September 30, 2025 Upzoning of 2644 30th is a quasi-judicial matter relating to housing production. Motion Made by Zwick with a disqualifying interest is INVALID and VOID.
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September 6, 2024 Email from lobbyist to David Martin and Jing Yeo, former and current Santa Monica Community Development Directors “Hi David and Jing,
Can we schedule a time to meet about a lot that was inadvertently changed from commercial (C2) to R1 during the 2010 LUCE/2015 Zoning Ordinance? … I will send you my summary and all the relevant documents after we meet but we wanted to talk it through with you live and hopefully brainstorm opportunities to address the issue. …”
“From our side, the meeting would include the property owner PMI (Jeff Palmer and Gabrielle Ipale) and me. Given your schedules, perhaps Gabrielle could suggest a few times that work for both of you. I’ve copied our assistants Julia and Susie to help with scheduling for our team. This isn’t urgent but I wanted to get this on your radar in case there are any upcoming opportunities to address this.”
- Paula Larmore, Harding Larmor Kutcher & Kozal, LLP
Registered lobbyist and counsel for the owner
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February 15, 2025
Email from lobbyist to
Community
Development
Director, City Attorney,
and Planning Staff
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February 18, 2025 Email from Community Development Director to Lobbyist Item 1
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July 23, 2025 Email from City Attorney to Lobbyist
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July 23, 2025 Email from Lobbyist to City Attorney
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July 23, 2025 Emails between Lobbyist and City Attorney Item 1
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1 David Yakobson
From: Teri D Bernstein <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2026 1:43 AM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Barry Snell; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Natalya Zernitskaya; Ellis Raskin; [email protected]
Cc: councilmtgitems
Subject: Request to correct Minutes from May 13th meeting Item 12A
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor and City Councilmembers,
When the Council tabled the portion of item 12A on May 13th 2025 that resurfaced as item 12A on September 30, 2025, the audio record indicates that the motion is being tabled to explore amendments to the legal non-conforming use on the property at 2644 30th in lieu of a rezoning.
The Minutes report the item being tabled, but omits the Council's intention and promise to explore amendments to legal non-conforming uses rather than rezoning.
I trust that you will amend the minutes to reflect the audio reality.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Teri Davis Bernstein
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1 David Yakobson
From: John Alle <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2026 5:20 AM
To: John Alle
Subject: URGENT
EXTERNAL
https://smtransparency.netlify.app/
--
John E. Alle
JOHN ALLE COMPANY
THE SANTA MONICA COALITION / SAFE CITIES
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1 David Yakobson
From: John Alle <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2026 7:25 AM
To: The Santa Monica Coalition
Subject: SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE PARK
EXTERNAL
SATURDAY evening these transient addicts slept on the 3rd Street Promenade, got dangerously high, then on SUNDAY staggered to Reed Park adjacent to the Children's Playground and Basketball Courts across from St. Monica's Catholic School and Church.
MONDAY they were given needles and pipes illegally funded by the City of Santa Monica, courtesy of the Venice Family Clinic and LA County. Seems like the Holidays are still going on for them, as our nightmare continues.
Music ("Sunday Afternoon in the Park") courtesy of Van Halen Insta
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTdIbn3Ak2d/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== YouTube
https://youtu.be/SfYrxHf7qdc
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From: Kathleen Benjamin
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Invitation to join MLK interfaith celebration honoring the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Date: Monday, January 12, 2026 8:15:41 PM
Attachments: IMG_2492.png
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor and council, Members of the Santa Monica City Council, and Neighbors in Attendance,
On behalf of the Santa Monica Area Interfaith community, thank you for your service and for your ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of all who call Santa Monica home. It is in this spirit of shared care and responsibility that you are invited to take part in an upcoming interfaith celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his vision of the Beloved Community.
Our Interfaith MLK Celebration will bring together leaders and members of diverse spiritual and faith traditions, civic leaders, and community members to affirm the values of unity, justice, compassion, and nonviolence that Dr. King championed and that continue to guide communities working toward equity and dignity for all. This gathering is intended as both a celebration and a living expression of the Beloved Community, where people of different backgrounds come together to listen, learn, and stand with one another in mutual respect and hope.
