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Tech execs back California bill that aims to build more housing near transit

01/26/2018 9:05 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Bigger, taller apartment buildings surrounding your neighborhood BART station? More than 100 California tech leaders are enthusiastically saying yes, please.

Tech titans including the CEOs of Salesforce, Twitter, Lyft, Yelp and Mozilla on Wednesday signed a letter applauding SB 827, the controversial bill Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, proposed earlier this month. The bill would usurp cities’ building rules by requiring them to allow denser housing developments within a half-mile of transit hubs such as BART, Caltrain and Muni stations, and within a quarter-mile of bus lines.

Santa Monica Neighborhood Group Fighting Preschool Loses City Council Appeal

01/25/2018 1:50 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 25, 2018 -- A neighborhood group in the Gandara Park area of Santa Monica on Tuesday lost the appeal it filed with the City Council to stop conversion of a home into a preschool for as many as 20 children.

The council voted 5 to 2 to deny the appeal by “Residents for the Preservation of Gandara Park Neighborhood" of approvals by the City Planning Commission in September for the proposed preschool at 2953 Delaware Avenue in the Pico Neighborhood.

Supporters on the council said the benefits of a preschool in a family neighborhood like the one near Gandara Park outweighed concerns of those already living there, including more traffic and the possibility of opening the door to encroachment by businesses in neighborhoods zoned only for single-family homes.

Santa Monica City Council Temporarily Reins in 'Monster Mansions'

01/25/2018 1:49 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 25, 2018 -- Heading into the early hours of Wednesday, the Santa Monica City Council voted to to hit the pause button on the growing “mansionization” of single-family neighborhoods.

The council voted to approve an interim ordinance cutting back the size of such proposed homes while awaiting the green light from City planners.

The temporary cuts are meant to give the council time to consider a permanent way to protect the existing character of the City’s R1 (or single-family home) neighborhoods.

Local Coastal Plan Update

01/24/2018 9:19 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

LCP Draft Land Use Plan Released for Review!

Updated January 23, 2018

Over the past two years, the City has engaged the community in the process of developing the Land Use Plan (LUP) through workshops, presentations to boards, commissions, and community groups, and creative partnerships with the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, GoSaMo, the Santa Monica Pier, the Bay Foundation and the Audubon Society.

Incorporating community input, and in consultation with the California Coastal Commission and climate scientists, City staff and consultants have developed this plan in compliance with the California Coastal Act. The draft LUP strategically promotes broader City goals to reduce the community’s carbon footprint, protect our coastal environment, and become more sustainable.

Luxury tenants worry about safety at The Shores

01/24/2018 9:08 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

An employee at a luxury apartment complex near the beach told police she allowed a homeless man inside the building who later broke open the door to a sixth floor tenant’s apartment, according a Santa Monica Police Department report obtained by the Daily Press.

The 90-year-old tenant, Florence Kaufman, was asleep inside her bedroom during the Jan. 13 incident. Neighbors believe the victim at The Shores was so terrified after the incident that it contributed to her death a few days later. The intruder, Anthony Max Aikin, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vandalism charge and was likely released from jail the same day as the victim’s funeral, according to the City Attorney’s office.

Your Column Here: Tenant v. Tenant Disputes

01/24/2018 9:05 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Two families in a Santa Monica apartment building had a simmering feud for years. It started when the upstairs tenants, the Smiths, complained about the occupants of the downstairs apartment parking in the Smiths’ spot. The downstairs tenants, the Johnsons, complained about late-night footsteps and television noise in the Smiths’ apartment.

Many neighbor disputes revolve around parking, common-area use, animals, smoking, and noise. These types of conflicts often can be resolved without outside intervention, if the parties commit to communicating openly and treating each other fairly. Neighbors may not even be aware that their behavior is bothering anyone. Politely communicating with a neighbor about a potential problem may be all it takes to address the issue and keep it from escalating into a long-running dispute. If that fails, contacting the landlord (or the neighbor’s landlord if they live at a separate property) may solve the problem.

