DEPARTMENT OF
CITY PLANNING
CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
City of Los Angeles
C ALIFORNIA
VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP
DAVID H. J. AMBROZ
DIRECTOR
PRESIDENT
(213) 978-1271
RENEE DAKE WILSON
KEVIN J. KELLER, AICP
Deputy Director
(213) 978-1272
VICE-PRESIDENT
ROBERT L. AHN
CAROLINE CHOE
RICHARD KATZ
JOHN W. MACK
SAMANTHA MILLMAN
VERONICA PADILLA-CAMPOS
DANA M. PERLMAN
EXECUTIVE OFFICES
200 N. SPRING STREET, ROOM 525
LOS ANGELES, CA 90012-4801
LISA M. WEBBER, AICP
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
ERIC GARCETTI
(213) 978-1274
MAYOR
JAN ZATORSKI
DEPUTY DIRECTOR
JAMES K. WILLIAMS
(213) 978-1273
COMMISSION EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
(213) 978-1300
http://planning.lacity.org
June 7, 2016
NOTICE OF PREPARATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT
AND PUBLIC SCOPING MEETING
CASE NO.: ENV-2012-2055-EIR
PROJECT NAME: College Station Project
PROJECT APPLICANT: Chinatown Station Owner, LLC c/o Jeffrey Goldberger
PROJECT LOCATION/ADDRESS: 129-135 W. College Street and 924 N. Spring Street, Los
Angeles, California, 90012
COMMUNITY PLANNING AREA: Central City North Community Plan Area
COUNCIL DISTRICT: 1 – Gilbert Cedillo
DUE DATE FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS: 4:00 p.m., July 7, 2016
SCOPING MEETING: June 22, 2016. See more information below.
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15082, once
the Lead Agency decides an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is required for a project, a
Notice of Preparation (NOP) describing the project and its potential environmental effects shall
be prepared. You are being notified of the City of Los Angeles’ intent, as Lead Agency, to
prepare an EIR for this Project, which may be located in an area of interest to you and/or the
organization or agency you represent. This EIR will be prepared by outside consultants and
submitted to the Department of City Planning, Environmental Analysis Section, for independent
review and certification.
The Department of City Planning requests your comments as to the scope and content of the
EIR. Comments must be submitted in writing pursuant to directions below. If you represent an
agency, the City is seeking comments as to the scope and content of the environmental
information in the document which is germane to your agency’s statutory responsibilities in
connection with the Proposed Project. Agencies will need to use the EIR when considering
permits or other approvals for the Project.
A Scoping Meeting will be held to receive input from the public as to what environmental topics
the EIR should study. No decisions about the Project are made at the Scoping Meeting. The
project description, location, and the potential environmental effects identified thus far are set
forth in this document. Also included below are the date, time, and location of the Scoping
Meeting.
The Scoping Meeting is in an open house format. THIS IS NOT THE REQUIRED
PUBLIC HEARING FOR MUNICIPAL CODE ENTITLEMENT REQUESTS which will
be scheduled after the completion of the EIR. The environmental file is available for review
at the Department of City Planning, 200 North Spring Street, Room 750, Los Angeles, CA
90012. A copy of the Initial Study prepared for the Project is not attached but may be viewed
online at http://planning.lacity.org by clicking on the “Environmental” tab, then “Notice of
Preparation & Public Scoping Meetings”.
PROJECT LOCATION:
The Project Site is located east of the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Gold Line Chinatown Station and southeast of
the Los Angeles State Historic Park. The Project Site is located at the northern end of the Central
City North Community Plan Area and in the southwestern portion of the Cornfield Arroyo Seco
Specific Plan (CASP) Area. The approximate 4.92-acre Project Site extends from W. College
Street on the south to Llewellyn Street on the north. To the southeast, it is bordered by two
parcels housing wholesale commercial/light industrial uses, storage, and surface parking, from
which it is separated by a short alley connecting W. College Street and (unimproved) Rondout
Street. The Project Site is bordered on the east/northeast by Rondout Street and on the west by
N. Spring Street. The Project Site is currently vacant and is periodically used for parking by
nearby industrial and commercial businesses.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Project would construct a mixed-use transit-oriented
development containing up to 770 residential apartment units and 51,390 square feet of
commercial floor area.
The Project would develop up to approximately 642,239 square feet of floor area (approximately
3:1 FAR) within six residential buildings above a two-level podium structure and spatially
arranged around a central courtyard. The Project includes 770 dwelling units, including 355
studios, 360 one-bedroom units (including 10 townhomes), and 55 two-bedroom units, and up to
approximately 51,390 square feet of retail, restaurant, and other commercial space. The largest
of the three retail spaces (37,520 square feet) would front on College Street at the southern end
of the Project Site and is programmed for use as a market. The remaining two commercial areas
would front on N. Spring Street and would be separated by a row of 10 two-story townhomes.
The two commercial areas fronting on N. Spring Street are programmed for approximately
5,870 square feet of retail space and 8,000 square feet of restaurant space, and 3,000 square feet
of restaurant space. Parking totaling 1,179 stalls would be accommodated within one-and-a-half
levels of subterranean parking and two above-ground podium levels. A total of 899 ground-level
bicycle spaces would also be provided.
The Project is anticipated to begin in 2017, pending Project consideration and approval, and
would be completed in 2020. Construction is expected to take place in multiple, potentially
overlapping, phases.
REQUESTED PERMITS/APPROVALS: Discretionary entitlements, reviews, and approvals
required for implementation of the Project would include, but would not necessarily be limited
to, the following:

