1 David Yakobson
From: Robert Rader <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 8, 2025 3:23 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Council Mailbox
Subject: Written comments on agenda for 4-8-2025 / Item 12-A Draft 5-year Housing Plan / comments by neighbor to current project on unlimited waiver of City requirements of development
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council Members,
As a longtime advocate of housing, I am saddened to make the following comments, but the way the City is proceeding is to create a type of housing that is not compatible / sustainable with design and development standards that have long guided development in Santa Monica. I therefore feel I must note these problems with how the City StaƯ is currently overseeing housing development.
Specifically, I live on 20th Street directly north of 1931 Wilshire Blvd. (1907-1933 Wilshire Boulevard - 24ARB-0199:
Residential/Mixed-Use), a Cypress Equity project to put in an 8-story building that will block out almost all sunlight for much of the year for me. This was exemption to the daylight plane was apparently granted by StaƯ without any notice to neighbors, or consideration of its eƯects on neighbors. (Apparently, at least 5 other exemptions were similarly granted by StaƯ acting alone without notice or public input as follow: (a) Increased floor area ratio (F.A.R.) (floors 5-8); (b) Increased max building height; (c) Remove Daylight Plane; (d) Relief from studio market rate requirement; (e) Eliminate 3-bedroom unit requirement; and (f) Eliminate 3-bedroom aƯordable requirement.). It seems to me that a project that is proceeding under the Housing Accountability Act requires MORE review on those limits the City can enforce, not less.
THIS IS NOT HOW PUBLIC PROCESS OR DEVELOPMENT IN SANTA MONICA IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! The comments by the Architectural Review Board on December 16, 2024 all pointed out the very poor design of this building, and the ARB requested a re-design. Instead of using the fact that the design violates many City policies, standard, and requirements to commence a negotiation with the developer to protect residents’ interests, the City StaƯ merely appears to be waiving these requirements. So, instead of a negotiation taking into account legitimate needs on both sides, residents appear to be ignored and the City seems dead set on giving away any of its leverage. From my attendance at the ARB meeting, the City StaƯ apparently feel that Council direction has been to ignore residents’ concerns. This must be corrected, and StaƯ should be directed to use its powers to grant exemptions to encourage good design that does not unfairly encroach on neighbors. We need to have a better procedure to protect the City and its residents from projects moving forward under the Housing Accountability Act so this is an issue that is broader than one project.
I would therefore like to strongly request that the City Council make the approval of the Housing Plan subject to StaƯ protecting residents (including procedural protections of notice and input but also substantive protections) so that new housing is not unfairly a burden on a limited number of residents. Further, any waivers should be rescinded if there is no final approved plan for development until this issue is vetted more fully and fairly. I am very concerned that what I observed for the building next to me has been the way the City StaƯ has treated all these projects based on its own belief that housing is always an unfettered good, regardless of its consequences to a vibrant, walkable neighborhood and its residents.
Item 12-A
April 8, 2025
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April 8, 2025
2 I appreciate these are tough issues. Nor do I object to housing. But the massive and unlimited nature of the projects I am seeing are giving me real pause for the sustainability and livability of Santa Monica. The solution, however, is not to sacrifice all resident concerns for developers desires to build more and bigger; that is why we have limits in the first place.
If for any reason this cannot be addressed in tonight’s hearing, then I request that you find the appropriate situation to do so, whether as a separate item or otherwise.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours,
Rob Rader
310-480-3229
Item 12-A
April 8, 2025
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April 8, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Alyssa Kluge <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 4, 2025 11:30 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Public Comment | Agenda Item 12 — STOP Massive Development in Ocean Park (April 8, 2025)
EXTERNAL
Dear Council Members,
I am writing to strongly oppose Agenda Item 12 (4/8/2025) and the proposed development of massive, 7-8 story buildings in the parking lots behind Main Street in Ocean Park. This is one of the worst things that could happen to our neighborhood. Ocean Park is not just any part of Santa Monica — it is a historic, low-rise, beachside community, and Main Street is its heart. These outsized buildings will physically and permanently cast Main Street into darkness. By early afternoon, our neighborhood will be trapped in shadow, the sun blocked, the ocean breeze cut off, and the open, coastal feel that draws locals and visitors alike completely erased. Ocean Park’s unique charm will be swallowed up by concrete walls towering over our small businesses and homes.
Let’s be clear: this project will not bring meaningful affordability. Ocean Park already is a mixed-income neighborhood, and the city has already exceeded its housing obligations by thousands of units. In my building alone — a 16-unit apartment property — there are four young families, four sets of seniors, four sets of mid-30s and mid-40s couples, and four mixed families — we are diverse, mixed, and representative of the fabric of the community. This project will bring years of disruptive construction, suffocating traffic on Main Street and Neilson Way, and the destruction of essential parking that our local businesses rely on daily to survive. Once these businesses close, they are not coming back. We cannot undo the damage once the neighborhood is buried under oversized developments.
There are better solutions. Use the airport land — vast, available, and without the irreversible harm this project will cause. But please, do not allow this reckless, destructive plan to move forward. Ocean Park deserves to be preserved, not sacrificed.
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Item 12-A
April 8, 2025
Item 12-A
April 8, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Mathew Millen <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2025 4:29 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: April 8, item 12A
Attachments: Item11A.pdf; AFFH1.pdf
EXTERNAL
These are previous comments I am resubmitting them on item 12A the proposed PLAN violates State of California Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing laws and Federal fair housing law. The City proposals do NOTHING to overcome patterns of segregation in the City that dumps low income housing in the Pico Neighborhood....
mathew millen
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