Written Comments — Santa Monica City Council, September 9, 2025

1 David Yakobson
From: Climate Action <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 3, 2025 1:53 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: #10A Building performance Stds.

Attachments: BPS letter of support 9-2-25.pdf

EXTERNAL
Laurene von Klan
Co-chair and Executive Director
Climate Action Santa Monica
[email protected]
www.climateactionsantamonica.org
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September 4, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Support for Santa Monica’s Building Energy Benchmarking and Buildings Performance Standards Ordinance
Dear Mayor Negrete and Members of the City Council,
On behalf of Climate Action Santa Monica, we are writing to express strong support for the adoption and implementation of Santa Monica’s Building Performance Standards (BPS) policy. This policy represents an important step forward in advancing Santa Monica’s climate goals by addressing emissions from buildings, which represent a significant share of local emissions which heat up the climate and damage public health.

Performance standards provide a clear, flexible path for property owners to reduce energy use and to transition toward a healthier, more efficient building stock. Several CASM representatives participated in the public meetings and working group sessions that preceded this proposed policy. The benefits of this policy are numerous:
· Climate and Environmental Benefits – BPS will drive down emissions from existing buildings, contributing to cleaner air and helping Santa Monica meet its long-term sustainability commitments.
· Economic Benefits – By improving building efficiency, owners and tenants will save on utility bills while stimulating local jobs in energy retrofits, construction, and clean technologies.
· Housing and Development Compatibility – Importantly, Building Performance Standards are not anti-housing or anti-development. In fact, they Item 10-A
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align with Santa Monica’s growth by ensuring that new and existing housing remains efficient, affordable to operate, and resilient in the face of climate change.
· Equity and Community Resilience – Reducing energy waste and upgrading buildings ensures healthier, more comfortable spaces for all residents, particularly renters and vulnerable populations who are often most impacted by high utility costs and poor building performance.

We commend the staff and working group for their proposal. It offers a generous time horizon for implementing building improvements as well as alternative pathways should they be necessary based on the specifics of a particular building. We also commend the City for engaging stakeholders to ensure the standards are fair, flexible, and achievable. Building Performance Standards are a proven tool, already in effect in other cities. Adopting them will maintain Santa Monica as a leader in sustainability and community well-being.

For these reasons, we respectfully urge the Council to adopt the Building Performance Standards policy.

Thank you for your commitment to building a healthier, more resilient Santa Monica.

Sincerely,
Thank you,
Laurene von Klan, Co-Chair
Kent Strumpell, Co-Chair
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1 David Yakobson
From: Nick Brown <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 3, 2025 1:01 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Item 10.A: Letter of Support for BPS
Attachments: Letter of Support for Santa Monica Building Performance Standards Ordinance BSG.docx

EXTERNAL
Attached please find my letter of support for BPS in Santa Monica for the consideration of the City Council.

Nick Brown
President
Build Smart
(714) 984-3397
Linkedin profile
www.buildsmartgroup.com
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Build Smart Group
400 Los Altos Ave
Long Beach, CA 90814
September 3, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Support for Santa Monica’s Building Energy Benchmarking and Buildings Performance Standards Ordinance
Dear Mayor Negrete and Members of the City Council,
On behalf of Build Smart Group, a local energy consulting firm, I am writing to express strong support for the adoption and implementation of Santa Monica’s Building Performance Standards (BPS) policy. After a decade in green building, I’ve come to recognize that existing buildings are the whole ballgame in terms of reaching climate goals. Policies that require extra efficiency in new construction barely move the needle compared to the emissions that existing building stock represent.

This policy represents an important step forward in advancing Santa Monica’s climate action goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the health and resilience of our community and the built environment. Buildings account for a significant share of local emissions, and performance standards provide a strong signal for property owners to reduce energy use and transition toward a cleaner, more efficient building stock.

By making Carbon emissions the compliance metric, the Clean and Healthy Existing Buildings Ordinance (CHEBO) can drive electrification and energy efficiency with PV and Battery in one straight-forward program.

