Recommendation to receive and file the Guiding Principles recommended by the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force.  (District 2)
Let's give them all a round of applause for serving and thank them. Thank you. We're going to go now to our item on the Queen Mary. And it's a it's listed as both a presentation and agenda item. So we're going to move that agenda item and just do the whole thing here in one item. So if I can have the clerk, please begin by reading item 25 and then I'll kick us off. I'm sorry. Now that I'm 25, it's item number 17 and they'll kick us off. Report from Development Services recommendation to receive and file the guiding principles recommended by the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force District to. Thank you. We're going to before we turn this over to two staff, I just want to make a couple opening comments. I want to just begin by thanking first the council and then the task force that the council formed, this Queen Mary Tibet Land Development Task Force probably about a year ago or so. And Vice Mayor Lowenthal at the time had brought this forward along with myself, just to ensure that we would have a extensive community input process throughout. As far as developing these principles and guidelines for the development of the Queen Mary land around the Queen Mary. As a reminder, this is probably some of the most important undeveloped land, not just in the city, but really in the region. This is significant property. It is adjacent to our iconic Queen Mary. And there's a lot of potential to really connect this parcel to the rest of the city and build something really special for not just Long Beach, but really for for the region and for the state. So it's been an exciting process. And I want to start by thanking all the members of the task force. This was a a phenomenal group of people that served on this task force. There's four of them that are here, but I want to thank each of them first. The chair was Michael Bowen, who is going to be saying a few remarks today, who, as we all know, is a senior principal and design director at Studio 111. Geoff Hoffman, who wanted to be here so bad but is actually traveling for work. Who's who's vice chair of Hoffman and Associates was the Vice-Chair Ryan Elton Toon, who we know is a developer and the executive VP of Energy and Pacific Stewart Ashman, who was the CEO of Mohler, Becky Blair from Blair Real Estate. Julia Wang, who I know is here, who is the founder of Imprint Venture Lab and the CEO of Inner Trend. Kathleen Irvine from the from the community in the Willmar City area. Ken McDonald, who is the CEO of Long Beach Transit. I see Cheryl Perry, who's here, who is with Long Beach Heritage and president of the Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Group and one of our premier historic preservationists in the city. Kelly Ruggiero, who is the executive director of the Long Beach Symphony. And Kelly is also here. Steve Sheldon, who is the director of entertainment events at the Queen Mary. I saw Steve here. If he's not here now, he was maybe spoken in and out, but I did see him. Come in. Come in down here. And John Bendis, who's the principal and founder of German DS, Inc., I know if you want is here or not, but it's it was a a phenomenal group. They've worked very hard. They've been putting together a lot of their work. And you're going to see the culmination of their work tonight. And so with that, I'm gonna turn this over to city staff. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, we certainly agree that the task force has done a tremendous amount of work, a tremendous amount of visioning and bringing community input into what is really Premiere site in Long Beach. So Linda Tatum will go through from development services, will go through a bit of a staff report to give you an overview and highlights of what their work product was in your packet, you have kind of the full report which gets into a even greater detail and we'll give a summary of the great work that the care that the task force did. Linda Thank you, Mayor, and members of the Council. I'd like to start by just acknowledging the staff that worked on this incredible project, and that would be to my left here, Fernandinho, who's the planning staff? She was the project manager. I'd also like to recognize one of the our department's interns, Olivia Jonge, as well as our department director, Amy Bodak. And I would also like to acknowledge the assistance that we had, the very capable assistance we had from a project designer, an architect, a local architect who assisted the task force in their deliberations. So with that, I'd just like to introduce the overview of this project by acknowledging that the selection of a new leaseholder for the Queen Mary site was a very opportune time for the city to step back from the site and take the opportunity to really significantly reimagine what could occur on the site. It's an underutilized site. And this time and the appointment of the task force really played a critical role for the city to re vision that site. So with the mayor's creation of the task force there, their charge was multifold. It was, to, number one, recognize the Queen Mary ship, but also to re-envision the site as a world class destination, something that that could be and also to for the task force there key role was really to provide leadership in that deliberation and in that conversation with the community, their charge was to get a broad base of community input in terms of what that vision could be and to take that input and feedback from the stakeholders and the community and synthesize it into a. He's the vision for the site. And that resulted in the Queen Mary document that the draft document that you have in front of you in the course of their appointment over about eight months, they had a total of ten meetings. And during those meetings they routinely had very active community input and participation. Those meetings included presentations on topics related to the President, related to the topic of the vision, but also some very specialized presentations such as a potential aerial tram for the site, as well as the restoration of a historic