ACTION Apartment Association

Single-Family Homeowners Need to Wake Up

03/28/2018 2:07 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Letter to the editor - Robert Kronovet

My fellow homeowners across California: rent control will require you to register every single vacant bedroom and occupied bedroom in your home.

Mark my words. It takes a flick of a pen or the landing of a gavel and we become slaves of the state.

L.A. votes to fight state lawmaker's push for high-density housing

03/28/2018 8:30 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to oppose a bill allowing residential buildings of four to eight stories on streets near public transit, despite objections from business leaders and groups that favor higher-density housing.

The 13-0 vote makes L.A. the largest municipality in California to come out against Senate Bill 827, which would loosen or eliminate restrictions on height, density, parking and design for residential projects near bus and rail stops.

Strict Rent Control Likely Coming to New Apartments

03/28/2018 8:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Letter to the Editor

Should Costa Hawkins be repealed the city will impose vacancy control on new-build apartments and thus no new apartments will be built in Santa Monica -- ever. They will only ever, ever build condos. They won’t be tricked a third time.

Members of Temporary Citizens Panel on Santa Monica City Finances Resist Being Disbanded

03/27/2018 11:45 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

March 27, 2018 -- With their urgent calls for curbing rising employee-related costs at Santa Monica City Hall going unheeded, members of an ad hoc panel of citizens reviewing City finances are trying to win more time to make their case.

The ad hoc advisory committee, established in May, is mandated to be disbanded next month, as its boss -- the City Council’s Audit Subcommittee -- takes final action on an outside audit of City employee compensation and performance.

California Earthquake Hazards Zone Application

03/27/2018 11:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The California Earthquake Hazards Zone Application ("EQ Zapp") is an online map that allows anyone with a computer, tablet or smartphone to conveniently check whether a property is in an earthquake hazard zone.

With EQ Zapp, you can type in an address or use the location capability of your computer or mobile device to determine whether a property lies within any of CGS’s mapped earthquake hazard zones.

The Development Game: Santa Monica Edition

03/27/2018 11:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A play-by-play recap of why neighbors are appealing the approval of a block-long building on Lincoln Boulevard

By Tim Tunks

Santa Monica resident Tim Tunks is a designer and retired educator.

A few doors down from my small Ocean Park duplex, a new development planned for 2903 Lincoln Blvd. would stretch an entire city block. Where there’s now an auto shop and a plumbing store, picture 47 apartments above ground-floor restaurant and retail spanning the east side of Lincoln between Ashland Avenue and Wilson Place — four stories tall on the north end and, at 308 feet, stretching far enough to overlap the goal lines on both ends of the Rose Bowl. Drive down Lincoln from Montana Avenue to LAX, and you won’t see a building with as much potential impact on north-south traffic flow.

The Santa Monica Planning Commission approved this project during a public hearing on Jan. 10.

Santa Monica Rents Double Under Full 'Vacancy Decontrol,' Report Finds

03/26/2018 3:52 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

March 26, 2018 -- A typical two-bedroom apartment at market rates in Santa Monica required a yearly income of $111,000 last year, according to an annual update on the state of the City’s troubled rent control system.

It also shows dramatic rent differences in apartments that haven’t been vacated under the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and are still pegged to the 1979 caps on rent.

Median market rates are about double the monthly rent paid by tenants who occupied their units before the law -- which allows landlords to charge market rates for most vacated units -- went into full effect in 1999.

Median monthly rents for units occupied before Costa-Hawkins were $786 for a studio (compared to $1,498 under market rates), $900 for one bedroom (compared to $1,907), $1,143 for two bedrooms (compared to $2,505) and $1,460 for three bedrooms (compared to $3,200).

SMA.R.T.-HAVE YOU BEEN RETROFIT YET?

03/26/2018 3:50 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

After the article was published, the City swung into action, funded a new study and eventually assembled a new list of vulnerable buildings. A year ago Santa Monica City Council passed a new law ordering structural reviews of buildings on the list, and repairs where necessary. Notices were mailed to owners, and the retrofit program began. The program includes more than a thousand two- and three-story apartment buildings with parking on the ground floor. Many of these are known as “dingbats,” with first-floor parking accessible from alleys behind the buildings.

To help owners and renters with this process, the City has published comprehensive information on the internet. Two of these pages are:

https://www.smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Programs/Seismic-Retrofit/Resources-for-Property-Owners

https://www.smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Programs/Seismic-Retrofit

Read More: https://smmirror.com/2018/03/sma-r-t-retrofit-yet/

Supervisor Kuhl & LA County Housing Authoryty: HouseLA

03/26/2018 8:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Supervisor Kuehl, in partnership with the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles, will be hosting the below HouseLA event on Wednesday, April 11.

This event will focus on new incentives available to landlords who rent to individuals and families who have experienced homelessness.

AND: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/housela-tickets-43465207606

O.C.'s grand homeless plan collapsing

03/26/2018 7:55 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Just a few days ago, Orange County appeared to have a grand plan to deal with its swelling homeless population.

But the plan is now in serious jeopardy after those three communities vowed to do whatever it takes to keep the shelters out. Leaders in Irvine and Laguna Niguel voted to sue the county to block the shelter plan, and local officials want to drop the Huntington Beach location.