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• Economic Benefits – By improving building efficiency, owners and tenants will save on utility bills while stimulating local jobs in energy retrofits, construction, and clean technologies.
• Equity and Community Resilience – Reducing energy waste and upgrading buildings ensures healthier, more comfortable spaces for all residents, particularly renters and vulnerable populations who are often most impacted by high utility costs and poor building performance.
• Housing and Development Compatibility – Importantly, Building Performance Standards are not anti-housing or anti-development. In fact, they align with Santa Monica’s growth by ensuring that ALL housing (new and existing)is efficient, affordable to operate, and resilient in the face of climate change. • Important Regional Leadership – cities in the region look to Santa Monica for leadership on climate goals; I know my home city of Long Beach does. This BPS program will show that all sizes of cities can enact policies to focus on existing buildings, not just the big cities of LA and San Francisco.

We commend the City for its leadership in advancing this policy and for engaging stakeholders to ensure the standards are fair, flexible, and achievable. I especially like the nod to practical concerns with the option to submit a Building Performance Action Plan (BPAP) when buildings cannot immediately meet the BPS goals, so that they can commit to future action at a time when the economics of the work make more sense. Building Performance Standards are a proven tool, and adopting them will further establish Santa Monica as a leader in sustainability and community well-being.

For these reasons, I respectfully urge the Council to adopt the Building Performance Standards policy.

Thank you for your commitment to building a healthier, more resilient Santa Monica.

Sincerely,
Nick Brown
President
Build Smart Group
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2 David Yakobson
From: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, September 4, 2025 8:36 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: FW: Letter of Support Building Performance Standard-Council Agenda 9.8.25 Item #10.A Attachments: Letter of Support for BPS Ord-090825 CC Agenda Item 10.A.pdf

EXTERNAL
Mayor Negrete and Members City Council:

Please see my attached letter strongly supporting the staff Building Performance Standards proposal. It’s on the September 8 Council agenda, Item #10.A.

Thank you.

John Zinner, LEED Fellow
Sustainability & Green Building Consultant
310-801-1946
[email protected]
web: jzgreenguy.com
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John S Zinner, LEED Fellow
Sustainability, Climate & Green Building Consultant
528 21st Place, Santa Monica, CA 90402
310.801.1946
[email protected]
jzgreenguy.com
September 3, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Support for 9/9/25 Council Agenda Item 10.A, Santa Monica Building Energy Benchmarking & Buildings Performance Standards Ordinance Dear Mayor Negrete and Members of the City Council,
I am writing as a Building Performance Standards (BPS) Task Force Member, Climate Action Santa Monica Advisory Board Member, former Planning and Housing Commission Chair, codeveloper of the first Santa Monica Sustainable City Plan, and Sustainability & Green Building Consultant to express strong support for the adoption and implementation of the Santa Monica BPS ordinance, also known as a Clean and Healthy Buildings Ordinance (CHEBO).

Buildings currently account for 32 percent of Santa Monica citywide carbon emissions. As part of meeting the city’s 2030 80 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction goal, A Santa Monica Climate Action & Adaptation Plan objective requires reducing building fossil fuel use by 20%.

Additional significant building fossil fuel use reductions must be realized to meet the more stringent city carbon reduction goals.

As stated elsewhere, the BPS proposal will produce several significant benefits. Rather than focus on these, I wish to emphasize several key points about the proposal. I do this understanding the current challenging environment for retail, commercial and hospitality properties:
 City staff has done an exemplary job developing the BPS ordinance, including reaching out to experts and local stakeholders and incorporating best practices from other ordinances, including for New York City, Boston and Portland.  The ordinance’s 20,000 SF building threshold came from an analysis of how to costeffectively maximize climate benefit and ensure the program can be effectively managed.

