Like MB, Santa Monica is facing huge Apt. Complexes with state housing laws.
Article in LA Times 10/24/22
The article below was published yesterday in the LA Times and we thank the subscriber who forwarded it to us. Coastal communities are targeted by developers to build low-income housing because they are more desirable and profitable than other cities. It does not solve the low-income housing issue and the town’s identity is lost to overbuilding which brings infrastructure nightmares. But it makes the developer big bucks and the politicians are happy, so there’s that. ~MBStrong
Thousands of apartments may come to Santa Monica, other wealthy cities under little-known law.
BY LIAM DILLONSTAFF WRITER
OCT. 24, 2022 5 AM PT
Earlier this fall, a developer submitted plans for 4,500 apartments in Santa Monica — more new housing than the pricey, beachfront city has built in all of the previous decade.
And because of a little-used provision in state law that kicks in when cities fail to produce a housing plan to accommodate projected population growth, Santa Monica officials may be powerless to stop the construction.
The tactic now could be deployed by developers in more than 100 Southern California cities that are out of compliance with the state requirements. According to experts, it is most likely to be used in wealthier areas with little housing production and high potential profits.
The push for growth comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators in recent years have passed laws eroding local controls over home-building, arguing that local resistance is a key reason behind California’s unprecedented housing shortage and high cost of living.
In response, developers are becoming increasingly willing to challenge city officials.
In Redondo Beach, a power plant owner has submitted plans for more than 2,200 housing units using the new tactic.
Dave Rand, an attorney advising Scott Walter, the developer of the Santa Monica projects, said he has fielded inquiries about the tactic in places like Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Coronado.
“I’ve never had so many calls about any single subject in a shorter period of time,” Rand said. “It demonstrates how broken the system is in California, that people are so desperate to find an alternate pathway.”
Walter’s 4,500 apartments would be spread across 14 buildings, including a 15-story high-rise with 2,000 units that would be the tallest in Santa Monica outside the city’s downtown.
The plans have stunned local elected officials, with some worrying that the community will lose its distinctiveness.
Santa Monica Councilmember Phil Brock called the 15-story high-rise “beyond the pale” and an “unacceptable bar for the rest of the city.”
“Some of this growth will be destructive to the idea that Santa Monica somewhere along the line was supposed to be a beachside town,” Brock said. “As we blend into L.A., we’ll lose that character.”
He expects that he and his colleagues will try to block at least some of the projects.
To read the rest of the article, please click [HERE].
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