You are warmly invited to attend this celebration, to be recognized for your leadership, and— if it is the Council’s pleasure—to offer brief words of greeting to those assembled. All community members present at this Council meeting, as well as those watching, are likewise invited to join us; this will be an open, welcoming event for people of all faiths and of no particular faith tradition who share a commitment to the values Dr. King articulated.
As we gather to honor Dr. King’s legacy, our hope is that this celebration will help deepen relationships between our interfaith community, city leadership, and residents, and strengthen our shared work of building a more just, inclusive, and compassionate Santa Monica. Thank you for your consideration, for your partnership, and for all that you do on behalf of our city.
With respect and gratitude,
Rev Kathleen Benjamin,
President Santa Monica Area Intefaith Council
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2 David Yakobson
From: John Alle <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2026 10:14 AM
To: The Santa Monica Coalition
Subject: LA, Santa Monica and Beirut
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
EXTERNAL
This is Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles 9 months ago. Little has changed today.
LA's Mayor Karen Bass, and Santa Monica's Mayor Caroline Torosis and Vice Mayor Jesse Zwick (housing density and timber advocates), would get on with Hezbollah's terrorist-controlled Mayor Darwish in wartorn Beirut.
They have NOT studied or proposed a comprehensive government led city evacuation plan.
Insta
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTQgl-oAsQG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== YouTube
https://youtu.be/f9zc_4ELUOI
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1 David Yakobson
From: Naren Desai <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 12:14 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: 5/13/25 Item 4-K - Abolishing Speaking Time Donation- OPPOSE!
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor pro-tem Torosis, and Council Members, I am concerned about and oppose the abolishing of "time donation" during public comments.
While I understand and appreciate that this item is being considered as part of a goal to shorten the length of Council meetings, which often run late into the night, time donation is an important part of our collective ability to make certain points and speak coherently as a group.
Currently 2-minute time limits (sometimes already shortened to 1-minute on a busy night) exist for any member of the public to comment verbally on an agenda item (with a maximum of 6-minutes total of speaking time per meeting). When many policy decisions get combined into single items on the agenda, we are already severely limited in our ability to address them, simply because of the maximum time limits on our total speech.
Time donation at least provides some measure of protection against having our voices silenced. It is helpful when one person wants to amplify the message of another, or if someone feels nervous to speak in front of a crowd but still has an important POV and will allow someone else to speak for them. Limiting our ability to speak by abolishing time donation - especially in a moment in time when we face increasingly harsh crackdowns on speech from the current federal administration - feels like the wrong solution to meeting length issues. Speaking publicly is the only way that we can know for sure that Council Members hear resident’s voices on important matters.
Thank you,
Naren Desai
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2 David Yakobson
From: Naren Desai <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 12:14 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: 5/13/25 Item 4-J - SB79 - OPPOSE!
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor pro-tem Torosis, and Council Members, SB79 is a destructive housing bill. It will be extremely harmful to the character and identity of all of Santa Monica, and especially to Sunset Park, by allowing 5-7 story(!) multi-unit apartment buildings throughout our R1 and R2 neighborhood.
All local zoning would essentially be overridden, and these tall buildings could go up side-by-side with our singlefamily homes on our quiet streets.
Sunset Park could become an urban jungle in a flash. The bill will raise land prices and be a boon to developers. It has zero affordability requirement (Santa Monica itself has a paltry requirement that is separate from this bill, but it immediately triggers a “state density bonus” which allows for even higher building).
The bill has been opposed by BOTH heads (Democrats) of the committees it has managed to squeak through.
Senator Ben Allen recently expressed his opposition to it as well, saying it is too “one-size fits all.” Why would the City Council of Santa Monica write a letter of support for something that is so destructive to our whole city?
We have already made major headway in addressing market-rate housing units in Santa Monica. This bill will do virtually nothing but create more market-rate housing, and it will do so at the expense of our residents, and the identity of our city.
We cannot keep giving more of our local control away.