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 The requirement that all buildings meet a percentage improvement every 5 years while moving towards the 2050 net zero requirement allows building owners to select their best implementation path and to align significant investments with the end of each building system’s useful life. In other words, building owners can implement each building improvement when it’s most cost effective. This also allows property owners to work within the industry’s inevitable ups and downs.
 Buildings experiencing qualifying financial distress are exempt.  50,000 SF buildings have an accelerated timetable over 20,000 SF buildings.  The Task Force recommended metrics that address both greenhouse gas emissions reduction and energy efficiency improvements to ensure the benefits are maximized.

Property owners have the option to comply via alternative compliance payments.  A Technical Committee will govern the rulemaking process that will define the details ahead of June 1, 2026, program launch. Significant technical assistance will be provided.

For these reasons, I respectfully urge the Council to adopt the Building Performance Standards policy.

Thank you for your commitment to building a healthier, more resilient Santa Monica.

Sincerely,
John S Zinner, LEED Fellow
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3 David Yakobson
From: Karalyn Shima Honea <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 4, 2025 11:07 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Marika Erdely
Subject: 9/9/25 Meeting Agenda Item # 10.A. BEPPS. Letter of Support (Green Econome) Attachments: Green Econome Letter of Support-SM BEPS.pdf

EXTERNAL
Thank you for your time, consideration and attention to this,

KARALYN HONEA
She/Her/Hers
Green Econome
Director of Marketing

Phone: (323) 546-0518
Email: [email protected]
Web: greeneconome.com
Check out our new Building Performance Dashboard. Request a Demo.

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Marika Erdely, Green Econome
September 4, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Subject: Support for Santa Monica’s Building Energy Benchmarking and Buildings Performance Standards Ordinance Dear Mayor Negrete and Members of the City Council,
On behalf of Green Econome, a local energy compliance, consulting and construction firm, I am writing to express strong support for the adoption and implementation of Santa Monica’s Building Performance Standards (BPS) policy.

This policy represents an important step forward in advancing Santa Monica’s climate action goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the health and resilience of our community and the built environment. Buildings account for a significant share of local emissions, and performance standards provide a clear, equitable, and flexible pathway for property owners to reduce energy use and transition toward a cleaner, more efficient building stock.

The benefits of this policy are wide-reaching:
• Climate and Environmental Benefits – BPS will drive down emissions from existing buildings, contributing to cleaner air and helping Santa Monica meet its long-term sustainability commitments. • Economic Benefits – By improving building efficiency, owners and tenants will save on utility bills while stimulating local jobs in energy retrofits, construction, and clean technologies. • Equity and Community Resilience – Reducing energy waste and upgrading buildings ensures healthier, more comfortable spaces for all residents, particularly renters and vulnerable populations who are often most impacted by high utility costs and poor building performance.
• Housing and Development Compatibility – Importantly, Building Performance Standards are not anti-housing or anti-development. In fact, they align with Santa Monica’s growth by ensuring that new and existing housing remains efficient, affordable to operate, and resilient in the face of climate change.

We commend the City for its leadership in advancing this policy and for engaging stakeholders, including me, to ensure the standards are fair, flexible, and achievable. Building Performance Standards are a proven tool, and adopting them will further establish Santa Monica as a leader in sustainability and community well-being.

For these reasons, we respectfully urge the Council to adopt the Building Performance Standards policy.

Thank you for your commitment to building a healthier, more resilient Santa Monica.

