> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Citizens expand on city’s future plans - URL: https://www.smdp.com/citizens-expand-on-citys-future-plans/ - Published: 2005-05-03T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T06:52:56.000Z - Author: Ryan Hyatt - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Themes will set tone for change in SM* CITY HALL — Santa Monicans who feel their needs may not be met in the future have asked their elected leaders to reconsider the themes of its long-term growth plan. Two dozen Santa Monica residents who spoke at last week’s City Council meeting said they’re concerned City Hall’s new development and transportation policies neglect key components that could have serious impacts on Santa Monica’s future. The public outcry came in response to City Hall’s initial assessment of its “Shape the Future” and “Motion by the Ocean” projects, both two-year undertakings intended to overhaul Santa Monica’s land use and transit policy for the next 20 years. City staff presented 12 broad-based “emerging themes” at the April 26 City Council meeting that were taken from a six-month public input process. Santa Monicans were asked what kind of development and transportation policies should be in place in the city for the coming decades. The themes emphasized the need for Santa Monica to encourage traffic and parking solutions, strong neighborhoods, sustainabil-ity, diversity and safety, and to maintain a small-town community. The themes were approved by the Santa Monica City Council. City staff said the emerging themes will be a starting point by which they will continue to analyze information received from the public, and begin drafting new development and transit policies starting in October. The last time the policies were overhauled was in 1984. City staff said it was important for the City Council and community to look at the emerging themes because some might prove contradictory to each other as the project unfolds. Staff suggested that City Hall must priori-tize its efforts in order to create new policies. Both the Shape the Future and Motion by the Ocean projects are expected to be complete in the fall of 2006. Some residents said the themes city staff presented went far to address Santa Monica’s needs for sustainabil-ity, while neglecting to emphasize the importance of the economy and quality-of-life issues such as arts, health and the environment. Kathy Dodson, executive director of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, said the themes didn’t address commercial factors that will be the driving force behind Santa Monica’s future. The themes lacked language indicating how Santa Monica will secure tax revenues for its services, provide broad job creation and address expansion in the tourism, arts and the entertainment industries. John Warfel, a vice chair of the board for the Bayside Business District — a nonprofit organization that manages downtown with City Hall — said in addition to failing to address local economic interests, a crucial regional context also was missing from the emerging themes. He cited traffic gridlock on Lincoln Boulevard and how Santa Monica would keep to a small-town scale when there are outside pressures from the Los Angeles area affecting the city of Santa Monica. “We’re talking about being a small town next to a metropolis,” Warfel said. “What we need to remember is that what happens to them, happens to us.” City Councilman Bob Holbrook said he also believed the economic aspect needed to be addressed in the emerging themes, as well as language indicating how City Hall would secure the resources to run its own programs. “The public didn’t mention city services, but we need to think of that because the public expects that of us,” Holbrook said. “A good strong economic vitality is important, and these are all things we need to consider.” Other ideas brought forth by the community and supported by the City Council to be incorporated into the emerging themes included issues pertaining to the Santa Monica Airport, meeting health and child care service demands, maintaining existing affordable housing levels, preserving open space, and ensuring universal access and mobility within Santa Monica. Roger Genser, chair of the city’s landmark commission, said he wanted incentives to be available that would allow historic buildings in the city to be preserved. Councilman Herb Katz liked the idea and asked staff to keep it in mind during the policy-making process. Some residents of Sunset Park voiced concern that the emerging themes didn’t address what will be done in 10 years after the lease expires at the Santa Monica Airport. City staff responded that the airport was not mentioned as an emerging theme because City Hall will conduct an extensive, independent study to address what will be done with the airport in the future. Other residents — some of whom said they were associated with the chamber of commerce — wanted there to be stronger language supporting the arts in Santa Monica. Katz was concerned with the strong language of one theme — that no buildings in Santa Monica shall exceed current heights — because he said it was a policy and not a theme. Interim city planning director Andy Angle agreed the themes would be City Hall’s focus in coming months, but that that the language was thematic and not policies set in stone. Katz pushed for a motion to amend the theme regarding building heights so that the language was more flexible. “If we don’t mess with it now, we’ll never get to mess with it,” Katz said. The City Council voted against the motion. Councilman Kevin McKeown voted against amending the height theme, partially because he felt doing so would go against another emerging theme, the need for sustainability. “Height may equate to growth for a tree, but height doesn’t necessarily mean growth for a community,” he said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 3, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050305.pdf?ref=smdp.com)