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A charter school and a developer are turning the screw on the City of Hollywood. A contract between these two parties calls for parents of the school children to become advocates not only for their school but also for a 25-story residential tower, office building, and two parking garages, all of which -- along with the school -- are to be built on 2.57 acres on the southeast side of Young Circle. 

The school and the developer have much to gain, while the city will be squeezed almost dry if our elected officials give final approval to the rezoning that will make this project possible. This extraordinary deal calls for the developer (WSG) to "sell" to the school, for a single dollar, 27,000 square feet of downtown Hollywood land valued at $8-9 million. Here a school-related entity yet to be determined is to build a five-story charter school.  WSG, for its part, is to receive, from the city, 90% of all the new tax revenue the entire development project generates for 15 years (until 2025).

The only losers in this deal are Hollywood's taxpayers and those who envision a charming, inviting village atmosphere in downtown Hollywood.  In addition to all the tax revenue channeled to the developer, valuable downtown land now taxable will be removed from the tax rolls if a non-profit school entity acquires it.  And any possibility of a community-supported vision for development around Young Circle goes out the window, supplanted by this massive high-rise, with the prospect of other looming towers to follow once this very bad precedent is set.  Unless the city takes action, we will be stuck with the developer-driven hodgepodge that is on the drawing board for Young Circle, not the least of which is WSG's project. 

See developer's renderings of the project below but don't count on greenery as only one percent of the entire site is to be pervious surface. (Aerial views: on the left: facing west from 17th Ave.: 5-story school and 8-story office building in foreground with ghostly representation of the existing Home Tower just behind the office building, and residential tower in rear; on the right: circle view of the residential tower). 

ArtsPark Village (Renderings from Downtown CRA website)

Can our city get out of this vise and take control of Young Circle development?  For starters, the Downtown CRA can provide a more suitable location for the school on CRA-owned land which may be available by the Post Office on Polk Street, or possibly on Adams Street.  So far, the school has adamantly refused to consider an alternative site that is not located next to the ArtsPark.  If the school refuses to accept the gift of CRA-owned land, we believe the CRA Board should refuse final approval of the zoning change. The school would then stay where it is now, in the first four floors of the Home Tower.  This would end the current WSG project and give the city time to adopt a long-overdue plan for Young Circle development.

The city is about to hold a workshop on a draft plan for Young Circle prepared back in 2003 by Bernard Zyscovich.  Changes must be made to this plan but some of its core provisions are good.  The Zyscovich draft limits height to 15 stories around the circle, with a possible bonus of two additional stories if the project serves a public purpose.  The Z plan also prohibits the use of PD zoning around the circle.  These provisions should be retained.  Wide sidewalks are another essential component of the Z plan.  One has only to walk around the Radius project or even worse, the Hollywood Station project on Dixie Highway, to understand the crucial importance of such design elements.

City Commission:  Set Your Sights Higher!

Hollywood deserves better.  Virtually everyone wants the property around Young Circle developed and we recognize the need to have residents living, shopping, and working downtown.  To achieve this end, the city commission must STOP APPROVING BAD PROJECTS.  There is no excuse for poor design and excessive density, especially in projects as heavily subsidized as this one. Our elected officials should deny the WSG request for a zoning change unless (1) the school agrees to move to another site provided by the City or CRA, (2) WSG agrees to redesign its project in line with the Z plan, and (3) a more equitable distribution of new tax revenue is achieved.  Taxpayers should demand at least this much from our elected officials.

Sara Case
May 9, 2008

 

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