Sincerely,
Marika Erdely, MBA, LEED AP B+C, C.E.A., Fitwel Ambassador Green Econome, Founder/CEO
2309 Santa Monica Blvd #824
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Phone: (818) 681-5750
Email: [email protected]
Web: greeneconome.com
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4 David Yakobson
From: Michael Rochmes <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, September 5, 2025 2:14 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Ben Stapleton; robyn eason; Ariana Vito; Nico Predock Subject: 10-A Building Performance Standards -- SUPPORT Attachments: USGBC-CA 2025 Letter of Support - Santa Monica BPS.pdf

EXTERNAL
Dear Councilmembers,
Please find, attached, U.S. Green Building Council California's letter expressing strong support for City Council agenda item 10-A, Building Energy Benchmarking and Building Performance Standards.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,
Michael
--
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photo Michael Rochmes
Policy & Advocacy Coordinator, USGBC California
[email protected] 310-954-7034 www.usgbc-ca.org
525 S Hewitt St., Los Angeles, CA, 90013
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Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
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September 5, 2025
Santa Monica City Council
℅ City Hall
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, CA 90401
[email protected]
RE: SUPPORT FOR BUILDING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS (10-A)
Dear Mayor Negrete and Councilmembers,
On behalf of the U.S. Green Building Council California, I write in strong support of Agenda Item 10-A, which establishes building energy benchmarking and building performance standards for large residential and commercial buildings.

USGBC California’s deep bench of members are sustainability and green building professionals with a strong commitment to addressing climate change and other local, state, and international environmental issues. Our members are designers, engineers, public agency and utility staff, consultants, product manufacturers, and service providers. Our mission is to transform California through the built environment into a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable place for all. Our goals include advancing environmental justice by developing diverse talent, and systemic change based on impactful solutions to address our urgent environment and social challenges.

Building Performance Standards (BPS) policies require owners of large properties to improve the sustainability of their buildings over time, resulting in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. By setting long-term targets and including alternative compliance pathways, BPS policies provide property owners with the time and clarity to plan cost-effective improvements into their regular building maintenance cycles.

Many cities, counties, and states across the country have implemented BPS policies successfully in recent years. At USGBC-CA, we developed the California Building Performance Peer Learning Collaborative (CalBPS PLC) to support and promote the development of local BPS policies across the state. Leading this effort, which brings together a variety of stakeholders and more than 45 municipalities considering or actively pursuing BPS policies, has allowed me to follow Santa Monica’s progress toward becoming one of the first cities in California to adopt a BPS policy.

Santa Monica staff have conducted significant stakeholder and community outreach, and have designed a thoughtful ordinance that will result in net zero emissions by covered buildings by 2050. We support the decision to set the covered building threshold at 20,000 sq. ft., which balances the overall policy The California Green Building Council dba USGBC California is a nonprofit 501c(3) charity EIN#75-3041444 Item 10-A
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impact and staff capacity. With this threshold, the BPS policy on its own can reduce all building-related emissions in the city by 44%.

Furthermore, the phased implementation and use of the Building Performance Action Plan alternative compliance pathway provide substantial flexibility for building owners to plan cost effective decarbonization actions in order to comply with the policy.

This proposed BPS policy is an important opportunity for Santa Monica to take a substantial step toward achieving the City’s climate goals, improve its air quality, and continue its legacy of environmental leadership that inspires the rest of California to accelerate progress on our shared goals.

I urge you to support agenda item 10-A, Building Energy Benchmarking and Building Performance Standards (BPS), when it comes before you on September 9.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Ben Stapleton,
Executive Director
The California Green Building Council dba USGBC California is a nonprofit 501c(3) charity EIN#75-3041444 Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
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1 David Yakobson
From: Diane Forte <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 8, 2025 8:02 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Subject: SCE Support of Santa Monica City Council Agenda Item Number 10 Attachments: SCE Support Letter - Santa Monica Existing Buildings BPS Ordinance 09082025.pdf

EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor, Members of the City Council and City Clerk, Please see attached Southern California Edison’s support letter for Item Number 10 on tomorrow’s agenda: Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance to Support Carbon Emissions Reductions from Existing Buildings.

Thank you.

