City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: September 22, 2026
Agenda Item: 4.N
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Heidi Von Tongeln, City Attorney, City Attorney's Office Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of an Ordinance to Amend the Text of the Zoning Ordinance to Increase Development Standards for Parcels Located Within the R1 (Single-Unit Residential) Zoning District and the Area Bounded By the I-10 Freeway to the South, Dorchester Avenue to the West, Exposition Boulevard to the North, and Centinela Avenue to the East to Allow for the Exclusion of Certain Sites That Are Located Within One-Half Mile of the Expo/Bundy Station from Senate Bill (SB) 79 Implementation Until One Year Following the Adoption of the 7th Cycle (2029-2037) Housing Element of the City's General Plan
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Ordinance.
Executive Summary
At its meeting on September 8, 2026, the City Council introduced for first reading an Ordinance amending the text of the Zoning Ordinance to increase development standards for parcels located within the R1 (single unit residential) zoning district and the area bounded by the I-10 freeway to the south, Dorchester Avenue to the west, Exposition Boulevard to the north, and Centinela Avenue to the east to allow for the exclusion of certain sites that are located within one-half mile of the Expo/Bundy Station from Senate Bill (SB) 79 implementation until one year following the adoption of the 7th Cycle (2029-2037) Housing Element of the City’s General Plan. The ordinance is now presented to the City Council for adoption.
Simultaneous to the ordinance presented tonight for second reading and in response to public testimony at the September 8, 2026 meeting, Council gave additional direction to explore an alternative exclusion ordinance that incorporates the City of Los Angeles and 2 of 3
also consider the possibility of excluding from targeted upzoning specific uses such as daycares. Council also directed exploring a generally applicable citywide antidisplacement overlay for R1 rent-controlled homes, which will return to Council as a separate matter at a future date.
Regarding the use of City of LA numbers for the purposes of the exclusion ordinance, on September 17, 2026, HCD and City staff conducted a meeting where HCD informed staff that based on their review of the legislative history of the statute and considering the practical implementation challenges, HCD’s position is that jurisdictions may only consider the parcels and data within their own jurisdictional boundaries. For further context, other jurisdictions with cross-jurisdictional TOD zones (e.g. Culver City) also relied only on parcels and data within their own jurisdiction. What this means is that, for purposes of SB 79, Santa Monica cannot consider parcels located within or data from Los Angeles for the purposes of meeting qualifying thresholds, including those required for exclusion ordinances and/or TOD alternative plans.
On the issue of daycare exemptions from the exclusion ordinance, HCD indicated that they would likely review what the underlying zoning allows in terms of base standards and uses, meaning that it appears possible that a targeted upzoning could exclude specific uses such as daycares so long as the SB79 thresholds for exclusion were still met.
As a result, staff recommends that Council still proceed with adopting second reading of the ordinance presented on September 8.
Prepared By: Ivan Larios, Legal Assistant
Approved Forwarded to Council
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Attachments:
A. ORD-SB 79 2d
B. Written Comments
C. PowerPoint Presentation