ACTION Apartment Association

City wins $30,000 settlement in Tenant Harassment Case

05/03/2017 7:57 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A former landlord will pay the City $30,000 to settle a tenant harassment lawsuit involving a rent controlled apartment on Ocean Avenue.

The harassment allegations involve a single rent-controlled unit owned by Sean Gharib at 757 Ocean Avenue. The same tenant, Nina Edwards, has lived in the apartment with her son since 1984 and paid $850 in rent when Sean Gharib purchased the foreclosed unit in 2015, according to Deputy City Attorney Eda Suh.

Santa Monica City Pay and Benefits Climb at Double the Inflation Rate

05/02/2017 12:01 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

May 2, 2017 -- Employee pay and benefits at Santa Monica City Hall grew at more than double the rate of inflation for metropolitan Los Angeles since 2012, according to data released by a statewide watchdog group Monday.

The data obtained by Transparent California through public information requests show the city's payroll costs climbed 16 percent in four years to reach more than $303 million in 2016.

The 2016 data show 1,380 full-time employees receiving pay and benefits of $100,000 or more, or two-thirds of the 1,838 full-time employees on the payroll. The median household income in Santa Monica is $74,534 annually.

Jolt Felt in Santa Monica Monday Night Nothing Unusual, Expert Says

05/02/2017 11:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

May 2, 2017 -- Rumblings of an earthquake hitting Santa Monica swept through social media and news outlets late Monday night, but the small temblor was nothing unusual, according to scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The 3.0 magnitude temblor hit at 10:28 p.m. near the Santa Monica fault between Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades and was felt as far as the San Fernando Valley.

Seismic Retrofit Program

04/28/2017 2:44 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On March 28, 2017, the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive seismic retrofit ordinance that will encompass 20 years of work to increase safety of earthquake-vulnerable buildings in the event of a large quake. Nearly 2,000 commercial and multi-family residential buildings made a list of sites that need to be assessed for possible structural improvement. Participation in the program is mandatory when the ordinance goes into effect on May 2017, with notices to affected building owners set to mailed in phases.

NOTE: The list has been amended since the initial list was released in January.

Check the newest list at: https://www.smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Programs/Seismic-Retrofit/

New Affordable ‘Arroyo’ Apartments Going Up on Lincoln Boulevard

04/28/2017 12:47 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Community Corporation of Santa Monica, the city’s lead nonprofit affordable housing provider, held a ceremony Tuesday to celebrate the organization’s newest project, The Arroyo.

The new building at 1626 Lincoln Blvd., which Community Corporation of Santa Monica’s Executive Director Tara Barauskas said would be completed in 12 to 18 months, will add 64 new affordable apartments to Downtown Santa Monica and will include on-site resident services, such as after-school homework assistance, health and wellness classes, and computer skills training.

SMa.r.t.- In Santa Monica… Size Matters

04/28/2017 12:40 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

It would seem that the current Downtown Specific Plan (DSP), as written, is trying to get 10 lbs. of developers’ dreams (EIR’s actual weight) into a 5 oz. box.

Santa Monica City Council Approves Concept for Lincoln Streetscape Re-Design

04/27/2017 2:20 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

LiNC includes the following notable changes:

- Street parking will be eliminated at peak traffic hours on the corridor to make way for municipal buses, which have their own marked lane.

- “Traffic calming” and safety measures that feature new landscaped center medians (or “pedestrian refuges”) will be installed.

- Improved crosswalks, flashing warning lights, new pedestrian lighting, curb-extensions and bulb-outs will be added.

- And 48 new trees will be planted.

A string of mostly five-story mixed-use apartment complexes are in the works; a few have already been approved, with others in the development pipeline.

PUBLIC HEARING VENUES FOR THE DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY PLAN BEFORE THE SANTA MONICA PLANNING COMMISSION

04/27/2017 7:06 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SUBJECT: Public Hearings will be held by the Planning Commission

See Dates/locations on pg. 11: http://backissues.smdp.com/042717.pdf

City Wins Legal Victory in Case Against Landlord Who Unlawfully Evicted Tenant

04/27/2017 6:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City of West Hollywood prevailed in court against West Hollywood landlord Anne Kihagi, who has been ordered to serve five days in Los Angeles County Jail and to pay the City’s attorney fees and costs. Kihagi was held in contempt of court on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, for violating a preliminary injunction that prohibited her from re-renting certain units at her property, located on N. Crescent Heights Boulevard.

Battle Pits Residents Against Big Hotels Slated for Downtown Santa Monica

04/25/2017 12:57 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

First in a series

April 25, 2017 -- Residents see the three big luxury hotels proposed for downtown Santa Monica as towering massive structures that will erase what is left the City's quaint beach-town feel.

Proponents and City officials, however, see them as sustainable economic engines that generate less traffic than housing or commercial development and will pump millions of dollars a year into the City's coffers.

The battle over the trio of hotels in the heart of downtown -- which total 1,264,635 square feet of new building within blocks of each other -- will enter a new phase Wednesday when the often-changed final blueprint for new downtown development goes before the Planning Commission ("Santa Monica Downtown Plan Seeks to Strike a Compromise, Officials Say, But Some Remain Skeptical," April 13, 2017).