ACTION Apartment Association

Learning garden to replacing housing on Montana Ave

01/14/2019 8:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Planning Commission will review Jan. 16 a plan to demolish a vacant 18-unit apartment building at 401 Montana Avenue and build the Rainbow Garden, a children’s learning center and 10,000 square foot garden. The center will employ a teacher to educate visiting pre-school through third-grade classes about growing and cooking organic produce. The vacant two-story apartment building that currently occupies the corner of Montana Avenue and 4th Street was built in 1947 and is in poor condition, staff said. Tenants were evicted under the Ellis Act several years ago.

So Now What?

01/14/2019 8:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

by SM.a.r.t.

The case was tried, the decision is in, and the City lost. The judge has ordered that all future City Council elections be district based in accordance with a seven-district map submitted by the Plaintiffs.

Now what?

Well, the city reiterated its intention to exhaust all appellate remedies to avoid having to give up the at large system found by the trial court to violate the California Voting Rights Act. It responded to the court’s invitation to submit its own draft map involving public process by stating it would undertake such a task only after all appellate rights have been exhausted.

Landlords Cannot Avoid Paying Tenants’ Attorney Fees in Housing Rights Cases

01/11/2019 12:27 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

by Gary Rhoades, Deputy City Attorney

Can a landlord in Santa Monica unilaterally change a rental lease to avoid paying attorney fees when they lose a civil rights case?

The short answer is no. Normally, parties must bear their own attorney fees. But in a civil rights case, attorney fees are paid by the losing defendant. This exception applies in many federal and state anti-discrimination laws as well as Santa Monica’s own ordinances that prohibit housing discrimination and tenant harassment.

First Candidates Submit Applications to Fill Vacant City Council Seat

01/11/2019 11:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A former Rent Control Board member and a newcomer to Santa Monica politics are the first candidates to apply for an empty seat on the City Council.

Robert Kronovet, who made history in 2008 when he became the first rent control opponent to sit on the City's Rent Board, and Troy Harris, a civic volunteer, submitted their applications Thursday morning.

No one applied on Wednesday, the first day the City Clerk began accepting applications.

By 5:30 p.m. Thursday, four other candidates had submitted applications. They were:

* Susan C Caruso, a former secretary for the Darien, Connecticut Fire Foundation, who has lived in Santa Monica for two years,

* Jonathan Mann, a 40 year residents who has made a record 13 bids for City Council,

* Jeff Mirkin, a television producer who has volunteered as a parent for Santa Monica schools, and

* Patrick Regan, a retired assistant director and production manager, who was active in school issues.

City expands benefits for evicted tenants

01/10/2019 8:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Renters facing no-fault evictions will receive up to 50 percent more money from their landlords to relocate.

At its Jan. 8 meeting, City Council increased the amount landlords must pay their tenants if they evict them under the Ellis Act or if the landlord or a family member moves into the unit. The increase is the first since 2011. It also raised the per diem evicted tenants get to temporarily stay in hotels while they find new housing from $165 to $292 per day.

The amount evicted tenants are entitled to depends on how many bedrooms their unit had and whether they are older than 62 or disabled. A typical studio tenant previously received $9,950 and will now receive $15,020, while a one bedroom tenant got $15,300 and will now get $20,705. Landlords had to pay tenants who rented units with two or more bedrooms $20,750 and will now pay $28,810.

Elderly and disabled tenants will receive about $1,000 to $2,000 more at each step.

City Files Suit Against Major Santa Monica Landlord

01/10/2019 8:25 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City has filed a lawsuit against affiliates of one of Santa Monica's largest landlords charging them with tenant harassment, violating local zoning laws and maintaining a public nuisance.

The defendants include Adam Shekhter, whose father Neil Shekhter recently lost control of nine local apartment buildings after a legal dispute with the hedge fund AEW Capital.

The complaint was filed after the Code Enforcement Division of the City’s Planning & Community Development Department received numerous complaints from the public, according to the City Attorney's office.

"The investigation revealed that the defendants knowingly disobeyed repeated instructions from Code Enforcement (and) failed to fully comply with the City’s tenant relocation order," City officials said Thursday.

AND

https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2019/01/10/city-attorney-files-criminal-complaint-against-landlords-for-tenant-harassment-public-nuisance-and-zoning-violations

City surveying residents for budget priorities

01/09/2019 10:43 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Community members can tell City Hall what issues are most important to them through an online or paper survey until Jan. 21.

The SaMoSays survey, which opened Dec. 5, gives people who live, work, or own a business or property in Santa Monica to select five priorities they would like city government to devote more resources to. The 23 options participants can select from include keeping neighborhoods safe, mental health and transparency.

City staff will present the results of the survey to City Council at its special meeting on Saturday, Jan. 26. Council will look at how the community ranked all 23 priorities and choose about five to focus on while it develops the City’s new budget, which will take effect for two years on July 1.

City Council Declares Tony Vazquez’s Seat Vacant

01/09/2019 10:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Last night, Santa Monica City Council accepted the resignation of Councilmember Tony Vazquez due to his election to the State Board of Equalization and declared the Council seat vacant.

Applications for the vacant seat will be accepted and Council will select a replacement for the remainder of Vazquez’s term, which will end November 3, 2020, absent any earlier special election that may be required in connection with the pending case of Pico Neighborhood Association, et al. v. City of Santa Monica.

City Collected More Than $5.6 Million in Development Impact Fees

01/09/2019 10:07 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City of Santa Monica collected nearly $5.65 million in impact fees from developers to fund community benefits during the past fiscal year, according to the latest annual report.

The fees will fund investments in child care, transportation, parks, affordable housing and water consumption, according to the report presented to the City Council Tuesday.

AND

https://www.smdp.com/developer-fees-total-5-6-million-last-year/172071

Working Group to Begin Tackling Monster Mansions in Santa Monica -- Again

01/09/2019 9:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

For the second time in two decades, Santa Monica will begin developing new standards for "monster mansions" when a workimg group is expected to convene its first meeting later this month.

The initial session comes one year after the City Council passed an interim ordinance to reduce the size of single-family homes while it updates its development standards.

The City Planning Department -- which is taking applications through Thursday -- has so far received 14 applications, said Jing Yeo, the City's planning manager.

The group is "meant to be a collection of architects, contractors, community representatives and other design professionals," Yeo said in a letter sent to potential applicants December 20.