carousel. So those were some of the topics. In addition, they had several design featurettes that were hosted by the architect Gwyn Pugh and his firm to facilitate that discussion. So I'd like to briefly just summarize the guiding principles that were that drove the the ultimate vision for the site. They started out with, first and foremost, the acknowledgment that the the Queen Mary ship really is the focal point. It serves a significant iconic cultural landmark for the city. And the idea is that whatever development occurs on the site should recognize the Queen Mary and its contribution to the city's history and culture, and that any development of the site just needs to compliment the Queen Mary. But the task force didn't forget that the other key role or the key objective of the development of the selection of a leaseholder is to really begin the process of developing that site so that it can allow funding to restore the Queen Mary to its historic grandeur. Another one of the key principles was esthetics for the site. And the important component here was that whatever is developed on the site, that it's attractive and that it's it is authentic architecture that really reflects the setting of the site itself. The other key point that the task force recognized was that whatever happens on the site, it has to have broad public access, not just getting into the site easily, but also just getting out of the site and providing very ample and adequate parking for the site. Another one of the guiding principles was connectivity. I think that there was a lot of focus that talked about how the site itself needs to be connected not only to the downtown, but also the activities and the the various events on the site must be connected to each other and that the public and those visiting the site must must have a different options or modes for actually access in the site. And also connectivity included visual access. It's not just getting around the site, but having the site be visual or be actually visible from the downtown and other parts of the city, as well as promoting the great views of the site itself across into the downtown area. Also the notion of complete community. The task force wanted to make sure that we weren't just creating a single purpose type of setting. The idea was that there would be multiple purposes for there, and that would include everything from social, cultural, educational opportunities as well as hospitality for the site. So it was really important that when you go to the site, it could serve a multiplicity of functions for for visitors as well as for local residents. Also iconic. That was the term that is intended to make sure that whatever gets developed on the site, not only does it respect the Queen Mary ship, but that be iconic in and of itself. So that, again, those views of the site of the Queen Mary site from the downtown and other parts of the city reflect something that's very substantial and and worthy of the the location on that piece of property. And lastly, the the task force deliberated on this one a lot and we added it. They added it at the last minute that because it kept coming up in the conversation, the need for this outdoor venue, this very unique outdoor venue to provide a very iconic and a high quality outdoor venue that would rival other local regional venues such as the Hollywood Bowl. The thought was that this would be unique because of its waterfront location and that it was certainly a a and a great unique opportunity for the the city to take advantage of. So with that, the other major component that went into the the guiding principles that are reflected in the document are a number of about seven or so key themes. And these are the key themes and elements that were were tossed out. There are tons of ideas that came out of the various members of the of the task force. And but they were all coalesced around these key themes that are represented here. They were things like not just the sense of arrival or creating a sensible arrival, but having the arrival to the site be an experience in and of itself. Making arrival there easier with wayfinding. Making, as I mentioned earlier, circulation to the site, getting to the site and and traversing the site itself through different modes, be it walking, biking, coming to the site, using other modes of transportation, including your cars, the water, taxi, but just be highly accessible however you choose to get there. Also making the parking accessible. And the other consideration was the esthetics and the design of the site. The idea, again, was to make sure that the the site and the the architectural features and everything was cohesive and really made the site that that world class destination that will be attractive not only to local residents who may want to spend an afternoon there, but for an international visitor, for example, who may stay at a local stay at the hotel on the site and spend the weekend there. So the idea, again, making sure that the site is attractive, that it is welcoming, that the building is all the buildings on the site are cohesive and they orient and enhance the Queen Mary itself, enhance the site and make it a world class destination. The other component was the open space. The task force felt that it was really critical to take advantage not only of the park site, but the open space of the site itself and with the orientation of buildings, the placement of the buildings to make sure that those open space corridors are actually maintained, so that at no time is the site overdeveloped. So you don't get to continue to take advantage of multiple open space opportunities on the site as well as open space views. And then lastly, the key uses of the site. The task force spent a lot of time and they had a lot of great ideas. And again, these are summarized in the they're presented in a little bit more detail in the document itself. But the idea is that there would be a variety of uses, cultural uses, entertainment uses, recreational uses, hospitality. Again, the ultimate goal being to have the site be a world class destination that that brands the city of of Long Beach, as well as the Queen Mary itself. So with that, I'd