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Commission backs staff direction on short-term enhancements to 9 W. Figueroa PO; no final action taken
Summary
City staff presented low-cost short-term improvements for the alley/PO adjacent to City Lot 3 — removing several concrete columns, unifying paving with a street-bond epoxy, adding string lights and landscaping, and screening a transformer — and commissioners encouraged staff to proceed with administrative approvals while reserving larger changes for a later phase.
City staff outlined a package of short-term, low-budget improvements intended to make the pedestrian-oriented PO adjacent to City Lot 3 more inviting and safer, and the Historic Landmarks Commission on March 11 encouraged staff to proceed with administrative approvals rather than taking any appealable action at the meeting.
"Our budget is very limited," Sarah Clark, downtown services manager in the City Administrator's Office of Housing and Community Vitality, told the commission. She said the immediate package would focus on demolition of several concrete columns, resurfacing with a street-bond epoxy to unify multiple hardscape materials, installing overhead string lighting and twinkle lights in the central tree, refreshing planters with jade and geraniums, and adding a large potted olive to screen an exposed transformer.
Project planner Chelsea Swanson showed renderings and materials samples and said the preferred epoxy option had been field-tested by the working group. She described the proposed layout — column removal to open sightlines, a unified paving color, hooded string lights compatible with State Street fixtures, and a single large screening pot near the transformer — and stressed that the visuals were conceptual: "This is an in-house Photoshop; this is the idea — not exact finishes," she said.
A member of the public who has tracked the project praised the concept. "Removal of the columns, yay," Rick Clawson said. He recommended hooded fixtures to limit light spill and urged staff to check night-sky and El Pueblo Viejo lighting guidelines.
Commissioners used the discussion to press staff on several specifics rather than halt the work. They asked staff to reengage urban forestry about removal of two trees that property owners say are damaging gutters and roofs; staff said tree removals would be a phase-two conversation with the city’s urban forestry superintendent, Nathan Slack. Commissioners also queried whether the epoxy paving would foreclose later installation of permeable pavers — staff said existing paving is already mostly impervious and that a full permeable-paver replacement had previously been estimated at roughly $125,000, beyond the current budget.
Several commissioners suggested aesthetic changes, including replacing 1970s globe pole lights with lantern-style fixtures if compatible parts could be found in city storage, and using the large pot and low, spiky planting (e.g., aloe) to discourage sitting and help screen the transformer. Staff noted the short-term package was chosen to be reversible and to avoid creating conditions that would need to be undone for a more comprehensive, later plan.
Outcome: No appealable decision was made at the March 11 meeting. Commissioners generally signaled support for the short-term approach and encouraged staff to proceed with administrative approvals for column removal, finish selections, and installation details, and to return with photos and a brief report when the phase is complete.
