City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: September 30, 2025
Agenda Item: 12.A
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jing Yeo, Director, Administration
Subject: Adoption of a Resolution to Amend the Santa Monica General Plan Land Use Map and the Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance to Amend the Official Districting Map for a Portion of the Parcel Located at 2644 30th Street Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding that the proposed amendments to the General Plan Land Use Map and Official Districting Map are categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, consistent with the findings set forth in the “Environmental Review” section of this Report;
2. Adopt a Resolution Amending the Santa Monica General Plan Land Use Map for a Portion of the Parcel Located at 2644 30th Street; and
3. Introduce for First Reading an Ordinance Amending the Official Districting Map for a Portion of the Parcel Located at 2644 30th Street.
Summary
On May 13, 2025, staff brought forth for City Council’s consideration map amendments to the Santa Monica General Plan Land Use Map and Official District Map for a portion of the parcel located at 2644 30th Street, along with updates related to state law. After receiving public comment and engaging in discussion, Council voted to table the item to a later date with direction for staff to explore possible options that could be proposed to provide flexibility regarding legal non-conforming uses instead of a General Plan and Zoning map amendment.
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Subsequent to the May 13 meeting, there have been renewed requests from the property owner and also additional information identified regarding the leasing status of the office building that has been provided for Council consideration in this report.
By way of background, the property located at 2644 30th Street was purchased by the current property owner in 1987, at which time the property was zoned C2. The office building, which has 35,000 square feet of leasable space, has one tenant with an expiring lease that will be vacating in early 2027. The existing property owner is interested in searching for a new tenant starting in Q1-2026, and the legal nonconforming status of the building impedes leasing and building financing efforts.
To try and address this matter, and consistent with Council direction, staff explored possible options to provide flexibility regarding legal non-conforming uses. Santa Monica Municipal Code (SMMC) Chapter 9.27 regulates non-conforming uses and structures, in part, by limiting the expansion of legal non-conforming uses, and the chapter has citywide applicability. Amendments to that chapter to allow for more flexibility related to legal non-conforming uses would have broad and potentially unknown and unintended impacts to legal non-conforming uses throughout the City – which number in the hundreds – which could potentially allow incompatible commercial uses to persist indefinitely. As a result, staff does not recommend amendments to that chapter to address the issues presented at 2644 30th St.
In an effort to address development related concerns raised by neighbors living adjacent to the building, there are two separate strategies that staff has identified. First, the proposed map amendments would be limited only to the portion of the parcel that is currently developed with a commercial office building, and would modify the zone for that portion from Single-Unit Residential (R1) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) for both the General Plan Land Use Map and the Official Districting Map. The remainder of the parcel, which is currently improved with a surface parking lot, is not included in the proposed map amendments and will remain Single-Unit Residential for both the General Plan Land Use Map and the Official Districting Map. This adjustment would allow the property owner to pursue releasing and financing efforts to fill the pending vacancy. 3 of 9
Further, by only remapping the building footprint and not the adjacent parking lot, largescale redevelopment of the site would be rendered infeasible.
Importantly, the second strategy pursued by staff to address the concerns related to the possible removal of the existing office building to facilitate a larger housing project involves execution of a covenant. Staff has engaged discussions with the property owner, who has voluntarily offered to execute a covenant with the City confirming that for 10 years, the property owner will not (a) redevelop the commercial lots utilizing the new NC zoning standards for housing projects and/or (b) redevelop the R1 zoned surface parking. This is consistent with the property owner’s statements there is no intention to redevelop the parcel utilizing the new NC development standards but instead, the map amendment would assist with re-tenanting the existing commercial building with a broader range of uses in the NC zone. Further the voluntary 10-year restriction would allow the matter to be revisited during the next LUCE update set to occur before 2035.
Discussion
On May 13, 2025, staff brought forth for City Council’s consideration map amendments to the Santa Monica General Plan Land Use Map and Official District Map for the portion of the parcel located at 2644 30th Street that is currently developed with a commercial office building; however, the item was tabled by Council to a later date. The report below summarizes the parcel’s history and current issues, as well as the proposed map amendments. Additionally, staff requests direction from Council regarding the applicability of future development standard amendments for surface parking lots pursuant to Council direction.
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Existing zoning of the subject parcel and
surrounding area. Red outline shows the location
of the existing office building.
Aerial view of the subject parcel and
surrounding area. Red outline shows the location
of the existing office building with remainder of
parcel as surface parking lot.
Parcel History/Current Conditions & Issues
Below provides a summary of the subject parcel development and zoning history:
• The subject portion of the parcel was developed in 1956 as a commercial office building, which includes approximately 35,000 square feet of leasable space. • Historically, since at least 1961 this portion of the parcel was designated as C2 (what is now typically NC - Neighborhood Commercial).
• However, when the General Plan Land Use Map was amended as part of the 2010 LUCE update and the Official Districting Map was amended as part of the 2015 Zoning Ordinance update, this portion’s designation was changed to Single Family Housing in the Land Use Map and R1 (Single-Unit Residential) in the Official Districting Map, respectively.
R2
Zone
R1
Zone
NC
Zone
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• This rezoning to R1 appears to have been inadvertent given the longstanding use of the property and prior designation as C2, and the lack of evidence in the record that such a change was discussed publicly or made deliberately. During the Zoning Ordinance update, there was an effort to correct unintentional mapping errors (115 were identified, 19 of which were changed from commercial/industrial to residential); however, it appears the subject parcel was overlooked at that time.
