Comments Submitted to HCHC – October 9 – October 31, 2024
1. This project should not proceed due to significant concerns regarding parking and safety. The parking study conducted for this project took place during COVID-19, a time when parking demand was unusually low, which skews the results and does not reflect typical conditions.
Furthermore, the proposed development violates the established building height variance, which is crucial for maintaining the integrity of our community. In addition, Santa Monica has exceeded its requirement to build low-income housing, raising further concerns about overcrowding and the strain on our limited space. These issues must be addressed to ensure the well-being of our neighborhood and its residents.
2. Super concerned, already shared my concerns many times.
3. I have already accumulated many parking violation tickets because there were several times I couldn’t find parking during street cleaning days. Usually, I find parking on the side where I have to move my car by a certain time, but I forget to do it. So, if we have a six-story building on both Euclid and 14th Street without an underground parking structure, how will you mitigate the already existing parking problem on the street?
4. Are the affordable units to be filled by section 8 tenants only? If not, what percent of them will be Section 8. What is minimum income level for non-Section 8 tenants who will pay full rent themselves?
5. I understand that HCHC secured a deal to purchase the Unleashed building. How will the transaction be funded? Please share the sources of funding.
6. I am opposed to building the proposed Projects on the parking lots on Euclid St. and 14th St.
7. At the start, please update the current status of the Project plan... How many units, in how many buildings, and what will the tenant make-up look like... how many Santa Monica seniors? How man PSH tenants? Are any known drug users? How many Santa Monica seniors are currently on the city wait list for housing?
8. This is sad that our City Council and the Developers will NOT FACE THE CITZENS of Santa Monica IN PERSON. How easy is it for you to hide and continue to lie and manipulate the people of Santa Monica. You have not integrated any of the ideas the neighbors had suggested in regards to the massive changes that will happen to our neighborhood. I hope you're happy now that you have put the Pet Store out of business, nice job, putting stores out of business. You have not addressed the LACK OF PUBLIC PARKING. Oh we will figure it out,..no we wont there are not enough parking period. You have not changed your plans to BUILD A SMALLER FOOT PRINT where a 6 story building is out of scope in a 4 story environment. Cut the number of stories so all the people who have lived before this mega building is put up so that we can share the light and cool breezes. 6 stories destroys the quality of life for anyone living east of the building in the alley. Please stop irresponsible BIG development. We want the nice Santa Monica which everyone loved, not this deal with the devil to put up bigger and bigger development so that you can collect your environment awards and check off the box that you have achieved an arbitrary Federal, State and Local development goals which is destroying the fabric and culture of the city.
9. Stop saturating santa monica with housing for homeless who probably won't want to live in these buidlings anyway.
10. During one of the last meetings in July, I requested a copy of the "house rules" to which residents of all sites agree. Representatives said they would get this information to us. Could you please send us the information requested?
11. You’ve removed the underground parking on 14th, likely to cut costs, which now leaves 38% of the residents in your proposal without parking. Despite the city’s request, you had the opportunity to allocate some parking for public use but chose to reduce it to save money.
Additionally, you’re proposing 100% at-grade parking, which creates dead space on the ground level, further detracting from the neighborhood’s character. Many people in the community feel that these decisions are not aligned with the neighborhood’s best interests.
12. How will you work with the City of Santa Monica to ensure normalcy for residents who do not get the case management that other residents do?
13. We believe the City has used bond financing for public parking in the past, and the property we've identified is the Wilshire House located at 1125 3rd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403. We have requested public records to be able to provide you with information regarding how it was done. We're wondering if we can begin to integrate into the project bond financing to preserve commercial parking on grade at the 1217 Euclid Street location.
14. Please replace all the existing parking spaces affected by the three developments. Currently many stores on Wilshire are closed, but once new ones open, those parking spots will be much needed. Also, I am very concerned by the planned permanent supportive housing units. Please reconsider their deployment.
15. As an owner within the 750 foot line I have received absolutly no information about this proposed boondogle of a project. Your deception on the process is one for the recordbooks.
When was the town vote? When were the concerns addressed at the last meeting? THey weren't. You muted our questions or gavre BS answers. You're not even truthfl about who can move in based on your admitance at othr projects you have done. Be transparent please.
16. I am very worried about how this will affect home prices in area, if this will increase crime rates, parking and traffic, increase issues in neighborhood
17. Does the team have a plan for possible implementation of AB 2479?
18. May I see the projects proposals? Are we talking about affordable housing buildings, or instead some affordable units in a market rate development.
