The Santa Clarita City Council directed staff Tuesday evening to continue design research on the proposed memorial in the Veterans Historical Plaza.

Numerous community members spoke at the meeting.

The action, unanimously voted on by the City Council, was to direct staff to research designs for the monument at the Veterans Historical Plaza to meet the quality and guidelines of the plaza in order to honor lost veterans. Councilwoman Laurene Weste suggested to look into materials that would be graffiti resistant and employ QR codes that link to each veteran’s story.

City Council Agenda Report:
MEMORIAL WALL PROPOSAL
Department:
Parks Recreation and Community Services

Veterans Historical Plaza Special Use Facility Policy

Fiscal Impact
The costs of the proposal are undetermined at this time and will depend on the selected location. The memorial itself is projected to cost $45,000. Installation costs, site modifications costs, and other unknown costs could be as much as $50,000. No funding source has been identified at this time.
Recommended Action
Per the Veterans Historical Plaza Special Use Facility Policy, the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission recommended the proposed Memorial Wall project be forwarded to City Council with the comment that the City Council should work with stakeholders to determine the specific location within the Veterans Historical Plaza or if the Veterans Historical Plaza itself is an appropriate location for this memorial.

BACKGROUND
Memorial Wall Request

Mr. Bill Reynolds addressed the City Council at the January 26, 2016, meeting, as a representative of the Santa Clarita Valley Veterans Memorial, Incorporated (SCVVM, Inc.). Mr. Reynolds presented a proposal for a memorial wall honoring military veterans of the Santa Clarita Valley to be placed at the Veterans Historical Plaza (Plaza). Mr. Reynolds had previously discussed the idea during public participation at the August 25, 2015, City Council meeting. As proposed, the memorial would consist of a granite wall approximately ten feet long by six feet high on an elevated granite platform. The memorial wall would have the names of those killed in action beginning with World War I. No specific location was proposed in Mr. Reynolds’ presentation to the City Council.

On February 25, 2016, Mayor Kellar and staff met with Mr. Reynolds who proposed a location for the memorial wall to be within the Plaza. The location proposed by Mr. Reynolds would place the memorial wall in place of a decorative urn planter in the center of the tree lined promenade and in line with the linear fountain features.

Veterans Historical Plaza

By way of placing Mr. Reynolds’ request in the context of the Veterans Historical Plaza Master Plan, it is useful to review some history regarding the development of the Plaza.

In 2000, the same year the triangular shaped parcel was purchased by the City, the City Council initiated an effort to raise funds for the design and construction of the Plaza as a place to honor the military service of individuals who reside in or who have ties to the Santa Clarita community.

In 2001, the City’s Parks Planning staff undertook an exhaustive public participation process that resulted in a conceptual plan and corresponding design guidelines for the Plaza. A central theme that emerged from the process held that the Plaza should be a “serene place of reflection and remembrance” and that memorial elements should be of a scale that does not overwhelm the site. The introduction of large walls or panels was discussed extensively during the process and the consensus was that they would detract from the principles contained in the design guidelines, and would interfere with site visibility and security. Furthermore, during the development of the Plaza the name “Veterans Historical Plaza” was selected as recognition of the veteran’s historic aspects to be reflected at the Plaza and to not be in conflict with the Veterans Memorial at Eternal Valley.

The final design approved by the City Council in 2002, reflects the community’s consensus over the course of four public meetings. The design of the Veterans Historical Plaza included a formal pedestrian axis with low lying water features, decorative planters, and benches with 12 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible story stations depicting the history of the United States Military. These stations are located along the edges of the promenade and are approximately 30 inches high.

Additionally, the Commemorative Brick program at the Plaza was created to allow the public a way to honor veterans or other individuals through the purchase of bricks which are installed at the Plaza. The founding members of the Plaza felt strongly that the brick program was a way to preserve the beauty and serenity of the Plaza by avoiding multiple monuments on the site that were not included in the original concept. During the planning process of Veterans Historical Plaza, the founding members reached consensus regarding the rows of the brick walkway for the placement of engraved bricks for all veterans, with the innermost row reserved for the recognition of those killed or wounded in action. Bricks in this row have a star engraved in the lower right corner. To date, over 1,650 individual bricks have been placed along the edges of the elliptical walkway which encircles the lawn on the west end of the Plaza.

Furthermore, at the January 22, 2013, City Council meeting Mr. Reynolds made a request of the City Council to install a monument at the Plaza to recognize 14 residents of the Santa Clarita Valley who sacrificed their lives for our country in the Vietnam War. In response to Mr. Reynolds’ request, Councilmember Kellar suggested the City place a brick at the Plaza for each of the individuals Mr. Reynolds identified as a way to honor their service and sacrifice. The City moved forward with the installation of the bricks, with each brick containing a star, the name of the honoree, and year they were killed. Thirteen of the bricks reference Vietnam and the fourteenth brick is for a veteran who was killed in action in Cambodia. These bricks were paid for by the City and were placed in the inner ring of bricks.

Veterans Historical Plaza Special Use Facility Policy

On February 22, 2011, the City Council adopted the Veterans Historical Plaza Special Use Facility Policy. The intent of the Special Use Facility Policy is to outline the appropriate uses for the Plaza, provide a written set of procedures to allow for the consideration of modifications or improvements to the Plaza, and allow the City to handle the ordering and installation of commemorative bricks in the Plaza for the long-term. SCVVM, Inc. supported the policy and the City’s facilitation of the administrative tasks associated with the Commemorative Brick program.

To date, the only memorial plaque honoring an individual at the Plaza is for Senator William J. “Pete” Knight, who was instrumental in the creation of the Plaza. The plaque honoring Senator Knight was anticipated in the original design of the Plaza and approved by the City Council on August 23, 2011, in accordance with the Special Use Facility Policy.

The Veterans Historical Plaza Special Use Facility Policy identifies the procedure for the review of proposed amendments as first to be reviewed by the Santa Clarita Valley Veterans Memorial, Inc. then taken to the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission for their review and consideration, with the Commission’s recommendation moving on to the City Council for their consideration.

Impacts to Existing Features

Should the proposed memorial wall be placed at the Veterans Historical Plaza, it would be necessary to contact the donors of the affected Plaza features including the Castaic Lake Water Agency (CLWA), and individuals, businesses, and agencies that funded these features. Additional impacts include the cost to modify the site due to plumbing and structural support.

Veterans Support

The City has been long supportive of the veteran community. Since the opening of the Plaza, the City has approved several other commemorative features throughout the City. The list includes the Rotary Garden at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex, Fallen Warriors Memorial Bridge, a community memorial at the entrance of the Habitat for Heroes development, and recently, the Hometown Heroes Military Banner Program. This new program provides anyone in the Santa Clarita Valley the opportunity to have a street light pole banner installed in honor of a particular local active service member on a major street in each community of the City.

Commission Action

At the April 7, 2016, Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission meeting, the Commissioners reviewed the proposal to install a new memorial wall at the Veterans Historical Plaza. Staff’s recommendation to the Commission was to deny the proposal. After receiving comments from staff and the public, and discussing the matter, the Commissioners recommended the project proceed and be forwarded to the City Council with the comment that the City Council, in consideration of stakeholders, determine the location for the proposed memorial wall.

The motion passed by the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commission was to send this project forward to the City Council with the comment that the City Council should work with stakeholders to determine the specific location within the Veterans Historical Plaza or if the Veterans Historical Plaza itself is an appropriate location for this memorial.

ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.