That the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with MIG Inc., in an amount not to exceed $849,998, to prepare a comprehensive update to the La Habra Boulevard Specific Plan.

The City's historical main east west corridor through La Habra has been La Habra Boulevard (formerly called Central Avenue). This thoroughfare, in existence since the City's incorporation in 1925, originally served as the City's central business district for over forty years. However, with the build-out of wider parallel thoroughfares that now include Whittier Boulevard and Imperial Highway, centralized commercial activity along La Habra Boulevard has diminished over time.

In 1975 the La Habra City Council adopted the Plan for Downtown Redevelopment to address the shift of commercial activity and to encourage the rejuvenation of the City's central corridor. This plan was then followed by the Council’s adoption of the La Habra Boulevard Specific Plan in 1988, which was later amended in 1999 and codified in 2007, and amended thereafter as Chapter 18.44 of the La Habra Municipal Code. In 2016, the map of the Plan area was subsequently amended to reflect land use designations in the City’s comprehensive update of its General Plan. In addition, this area was analyzed as a SCAG Compass Blueprint Project in 2008, and design concepts for La Habra Boulevard were included in the City’s 2019 Complete Streets Master Plan. In October 2022 staff presented City Council with an overview of the City's past efforts to develop the downtown corridor, along with several projects that had been completed over the years. These documents are provided as Attachments 2 to 10.

As noted above, the La Habra Boulevard Specific Plan (“Plan” or “LHBSP”) has gone through various revisions over the years, which have included codifying development and architectural design standards in the La Habra Municipal Code and adjusting boundaries of the LHBSP area. Implementation of the Plan has resulted in mixed results. While comprehensive development has yet to materialize, the downtown corridor has benefited from public improvements that highlight this area compared to the rest of the City, including themed bell-shaped streetlights, decorative stamped and colored concrete crosswalks, and mission bells scattered through the district. Several new buildings have been constructed using the Spanish Revival or Mission style of architecture, giving character to portions of the streetscape. The City has also invested in the construction and renovation of an expanded Civic Center complex in this corridor to match this style of architecture and to provide a civic focal point for community events and activities. The corridor; however, lacks the economic vibrancy and activity that was envisioned by prior City Councils and that can be found in similar downtown districts in other cities in Southern California.

As part of the City's annual Goals and Objectives for Fiscal Year 2023-24, the City Council adopted Goal 5, Objective H: Retain a consultant to develop a cohesive strategy and implementation tools to establish a downtown district along La Habra Boulevard, to include an analysis of current market conditions, development constraints, recommended specific plan amendments, potential funding sources, and consideration of fee waivers and development incentives. In order to meet this City Council goal and related objectives, the Community and Economic Development Department released a Request for Proposal (RFP) (Attachment 11) inviting qualified professional consulting firms to submit proposals for the evaluation of the current adopted La Habra Boulevard Specific Plan and develop an updated revised Plan. Two proposals were received by the deadline, one from MIG (Attachment 12) and one from Placeworks (Attachment 13). The proposals were then evaluated and scored by a panel of four City staff members. Upon tallying the scores, MIG ranked number one, demonstrating the most ideal qualifications and experience that aligned with the project goals, objectives, and needs that were articulated in the RFP. Below is a summary of the scoring process.
 

Although MIG scored the higher, staff felt it was important to conduct interviews with both firms. MIG and Placeworks were invited to participate in interviews with the City's evaluation panel and the firms were asked to prepare a presentation to illustrate their understanding and overall approach to the project. The panel reviewed the presentations materials and approach and, after consolidating the presentation results with the RFP scoring, reaffirmed that MIG demonstrated the best ability to fulfill the requirements of this project.

MIG is a national leader in delivering community-driven planning processes that bring together communities and stakeholders to develop transformative places built on community pride. MIG has extensive experience in completing complex, multidisciplinary projects and a wide range of staff expertise. These characteristics help ensure MIG’s commitment to managing task orders and completing all required work. MIG’s previously completed development plans include the City of Glendora’s Arrow Highway Specific Plan, the City of Covina’s Town Center Specific Plan, the City of Duarte’s Duarte Town Center Specific Plan, and the City of El Segundo’s Smoky Hollow Specific Plan.
 

While MIG demonstrated the greatest ability to fulfill the requirements of this project, their fee proposal for the project was higher at $934,440, compared with Placeworks cost estimate of $746,337. In an effort to reduce cost, staff negotiated with MIG to streamline or remove certain elements of their proposal that staff felt were not integral to the study or tasks which could be performed by City staff. MIG returned with a modified scope of work and proposed project timeline at a reduced fee proposal of $772,725, which is included as Exhibit A to Attachment 1.

Due to MIG’s experience and capabilities for completing this work, including assembling a project team that can thoughtfully consider the key issues within the corridor, staff recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with MIG Inc. for an amount not to exceed $849,998 ($772,725 for the fee proposal, plus a 10% contingency) for the preparation of an update to the La Habra Boulevard Specific Plan. The City Attorney’s office has reviewed this agreement.

If this agreement is approved by Council, it is anticipated that the project would start in late summer/early fall 2023 with a robust community engagement component including stakeholder interviews, study sessions with Planning Commission and the City Council, the development of an interactive website, conducting a public workshop, setting up booths at civic events, and moderating several advisory committee meetings. Once this phase is complete, MIG will develop and release a draft of the updated specific plan for public review in late spring/early summer 2024; followed by environmental analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the implementation of the Plan, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act. The project will culminate with Planning Commission and City Council hearings and action in spring 2025.

The Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget included $850,0000 to fund this agreement as a one-time expense (CIP No. 25).

General Plan Relevance:
LU 1.1 Redirect Growth
LU 2.2 Places to Shop
LU 2.5 Places Supporting the Quality of Life
LU 3.1 Sustainable Development Pattern
LU 3.3 A Vigorous and Active Downtown
LU 3.4 Concentrated Nodes on Arterial Corridors
LU 3.7 Buildings that Engage the Street
LU 3.8 Cohesive and Integrated Development
LU 4.1 Development Compatibility
LU 4.3 Public Safety and Community Design
LU 5.5 Revitalization of Obsolete and Underused Properties
LU 5.6 Building Rehabilitation
LU 11.1 Diversity of Uses
LU 11.3 Economic Vitality
LU 11.9 Retail Streetscapes
LU 13.4 A Pedestrian-Active Downtown
LU 13.6 Connectivity
AT 3.1 Pedestrian Network

City Council Goals & Objectives:
Goal 5- Development Activity and Business Assistance, Objective H: Retain a consultant to develop a cohesive strategy and implementation tools to establish a downtown district along La Habra Boulevard, to include an analysis of current market conditions, development constraints, recommended specific plan amendments, potential funding sources, and consideration of fee waivers and development incentives.