19. How will the businesses on Wilshire survive when their customers can no longer find parking? Where will the new tenants’ visitors park? Where will my visitors park? More parking spaces need to be added to the plans.
20. What is the height and density of these projects.
21. How will security be affected by these buildings?
22. I am concerned about the destruction of the trees and palms at the current sites. They have been there for decades. I am concerned about the loss of parking spots
23. I have heard discussion of the possibility of the city buying the building at 1405 Wilshire Blvd.
Please explain how the progress on this purchase is going and how such purchase, if completed, would figure into the housing projects.
24. Will representatives from the City of Santa Monica Housing &/or Planning be included at the meeting to do their best to help create a community-caring (aka civil & respectful) meeting…? As I ask the question, I share my opinion that it may be a good idea for you to request the most appropriate SAMO department have a skilled caring representative as the "MC" or moderator ("umpire") for the meeting. You are welcome to call me if you want to hear my opinion as to why I think this would be a good idea . . . and I'd be very interested to hear if you do make such a request and you get turned down. (Confidential, of course)
25. How can I apply
26. Please share how the neighborhood will be affected by construction. Please address impact of parking on neighborhood street parking. Address priority of applicants for Sr affordable housing.
Also how the Petco building is being financed and will this be Sr affordable housing in perpetuity.
27. Parking for the community
28. I am against this idea. One of the parking lots is used for my employees to park and there is no street parking
29. Will the People Concern assure the residents are **drug-free** while living at these locations?
30. Hello, how do you anticipate the Euclid site development to affect neighboring residential buildings and businesses. Most specifically, I am referring to the residents of 1227 Euclid? Furthemore, are there ramifications for the multiple retail businesses on the south side of Wilshire from Euclid to the alley? And how will noise, dirt, and traffic from construction be mitigated?
31. Although Inwas late and missed the formal tour, HCHC on-site staff kindly gave me an informal tour. Nice design -/ both in terms of aesthetics and functionality. Looking forward to getting the Santa Monica housing project built and serving people! Thanks again for the impromptu tour!!
32. I participated in the Oct. 23 meeting. The People Concern rep said that formerly homeless persons would be screened and would be subject to eviction if they engaged in illegal activity such as illegal drug use or sales. This seems weak given the high rates of illegal drug use in the homeless population and their likely visitors. What is the enforcement mechanism? I suggest an additional lease requirement, namely, agreement to random drug testing. Just as in a sober living facility, residents should be subject to eviction if they test positive for illegal drugs. Please convey this to The People Concern. I would like a reply. Thank you.
33. I have already accumulated many parking violation tickets because there were several times I couldn’t find parking during street cleaning days. Usually, I find parking on the side where I have to move my car by a certain time, but I forget to do it. So if we have a six story building on both Euclid and !4th St without underground parking structure, how will you mitigate already an existing parking problem on the streets?
34. I would like another in-person meeting on this terrible housing development you propose in Santa Monica. Not another Zoom meeting where you disregard the questions and comments of the attendees. When will another in person meeting occur? You don't get to ram a development down out throats because some people cannot afford to live in the community.
Why don't you build one in Beverly Hills, Bel Air or the Palisades. Then come to Santa Monica. I look forward to your response for the in-person town meeting time and date. Thank you.
35. Hello, how do you anticipate the Euclid site development to affect neighboring residential buildings and businesses. Most specifically, I am referring to the residents of 1227 Euclid? Furthemore, are there ramifications for the multiple retail businesses on the south side of Wilshire from Euclid to the alley? And how will noise, dirt, and traffic from construction be mitigated?
36. I just found out that the city is trying to bring in housing for the unhoused a block away from my small business, removing the parking that I so desperately need to run my business that is family owned for over 40 years. Putting in housing for drug addicts in a residential and small businesses area is beyond ridiculous, and unsafe for anyone living in the neighborhood. As a small business owner, I have people breaking into my building, pee and pooping everywhere, stealing and frightening most of my customers away. This will only make it 100 times worse. You can't put a building filled with addicts and not have service for them. And giving them needles and Narcan does not count. My son lives close to this site. He is a nurse for the LA County jail system. He deals with these people on a daily basis and the last thing he wants is to come home and see more of them roaming the streets. Why put a place like this on historic Wilshire blvd? Santa Monica is suffering, people are leaving with all the crime and you will make it worse. I DO NOT WANT THIS BUILDING SITE !!!!!! Please let my voice be heard. [name removed], long time resident of Santa Monicia
37. I hope the people on the City Council are happy, you were voted in to protect the citizens and the city from reckless over development. You cared more about fulfilling an arbitrary housing mandate from the federal, state and city government and somehow managed to line your city pockets from developers. You will have changed the character of a once nice neighborhood.