General Plan Amendment for a deviation from Footnote 12 of the Central City North
Community Plan;

General Plan Amendment from Hybrid Industrial land use designation to Regional Center
Commercial;

Specific Plan Amendment to reflect Project Site exemption from CASP provisions and
effect corresponding correction to Central City North Community Plan General Plan
Land Use Map;

Zone Change from UC (CA) to C2, to reflect Project Site exemption from CASP
provisions and effect corresponding correction to Zoning Map;

Height District Change from Height District 1 to Height District 2, to allow an increase in
the maximum FAR from 1.5:1 to 3:1;

Conditional Use Permit to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-site consumption
in conjunction with the proposed market;

Site Plan Review;

Vesting Tentative Tract Map;

Certification of the Environmental Impact Report;

Grading, excavation, foundation, and associated building permits; and

Other permits and approvals as deemed necessary, including possible legislative
approvals as required by the City to implement the Project.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS POTENTIALLY AFFECTED: Aesthetics, Air Quality,
Geology and Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Land Use and
Planning, Noise, Population and Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation and
Traffic, and Utilities and Service Systems.
PUBLIC SCOPING MEETING: A public scoping meeting in an open house format will be
held to receive public comment regarding the scope and content of the environmental analysis to
be included in the Draft EIR. City staff, environmental consultants and project representatives
will be available, but no formal presentation is scheduled. You may stop by at any time between
5:00 pm and 7:00 pm to view materials, ask questions, and provide comments. The Department
of City Planning encourages all interested individuals and organizations to attend this meeting.
The location, date, and time of the public scoping meeting for this Project are as follows:
Date:
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Time:
5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
Arrive any time between 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. to speak one-onone with City staff and Project consultants.
Location:
Johnson Fain Offices
1201 N. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Free parking available in adjacent Bishops Road surface lot; enter
off N. Broadway
The enclosed materials reflect the scope of the project (subject to change). The Department of
City Planning welcomes and will consider all written comments regarding potential
environmental impacts of the project and issues to be addressed in the EIR. Written comments
PROJECT
SITE
Parking
Scoping Meeting Location
Johnson Fain Offices
PROJECT
SITE
0
Project Boundary
SOURCE: ESRI Street Map, 2009.
800
Feet
College Station
Exhibit 1
Regional and Site Location Map (Scoping Meeting Location)
PROJECT
SITE
Project Boundary
SOURCE: Google Maps, 2015 (Aerial).
0
300
Feet
College Station
Exhibit 2
Aerial Photograph of the Project Site and Vicinity
North
SOURCE: Johnson Fain, 2016
College Station
Exhibit 3
Conceptual Site Plan
North
SOURCE: Johnson Fain, 2016
College Station
Exhibit 4
Conceptual Site Plan-Podium Level
SOURCE: Johnson Fain, 2016
College Station
Exhibit 5
View of Proposed Project from College Street at N. Spring Street
SOURCE: GC Mapping Service, Inc., 2016
College Station
Exhibit 6
Radius Map