REQUEST FOR SPECIAL MEETING
TO: Santa Monica City Council, City Manager, City Attorney and Relevant Staff FROM: Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis
Councilmember Ellis Raskin
Councilmember Barry Snell
DATE: May 12, 2026
SUBJECT: Special Meeting to Provide Council Direction on the City's Path to a Certified Local Coastal Program.
Request of Mayor Torosis, Councilmember Raskin and Councilmember Snellto hold a special meeting to receive a briefing on significant progress in the City of Santa Monica's (City) long-standing pursuit of a certified Local Coastal Program (LCP), to memorialize the work underway, and to provide Council direction on how to carry this progress forward.
I. Purpose
Mayor Torosis, along with Councilmembers Raskin and Snell are requesting a special meeting to receive a briefing on significant progress in the City of Santa Monica's (City) long-standing pursuit of a certified Local Coastal Program (LCP), to memorialize the work underway, and to provide Council direction on how to carry this progress forward.
Following sustained advocacy by the City Council, and direct engagement with California Coastal Commission (CCC) leadership, the City is now in substantive discussions about a framework that could finally bring Santa Monica's LCP certification within reach. This is the most meaningful progress the City has seen in years. The opportunity is real, it is timesensitive, and the Council must be positioned to act.
II. Santa Monica as a Coastal Steward
As public conversation about the City's coastal future has intensified, this special meeting is an opportunity to clarify and memorialize what Santa Monica has built, invested in, and 1 protected over many years. The record speaks for itself: Santa Monica is one of California's most committed stewards of its coast.
The City has made extraordinary investments in protecting and expanding coastal access for all people, not just those who live nearby or arrive by car:
• A free, world-class beach that draws millions of visitors each year, actively managed for public access, environmental health, and long-term resilience • More than 12,000 public parking spaces in the coastal zone, one of the highest concentrations of any coastal city in California
• The Big Blue Bus, a zero-emission transit system connecting coastal Santa Monica to communities across the region, supported by landmark zero-emission charging infrastructure
• An award-winning network of protected bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure that makes the coast reachable without a car
• Berkeley Station, Santa Monica's first modular affordable housing development, opening near the beach and expanding who can afford to live in our coastal community
• A climate and sea level rise adaptation strategy that is among the most rigorous of any coastal city in the state
• Vision Zero street safety investments that make the path to the coast safer for everyone
This Council is committed to that record, and to ensuring that a certified LCP reflects what Santa Monica has actually built: an urban coastal city that has earned the trust to manage its own coastal zone in a manner fully consistent with the Coastal Act.
III. Over a Decade of Good-Faith Effort
The City has been working toward a certified LCP since 2014. After three years of community outreach and dozens of coordination meetings with CCC staff, the City adopted its Land Use Plan (LUP) in October 2018 and submitted a formal application to the Coastal Commission that December.
What followed was a years-long impasse, not because Santa Monica failed to engage, but because of fundamental policy disagreements about how the Coastal Act should apply to an urban, transit-rich, multimodal coastal city.
2 The City re-engaged CCC in May 2023 and has worked steadily since, retaining a consultant to address updated sea level rise and environmental justice requirements, meeting regularly with CCC staff, and targeting a revised LUP submittal in 2027. Through it all, Santa Monica has remained committed to certification, even as the path forward remained uncertain.
IV. A New Chapter: Council-Driven Progress
The landscape has shifted meaningfully in recent weeks, and this special meeting is the appropriate place to formally present that progress to the full Council and to the public.
Following a Council-facilitated introductory meeting with Coastal Commission leadership, City staff is now in direct engagement with CCC Executive Director Dr. Kate Huckelbridge and senior Commission staff. These discussions are focused on whether the City and Commission can reach a mutually agreed-upon framework for LCP certification, potentially within a defined and near-term timeline.
The principles guiding these discussions include a defined process and timeline for completing certification, use of the City's 2018 Council-adopted LUP as the baseline, recognition of Santa Monica's distinct urban coastal context and its record as a responsible steward of coastal resources, and the goal of creating a more predictable and streamlined process for routine, low-impact projects in the coastal zone.
This progress is the direct result of sustained Council engagement and advocacy at the highest levels of the Commission. A special meeting is the right vehicle to formalize that momentum, ensure the full Council is briefed and aligned, and provide staff with clear direction to carry these discussions forward.
V. Why a Special Meeting Is Needed Now
A. The Window Is Open and Time-Sensitive
The discussions now underway with CCC leadership represent an opportunity that has not existed in this form before. Staff is working to develop a complete framework for Council consideration before the end of May 2026. A special meeting will ensure the Council is briefed and positioned to act without delay.
B. Major City Priorities Depend on Certification
3 The absence of a certified LCP creates real and ongoing costs for Santa Monica.
Every project in the coastal zone, from economic recovery on the Third Street Promenade, to transportation improvements, to major public events on the beach, currently requires a Coastal Development Permit from the Commission rather than being locally approved under a certified program. Certification would give Santa Monica the authority and predictability to implement its own vision for the coast, consistent with the Coastal Act and tailored to the City's realities, and would further Santa Monica’s goals of economic recovery under the Realignment Plan.
C. The Community Deserves a Clear Public Record
A special meeting gives the Council the opportunity to speak directly to the community, lay out what the City has accomplished and where things stand, and demonstrate that Santa Monica's approach to its coast is grounded in decades of investment and a serious, collaborative relationship with the state. Memorializing this work in a public setting is both appropriate and important.
VI. Conclusion
Santa Monica has spent decades demonstrating its commitment to the coast and to a certified LCP that reflects its values and investments. The progress made in recent weeks is the result of sustained Council leadership and good-faith engagement with the state. A special meeting is the right next step to bring that work into the public record, align the full Council, and ensure the City carries this momentum forward with clarity and purpose. 4