However, if communication fails, there are resources for residents who are having problems with neighbors:

For emergencies (immediate threats to life, health, or safety) call 911.
For non-emergency police services, call 310-458-8491.
For complaints about violations of Municipal, Building, Zoning, or Health and Safety Codes, call 310-458-4984.
For complaints about pets, call 310-458-8594.

In the case of the Smiths and the Johnsons, the City Attorney’s Consumer Protection Division let them know about mediation options...

Audit Report Finds High Santa Monica Police Cost, Low Clearance Rate

01/24/2018 8:55 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 23, 2018 -- A new audit of City finances by an outside firm is posing again a longtime question: Is Santa Monica getting its money's worth for the high price of policing?

Although the Santa Monica Police Department had the largest operating budget among comparison cities, it had the lowest clearance rate for crimes, according to a draft report by Moss Adams, which was hired by the City to audit municipal services.

Santa Monica's police operating cost of $86,621,194 in the 2016-17 fiscal year was higher than the average of $60 million, with $932 spent per resident, compared with $554 on average for the peer cities, according to the audit.

During the same period, SMPD cleared 54 percent of its cases involving violent crime, compared to an average of 61 percent for comparison cities, and 9 percent for property crimes, compared to 23 percent.

Santa Monica Police Twice as Slow to Arrive than in Comparable Southern California Cities, Audit Finds

01/24/2018 8:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

January 23, 2018 -- On average, Santa Monica police took more than half an hour to respond to calls for assistance in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, twice the average time reported by comparable Southern California cities, a new outside audit of municipal services has found.

Preliminary findings by the auditors for Moss Adams reported the average response time for Santa Monica police was 33.2 minutes last fiscal year, a finding the Police Department disputes.

The average among the peer cities scrutinized was 16.8 minutes, auditors said.

And, although Santa Monica is not known for major crime, the rate of serious crime per resident was 58 percent higher than the average among peers, auditors said.

In Santa Monica, 363 residents (per 100,000) were victims of serious crime in 2016-2017, compared to the average of 230 residents among cities included in the comparison.

Registration Opens For $3,000 Seismic Retrofit Grants

01/23/2018 8:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Registration is open for eligible homeowners to receive grants of up to $3,000 for seismic retrofits of their older homes, making them more resistant to earthquake damage. Homeowners have until February 23, 2018, to apply for a grant from the Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) program.

EBB is expanding eligibility this year to 17 additional California cities in high hazard areas, bringing the total to 51. The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has provided $6 million in funding for the grants this year, enough to support an additional 2,000 or more code-compliant seismic retrofits.

HOW TO APPLY FOR EBB GRANTS Through February 23, eligible homeowners can apply for retrofit funding at EarthquakeBraceBolt.com, where they can also find detailed program information, select a licensed FEMA-trained contractor and view the full list of eligible ZIP Codes. [Santa Monica ZIP codes: 90401, 90402, 90403, 90404, 90405]

Read More on page 3: http://backissues.smdp.com/012318.pdf

AND at: https://www.earthquakebracebolt.com/

AND: http://www.californiaresidentialmitigationprogram.com/

Board may put an end to passing tax increases to rent controlled tenants

01/23/2018 8:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Rent Control Board Thursday will attempt to tackle an unintended consequence of Proposition 13 and Santa Monica’s booming real estate market: skyrocketing surcharges passed along to tenants when the worth of their building (and thus tax bill) is reassessed after a sale or construction. Board members say they want to hear from stakeholders before deciding whether to cap the surcharges or find other ways to give already rent-burdened tenants some relief.

“This is madness and it needs to stop and we need to address it as soon as possible,” Boardmember Nicole Phillis said at the Jan. 11 RCB meeting, calling the surcharges a “crisis.” Phillis is suggesting a sunset clause on the pass throughs that would not allow new property owners to pass specific surcharges to tenants. It could also spare new tenants from paying pass-throughs.