Scientific survey designed to obtain feedback from residents on service delivery and key issues

A randomly selected group of 400 to 500 residents will be invited to participate in the scientific survey. Those who are selected will receive a postcard in the mail starting this week and will have two weeks to complete the survey.

Read  More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2018/06/18/city-launches-resident-satisfaction-survey-through-the-end-of-june

World renowned architect Frank Gehry’s signature Santa Monica project sailed through its final preliminary review Tuesday, as the City Council lauded the design as “iconic.”  The project’s centerpiece, a curving 12-story hotel tower, will be wrapped in white metal to reflect the golden hues of the setting sun from its perch on Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard.

The Council was the fourth board to review the latest design iteration, which removed ten stories from the central tower originally included in the 2013 plans. The project now includes a 115-room hotel, a 40,000 square foot museum, about 80 apartments including 19 rent-controlled units and 18 deed-restricted “affordable” units, 24,700 square feet of retail space, and a 5,000 square foot public observation deck.

Read More: http://smdp.com/city-begins-negotiations-for-gehry-building/166905

Home sharing sites Airbnb and HomeAway will have to verify hosts are properly registered with the City of Santa Monica before booking guests, after a U.S. District Court judge dismissed a legal challenge to local rules. The judge said the city has a right to keep the international websites from facilitating illegal business transactions here.

Santa Monica’s strict home sharing ordinance prohibits the use of apartments, condominiums and houses for short-term rentals unless the host is present during the stay. Hosts must register with the City and obtain a business license. City leaders say the rules maintain the character of local neighborhoods and preserve housing in the midst of a statewide crisis.

Read More: http://smdp.com/airbnb-loses-latest-court-battle-over-santa-monicas-strict-rules/166918

According to a press release from the City of Santa Monica issued Friday, June 15, a” federal district court has upheld the City of Santa Monica’s home-sharing law in the face of a challenge brought by Airbnb and Homeaway.com.”

Airbnb and Homeaway.com filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate those portions of the City’s “Home-Sharing Ordinance” that penalize online platforms for booking short-term rentals of unlicensed properties. 

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2018/06/homesharing-update-in-santa-monica/

Eight big challenges the City must address right now.

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2018/06/sm-a-r-t-santa-monica-must-prepare-for-future/

June 15, 2018 -- The campaign to repeal California' vacancy decontrol law and allow cities like Santa Monica to expand rent control was certified for the November ballot Friday.

The certification by the California Secretary of State’s office comes two months after sponsors of the Affordable Housing Act submitted 595 signatures, far more than the 365,880 signatures of certified voters needed to make the ballot.

If approved by California voters in November, the Affordable Housing Act will repeal the 1994 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which allows landlords to raise the rents to market rates when most rent control units are vacated.

The law also prevents cities and counties from applying rent control to apartments built after 1995 or to single-family rental units and condos.

If approved, the Affordable Housing Act will also allow cities such as Santa Monica -- where voters approved rent control in 1978 -- to expand their law to single family homes and new construction.

Read More:  http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2018/June-2018/06_15_2018_Statewide_Measure_to_Repeal_Vacancy_Decontrol_and_Expand_%20Rent_Control_Makes_Ballot%20.html

AND

http://smdp.com/calif-rent-control-measure-qualifies-for-november-ballot/166920

June 14 | The Rent Stabilization Commission will discuss cost-sharing for seismic retrofitting. Caring for residents and protecting housing are top priorities. Many older apartment buildings are not retrofitted to withstand earthquakes, which is why the City developed a seismic retrofit program, to protect residents and lessen damage to our housing.

Read More: https://weho.org/residents/rent-stabilization-housing/seismic#Meetings

Effective January 1, the ITPA (now Civil Code §1940.05) prohibits a landlord from several types of exploitation based on a person’s immigration or citizenship status. Under the law, immigration or citizenship status includes the following:

1. a person’s actual immigration or citizenship status;
2. a perception that a person has a particular immigration or citizenship status; or,
3. a person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, a particular immigration or citizenship status.

The third type of status is to prevent landlords from threatening to report a tenant’s family member or friend, even if they do not live in the unit.

The types of landlord conduct now prohibited include the following:

• asking tenants about their immigration status.
• threatening to disclose immigration status of anyone in unit or anyone associated with tenant in an attempt to induce tenants to move out.
• threatening to report or report immigration status in retaliation for complaint.
• evicting based on anyone’s immigration status.
• reporting tenants’ suspected immigration status.

Back in June 2017, the Santa Monica Homeless Steering Committee (SMHSC) was created to leverage the strengths of Santa Monica’s community solutions network. The committee is a gathering of more than 50 individuals who live or work in Santa Monica, representing residents, business associations, faith partners, local and regional service providers, regional elected officials, City Council, City departments, people with lived experience and other local associations impacted by homelessness.

Homelessness Steering Committee Meeting

Have your voice heard by joining the community-led Steering Committee on Homelessness on June 20, 6 p.m. at Santa Monica’s Church (725 California Ave, 90403).

Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/homelessness-steering-committee