like to close out the presentation by talking about the next steps after the council takes an action on the these guiding principles. Tonight, we will be formally presenting them on the Mayor's behalf to the urban commons, the leaseholder and the I just to make sure that the you're aware that urban commons has been they attended many of the task force meetings and so they were they were there we know that they were listening to the incredible feedback that came directly from the community and from the task force. And the idea is that these guiding principles will inform their ultimate design of something truly iconic, something truly esthetic, and that really enhances the site. And we will look forward ultimately to their submittal of a set of plans for the long term development of the site. And that concludes staff's presentation. Be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you. And I know that before we get the questions, I'm going to have Mr. Bowen come up, who's going to say a few words on behalf of the task force. And he led our group along with Mr. Hoffman. Well, thank you. As the chair of the Queen Mary Task Force. We are very proud and excited about the document. We've put a lot of energy into it and we think that this could be a really great document for the developer and the community to use as a guide. We hope that you support the document that we produced today. I also want to say that I want to thank the mayor for putting this group of task force members together. They were the best. They're very passionate. They're very talented and knowledgeable. And everything that's in this document has a reflection from all of the members. Didn't always agree, but we always were able to work things out and we think we have a really phenomenal document. I also wanted to thank Gwen Pew and Linda with Urban Studio. They were the consultants that helped facilitate some of the community meetings as well as our meetings, and they are one of the best in Southern California. I've worked with a lot of different firms and they're really wonderful. It was a really great choice. I also want to thank the city, particularly Linda Tatum and for I know for being very patient with us, listening to us and being such great communicators. And so and then finally, I want to thank the community. We had many people that showed up to all the meetings. We had some that went to a few. We had about 60 to 70 people come to one of the workshops. And again, as an architect, I've been to hundreds of workshops, and I was the most proud of our citizens of Long Beach. They were professional. They were respectful of each other. And they had a lot of great ideas. So there's a lot of their ideas that have permeated into this document as well. So we hope that the developer will find this document useful. We hope the city will find it useful. And we hope that they will embrace the developer, will embrace many of the ideas that are in there, if not all of them. And we ask for you to support this document tonight. Thank you. Thank you. The developer. Well, I think. Let's go ahead and Councilmember Pearce. Thank you for that. I want to first just thank everybody that has been a part of this process I attended as a resident before I got into council a few of the task force meetings and just thought that you guys asked a lot of phenomenal questions. You gave a great opportunity for the community members to be involved. And everybody that attended, I think, came wholeheartedly with Let's Dream Big. And that dreaming big is how cities become great. But I also want to thank the mayor and previous vice mayor, Sara Lowenthal, for process. I think that our city has come a long way in the way that we envision things, the way that we say we're going to invest, whether it's homelessness, whether it's. Recognizing. The gravity of what this piece of parcel is, and it's about process to put everybody in a room together and say, let's vision together. And that's how we get away from investing in projects that might not pan out. And so I am very hopeful that while we've spent. Many years. In the past talking about this site, talking about what it could mean, that this is the first opportunity that we've really had to invest in it with a vision that includes not part of the community, not some, but everybody. And so just thank you to the mayor and previous vice mayor for that process. I've always been supportive of it, and I think that what we have here with these guiding principles is really historic. Not to say that, you know, people have come together and say we want to have a process that's that includes everybody. But it's historic because the Queen Mary is 80 years old. It is a place that is often sometimes people's first experience when they come to Long Beach. And it's a place to experience history. And I love and the guiding principles that it says, let's have a sense of arrival, because I think a lot of times you go to the Queen Mary and that that parking lot just kind of stops you. And it takes away. Some of the magic that could be experienced on the Queen Mary. And so having a place of arrival, but also having a place, a sense of an experience that you leave wanting to come back in. And so it's a historic day to be able to say that we as a city have spent time and energy and a process and didn't just throw money at something or make a decision in a silo. And so today for me is is about the vision of what we can have happen at the Queen Mary. But it's also about a process that's including everybody from workers to community members to the environment, to talking about transportation, to dreaming big, about having something that that brings people across the water to the mainland. Those are big, exciting ideas. And it takes a community that's wholeheartedly behind that to make that happen. And so I'm really excited to support the Guiding Principles today and excited about what's going to come in the future. And thank you, everybody, for your hard work. