SANTA MONICA—The city of Santa Monica will be hosting the Preservation + Change community event and workshop on Saturday, August 13, according to a press release. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is the second out of three community events planned for the final phase of the Downtown Community Plan.

“Downtown is our community’s living room and it’s for everyone,” Constance Farrell, Public Information Coordinator, told Canyon News in an email. “The City wants all Santa Monica residents to come out on Saturday to learn about the Plan, to engage on this important topic of how we preserve our sense of history while looking to the future, and to share their hopes for the Downtown.”

The focus of this event is to discuss how to preserve Downtown’s unique character and sense of history while preparing for the future. For the future, there will be discussions on how new buildings can contribute to the Downtown neighborhood and how new developments can be woven into the community’s cultural, economic and entertainment center.

The event will include workshops and panel discussions with:
– Hamid Behdad, President, Central City Development Group. Hamid has served three Mayoral Administrations for the City of Los Angeles, where he earned the title “Czar” of Adaptive Reuse Projects for the city.
– Robin Hughes, President & CEO, Abode Communities. Robin is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit developer, architect, manager, and operator of service-enhanced affordable housing.
– Dan Rosenfeld, Real estate investor. Dan is a private real estate investor who alternates between private and public-sector service, having served as Director of Real Estate for the State of California and City of Los Angeles, and as a Senior Deputy for Economic Development with L.A. County.

The final plan for the Downtown Community Plan is scheduled to be released in spring 2017. The schedule for focus groups and an online survey tool is set to be released later on August. For those who cannot attend the event comments can be shared at www.downtownsmplan.org.

“Residents can help by attending the workshop and weighing in at downtownsmplan.org,” Farrell told Canyon News. “An online survey tool for collecting specific feedback on things like types of uses, building height, and historic preservation, will launch at the meeting as part of the breakout workshops, and will be available for everyone in the community to take next week at downtownsmplan.org.”

The Downtown Community Plan is part of the 2010 Land Use and Circulation Element vision to have a mixed-use urban environment that provides opportunities for living, working, entertainment and enrichment while preserving the neighborhood’s character. For the past two years the Downtown Community Plan has held over a dozen workshops and public hearings, stakeholder interviews, and discussion with various boards to develop an action plan to achieve the community’s vision for Downtown.

The event will be held at the Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club at 1210 4th Street. To RSVP for the Preservation + Change event visit http://www.downtownsmplan.org/events/view/213. For more information visit www.downtownsmplan.org.

Big Blue Bus Lines 2, 3, R3, 5 and 9 and Metro Lines 20 and 720 can be used to get to the Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club. Car parking will be available in Parking Structure #1 at 1234 4th Street. Bike valet will be available on-site.