ACTION Apartment Association

Earthquakes ... subject of City Council Meeting

03/24/2017 8:32 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Seismic Retrofit Ordinance

The public will have one last chance to comment on the City’s vast seismic retrofit ordinance Tuesday night when it comes up for second reading. Once the ordinance passes, the City will begin sending out notices to building owners May 1st that they must hire an engineer to evaluate the structural integrity of their building. Most owners of buildings that need retrofitting to meet current seismic standards will have two years to complete any construction.

The City Manager is urging the Council to move forward with the ordinance, which is coupled with several new tenant protection laws aimed at helping renters whose buildings will need structural renovations. The City will gain oversight of hazardous material abatement (such as asbestos dust or lead) and may hire environmental consultants to evaluate compliance.

Court rules against SF in Ellis Act apartment rental case

03/24/2017 8:16 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

“…the court said the 'adverse impact' on evicted San Francisco tenants was not caused by their landlord’s decision [to go out of business], but instead by the city’s 'policy decision to impose residential rent control.”

Renters Now Rule Half of U.S. Cities

03/24/2017 8:07 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Fifty-two of the 100 largest U.S. cities were majority-renter in 2015, according to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled for Bloomberg by real estate brokerage Redfin. Twenty-one of those cities have shifted to renter-domination since 2009.

Low-Income Housing Crisis in Santa Monica Poised to Worsen Under Proposed White House Budget

03/22/2017 2:16 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

March 22, 2017 -- When the City of Santa Monica re-opened its application list for subsidized housing on January 31 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., some 18,000 applications poured in -- for 1,167 vouchers.

Federal funds couldn't begin to meet demand, so a City lottery system was established for the top 500 applicants, those financially stressed enough to qualify and either already working or living in Santa Monica.

Bill would reshape Rent Control in Santa Monica

03/22/2017 7:54 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On Thursday, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board will decide whether to throw its support behind a controversial California Assembly Bill that would vastly change the way rent control operates in the City.

The bill introduced by local Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) and two other legislators from the Bay Area, Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) and David Chiu (D-San Francisco), would allow local jurisdictions to set rent control rates for vacant apartments and expand the number of units that fall under Rent Control.

AB 1506 accomplishes this by repealing the 1996 Costa-Hawkins Act which outlawed vacancy control in California, ending a decades-long practice in Santa Monica where the Rent Control Board set rents for certain apartments in perpetuity. After Costa-Hawkins became law, landlords were able to reset rents to market rate after a tenant moves out. About 27,600 apartments in Santa Monica fall under rent control jurisdiction because they were built before 1979.

Public Hearing and Second Reading ...updating seismic retrofit requirements

03/20/2017 8:45 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SUBJECT: Public Hearing and Second Reading of an Ordinance of the City of Santa Monica updating seismic retrofit requirements for potentially seismically vulnerable buildings and updating tenant protection laws, through incorporation of the 2015 Edition of the International Existing Building Code (IEBC), American Society of Civil Engineers Standard ASCE 7-10 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (Second Printing), and the American Society of Civil Engineers Standard ASCE 41-13 Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings.

Read More in SMDP, pg. 3: http://backissues.smdp.com/032017.pdf

City and developers poised square off over affordable housing requirements

03/20/2017 8:39 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A major question concerning affordable housing in Santa Monica remains unanswered after the Planning Commission reluctantly approved a massive new development on Lincoln Boulevard.

The project is part of a sea of change coming to the stretch of the boulevard between the freeway and the Expo Line. The complex at 1613-1637 Lincoln Boulevard will bring 191 new apartments to the street, replacing the JoAnn Fabrics and old Wertz Brothers Antique Mart. Century West and a subsidiary of USAA Real Estate Company, a national developer based in San Antonio, Texas, are developing the five-story property.

Out of nearly 200 units, the owner of the project has reserved 15 for affordable housing at the lowest income level, 30% of the average medium income. By providing the housing at the lowest possible rent, it meant the developer had to provide fewer affordable units overall.

“I’d like these people to have 30 affordable units or 20 affordable units,” Commissioner Richard McKinnon said at the contentious Wednesday night meeting before reluctantly voting for the project. In the end, only Commissioner Mario Fonda-Barnardi voted against it.

City plans April launch of major planning document

03/20/2017 8:37 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

After two years of public meetings, committee discussions and redrafts, the City will unveil the finished Downtown Community Plan (DCP) Wednesday, April 12, at a public meeting.

That night the Planning and Community Development Department will host an informal event at 6:30 p.m. at Civic Center East Wing to hand out booklets and flash drives containing the plan.

SMa.r.t.- A Six Pack of City Defining Areas

03/17/2017 11:49 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In our built-out city, there are six significant areas of land whose eventual development will have an inordinate impact on Santa Monica’s future. Development of these areas, if left to today’s “market forces” without considering the big picture, may result in in an irretrievably lost opportunity that could distort our city for decades.

Elaine Polachek Announces Plans to Leave the City

03/17/2017 7:40 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

After nearly 27 years with the City of Santa Monica and nine years serving in the City Manager’s Office, Assistant City Manager Elaine Polachek has announced she will leave her post in July.