Council’s first meeting of the New Year delves into some of Santa Monica’s perennial issues (development and rent) but also branches out into new areas of controversy including street parking and the cost of local elections.
Development rules:
Senate Bill 35 (SB 35), initially passed in 2017 by the California State Legislature, was amended by SB 423 in 2023. The bill allows qualifying housing projects to opt for a streamlined approval process in jurisdictions not meeting State-mandated housing goals. Preconditions include a minimum percentage of affordable units, labor requirements, and adherence to local planning standards. Annually, the State Department of Housing and Community Development issues an SB 35 determination for cities subject to the bill. Santa Monica was determined to be subject to SB 35 for housing projects with over 50% affordable units, due to a shortfall in lower-income housing construction. Such projects undergo a simplified review process without public hearings, evaluated against objective design standards. Extending the relevant Interim Zoning Ordinance (IZO) ensures the presence of these design standards for SB 35 projects opting into the streamlined process, similar to the city’s Administrative Approval process for housing projects.
Parking rules
Council will debate new rules cracking down on oversized vehicles parked on city streets.
According to the staff report, there are about 50 active permits for vehicles that are eight feet in width, or eight feet in height, or twenty feet in length.
SMPD has said the vehicles do not move very often with owners effectively using public streets to store their vehicles, often far from their homes. Other complaints about the current system include the removal of needed parking in neighborhoods due to the large vehicles, vehicles being used as storage sites and abuse of the visitor parking permit to create long-term living situations.
Proposed changes to the system require that the oversized vehicle be parked within a two-block radius of the permitted Santa Monica resident’s address, limiting the duration of an oversized vehicle permit for a non-Santa Monica resident to seven days per month and authorizing certain City staff to adopt administrative regulations that are consistent with the ordinance and authorize the Santa Monica Police Department to enforce such administrative regulations.
Rents
City Staff have been exploring upgrades to the existing tenant protections in the past year including stops at the Rent Control Board and the Housing Commission. Council will hear the proposal to strengthen tenant protections in a variety of ways including new defenses from evictions based on bad-faith rent increases, new prohibitions on discrimination based on housing history (such as homelessness or a lack of a rental history), additional financial assistance for tenants facing an involuntary move through constructive eviction, expanded definitions of tenant harassment and expanded coverage for tenant buyout agreements.
Some of the changes will require voter-approved changes to the City Charter and staff are recommending Council place a resolution on the November ballot covering the changes.
Elections
Last year, Council approved a budget that includes new fees if candidates for local office want the City Clerk to distribute their candidate statements as part of the election material sent to residents. The new Candidate Statement fee is $1,100 for qualified City Council and Rent Control Board candidates and $1,200 for qualified College and School Board candidates. According to the staff report, candidates would get a refund if the cost of distributing the statements is less than the fee paid. If the costs exceed the fees, the County and/or City will pick up the tab.
Consent Calendar
The Consent Calendar includes many items that are administrative in nature. While Council can ask for any item to be pulled for discussion, items not explicitly singled out will be approved as a group and without explanation. On the Calendar this week are items including a $3M contract for work on Olympic Blvd, adoption of new routes for 5K and 10K road races, a $175,000 (two-year) contract to increase participation of minority owned companies in city contracts, a $7.4M (five-year) contract with Good Guard Security for new security guards on buses and at bus stops, a 10-year $33.8M contract for custodial services and a $1.7M contract for continued construction work along Wilshire Blvd.
Discussion items
In addition to the usual rotating door of resignations and appointments to various boards/commissions Council will hear two proposals from various members.
The first, from Councilmembers Zwick, Davis and Torosis asks for several actions tied to Black history. The request includes an annual reading of the City’s formal apology to Black residents, installation of the apology outside City Hall, $10,000 in scholarship support for Black students at Samohi and a future report on reparation efforts in other jurisdictions.
The second, from Councilmembers Parra and Negrete, asks the City Manager to partner with DTSM on a potential roller-skating rink in a manner similar to the popular Ice at Santa Monica.
Council will meet in City Hall, 1685 Main Street on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. Full agendas are available online here and meetings can be watched online via the city’s YouTube channel.