• The current R1 zoning has created a legal nonconforming condition, meaning that the existing office building use is not allowed by the underlying R1 zoning for the property, but in accordance with SMMC Chapter 9.27, the use is allowed to remain, but not expand, since it was established before the R1 zoning was enacted. Accordingly, any future commercial uses are limited to those similar to existing uses in the building, which are media production and event production offices. Due to limitations placed on legal nonconforming uses set forth in Chapter 9.27, if a tenant space is vacant for more than 1 year, the prior nonconforming use (e.g. production office) is considered abandoned, and the tenant space must be filled with a use permitted in the R1 zoning district. There are almost no commercial uses permitted in the R1 zoning district. • The property owner has stated that the non-conforming condition created by the rezoning to R1 presents impediments to future leasing and financing for the existing commercial office building.
The property owner has also provided the following new information:
• The property owner purchased the property in 1987 when it was zoned C2 • The existing building is 35,000 SF of leasable area as shown in the table below.
One tenant with a lease expiring in early 2027 has indicated they are not 6 of 9
renewing and thus the property owner will start looking for a new tenant in approximately February 2026.
Expiration of
Lease
Square Footage Business type/use
2/29/28 9,178 Production/Event Production office
2/28/27 8,159 Production office
1/1/2026 9,432 Production/Event Production office
2/28/27 8,731 Production office
Data from CoStar shows that the office vacancy rate in Santa Monica is approximately 30%, suggesting weak tenant demand for office space making re-leasing tenant space with office uses a potential challenge.
Proposed Map Amendments
Given the development history of the parcel and the land use limitations of the R1 zoning district, staff recommends the following map amendments for the portion of the parcel located at 2644 30th Street that is currently developed with a commercial building:
Address APN Existing
Zoning
Proposed
Zoning
Existing
LUCE
Proposed
LUCE
2644 30th St
(portion containing
commercial
building only)
4270-
016-
084
R1
(Single-Unit
Residential)
NC
(Neighborhood
Commercial)
Single
Family
Housing
Neighborhood
Commercial
Questions Raised On May 13, 2025
Questions arose during the last City Council hearing regarding whether this proposed amendment would constitute spot zoning. Spot zoning may occur when a small parcel of property is subject to more or less restrictive zoning than the surrounding properties, thereby creating an “island” in the middle of a larger area devoted to other uses. Staff has reviewed the proposed map amendments in light of questions related to spot zoning raised at the May 13 public hearing, the proposed map amendments here do not appear to constitute spot-zoning, as they would simply expanding the NC zone adjacent to the 7 of 9
commercial building and would not create an “island” commercial use surrounded by residential use on all sides.
Even if the amendments do constitute spot-zoning, they may be nonetheless permissible if the record demonstrates that spot zoning for a particular site is in the public interest (Foothill Communities Coalition v. County of Orange (2014) 222 Cal.App.4th 1302, 1306, 1314). Here, staff recommends that Council approve the proposed amendments based on consistency with the general plan, as supported by substantial evidence, and because it is in the public interest to ensure that vacant office space can be leased for the existing commercial office building and thereby reducing office vacancies in the City.
In addition, questions were raised related to whether it was more appropriate to amend the City’s rules related to legal non-conforming uses rather than the proposed map amendments, and when tabling this item, Council directed staff to return with options related to amendments to the City’s rules for legal nonconforming uses. After review, staff does not recommend amendments to Chapter 9.27 to allow for more flexibility for legal nonconforming uses. As rezonings occur, any use that is legally existing on the property at the time of the rezone that is no longer permitted under the new underlying zoning is considered legal nonconforming. SMMC Chapter 9.27 sets forth the City’s rules related to legal non-conforming uses throughout the city, generally allowing those uses to continue, but not to expand. Additional flexibility would be of broad applicability to legal nonconforming uses throughout the city, and given that there are hundreds of legally nonconforming uses in Santa Monica, an expansion of language in that particular code section could have unintended consequences by allowing legal nonconforming uses to expand and persist indefinitely.
Additional Considerations/Council Direction
On July 29, 2025, City Council gave the following direction that staff develop options for revising development standards to effectively implement Housing Element Program 1.C, by assessing development standard updates to incentivize housing project along transit corridors, including on surface parking lots associated with commercial corridors. 8 of 9
If the proposed map amendments to 2644 30th Street are approved, future implementation of the above direction regarding surface parking lots will apply to the existing parking lot currently located on the parcel as it would be adjacent to a commercial zoning district (NC). As the proposed map amendments were brought forth for Council’s consideration prior to the above direction, staff requests additional direction regarding the applicability of the upcoming implementation of Council’s direction regarding surface parking lots. Specifically, staff would like the following direction from Council:
Policy Question:
Due to the fact that the property is currently zoned residential, does Council want to exclude the surface parking lot located at 2644 30th Street from being eligible to use future amendments to the development standards for surface parking lots for housing projects?
Yes, exclude the surface parking lot located at 2644 30th Street. (Staff will review options as to how to restrict the use of the program to not apply to the subject parcel. This could potentially be accomplished by including a date as to when a surface parking lot had to be adjacent to a commercial district or restricting the use of the program in the R1 zoning district.) No, allow the surface parking lot located at 2644 30th Street to be eligible for future development standards amendments.
Environmental Review
The amendments to the General Plan Land Use Map and Official Districting map are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the project may have a significant effect on the environment. The map amendments are proposed to correct zoning and land use designations that were erroneous. No change in the physical environment would result, because there would be no change to existing conditions on the parcel, no development is proposed as part of the map amendments, 9 of 9
and the amendments only implement existing regulations. Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the amendments may have a significant effect on the environment and accordingly, the amendments are exempt from CEQA under Section 15061(b)(3).
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
Prepared By: Ross Fehrman, Acting Planning Manager
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. 2025.09.30 - 30th Street General Plan Land Use Map Amendments Resolution B. 2025.09.30 - 30th Street Districting Map Amendments Ordinance C. Written Comments
D. PowerPoint Presentation