Please OPPOSE Councilman Zwick's efforts to encourage this absurd zoning in our city.
Thank you,
Naren Desai
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3 David Yakobson
From: Naren Desai <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 12:13 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: 5/13/25 Item 12.A.2 -- Elimination of parcel size threshold -- OPPOSE!
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor pro-tem Torosis, and City Council Members, I object to the proposed amendment to the text of the City’s Zoning Ordinance to eliminate parcel size threshold for streamlined review of housing projects.
This change would allow all “housing projects” (as defined by California’s Housing Accountability Act) proposed in all nonresidential zones except the Bergamot Area Plan to be processed through an Administrative Approval process regardless of the size of the parcel upon which the housing project is located. This could mean parcels as big as the entire Business Park area, or even the Santa Monica Airport! This is a far-reaching, adverse change to our zoning. We cannot leave so much of the development of our city purely to staff discretion. The public must be able to weigh in on huge projects before they are approved -- it's the democratic way to do things!
Thank you,
Naren Desai
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4 David Yakobson
From: Naren Desai <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 12:13 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: 5/13/25 Item 12.A.2 -- Elimination of owner-occupancy requirement -- OPPOSE!
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Negrete, Mayor pro-tem Torosis, and City Council Members, I object to the proposed amendment that eliminates an owner-occupancy requirement pertaining to ministerial approval of duplexes and lot splits on parcels zoned for single-unit residential.
Adopting this ordinance will lead to the destruction of family neighborhoods in favor of profit-driven development of market-rate units.
The Planning Commission who reviewed this recommended against adopting it.
Current state law expressly requires owner-occupancy for 3 years from the date of the approval of a lot split.
Removing the owner-occupancy provision – as well as all limitations to demolition – will open all single-family residential properties to speculative purchase by developers.
In fact, according to a Public Records Act request to the City, this elimination of the Owner Occupancy Requirement was recommended by a single corporate representative who is associated with two different SB9 developments in Santa Monica, who stands to rake in millions off his projects. Who is City Council serving if it gives our city away to this request?
I urge you to retain an owner-occupancy requirement that is consistent with current state law and is crucial to the integrity of our neighborhoods.
Thank you,
Naren Desai
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1 David Yakobson
From: NA <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 2:06 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: To All members of City Council 2026
EXTERNAL
Hi there Cuty Council:
Many Residents wanted to know how to give community feedback about daily Leafblowers:
1. many gardeners simply blow the leaves back into the streets and onto cars and pedestrians. This useless action is disruptive to our peace.
We pay the highest tax in the USA.
This is not only unprofessional but a noise nuisance & wasteful.
2. The law on leafblowers being below 70 decibels is not set up to be enforceable as far as we have experienced thusfar.
3. We are appreciative of you can please help our community to restore some peace instead of being victims to the “excessive Leafblower” usage in 2026 in Santa Monica especially.
We would like input into changing some of the current outdated laws on Leafblower usage abuse.
Residents are losing quality of life to this misused extremely noisy machine even though electric.
Please let me know when and who to talk to for this feedback? This is a serious matter & we appreciate your help.
Thank you,
Residents concerned for peaceful neighborhoods.
Sent from my iPhone
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2 David Yakobson
From: NA <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2026 2:05 PM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: To All members of City Council 2026
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed
EXTERNAL
Hi there.
Many Residents wanted to know how to give community feedback about daily Leafblowers:
1. many gardeners simply blow the leaves back into the streets and onto cars and pedestrians.
This is not only unprofessional but a noise nuisance & wasteful.
2. The law on leafblowers being below 70 decibels is not set up to be enforceable as far as we have experienced thusfar.
3. We are appreciative of you can please help our community to restore some peace instead of being victims to the “excessive Leafblower” usage in 2026 in Santa Monica especially.
We would like input into changing some of the current outdated laws on Leafblower usage abuse.
Residents are losing quality of life to this misused extremely noisy machine even though electric.
Please let me know when and who to talk to for this feedback? Thank you
Residents concerned for peaceful neighborhoods.
Sent from my iPhone
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