Diane Forte
Government Relations Manager
SCE Corporate Affairs
Local Public Affairs
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VIA EMAIL
Re: Support of City Council Agenda Item 10
Dear Mayor and Members of the City Council,
I am writing on behalf of Southern California Edison (SCE) to express our enthusiastic support for September 9 th council
agenda item 10, concerning the Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance to Support Carbon Emissions Reductions from Existing Buildings. A building energy benchmarking and performance standards ordinance can be a very cost-effective way for local governments to achieve meaningful greenhouse gas reductions and help achieve climate and air quality goals. SCE offers the following points in support:

1. In order to meet the state’s climate goals, SCE’s Countdown to 2045 analysis shows that 95% of all building space and water heating must transition to electric appliances by 2045.

2. Modern electric technologies are very efficient and are often demand response capable.

3. SCE is modernizing our distribution system, making more than $5 billion in investments every year to improve reliability and resiliency – the grid is ready to support increased adoption of electric technologies.

4. Our efforts to strengthen the grid and add energy storage are paying off as evidenced by the state’s ability to avoid rotating outages during recent years’ record-setting heat waves.

5. California Assembly Bill 1279 requires direct GHG emissions reduction of 85% by 2045. Source energy, introduced as a new carbon metric in the 2022 California Energy Code, has been proven to support the state’s 2045 GHG reduction and decarbonization goals.

Buildings are a major source of emissions in California – for both local air quality and greenhouse gases. Buildings consume almost as much natural gas as the electric sector. Importantly, buildings have decades-long lifespans, so when they include fossil fuel infrastructure, decades of additional fossil fuel emissions are locked in.

SCE is modernizing and hardening our distribution system, leveraging increasingly sophisticated hardware and software to manage a complex and intelligent grid. This not only enables greater adoption of clean energy technologies, but also improves general reliability while making the grid more resilient to threats exacerbated by climate change such as wildfires and heatwaves. We are investing about $5 billion annually to modernize the grid for a clean energy future.

Our efforts to strengthen the grid are paying off. With climate change, more extreme weather, including more intense and longer heat waves, are expected in the coming decades. SCE, in partnership with state energy regulators, has prioritized and will continue to work on a variety of solutions to address the region’s long-term reliability needs. For example, SCE now has approximately 7,200 MW of battery energy storage owned or under contract, ready to serve our customers—one of the largest portfolios in the country. And we plan to add even more in the coming years.

SCE is excited and ready to partner with the City of Santa Monica in addressing the climate crisis. Emissions from the building sector are an important focal point if we are to meet the city’s and state’s climate goals. We strongly urge the City Council to adopt this ordinance. We look forward to our continued partnership. The future is electric.

Sincerely,
/s/Diane Forte
Diane Forte
Government Relations Manager
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5 David Yakobson
From: Judy Kruger <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 8, 2025 9:10 AM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: councilmtgitems; Sia Poursabahian; Jing Yeo; Oliver Chi; Paula Larmore; Judy Kruger (Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce)
Subject: Council Agenda Item 10.A - Chamber Letter
Attachments: 9.8.25 Chamber Letter BPS Delay .pdf

EXTERNAL
Good Morning Mayor and Councilmembers - Please see attached Chamber Letter regarding Council Agenda Item 10.A to be heard at City Council Tuesday, September 9, 2025.

Thank you in advance for your consideration,
Judy
Judy Kruger
CEO & President
213-703-1340
[email protected]
smchamber.com
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Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
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September 8, 2025
City Council
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Re: Agenda Item 10.A, Building Performance Standards for Existing Buildings Draft Ordinance – OPPOSE/DELAY
Dear Mayor Negrete and City Councilmembers:

On behalf of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and our members who own or lease existing commercial or multi-family residential buildings, we are writing to urge the City Council to delay adoption of the draft ordinance imposing Building Performance Standards for Existing Buildings (“Draft Ordinance”) due to the current high vacancy rates in existing buildings and until additional information is provided as outlined below. While the Draft Ordinance is well meaning, significant climate action will take at least state if not national and international action. We are concerned that this type of action at the City level will do little for climate change yet make Santa Monica even less competitive than other cities without such requirements. Moreover, we are concerned the Draft Ordinance would provide City Staff with broad discretion to establish performance targets, compliance pathways and enforcement provisions without any public hearing process or City Council role in establishing such important requirements.