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilwoman Gonzales. Yes. I, too, want to congratulate the task force. I think it's. Very. Mindful this work was just all encompassing. As Councilmember Pierson mentioned, she said it so well that, you know, this was a great process. It was a wonderful to be able to see all of this kind of come together and that all of you in your expertize. I know, Cheryl, I go to her for my historic preservation, anything related to historic preservation. I go to Cheryl and I'm glad she was a part of this. And so many of you will now have a lasting impression on the Queen Mary. Because of your work. And so I also want. To acknowledge. Scott, who is in the audience as well. I know when I first got elected, we talked about a carousel. And adding. A carousel. To the Queen Mary. And so I don't know if there has been any discussion on that and where that's at, but I know that there's been a lot. But Linda, would you like to answer that question? Yes. We actually had a presentation on the historic carousel and the potential for it to be located on the site. Okay, wonderful. Because I heard all these magic things about this carousel. So that would be a great addition. But thank you all for your tremendous work. Again, appreciate it. Thank you, Councilmember Ringa. Thank you. One of the things that I'm more accommodating now, when you talk about an iconic district, we know that the Queen Mary is iconic, is probably the most iconic feature that we have along our coast is Queen Mary. But the city of Long Beach itself has a long history. Used to be a naval town. Back in the day when I was a kid growing up in East Los Angeles, we would make a trek to the pike down at the town on the shore here. And there were a lot of iconic structures there as well. I remember the the cyclone racer, the roller coaster, and you guys are too young. Probably the only one who remembers it. He probably built it. But you remember it well, you know. And right now, when we drive under under the under the bridge right there on the shoreline drive, we you see the light going up and down as if there was a rollercoaster there. So, I mean, I think that I'm not I'm not suggesting that we build a roller coaster along with a carousel, and that's a totally different project. But I think that we should look at some of those iconic structures or iconic features that Long Beach had back in back in its heyday. We're trying to bring back some waves. Look, we're studying the breakwater. So, I mean, we could look at inclusion of some of those features as well. The carousel we just mentioned right now, which is somewhat of a throwback to the days when when the pike was activated and very and very well attended, millions of people kept along beaches to visit the park. So you want to include some of those that features that well as well, I think would be very beneficial. And and add to the the the development of an iconic district right around the Queen Mary. If food for thought. Thank you. Very. Summer Richardson. Thank you. I have a really important question. Where's the NFL stadium? I thought that was a part of this. I guess. I guess not. I would say. That somewhere. Else. So I think this is a I want to talk about the process. I think this is a great model for the city to select the task force and put together these guiding principles. I would imagine this would be very helpful to a developer. You guys did half the work, so hats off to the task force for doing that. And, you know, we need to think about replicating that model with with other developers. We, you know, partner with doing some of this outreach. And I'm sure we'll get a tremendous product. There are some really great things here. One thing that I think is stood out to me the most is the potential for a performance facility like, you know, Hollywood Bowl type performance facility. I think that would be a tremendous, you know, asset to our city that folks wouldn't have to go all the way to, you know, the Anaheim, you know, to Anaheim, to the Verizon or whatever they call that Anaheim Meadows. I don't know Irvine Meadows, whatever they call it, to change some names or go all the way out to Hollywood. But have something here, I think that could be really a hit. Also, it's it's you know, it's always been hard to describe when I when I have meetings or something at the Queen Mary or at Hotel My , it's always hard to get people to to describe how to get to the south waterfront. So I love the creativity here in that we in the guiding principles make it easy in thinking about a gondola and things like that. So I just want to say to all involved, so Staff Task Force Council is all involved. This is fantastic work and you should be proud of it. Thank you. Councilman Price. Thank you. I want to echo the comments of my colleagues and thank the task force for their great work on this. I've had a chance to speak with a few of them who have reached out to me to explain kind of the process and their vision. And I appreciate you taking the time to do that. I think it's going to be fantastic, and I really do believe that we need to have more venues to support the arts in the city. And using the the landscape that we have in this city is very important for us to think about in terms of our future planning. So thank you for the work that you do and the efforts that you put into this committee. Thank you. Any other public comment on this? Any public comment? Please come forward. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Council Members. One of the advantages of being real old is that this is kind of a repetition of what I've heard over the last 30 years of coming here. We actually had a presentation by the designer maker, manufacturer of a wooden roller coaster who wanted to put it over on that side, stood right here and suggested a wooden really coaster. Also was a large demonstration of the overhead gondolas. The manufacturers of that ride came by and we would leave from where Point Avenue was, was going to go crossed over there. But I think there may have been a missed opportunity because I know I didn't go any of the meetings, but had we had a different alignment in the in the cosmos, we may not have had to have this study because some of you who are old, I remember when Disneyland was going to develop the whole thing. And my thought was, is there any archival information of what Disney's design was? Is there any way of getting hold of that? I mean, they're the best in the business doing what they do. I don't know what happened to shoot that down. But that's just a thought. Maybe someone in that task force could see if there is any archival designs, concepts, that kind of material around. So I just wanted to share that with you. And so it was the roller coaster, the carousel and, and the gondolas have all been discussed at this council in previous years. Thank you for listening. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, City Council members. My name is Alexandra Wayman. I'm a representative of Unite Here Local 11, a hotel and restaurant employees union representing over 20,000 workers in L.A. and Orange County. We have members that live, work and play in the city of Long Beach. First, I would like to say thank you to the Queen Mary Redevelopment Task Force for their work on the guiding principles for this redevelopment project. The Queen Mary Redevelopment Project will include many new uses for the Long Beach community to enjoy, including public space, recreational activities, venues for entertainment and a hotel on the lounge on the land surrounding the Queen Mary. Our purpose in being here is to make sure that these offerings are not negatively impacted by a labor dispute. Our union has entered into labor peace agreements on projects that have a public interest. This includes a strong track record throughout Los Angeles County, including LAX, the city of Los Angeles, in the city of Santa monica. This project will have public uses, and you, as the city, have a right to require a labor peace agreement to protect that interest. We strongly recommend that the City Council require a Labor peace agreement for the landside hotel development operations to ensure the city is protected against lost revenue. Thank you so much for your consideration in this matter. Next week, please. Good evening. Mayor Garcia and city council members. My name is Carol Roberts. I've been a Long Beach resident for 36 years. And I do remember the Cyclone Razor, by the way, but not when I was living here. I'm looking forward to the redevelopment of the land surrounding the Queen Mary, because I always enjoy visiting the Queen Mary and going to the restaurants there and taking out-of-town visitors to the Queen Mary. And I'm excited that you're going to make it even more of a destination. That will be great. I hope that the proposed redevelopment project will uphold the working standards in Long Beach and that this project will serve as a model for future development projects in Long Beach. The Queen Mary Redevelopment Project should ensure that workers are treated with dignity and respect and that and that all future projects are future jobs at the site surrounding the Queen Mary are good jobs that provide workers with good wages. I encourage the city to implement a local hiring program that will provide jobs to residents in the Long Beach community. Additionally, in compliance with the California Coastal Act, the project should include affordable accommodations and recreational activities so that all residents and visitors to the city of Long Beach can enjoy spending time in the coastal zone. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Very good you cook as the address one another advantage of the Queen Mary's circumstances were to have it. I have suggested to Anita, to to France and to Casey Wasserman, as well as to Don Carnaby, that if the Long Beach Marine Stadium is selected as the rowing venue, which will solidify, I believe, the event. We can look forward to having a site that would be seen in no other place on the face of the planet, i.e. a rendezvous of the Queen Mary, the Queen Mary two and the QE two, which would make a tremendous backdrop for festivals and particularly fireworks displays following the events here. And I think they are looking at that. And so everything that can be done with the Queen Mary to keep it and keep it puffed up, I think is certainly not withstanding the the Olympics is the key attraction that brings people here to this city. Thank you. Thank you. See no other public comment to go back to the council. Great Councilman Austin. Thank you very much. I just wanted to be brief. I mean, this presentation has kind of brought back the very first issue regarding the study session. And and I can't just emphasize the importance of as we are building up our downtown and and this this this land development task force and the planet, the guiding principles that we are probably will be adopting this evening. It's important to to emphasize the access to Long Beach along the 17 freeway. I can't emphasize that enough. You know, it's very important that we we work with with our regional partners to make sure that we identify the resources, to make sure that that freeway is improved. And access to our downtown and to the Queen Mary is actually improved as well. I did have a question because one of the comments commenters mentioned a hotel, but I don't know if I heard that in the the actual presentation for staff. Is that a plan part of the plan? Yes, it is included in the guiding principle in terms of the complete community as well as the one about a destination. So the task force spent a lot of time speaking about having a hospitality use on the site and you'll see it in the backup material, in the actual document. In just one of my personal favorites over the years. I just have to ask, was the casino considered? I don't believe it came up specifically, but they talked really broadly about other entertainment and recreational activities. Okay. Just just just wanted to throw it out there. Thank you. See no other comment from the council or the public. Again, members, please cast your votes. And as we do that, thank you to the committee members that are here, the task force members. Fantastic work and a great group. And we look forward to the developer and the next step of the process. So thank you. Motion carries. Great. Thank you again. Moving on then, we're going to go ahead and do item 15. We're going go to public comment right after a couple of quick items. So 15 is the one that's being postponed. I'm going to turn over to Councilman Price.