Just because your Zoom meeting was not well resented by the neighborhood does not reflect the contempt we have toward you as you are still not listening to the people who will be affected by your bad decisions. The parking math does not add up. If you take way over 100 parking spots and you add over 100 people to the neighborhood, how does that help anyone? It does not help it hurts as now it will be even a worse nightmare to find parking. Local business will be forced to go out of business, or be forced out of business like you did to Petco Critical concern is the lack of Security at the now "senior facility" you changed the people from trimorbid to homeless seniors, the behavior of those people are the same. What happens when the security contract ends? People don’t feel safe in Santa Monica and have been assaulted at some point living here. Thanks again for adding to the problems. The height of the Euclid facility is TOO TALL. This is a community of 2-4 story buildings. This over size building is dropped into a space which will dwarf the existing buildings. The resident’s quality of life will now be full of cold dark shade, no breezes, just darkness. It’s a shame you can’t chop off 2 floors and make existing residents happy too. Go and collect your self-awarded proclamations and awards for your genius as you know so much more than the people who live in the city. I won’t be voting for any of you.
38. Neither of these projects are well-suited for the locations or the residents of Santa Monica. As a local business owner, the impact of either building would be detrimental to my customers and residents. Removing parking in an already difficult area to park is thoughtless. And neither of the buildings are going to have any suitable staffing or security - for the residents of the structure or the neighborhood. 40 hours of training to deal with the unhoused and addicted persons? My son is a nurse with years of training and experience, and this is ridiculously insufficient. And when our city is already losing its appeal to visitors and businesses, turning parts of historic Wilshire into such an obvious extension of blight almost seems calculated to harm the city. It's not NIMBY to suggest that putting this site in a location without such a terrible impact upon other residents and businesses somewhere else is simply the right thing to do.
39. I just found out that the city is trying to bring in housing for the unhoused a block away from my small business, removing the parking that I so desperately need to run my business that is family owned for over 40 years. Putting in housing for drug addicts in a residential and small businesses area is beyond ridiculous, and unsafe for anyone living in the neighborhood. As a small business owner, I have people breaking into my building, pee and pooping everywhere, stealing and frightening most of my customers away. This will only make it 100 times worse. You can't put a building filled with addicts and not have service for them. And giving them needles and Narcan does not count, nor does only 40 hours of training to the employee. My son lives close to this site. He is a nurse for the LA County jail system. He deals with these people on a daily basis and the last thing he wants is to come home and see more of them roaming the streets. Why put a place like this on historic Wilshire blvd? Santa Monica is suffering, people are leaving with all the crime and you will make it worse. I DO NOT WANT THIS BUILDING SITE !!!!!! Please let my voice be heard. [name removed], long time resident of Santa Monicia
40. My family and I are small business owners and have been for over 50 years in Santa Monica.
This proposed building of affordable housing at Euclid and 14th Streets and Wilshire would greatly impact our small business and the surrounding neighborhood as a whole. It would greatly affect the limited parking. This would also affect tenants living in the surrounding apartments and small business owners on and near these streets. The unhoused/homeless individuals are already greatly affecting local residents and encouraging them to leave these once previously very peaceful streets. We must do all we can to protect these streets and neighborhoods and not bring in any additional building that would negatively affect the quality of life that local residents wish to maintain.
41. Good morning, Thank you for the informative zoom meeting last evening. Can you please clarify what the anticipated timeline is for the Santa Monica Project, in terms of both start and completion dates for the new residential buildings? Thanks, [name removed]
42. Dear HCHC, I am finding that there is another virtual meeting for a Metro affordable housing project, also in my general neighborhood, scheduled to start about half an hour after your meeting does on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. For this reason, I am wondering if HCHC will be recording tomorrow's virtual meeting regarding the affordable housing projects for Euclid Street and 14th Street, just off of Wilshire Blvd? Thank you for your time and consideration in this regard. Sincerely, [name removed].
43. Please send a link on October 21 or 22.