We understand that the Draft Ordinance is being brought forward as part of the City’s implementation of its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (“CAAP”). The CAAP was adopted in May 2019 – a very different time for our City, particularly for building lease and occupancy rates. Bringing forward the Draft Ordinance at this time is both premature (as detailed below) and feels tone deaf. Most businesses have not recovered from the economic downturn from Covid-19, civil unrest, recent wildfires, huge premium increases for insurance, international instability, and an ongoing threat of recession. The City is in the throes of an economic crisis, as has been stated repeatedly in various pilot programs and emergency ordinances. This is not the right time to consider the imposition of additional, unquantified costs on property owners and businesses, particularly without direct City Council oversight in the establishment of such requirements. For example, Section 8.39.120(4) would authorize the Department of Public Works “in its sole discretion” to establish alternative compliance payments. Those determinations should not be left to City staff without any guidance or oversight.

We request the City Council delay adoption of the Draft Ordinance, especially any requirements that go beyond benchmarking, proposed by City Staff until the following information is available:
1) The Staff Report indicates that “specific performance targets, compliance pathways, and enforcement provisions will be finalized through an administrative regulation process.” (emphasis added.) Why does the Draft Ordinance go beyond requiring benchmarking and require undefined performance targets (which appear to be mandates) that will be established by City Staff without any public hearing process? We understand that the performance targets/mandates may not be able to be defined without the benchmarking data but, if that is the case, we urge for any elements of the Draft Ordinance that go beyond the State-law benchmarking requirements come back to the City Council in the form of a study session followed by a public hearing to deliberate the establishment of performance standards, compliance pathways and enforcement provisions, when all the information is publicly available.

Board Executives
Chair
Paula Larmore
Harding, Larmore,
Kutcher & Kozal LLP
Past Chair
Charlie LopezQuintana
ETC Hotels
Treasurer
Addie VanGessel
Tavern on Main
Vice-Chair
Dustin Peterson
Fairmont Miramar
Hotel & Bungalows
Vice-Chair
Jeremy Rawitch
RAND
Vice-Chair
Vee Gomez
Beach Yoga SoCal
Vice-Chair
Melissa Cohen
Boston Properties
Vice-Chair
Elias Garcia
Kaiser Permanente
Directors
Eddie Guerboian
Jeweler
Neil Carrey
Attorney
Elnie Vannatim
Cedars-Sinai
Gina Gribow
EKA Public Affairs
Directors
Jessica Rincon
Sanbourne
Lilit Avagyan
US Bank
Jenn Verma
Lionsgate
Ben Marcus
UP Partners
Yvette Sims
Hair by Yvette
Cheree
Michael Altchule
UCLA Health
Shanna Johnson
Regent
Shari Davis
Santa Monica
College
Wesly Hernandez
SNAP Inc.

Berta Negari
XYZ Rent
Garrett Childers
SM Fire 1109
Doreen Lahav
Prism Places
Kara Block
DHF Architects
Carlos Madrid

