ACTION Apartment Association

O'Connor to Seek Reelection to Santa Monica City Council

07/21/2018 8:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 20, 2018 -- Speculation that Pam O'Connor would not run for a record seventh term on the Santa Monica City Council was put to rest Thursday when she pulled nominating papers.

O'Connor -- a champion of public transit and development and a political lightening rod for the City's slow-growth movement -- pulled the nominating petitions, which must be signed by 100 registered Santa Monica voters, in the late afternoon.

CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER BALLOT MEASURE MODIFYING RENT CONTROL CHARTER IF COSTA-HAWKINS PASSES...

07/20/2018 12:41 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Attorney recommends that the City Council review and consider adopting the attached resolution (Attachment A) placing a measure on the November 6, 2018 ballot that would amend Section 1804 of the City Charter to: a) maintain base rent ceilings for existing residential tenancies; and b) establish base rent ceilings for new residential tenancies commencing on or after April 1, 2018, for purposes of calculating maximum allowable rents within the City. The measure would become effective only if the Affordable Housing Act, a statewide voter initiative that would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (“Costa-Hawkins Act”) is adopted at the Statewide General Election on November 6, 2018.

Highlights from the last six months and what lies ahead

07/20/2018 12:39 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Ted Winterer

As I head off for some fishing, camping, and hiking, I want to share my thoughts on the last six months of the 2017-18 fiscal year as well as what lies ahead.

Miramar Partners with Community Corp to Develop Affordable Housing Project

07/20/2018 12:28 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 20, 2018 -- The Miramar Hotel is partnering with Santa Monica's largest affordable housing provider to build a housing project as part of the redevelopment of the century old Downtown hotel, Miramar officials announced this week.

The building developed by the Miramar and Community Corporation of Santa Monica would be built across from the relocated hotel entrance on Second Street on a site currently used for hotel parking.

The number of units in the building, as well as their size and income mix, will be set during the City’s approval process, which is expected to take place next year, Miramar officials said.

County Supervisors Give Go-ahead for 'Safe Clean Water Program'

07/18/2018 11:37 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 18, 2018 -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors signed off Tuesday on a program that would boost the local water supply and improve water quality.

The "Safe Clean Water Program" -- which would be funded by a parcel tax on the November ballot -- includes projects and programs that "capture, clean, and conserve stormwater," Board officials said in a statement.

Renting in Santa Monica: What will $2,600 get you?

07/18/2018 8:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

We've rounded up the latest rental listings via rental site Zumper to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to hunting down housing in Santa Monica if you don't want to spend more than $2,600/month on rent.

Data shows declining Airbnb listings as city cracks down

07/18/2018 7:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The number of Airbnb listings in Santa Monica has decreased by 17 percent in the past year, following a city-wide enforcement effort and recent judge’s ruling intended to crack down on illegal listings, according to data from AirDNA, a Denver-based tracking firm. There were 1,016 total available listings in Santa Monica in June 2018, compared to 1,215 in June 2017, including entire homes, private rooms and shared rooms for rent.

Despite the decline, the number of listings in June was still more than triple the number of operators legally registered with the city.

First candidates pull papers for local office

07/17/2018 10:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Elaine Golden-Gealer, Naomi Sultan, Joseph Bonoventura and Lori Brown received applications for the Rent Control Board.

AND

https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/July-2018/07_17_2018_Twenty_Candidates_Pull_Nominating_Papers_on_First_Day_of_Santa_Monica_Election_Season.html

Planning Commission to review final draft of coastal plan

07/17/2018 9:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A new 300-page policy framework for development along the city’s coastline is heading into its final stages but concerns remain over two key policy areas: parking and short-term rentals like Airbnbs. A March letter from the state’s official authority on beach access, the California Coastal Commission, worries some of Santa Monica’s proposed policies could hurt visitor access.

Parking:

The Coastal Commission is concerned reduced parking standards for new development downtown...

Short term rentals:

Coastal Commission staff is suggesting a require all new hotels provide at least 25 percent of the units as lower cost accommodations, either on-site or at some other property in the coastal zone. If a low-cost hotel is redeveloped, the Coastal Commission says cheap rooms should be replaced at a one-to-one ratio, either on-site or within the coastal zone. Staff also suggests an in-lieu payment option that would go into a city fund.

In addition, the Commission says Santa Monica shouldn’t take Airbnbs completely off the table.

How Many Rent-burdened Tenants Lose Their Homes in Santa Monica?

07/16/2018 4:41 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The following is the text of a power-point presentation written by Wes Wellman, a long-time Santa Monica Realtor and member of ACTION Apartment Association.

We’re all concerned about "rent-burdened" tenants who can lose their homes because they can’t afford their rent.

That made me wonder just how many were evicted in 2017. So I did some research. And this is what I found.

Out of the 26,000 rent-controlled units in Santa Monica in 2017, there were a total of 102 evictions.

When I drilled down even further into the 2017 stats, I discovered that out of the 26,000 units with 102 evictions I was surprised to find only 12 were related to non-payment of rent.