Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and a group of other city leaders from around California and the nation are backing the proposed Ending Homelessness Act.

The legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters would use more than $13 billion to the efforts of cities to deal with the homelessness crisis.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/la-mayor-backs-proposed-federal-ending-homelessness-act/176994

Six market-rate single room occupancy (SRO) developments slated for Downtown Santa Monica have received the go-ahead under a settlement agreement between the City and WS Communities.

The agreement, approved by the City Council on Tuesday, paves the way for the proposed SRO developments totaling 361 "micro-units" and moves forward two of the developer's projects currently in the planning pipeline, said City Attorney Lane Dilg.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/July-2019/07_01_2019_Market_Rate_SROs_Get_Go_ahead_Under_Settlement_Agreement%20.html

Hosts must register with the city and pay an $89 fee

New home-sharing regulations are in place for the city of Los Angeles today, changing the way hosts from Airbnb and other rental platforms can book vacation stays and short-term rentals.  

Read More: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/las-new-airbnb-rules-go-into-effect-today%E2%80%94heres-what-you-need-to-know/ar-AADHECF

A developer will be able to build the six micro-apartment buildings that the city of Santa Monica moved to block earlier this year.

WS Communities, a spinoff of developer NMS Properties, threatened to sue the city after City Council temporarily banned micro-apartments in response to the developer applying to construct 363 units between 219 and 373 square feet. City Manager Lane Dilg announced Tuesday that the city and WS have reached a settlement that allows the developer to build the six projects on an expedited schedule under certain conditions.

The buildings will rise at 1323, 1338 1415 and 1437 5th St., 1437 6th St. and 1557 7th Street, which are all in a four-block radius downtown.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/micro-apartment-developments-avoid-ban-with-new-settlement/176950

GUEST COMMENTARY

So with the prospect of a major battle over Proposition 13 looming on next year's general election ballot, the likely combatants on both sides of the split roll fight are sifting through the results from this month's special election in Los Angeles in which an effort to increase taxes on business properties was soundly defeated.

Read More: https://patch.com/california/santamonica/s/gri5s/if-la-won-t-raises-taxes-schools-will-ca-overhaul-prop-13

While cutting 29 jobs, now vacant, allegedly lowering administrative costs, and trimming some childcare programs, the city will still be funding - or even increasing funding - on some controversial matters. Funding for homeless services will be boosted, despite a distinct lack of evidence that the money already spent on this issue has produced any particular results. Furthermore, the city insists on going forward with their massively expensive "global environmental statement" of a City Hall Annex at $77 million ($1,528/ square foot).

Another new expenditure in the budget will be $100,000 to fund "city ambassadors" for Reed Park.

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/06/29/news/though-down-7-santa-monica-city-budget-maintains-some-costly-items/4073.html

Check out the Santa Monica Police Department's latest update [video] featuring Chief Cynthia Renaud as she discusses the state of crime in Santa Monica highlighting an 8 percent decrease in Part 1 Crimes from January to May 2019.

See more: https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/smpd-chief-cynthia-renaud-s-quarterly-crime-update

AND: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/santa-monica-sees-8-percent-decline-in-part-1-crime/

Listening to the pro-housing passion of Scott Wiener, the Democratic state senator from San Francisco sponsoring what was arguably the most important bill before the state Legislature this year, you become more convinced than ever of the reality of California’s housing problem.

Sadly, though Wiener clearly understands the problem well, the solution he offered via his stalled SB 50 zoning nullification bill is the wrong answer. That’s partly because as much as Wiener wants to solve the housing shortage, he wants to end most single-family residential zoning just as badly.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/no-to-sb50-not-enough-there-are-other-solutions/

LaTerra Development, a Los Angeles-based developer, has begun construction on the first of two apartment projects in Santa Monica at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Cloverfield Boulevard with a second project at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Yale Street to break ground in approximately later this year.

Broadway & Cloverfield located at 1450 Cloverfield Boulevard and situated at the opposite corner to the Colorado Center office complex, will comprise two boutique apartment buildings totaling 49 units with five of these to be affordable plus 8,500 square feet of amenities and 10,711 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Santa Monica & Yale located at 2822 Santa Monica Boulevard will include 50 apartment homes with four affordable units plus 12,000 square feet of amenities and 10,337 square feet of retail in two three-story buildings.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/two-apartment-complexes-coming-adjacent-to-expo-line/

Last year our article “Santa Monica Must Prepare for the Future” outlined eight important areas on which the city needed to focus, as it prepares to meet future challenges. A year later, how is the city doing?

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2019/06/santa-monica-must-prepare-for-the-future-again/