SMPD POA
Jared Amerson
Providence Saint
John’s
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2) AB 130, effective as of June 30, 2025, significantly limits the ability of local agencies to enact modifications to building codes, including adding green building standards, applicable to residential units. We request the City Council ask City Staff to analyze whether AB 130 restricts the City’s ability to apply the Draft Ordinance to residential units. Moreover, why does the Draft Ordinance exempt residential condominiums and single-family homes but not apartments?
3) Why does the Draft Ordinance set dates for compliance with interim performance standards that are not yet established? We suggest that dates for compliance be established through a public process and require City Council approval after information is made available about the modifications that will be required to be made to existing buildings.
4) The Staff Report states that the “detailed process for determining baselines will be finalized during the administrative regulations process.” If the process for determining baselines has not been finalized, then we request deferral of the Draft Ordinance requiring the benchmarking until the proposed process is finalized and can be vetted in a public hearing. In this regard, our members have raised the following preliminary questions/concerns:
a. How will recent improvements property owners have made to reduce energy consumption be factored into the baseline benchmarking? We are aware of property owners that have made investments in the past 3-5 years to reduce energy consumption. Similarly, if an existing building has a LEED certification, how is that factored into the baseline benchmarking? Absent an adjustment to address this it seems that property owners/tenants could be penalized for proactively investing in their buildings prior to the benchmarking going into effect.
b. How will the very high vacancy rates in commercial buildings impact the baseline benchmarking and future associated performance targets? Absent an adjustment for full occupancy, won’t property owners/tenants be penalized merely by leasing existing buildings due to the low baseline? 5) What is the cost for building owners to implement any benchmarking required in the Draft Ordinance above and beyond the State requirements and compliance with future performance standards? It seems to us that this cannot be quantified at this time given that the performance “targets” have not been established. As such, we request that the undefined building standards performance portion of the Draft Ordinance be deferred until this additional information is available. Once the costs are known, the Council and the public will be in position to evaluate the Draft Ordinance. 6) What are the penalties for noncompliance? The Draft Ordinance states that “[e]nforcement provisions, including penalties for non-compliance” will be finalized during the administrative regulation process”. We request deferral of adoption of the Draft Ordinance until the penalties for noncompliance are made available to the public and City Council for review and comment during a public hearing. 7) Should the CAAP be revisited in light of the substantial changes that have occurred since its adoption in 2019 (e.g. commute patterns and remove work)? Has the City performed any analysis to determine if the high vacancy rates in commercial buildings and other changes since 2019 (including property owner proactive investment in sustainability enhancement for their buildings) have impacted the need for the Draft Ordinance? Santa Monica is historically a leader in sustainability, but the City needs to think carefully about how to successfully accomplish this new initiative through consensus and cooperation.

Adopting an ordinance that defers most of the specifics – performance mandates, compliance pathways and enforcement provisions – to City Staff without any public hearing does not provide any meaningful opportunity for property owners and businesses to weigh in. For these reasons, the Chamber respectfully requests that the City Council delay adoption of the Draft Ordinance, especially any requirements that go beyond State-mandated benchmarking, until the above-requested information is made available for review by the public and the City Council.

Respectfully Submitted,

Judy Kruger Paula Larmore
President & CEO Chair of the Board
Item 10-A
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1 David Yakobson
From: Janet Gagnon <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2025 11:52 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: Daniel Yukelson; Joseph Ramos
Subject: Building Performance Standards (BPS) - Item 10A - Tonight's City Council Agenda Attachments: AAGLA Letter Building Performance Standards-09092025.pdf

EXTERNAL
Honorable Mayor Negrete and Members of the Santa Monica City Council, Attached please find a formal comment letter from the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA). AAGLA represents approximately 10,000 rental housing providers throughout Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties with many in Santa Monica. We have serious concerns regarding the draft ordinance under consideration tonight as agenda item 10A – Building and Performance Standards (BPS) as it would have severe negative impacts on naturally occurring aƯordable housing in Santa Monica.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Janet M. Gagnon
Janet M. Gagnon, Esq.

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer &
Senior Vice President, Government Affairs & External Relations Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles
621 South Westmoreland Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90005
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The Voice of Multifamily Housing Since 1917 ©
“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.” John Stuart Mill - 1867
Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
Janet M. Gagnon
Senior Vice President, Government
Affairs & External Relations
[email protected]
213.384.4131; Ext. 309

September 9, 2025
Via Electronic Mail
Honorable Mayor Lana Negrete
and the Members of the Santa Monica City Council
City Hall Council Chambers
1685 Main Street, Room 250
Santa Monica, California 90401
Re: Building Performance Standards (BPS) – Agenda Item 10A Honorable Mayor Negrete and Members of the Santa Monica City Council:

The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) represents approximately 10,000 rental housing providers throughout Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, including many in Santa Monica. This letter is to express our serious concerns regarding the draft ordinance under consideration tonight regarding the establishment of new building performance standards for multifamily owners.

