current industrial character and creative identity as important when thinking about future development. Concerns about parking and traffic were frequently mentioned as participants highlighted dangerous and frustrating experiences as drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists in the area.
Responses were mixed regarding residential density and building height. Many respondents indicated support for increased height and density, especially closer to Metro stations, along Ballona Creek, and major streets. Support was also greater for projects that provide affordable housing and community benefits like open space and bike path improvements.
Some respondents did not support increased height and density, particularly on the western edge of the Tract citing the need for a transition to lower-scale residential neighborhoods. Some felt Culver City is already too impacted by development. Typically, traffic was mentioned as the primary concern about introducing new housing units.
Comments about mobility included traffic, parking, the pedestrian experience, and connections to Ballona Creek:
- Traffic: Respondents mentioned concerns relating to current traffic conditions and impacts that new development could have on traffic in the area, and on Higuera Street in particular. Many participants requested closing Higuera Street to through traffic, while others had a strong desire for a through connection on Higuera Street between Hayden Place and Jefferson Boulevard.
- Parking: Respondents expressed concerns about sufficient parking to accommodate new development. Some supported minimum parking standards, while others suggested maintaining and managing the current parking capacity better. Many participants also indicated a lack of support for on-street parking.
- Pedestrian Experience: Participants indicated that sidewalks in the plan area are, in many cases lacking, not ADA-compliant, or nonexistent. They said the area is not pedestrian-friendly and indicated an interest in improving conditions for people walking in the neighborhood.
- Connections to Ballona Creek: Respondents indicated an interest in connections to and over the creek, including the possibility of a Hayden Avenue bridge connecting to Jefferson Boulevard.
Stakeholder Interview Feedback
Local residents expressed concerns about the current traffic infrastructure and stressed the need for maintenance. They shared that traffic conditions are often slow and congested in the area. Residents highlighted dangerous traffic conditions and supported making the area safer and more walkable by improving sidewalks and regulating the speed of vehicles.
Nearby residents expressed concerns about new development and discussed the 56-foot height limit and its exceptions, particularly where directly adjacent to residential property. They also provided examples of amenities or uses that would be desirable to have in the area, including a grocery store, a farmers market, a hardware store, a green area for pets, and a shallow pond or water feature.
Design professionals shared a desire to maintain the historical character of the district, such as the bow truss buildings common in the area. A recommendation was to concentrate taller development closer to the creek, if connections to Ballona Creek were included. They stated that creativity will come on a project-by-project basis, and standards included in the plan should be flexible rather than prescriptive and rigid.
In terms of mobility, they noted that better pedestrian infrastructure is needed and that a cul-de-sac on Higuera Street may improve traffic flow, as long as a connection to downtown for pedestrians and cyclists is maintained. They also shared concerns about community concerns to new development circulation on the south side of Higuera Street, west of Hayden Avenue.
DISCUSSION
The Hayden Tract Specific Plan is envisioned to be a broad and inclusive document with development standards and policies for the following three areas.
• Land Use and Development Standards
• Roadways and Mobility
• Parks and Public Amenities
Land Use and Development Standards
The entirety of the Hayden Tract project area is designated Mixed Use Industrial, which allows commercial use, limited light industrial use, and residential use at a maximum density of 65 du/ac and a maximum height of 56 feet. When utilizing state density bonuses, as most larger residential developments do, developers can go beyond the maximum density and height in exchange for providing affordable housing units. Depending on the proportion of affordable units provided, developers can request additional concessions and waivers for other development regulations, such as setbacks or open space requirements.
A 1990 ballot initiative limits building heights to 56 feet in certain zoning designations in effect at the time, which does not include the Hayden Tract area. Through this specific plan process, there is an opportunity to increase height limits beyond 56 feet, likely in an interest to create more affordable and market rate housing.
An initial building design alternative generated for the kickoff open house shows a gradual increase in building height, increasing to 75 and 85 feet as projects move away from the residential district and toward Ballona Creek. This provides a transition between taller buildings built or proposed in the neighboring area of the City of Los Angeles and existing industrial and residential areas in Culver City.
