ACTION Apartment Association

HCD rejects City’s Housing Element

02/15/2022 9:01 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica has a state mandated requirement to build 8,895 new housing units by 2029, but the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) says the City’s plan to do so is not up to par.

As a result, HCD has declined to certify the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element and is asking for a revised plan with more research into the feasibility of converting City-identified sites into housing and tweaks to the City’s proposed development programs.

City Council joins SMMUSD opposition to district voting

02/14/2022 8:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica City Council is willing to stick its neck — and, if necessary, its checkbook — out to support the local School District in its challenge against district-based voting.

On Jan. 1, a new law came into effect that allows petitioners to request county school boards implement voting districts in their communities. The rule, under SB 442, is designed to ensure residents of chronically underrepresented neighborhoods — those where a majority of residents are people of color or members of another protected class — do not see their votes diluted by traditional, at-large voting.

SMa.r.t. Column: Santa Monica – Dawn of the Downtown Dead

02/14/2022 7:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Going out in Santa Monica is becoming a mix of trepidation and terror, complete with dirty man-made monsters and criminals on the loose. This is not the time for getting popcorn and sitting on the sidelines to watch.

Homelessness including the mentally ill, is a national problem, and Santa Monica has become one of the key focal points in Los Angeles because of our city’s government’s inability or even unwillingness to do the hard and difficult things that need to be done consistently to resolve the problem.

Changes To SM Rent Law Proposed

02/12/2022 9:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Activist Santa Monica Rent Control Board Commissioners Caroline Torosis and Anastasia Foster proposed a list of changes to the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment they want the Rent Board to approve and to send to the City Council as recommendations for the Council to place them as initiatives on the November 2022 ballot. Their proposals are:

1. Eliminate any new 3-unit owner occupancy exemptions;

City's Housing Element Fails to Comply

02/12/2022 9:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica's plan to build nearly 9,000 new housing units over the next eight years does not comply with State law and must be revised, California Housing officials informed the City this week.

A Very Bad Deal for Residents and the City

02/11/2022 12:25 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Mary Marlow

Even if you don’t live south of the 10 freeway, you will want to mark your calendar for Thursday, February 17, at 7 p.m. to listen and give input at a developer-led community meeting on the largest new housing project since the 1960’s on Lincoln and Ocean Park Blvd (Gelson’s site).

Here’s the ZOOM meeting link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82892453793

San Francisco Vacant Residential Unit Tax Ballot

02/10/2022 10:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Last month, San Francisco’s Budget and Legislative Analyst’s Office found that one in ten of the city’s homes and rental units are currently vacant. The report, which found that 40,458 homes and rental units had been left vacant for an extended period of time in 2019, shocked many in the city and across the state as California’s affordable housing crisis has gotten worse in recent years. The anger propelled Supervisor Preston to create the ballot petition in only a matter of days.

A controversial home-ownership model

02/10/2022 10:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Now, an L.A. developer has a new approach to the so-called tenancy-in-common, or TIC, model, in which residents share ownership of the property. Instead of converting old, rent-controlled buildings into TIC properties, the developer is replacing single-family homes with new townhomes.

L.A. City Council moves to implement housing densification law

02/10/2022 10:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The council passed a motion Tuesday introduced by councilmembers Paul Koretz and Bob Blumenfield, and seconded by Nithya Raman, instructing city planners and the L.A. Department of Building and Safety to prepare a memorandum to guide city departments and agencies in implementation of the law until the city adopts an official ordinance for its application.

SF Renters on Verge of Winning Collective Bargaining Rights

02/10/2022 10:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

City supervisors Monday gave the initial thumbs-up to legislation to protect the formation of tenant associations that, like unions, could collectively bargain with landlords. Negotiations could cover a broad array of concerns, including aesthetics, construction schedules and even rent levels building-wide. The three-person Rules Committee voted unanimously to approve the protections, which now move to the full Board of Supervisors.