1 May 12, 2026
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
MAY 12, 2026
A special meeting of the Santa Monica City Council was called to order by Mayor Torosis at 5:35 p.m., on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at City Council Chambers, 1685 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA.
Roll Call: Present: Mayor Caroline Torosis
Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Zwick
Councilmember Lana Negrete
Councilmember Dan Hall
Councilmember Ellis Raskin
Councilmember Barry Snell
Councilmember Natalya Zernitskaya
Also Present: City Manager Oliver Chi
City Attorney Heidi von Tongeln
Interim City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren
CONVENE/PLEDGE On order of the Mayor, the City Council convened at 5:35 p.m., with all members present. Councilmember Negrete led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.
STATEMENT OF
ACCOUNTABILITY
(LAND
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT)
The City of Santa Monica Statement of Accountability (Land Acknowledgement) was read into the record by Councilmember Hall.
LEVINE ACT
DISCLOSURE
No Councilmembers made disclosures regarding the Levine Act (Govt Code Section 84308).
PUBLIC INPUT ON
REMAINING AGENDA
ITEMS:
Members of the public Brett Morrow, Karen Croner, Ashley Oelsen, Mitch Silverstein, Eugenia Ermacora, Maddy Utrecht, Andrinka Payne, and Emma Voigt commented on item 16.A.
COUNCILMEMBER
DISCUSSION ITEMS:
In accordance with Council Rule 6(y), all Councilmember Discussion items were considered and approved in one motion unless removed by a Councilmember for discussion.
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Mayor Pro Tem Zwick was
excused at 11:20 p.m.
16.A. Request of Mayor Torosis, Councilmember Raskin and Councilmember Snell to 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, was presented.
Not knowing where the conversation on this item may go, Mayor Pro Tem Zwick recused himself from this item, out of an abundance of caution, due to his employment with the Housing Action Coalition, which advocates for housing production.
Questions asked, included: what would the process look like on the back end, after the MOU; what is the relation of our local measure Proposition S from 1990, and how the beach overlay district relates to a potential LCP; what are the boundaries, are they 1000 yards from the coast; is the timeline to establish the MOU a year from now, and is that doable; how did this item come to become an emergency item, and what propelled it to become so urgent; is there a way to put up the historical facts update and where the city is on a website that follows along with the local coastal plan; is there a timeline and better understanding of the LCP, and why and when the timeline restarted; are there any state laws that have exempted certain types of projects from the Coastal Commission review already, and if that is the case, is there any way to provide some clarity on what webpage is being created about the LCP; which of the long standing policy disagreements are being talked about here; explain what is meant by ministerial CDP framework for certain categories of low impact projects; and, what are the project categories qualifying under ministerial CDP framework, what are the thresholds for those, and who determines that.
Considerable discussion ensued, but limited to suggestions on what Council would like to see in an LCP; all things that are concurrently being worked on, with other efforts around the business renovations and things to make events and businesses easier; include all types of housing, starting with 100% deed restricted affordable housing in our coastal zone; adaptive reuse of buildings into housing; no new development, but the ability to convert vacant buildings into housing; maintain beach overlay district; support for the Coastal Plan, but not supportive of AB 1740; make sure to prioritize previous policy disagreements, including parking pricing, home sharing, preferential parking districts, and demolition; bus only and bike lanes need to be prioritized for streamlined approval; commercial changes in use are important for our economic recovery; we need to have some type of agreement with coastal on some of these major events that are forthcoming, and what that process looks like, and if that could be in an MOU; and, for commercial changes of use to also include potential renovations that would be required to facilitate changes to use, like outdoor bars and patios that businesses have proposed.
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Motion by Councilmember Hall, seconded by Councilmember Snell, to approve the recommendation, with direction to continue exploring policies consistent with our legislative platforms, and projects that we’ve been seeking approval recently. The motion was approved by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Zernitskaya, Snell, Raskin, Hall, Negrete, Mayor Torosis
NOES: None
ABSENT: Mayor Pro Tem Zwick
ADJOURNMENT On order of the Mayor, the City Council meeting adjourned at 12:14 a.m.
ATTEST: APPROVED:
Denise Anderson-Warren Caroline Torosis
Interim City Clerk Mayor
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