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Final Battle Over Plan for Downtown Santa Monica Begins

05/17/2017 3:16 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

May 17, 2017 -- A sweeping plan to add up to 3.2 million square feet in new development to Santa Monica's downtown heads into the final stage of a bitter longstanding battle tonight.

Almost seven years in the making, the Downtown Community Plan (DCP) goes before the City Planning Commission as a final draft in a 6 p.m. meeting in City Hall, the first of three new public sessions it has scheduled.

Another is on Thursday and the third is May 31. Same location (City Council chambers) and same start time. All end at 11:30 p.m.

City crackdown silences leaf blowers

05/17/2017 7:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City’s aggressive pursuit of leaf blowers in Santa Monica seems to be paying off – cases were down in 2016 and in the beginning of this year. At the moment, 86 leaf blower cases are under investigation, according to an information item posted on the City’s website.

Of 163 cases opened during the first quarter this year, 8 tickets have been written and 85 remain under investigation. The rest of the cases have been closed because the violation couldn’t be verified (the officer has to actually catch the leaf blower in the act).

It is illegal to operate any kind of leaf blower in the City whether gas, electric or battery powered. The local law allows Code Enforcement to cite either the property owner, management company, landscaping company or the operator. In practice, it’s usually the man or the woman caught holding the blower who gets hit with the $500 fine.

That’s because of a 2015 case where a property owner was written the ticket after an officer observed a gardener operating a leaf blower on the property. The property owner appealed the citation and won because the City couldn’t prove he knew the blower was being used.

AND

https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2017/May-2017/05_17_2017_More_than_3500_Violations_of_Santa_Monica_Leaf_Blower_Ban_Reopted_in_Three_Years.html

AMENDMENT TO THE CITY’S WATER SHORTAGE RESPONSE PLAN

05/16/2017 8:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Proposed Amendment to the City’s Water Shortage Response Plan which sets water use allowances, water conservation thresholds, a process to adjust water use allowances, and penalties for non-compliance. DATE/TIME: TUESDAY, May 23, 2017 AT 6:45 p.m. LOCATION: City Council Chambers, Second Floor, Santa Monica City Hall 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, California

Read the notice on page 5: http://backissues.smdp.com/051617.pdf

Woman wins slip-and-fall lawsuit against City

05/16/2017 8:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City has approved a $48,000 settlement in a slip-and-fall lawsuit to a woman who was badly hurt when she fell on Wilshire Boulevard near 18th Street two years ago.

To win a slip-and-fall lawsuit, the victim must be able to prove that the property owner knew or should have known the condition was dangerous. An investigation into the sidewalk’s history showed an inspector in August of 2014 reported the height differential on that portion of sidewalk to be less than an inch.

“We suspect that the last inspection prior to the incident was not done properly,” Cholodenko said.

Process begins for joining affordable housing list

05/16/2017 8:27 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Community Corporation of Santa Monica (CCSM) has reopened the process to qualify for affordable rental housing in the City.

CCSM is a nonprofit organization that builds and manages affordable housing throughout the Los Angeles area. The organization uses a combination of private and public funds to create housing options ranging from small four-unit buildings to their largest project containing 62 units. The sites are held in trust and staffed by employees hired from the residents.

Qualifying for Community Corp. housing used to be an annual process but officials now open the list twice a year. The first qualification is to obtain an appointment card in May, that card does not guarantee a place on the housing list, but does provide instructions for continuing the application process.

Developers, architects and Chamber fight to change Downtown Community Plan

05/16/2017 8:25 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

With the future of downtown Santa Monica’s skyline up for debate, development groups, architects and business advocates are pushing for more height and greater density in the Downtown Community Plan (DCP). The City document will dictate development standards, fees and affordable housing requirements for the next two decades.

The plan aims to create a predictable process for new projects to encourage more housing between Interstate 10 and Wilshire Boulevard. The City claims the plan will bring thousands of new apartment units to the downtown area over the next twenty years in an effort to curb the region’s housing crisis.

The plan allows buildings up to 84 feet (approximately seven stories) near the Expo Line but limits much of downtown’s other areas to 60 feet (four or five stories). Current zoning allows buildings up to 84 feet throughout the area.

The Planning Commission will vote on the plan at the end of the month before it heads to the City Council for more debate this summer.

Tourism figures frame calls for inclusivity

05/16/2017 8:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica’s tourism industry continues to grow and officials are framing the hospitality industry as a reproach to national/international fears of discrimination.

Discussions of tourism’s economic impact and cultural value occurred on May 12 at Santa Monica Travel and Tourism’s annual meeting.

Total visitor spending increased by 1.6 percent in 2016 to 1.87 billion. The City’s Transient Occupancy Tax (paid by hotel guests on their rooms) increased 9.2 percent to $50.9 million. Sales tax revenue declined 0.4 percent to $11.8 million.

Hotel visitors spend an average of $388 per day compared to $96 by day visitors. Of the visitors coming to the city, 47 percent are international and 53 percent domestic. International visitors account for 50.6 percent of total spending and the top five markets visiting Santa Monica are Australia/New Zealand (12.9 percent), England (10.2 percent), Canada (9.4 percent), Mexico (7.5 percent) and Scandinavia (7.5 percent).

SMTT said tourism secures 13,300 jobs within the city and estimated every Santa Monica Household would have to pay an additional $1,311 to cover city services without tourism dollars.

Group Seeks More Development for Downtown Santa Monica

05/12/2017 2:03 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

May 12, 2017 -- A proposed plan to guide development for Downtown sets too many restrictions for developers and is a "woefully inadequate response" to climate change and the need for affordable housing, according to a local group advocating transit-oriented growth.

Santa Monica Forward, which is spearheaded by the city's political and civic establishment, said the proposed Downtown Community Plan (DCP) is "aggressively slow-growth" and relies on "outmoded planning principles."

Special Committee on City of Santa Monica Employee Pay and Benefits Approved

05/11/2017 5:19 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

May 11, 2017 -- Creation of an ad hoc committee of residents to help guide an internal review of rapidly rising salaries and benefits for City of Santa Monica employees was approved Tuesday by the City Council.

Without comment, the council gave the nod to the temporary panel of five members of the public, an idea that rose out of increasing calls by a collection of critics to rein in total compensation for the City workforce of 3,088 full and part-time employees ("Santa Monica City Pay and Benefits Climb at Double the Inflation Rate, New Data Shows," May 2, 2017).

LA will allow landlords to rent out unpermitted apartments—if they also provide affordable housing

05/11/2017 7:12 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved new rules on Wednesday that will allow landlords to rent out unpermitted apartments.

The new ordinance is key to “protecting low- and moderate-income Angelenos doing their best to get by, living in unapproved units [through] no fault of their own,” said Councilmember Jose Huizar.

Every year, Huizar said, city inspectors remove from the rental market 400 to 500 units never approved for occupancy (think, for example, of converted rec rooms or haphazardly partitioned micro apartments).

The new rules comes with strings attached. Landlords will be able to apply for permits for such units only if they agree to rent an equal number of units in the building at affordable prices for the next 55 years. Unpermitted units would also have to be brought into compliance with city safety codes.