A relatively short council meeting on July 26 will hopefully wrap up two pending ballot measures and schedule a future discussion to formalize council's intent to close Santa Monica Airport.
Old business covers changes to telecommunications regulations, finalizing a ballot measure to update anti-corruption laws and correcting language from the last meeting related to a tax increase ballot measure in November. New business covers stormwater fees paid by property owners.
Old business
Back for its second reading is an ordinance to regulate telecommunication facilities on public property and in the public right of way. Recent changes in regulations have force Santa Monica to update its laws regarding the placement, style, size and construction of antennas for cellphones. Without updated rules, companies would have a mandatory right to expand their equipment in the public right of way, potentially creating giant installations as large as 10x12 atop existing infrastructure like street lights.
The new rules preserve the city's ability to regulate the size of new equipment and require new equipment installations include concealment elements lessen the visual impact of the work.
Also returning Tuesday is a ballot measure to update the city's ethics rules.
Council has already taken two swings at finishing the proposed ballot measure during both its June meetings. Council asked for another set of revisions to the proposal at their June 26 meeting in response to public comment and a length discussion. The final version will be presented Tuesday.
According to the staff report, “if adopted by the voters, the proposed measure would: expand the Oaks Initiative to make its prohibition applicable to both public officials and recipients of public benefits who confer personal or campaign advantages on public officials; facilitate enforcement by eliminating current ambiguity in the term “public official”; delineate enforcement responsibilities and procedures; specify that the Oaks prohibitions are intended to apply outside of the City; make express that remedies are cumulative; extend civil remedies to any violator; and exempt from the reach of the Oaks Initiative uncompensated volunteers serving local nonprofits that receive City grants.”
The third repeat item is a correction to the approval of a tax increase passed on July 12.
Council approved a new tax measure to go before voters earlier this month, however, according to staff the motion as passed contained unintentional errors.
“Resolution 10977 (CCS) failed to include, as part of the ballot question presented to the voters, the revenue amount anticipated to be raised annually by the tax, and it also failed to include the duration of the tax. The attached resolution corrects these oversights,” said the report.
The measure is anticipated to raise approximately $16 million annually and is without a sunset date.
New business
Council will hold a public hearing on a required report necessary to receive stormwater funding. The County of Los Angeles requires two reports per year listing the each property in the city and the amount of stormwater fees to be paid by each owner.
“Adoption of the bill enables the City to receive its stormwater fees in the coming fiscal year. These fees support the City's Watershed Management Program. The Stormwater Management User Fee, and the Clean Beaches and Oceans Parcel Tax (Measure V) generate approximately $4 million annually. These funds are critical to the City's ongoing watershed management program, enable the City to comply with federal and state water quality regulations, and support the City's Watershed Management Plan and the Sustainable City Plan,” said the staff report.
The fees proposed for this year are 36 per Parcel Billing Unit (PBU) for the Stormwater Management User Fee and $99.29 per Basic Tax (BT) for the Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax.
The final items on the agenda are requests by council for future discussions.
The first is a request by Mayor Tony Vazquez and Mayor Pro Tem Ted Winterer that Council support the designation of Kizugawa, Japan, as a friendship city as recommended by the Santa Monica Sister City Association.
The second is a request of Vazquez and Winterer “that the City Council place an item on the August 23, 2016, City Council agenda, regarding consideration of a resolution (1) expressing the City Council's intention to close the Santa Monica Airport to aviation use, as soon as that is legally permitted with a goal of June 30, 2018 and earlier if possible, and, upon compliance with applicable legal processes, to transition the land currently occupied by the Airport to uses consistent with Measure LC (Local Control), and (2) authorizing the City Manager to initiate all administrative measures necessary to implement the resolution, including commencement of planning and environmental review processes required by the California Environmental Quality Act and the State Planning Act.”
