ACTION Apartment Association

SM.a.r.t Column: SMCLC SPEAKS

04/30/2024 8:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SMart (Santa Monica Architects for a Responsible Tomorrow) periodically invites guest columnists who have made a significant contribution to the public discourse to its weekly SM Mirror OP-Ed page. Today, we invite SMCLC (Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City), an organization of years of advocacy for the public benefit, to speak to two issues facing our community.

Santa Monica Rents Dip Amid Sluggish Market

04/30/2024 7:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

After a one-month rise, Santa Monica rents decreased again in April, bucking a nationwide trend that saw average rents inch up for the third straight month, according to the latest monthly report by Apartment List.

The overall median rent in Santa Monica now stands at $2,472, after falling -0.6 percent over the past month, according to data based on listings posted on the popular rental website. Rents had increased 1.5 percent in March after a four-month drop.

California court rules state laws cannot broadly override local government

04/30/2024 7:36 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A California court ruled state laws cannot broadly override local control over development and zoning, finding one of the state’s most significant new zoning laws is unconstitutional.

“This is not a case about whether or not our State Legislature may enact legislation to ensure access to affordable housing or whether it may act to address the different concern of a statewide housing shortage more generally,” wrote California Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin in his ruling. “However, because the provisions of SB 9 are not reasonably related and sufficiently narrowly tailored to the explicit stated purpose of that legislation — namely, to ensure access to affordable housing — SB 9 cannot stand.”

Homeless Housing In Santa Monica Hits $1 Million-Per-Unit Milestone

04/29/2024 10:58 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Hot on the heels of an audit exposing California's struggle to track the $24 billion allocated to tackle the state's growing homeless crisis, Santa Monica city officials have approved an apartment project for the homeless that will cost about $1 million per unit to build.

The $123 million project will include 122 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, ground-floor retail and residential and commercial parking spaces. The project was approved days after an audit revealed that the state spent about $24 billion from 2018 to 2023 to combat homelessness but did not track whether spending the public money improved the crisis.

Community Corp. Breaks Ground on Its First Prefab Development

04/29/2024 10:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The four-story, 11,332-square-foot building on an in-fill site at 1342 Berkeley Street will offer 13 one-bedroom units of 100 percent affordable housing for low-income families and transition-aged youth.

Symposium breaks down new tenant protections, ‘misunderstandings’ of unhoused struggle

04/26/2024 8:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The symposium covered a wide range of topics, starting with new tenant protections which went into effect in March. Created by Ordinance No. 2776, the city’s Housing Anti-Discrimination Code was amended to prohibit discrimination on the basis of a tenant’s housing status, becoming the first jurisdiction in the state of California to include “housing status” as a protected class. The “housing status” protection means that a landlord cannot discriminate against a tenant who may be experiencing homelessness, living in transitional or temporary housing, or lacking a residential rental housing history.

Housing law that would densify single-family neighborhoods ruled unconstitutional

04/25/2024 1:08 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SB9, or the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, mandated that cities permit an additional residential unit on parcels zoned for single-dwelling units. It allowed for a total of two residential units in such zones, excluding accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Enacted in September 2021, the law took effect statewide on January 1, 2022. Locally, SB9 applied solely to properties in the R1 (Single-Unit Residential) and OP1 (Ocean Park Single-Unit Residential) Zones. Certain exemptions prevented displacement of current residents, including properties within hazard zones, historic districts, containing price-controlled units, subject to recent Ellis Act removal, or necessitating the removal of over 25% of existing structure walls.

Updates on the city’s housing efforts

04/25/2024 1:04 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica Housing Authority is now open to the public
In response to requests from the community and members of our programs, it’s our goal to make Housing Division services easily accessible to community members.

As part of our increased effort to support the community, the Santa Monica Housing Authority opened its doors to the public in February. Our dedicated frontline staff are now stationed in Suite 180, conveniently located near the east entrance of City Hall, with walk-in hours Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Judge Rules Controversial State Housing Law Unconstitutional

04/25/2024 12:48 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In a major blow to State control over local development, a Superior Court judge on Monday found a California law allowing multi-family buildings on single-family lots unconstitutional.

Meddling California lawmakers risk sending landlords out of rental business

04/23/2024 11:42 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SACRAMENTO – What do the state’s insurance and housing crises have in common? Obviously, homeowner policies have an impact on housing costs, but I’m referring to something different, namely the concept of open-ended risk. Insurers are exiting the market because state policies limit their ability to price policies to reflect the risk of a major wildfire season. They rather pull out of California than risk the destruction of their assets.

I’d argue the same thing is happening in the rental market, thanks to a fusillade of pro-tenant laws that subject landlords to an incalculable level of risk. Landlords have freely entered the business and understand the various ups and downs. They can calculate the costs of mortgages, taxes, insurance and maintenance. They expect to, say, replace carpets and paint between tenants. They know the cost of the eviction process in those instances where it’s necessary.