ACTION Apartment Association

LUVE Initiative Placed on Santa Monica Ballot

07/14/2016 6:51 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 13, 2016 -- The first step in what likely will be an intense Santa Monica election campaign began rather subdued Tuesday when the City Council voted to place the slow-growth LUVE initiative on the November ballot with limited discussion.

Living in Santa Monica with emotional support animals [Fair Housing]

07/13/2016 7:39 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 13, 2016

The Law:

The Fair Housing laws bar landlords from discriminating on the basis of a tenant’s disability. This means they must make “reasonable accommodations” to their rules when necessary. As you may know, this includes allowing “service animals” — those trained to perform specific tasks — even in no-pets properties. But it also includes allowing “emotional support” animals (those that provide comfort even if they don’t do a particular task).

Santa Monica Wins First Conviction in Battle to Stop Illegal Short-Term Vacation Rentals

07/13/2016 7:33 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 13, 2016 -- A man who boasted that Santa Monica could never enforce a 2015 crackdown on the booming business of illegal short-term vacation rentals has become the first local operator convicted under the law, regarded as the nation’s toughest.

Lawsuit Claims Santa Monica’s Short-Term Rental Ban Unconstitutional

07/12/2016 2:32 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 12, 2016 -- An 81-year-old retired LAUSD teacher who says she and her husband need the money earned through renting their Santa Monica house short-term filed a lawsuit against the City for its ban on the practice, which has spiked recently worldwide because of advertising websites such as Airbnb.

Rent AIRBNB, Go To Jail...

07/12/2016 7:23 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Scott Shatford is not a property owner. He would rent several, perhaps as many as 5 apartments, by filling out forms with his own credit information. He would then use his own website and AIRBNB to rent out the apartments as vacation rentals.

In a pre-arranged plea agreement, the Santa Monica City Attorney apparently got Shatford to plead guilty to violation of the City's new anti-vacation statute. It's the first conviction under the statute.

Study of LUVE initiative returns to City Council

07/11/2016 7:18 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

It’s an election-heavy agenda for the July 12 City Council meeting.

Council will hear a report on the Land Use Voter Empowerment Initiative (LUVE), finalize language for a ballot measure revising anti-corruption laws and approve another ballot measure for a new tax to fund affordable housing.

Santa Monica Ballot Could Include Tax Measure for Homeless Services

07/11/2016 7:12 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 11, 2016 -- A tax to support countywide homeless services could be one of several tax measures on the ballot in November for Santa Monica voters.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider one of several options at its meeting on Tuesday.

Downtown Santa Monica Officials Unveil New Survey App

07/11/2016 7:10 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

July 11, 2016 -- Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) has launched a new app that allows visitors to quickly weigh in on their vision for the beach city's thriving central business district.

Santa Monica citizens in the dark as planning goes rogue

07/09/2016 10:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By SMa.r.t. on July 9, 2016

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of columns on the neighborhoods of Santa Monica, addressing resident experiences with the impacts of development.

Northeast Neighbors made front-page news in 2013 when the neighborhood group exposed a “mistake” on the official planning map in the City of Santa Monica’s new general plan, the Land Use and Circulation Element. A small surface parking lot behind the Bank of America property at Berkeley Street and Wilshire Boulevard had been changed from residential to commercial, and this change made it possible for the developer to plan a 5-story, 100-unit mixed-use project to be built across the two properties.

Santa Monica anti-corruption laws amended

07/09/2016 10:19 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

City Council approved several reforms to the anti-corruption laws at its June 28 meeting with the intent to seek voter approval in November.