We appreciate that the issue of building performance standards has been a discussion that the City has been having for some time and that outreach has been conducted. However, the draft ordinance under consideration tonight still lacks many of the specifics that are critical for knowing the full impact of this ordinance on multifamily property owners providing needed affordable housing for renters. Thus, it would be severely premature and reckless to pass the ordinance as currently drafted.

There are multiple instances of key provisions that are left unaddressed and put exclusively into the hands of city staff with no approval or oversight by the duly elected full City Council, including setting baselines, establishing penalties and defining key terms for exemptions. While staff are essential to assist the City Council by providing necessary facts and figures, they should not substitute for the City Council in making final decisions that can substantially change the impact of this ordinance.

The current draft ordinance contains no definition for what would qualify as a “financial hardship” for specific owners to receive an exemption from the ordinance. This is a critical provision for many property owners with older properties that are still struggling from mountains of unpaid pack rent remaining from pandemic moratoriums. Rental housing providers are already facing huge increases in property insurance that has quadrupled in the last year alone with many unable to find any insurance provider besides the state FAIR plan that is now in substantial financial jeopardy. In addition, substantial increases have occurred in Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
basic materials (lumber, drywall, fixtures, etc.) as well as skilled labor. This expensive new mandate requiring conversion from gas to electricity and/or additional energy efficiency measures will add more costs to rental housing providers already struggling to stay afloat. If multifamily owners are forced to sell their properties due to financial hardship, then the City will lose more naturally occurring affordable housing.

In addition, providing benchmarking metrics alone will be a significant challenge for many multifamily owners who do not have experts on staff to provide such information. Hiring such professionals will also be a significant new cost that rental housing providers must incur to comply with the ordinance. For those with 20,000 to 50,000 square feet this will be the first time that they are expected to provide such information, and it will take them both time and expense to collect the necessary data. While the performance targets provide a slight delay, it still creates a huge additional cost for existing multifamily owners. This will leave rental housing providers with the choice of raising rents to cover these new costs or selling their properties to developers for demolition and replacement as luxury housing. Both options will harm existing renters.

While we understand the City’s desire to reduce GHG emissions, multifamily housing providers should not be included among those properties subject to this new ordinance. Housing is too precious a resource to jeopardize with this new experimental concept that has not been piloted or tested with any other properties to date in Santa Monica nor elsewhere in Southern California. We urge the City Council to remove multifamily properties from this ordinance as these properties must be preserved as naturally occurring affordable housing.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to reach out to me directly by telephone at (213) 384-4131; Ext. 309 or via electronic mail at [email protected].

Sincerely,
Janet M. Gagnon
Janet M. Gagnon, Esq.

CC: Daniel Yukelson, Executive Director, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
1 David Yakobson
From: Janet Gagnon <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2025 11:52 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya
Cc: Daniel Yukelson; Joseph Ramos
Subject: Building Performance Standards (BPS) - Item 10A - Tonight's City Council Agenda Attachments: AAGLA Letter Building Performance Standards-09092025.pdf

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Janet M. Gagnon
Janet M. Gagnon, Esq.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to reach out to me directly by telephone at (213) 384-4131; Ext. 309 or via electronic mail at [email protected].

Sincerely,
Janet M. Gagnon
Janet M. Gagnon, Esq.

CC: Daniel Yukelson, Executive Director, Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
Item 10-A
September 9, 2025
2 David Yakobson
From: Kaitlin Drisko <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 9, 2025 12:04 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: Mario Fonda-Bonardi
Subject: Support Letter - Santa Monica Conservancy Item 10A - Building Performance Standards

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Santa Monica City CouncilSeptember 9, 2025

Santa Monica City Council
September 9, 2025