By David Latham Santa Monica
Dear Mr. Mayor and City Council Members, Though out of California on business, I’ve just heard of new developments in the efforts toward arriving at our city’s next General Plan, and have been moved to e-mail you with my concerns … As you may recall, I’ve both spoken before you and written to you of the very great travesty I think it will be if much more inappropriate development continues in our small community. And you also likely know that I am not alone in that view. I attended many of the LUCE study workshops. At virtually all of those, a telling number of residents voiced many-sourced pleas advocating a stop to development that would further increase the density and building-height profiles in our city (and further the traffic growth and congestion that generally accompanies such, as well). And still, if I’ve been accurately informed, recommendation now seems to be proceeding toward acceptance of standards that would sanction much higher building height and base caps than could ever be worth the many harms such development policy must consequently bring to Santa Monica if permitted.
Apparently only councilmembers Genser and McKeown still hold some clear sense about the threat this poses.
With environmental news everywhere adding more and more facts in support of what scientists have been warning, and with winner-loser economies everywhere showing more and more the signs of what wasteful consumption can produce, it is amazing that everyone else on council doesn’t also see this. Equally amazing that the RIFT initiative, offered as a tool to assist council, seems viewed instead as a threat and obstacle to its complicated city managing efforts.
The old story of clashing agendas, I guess. But, trading the quality of life of the residents of a city such as ours for some presumed minority benefit to be gained by answering the endless, destroy-and-rebuild siren call of “more must be better,” is a risky gamble to take.
Santa Monica enjoys a special micro-climate. It is no coincidence that Route 66 brought so many precisely here to enjoy its offerings. It flies in the face of reality to continue to think that endless building will bring endless more good commerce and living opportunity here, without causing more great harm to life in this small city than has already occurred.
Call it “bad nimby” or “rational nimby,” but a home can accommodate only so many at one time. Glut Santa Monica with development, and it will cease being the place we came here to enjoy. It has even been said that such action will destroy this little “oasis” in L.A.
Beyond just being a gem of a city, Santa Monica aims to be a sustainable city. Unfortunately, much more poorly land-scaled, large and dense, market-rate building here will guarantee the loss of what little remains in this city’s stock of truly affordable, repeat, truly affordable housing (low-income or workforce), and make it anything but sustainable.
So... Please... Consider further this latest direction in setting development policy.
As always, with great respect for the difficult plan-ning challenges you all face …
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 14, 2008. Read the original PDF.