While recent proposals for the Hayden Tract within Culver City have not included residential uses, there are several large-scale mixed use and office developments in the adjacent area of Los Angeles. Cumulus, a completed project on the north side of Jefferson Boulevard at La Cienega, includes a 7-story residential building with ground-floor retail, as well as a 31-story residential tower. Habitat, which is under construction south of Jefferson Boulevard, includes a 6-story office building and a 12-story multifamily building with retail on the ground floor. The (W)rapper is a completed 17-story office building at Jefferson Boulevard and National Boulevard, on the border with Culver City.
Roadways and Mobility
This section of the specific plan will regulate how roadways are designed, including sidewalks, streets, and pathways. Many portions of the Hayden Tract today lack sidewalks, and those that exist are narrow and often accommodate parking meters or utility poles. Improving biking and pedestrian access and connections to the La Cienega/Jefferson and Culver City Metro stations is a key goal of the specific plan to reduce vehicle traffic in the surrounding area. Ballona Creek and its multi-use path are a key component of this goal, as the path borders the eastern and southern edges of the project area.
There is currently only one direct connection between the Ballona Creek path and the Hayden Tract at the Higuera Street Bridge. Anecdotally, discussed in conversations with stakeholders, most office workers in the Hayden Tract are also currently driving to their workplaces. Increasing the number of connections to the path, and the Metro stations, will make active transportation a more viable commuting option.
Improving pedestrian amenities within the tract will also be key to success for the specific plan. Narrow, low volume streets like Steller Drive and Warner Drive present a unique opportunity for potential shared streets without separate, designated lanes for cars, bikes, and pedestrians, giving each equal priority. On busier streets, space for bikes and pedestrians should be increased.
Parks and Public Amenities
This section will provide guidance for new and improved park space, mobility, and other public amenities. While the Syd Kronenthal Park is physically close by, it is separated from the Hayden Tract by the Metro E Line tracks and lacks a comfortable and direct connection.
Similarly, Culver City Park is located nearby on the southern side of Ballona Creek and Jefferson Boulevard, but also lacks a direct connection to the Hayden Tract. The plan will seek to provide connections to existing green space, while also looking for opportunities to add green space within the project area. These possibilities would likely include publicly accessible open space as part of a private development.
Other public amenities, such as improved transit access, will also be studied. In addition to improved bike and pedestrian amenities, a circulator bus between the Hayden Tract and Metro stations has been proposed but was never implemented.
PLANNING COMMISSION DISCUSSION
The Planning Commission received an update and discussed the project at their April 9, 2025 meeting. The discussion was focused around the main components of the plan, including connectivity and mobility, improvements to parks and increasing open space, and residential density and building design.
Five members of the public made comments, with support for new development and community amenities in close proximity to the Metro E Line. However, there was concern amongst the speakers about traffic through the neighboring Rancho Higuera neighborhood, with desire for a cul-de-sac on Higuera Street to reduce cut through traffic. One commenter also requested clarification on the potential for height increases.
When discussing mobility, the Commission was strongly supportive of improving connections to the Metro E Line stations, as well as to nearby parks, and discussed increasing the number of crossings over the creek. Also discussed was the need for sidewalk improvements and accessibility, and requested examples of shared streets. There was also support for studying a cul-de-sac on Higuera Street, limiting access to bikes and pedestrians between the Hayden Tract and the Rancho Higuera neighborhood.
For parks and open space, the Commission again discussed the need for improved connections to existing parks which are physically close by but lack comfortable connections. Commissioners also expressed support for exploring park space on the former rail spur, which is currently being used for parking.
When discussing land use and design, there was general support for height alternative 2, which includes increased heights up to 85 feet stepping up towards Ballona Creek. There was concern over the potential for those taller buildings to be exclusively office space, and commissioners recommended exploring ways to incentivize housing in exchange for the taller heights. There was also discussion of residential densities, including concern that the General Plan density of 65 du/ac is not high enough to merit an 85-foot building, but that it could also encourage needed 3- or 4-bedroom units.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION
The discussion of the Hayden Tract Specific Plan is covered by the general exemption rule (as provided in California Code of Regulations, title 14, section 15061, subsection (b)(3)) that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) only applies to projects which have potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. The discussion of the specific plan will have no significant effect on the environment. The final proposed specific plan will have the appropriate environmental assessment completed prior to presentation for approval.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
This discussion of the Hayden Tract Specific Plan has no fiscal impact.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
Discuss and provide comments and direction to the City Manager on the Hayden Tract Specific Plan as deemed appropriate.