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Plan for Santa Monica’s Downtown Receives Initial Nod from City Council

07/13/2017 3:06 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 13, 2017 -- The Santa Monica City Council Tuesday gave the initial nod to a plan to construct nearly 6,000 multi-family rental units downtown and potentially clear the way for a trio of mixed-use hotel projects as tall as 12 stories.

Fresh from a more than six-hour public hearing the night before, the council tackled the Downtown Community Plan (DCP) in a series of votes Tuesday, although the document does not receive a final vote by the council until July 25.

AND

http://smmirror.com/2017/07/santa-monica-city-council-unanimously-endorses-the-final-draft-downtown-community-plan-including-a-call-for-increased-housing-production/

Two Bills ... Win Key Committee Approval

07/13/2017 3:02 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 13, 2017 -- Bills sponsored by Santa Monica Assemblyman Richard Bloom to preserve affordable housing and create a new decal program for zero emission vehicles were approved by a key committee this week.

AB 1521, which passed out of the Senate Transportation & Housing Committee
on a 9-4 vote, requires owners of expiring affordable rental properties to accept market-rate purchase offers from "qualified preservation entities," Bloom's office said in a statement.

The new owner of the property must "intend to maintain" the affordability restrictions for multifamily rental properties of five or more units affordable to lower income households.

Both AB 544 and AB 1521 now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Unanimous Council move DCP forward

07/13/2017 6:54 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

City Council has given preliminary approval to the Downtown Community Plan with instructions to bring a final version of the document for approval on July 25.

The council made a series of unanimous votes at the end of a six hour meeting to advance the plan with several revisions.

Council kept a trio of opportunity sites earmarked for larger development, maintained ground level commercial use in the downtown area and streamlined housing development up to 75,000 feet.

The DCP will require every housing project to contain between 20-30 percent affordable units on site depending on the overall size. Those requirements increase to 25 – 35 percent if the housing is built offsite.

City of Santa Monica Offers Rebates For Rainwater Storage Tanks

07/13/2017 6:48 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In an effort to deal with California’s drought, the city has a program that pays residents for using a basin to collect rainwater for later usage.

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http://www.water.smgov.net/rebates

Expo Line to Santa Monica Hits Target Ridership 13 Years Ahead of Schedule

07/12/2017 11:23 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 11, 2017 -- Thirteen months after opening, the Downtown L.A.-to-Santa Monica Expo line has hit a ridership target it was projected to reach in 13 years, also posting a 40 percent increase in passengers in June that left the rest of the Metro Rail system far behind, according to L.A. Metro.

Estimated average ridership on weekdays jumped from 45,876 passengers in June of 2016 to 64,164 last month, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) said.

What not to do in a disaster

07/12/2017 11:09 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Survival is less about heroic actions than avoiding mindless mistakes.

Surprisingly, plenty of other people in deadly scenarios don’t act fast enough to save their own lives.

“No Section 8″ Policies By Landlords Now Unlawful In Santa Monica

07/12/2017 8:24 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By 2015, however, in the midst of a deepening affordable housing crisis, many local landlords had adopted blanket discrimination policies against Section 8, even though their rents were at or below the Section 8 payment standard. The impact on low-income residents like Ellie was severe: they were spending time and money applying for such apartments, only to get turned away because of the voucher.

So in May of 2015, the Santa Monica City Council added “source of income” to the City’s list of tenant characteristics (such as disability and family status) that are protected from discrimination. (Race, religion and other classes are already protected by state and federal fair housing laws.) Adding “source of income” to that list now prevents landlords from refusing to rent to a person based on government-sponsored assistance like Section 8. It does not require landlords to reduce rents. The new law recently survived a court challenge.

Final Arguments Start in Bitter Battle Over Downtown Santa Monica's Future

07/11/2017 12:37 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 11, 2017 -- Rivals in the long, bitter battle over downtown Santa Monica's future began final arguments Monday, split by a call for a central public park and recommendations for more hotels, businesses and, especially, more housing.

More than 150 people asked to speak at the special hearing on the Downtown Community Plan (DCP), and the showdown was expected to lapse into the City Council’s meeting tonight. A final council vote is scheduled for July 25.

Santa Monica Has Two Latino Council Members, City Officials Contend

07/10/2017 8:25 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 10, 2017 -- Those who think Tony Vazquez is the only Latino ever to serve on the Santa Monica City Council are being asked to reconsider that commonly accepted notion.

In a voting Rights lawsuit against the City, officials are arguing there have been two Latinos on the Council, and both are currently sitting on the dais.

The issue came up during a meeting Thursday of the North of Montana Neighborhood Association (NOMA) when Council member Gleam Davis was asked when she discovered her Latino heritage.

AND

http://www.smobserved.com/story/2017/07/10/news/lawsuit-alleges-santa-monicas-elections-system-is-racist/3006.html

Bill preserving Marin’s suburban status sparks affordable housing debate

07/10/2017 7:38 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The state Legislature on Thursday approved a bill by Assemblyman Marc Levine that extends until 2028 special treatment for Marin County, San Rafael and Novato when it comes to meeting state requirements for zoning for affordable housing.

Adoption of the bill was considered a foregone conclusion because it was an item tied to passage of the state budget.

“It’s not a surprise,” said Diane Luther, advocacy manager for EAH Housing, an affordable housing developer based in San Rafael. “It feels like it was already decided even before it became public.”