The Santa Monica City Council will consider placing two significant measures before voters this November when it meets Tuesday, July 14, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers, alongside a slate of development-related zoning changes and a possible deal over the future of the Civic Auditorium.
Item 11A asks the council to formally receive and file certification that a citizen initiative establishing a new parcel tax for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has qualified for the ballot. The measure would create a $495 annual parcel tax on taxable real property within city limits to fund the school district, under a new chapter of the municipal code. Council members are being asked to adopt a resolution placing the measure on the Nov. 3 general municipal ballot.
Item 11B, added to the agenda Thursday, would send voters as many as three separate measures amending the city charter's rent control and housing policy articles. Acting on recommendations from the Rent Control Board, the council could place a measure reaffirming local just-cause eviction protections, updating term limits for rent board commissioners and revising procedures for rental unit registration fees and rent adjustment petition deadlines. A second proposed measure would bar landlords from evicting tenants over unpaid rent below a yet-to-be-set threshold amount. A third would revise rules around evicting tenants for adding unauthorized occupants, extend eviction protections to people remaining in a unit after the original tenant leaves, add just-cause protections to single-unit homes and condominiums, and change requirements for owner move-in evictions from units not subject to rent control. The council would also authorize individual members to file ballot arguments and direct the city attorney to prepare an impartial analysis of each measure.
Later in the meeting, the council will take up two development-focused items tied to the city's broader growth strategy. Item 12A asks the council to adopt a resolution amending the Downtown Community Plan and introduce, on first reading, an ordinance amending the zoning code to carry out the city's Realignment Plan by increasing allowable development on city-owned sites downtown and within the Gateway Master Plan area. Staff have concluded the environmental effects were already studied under the certified Downtown Community Plan and Housing Element environmental reports.
Item 12B would introduce, for first reading, an ordinance temporarily excluding certain parcels from the state's SB 79 transit-oriented development law until a year after the city adopts its 7th Cycle Housing Element, covering 2029 through 2037. The same ordinance would raise development standards for multi-unit residential parcels within a half-mile of the Metro E Line's Expo/Bundy station. Both items reflect the city's ongoing effort to balance state housing mandates with local control over where and how new development is concentrated.
Before the public session, the council will meet in closed session on Item 5E to discuss real estate negotiations over 1855 Main St., the Civic Auditorium property. City Manager Oliver Chi is listed as the city's negotiator, with talks involving Goldenvoice Chief Operating Officer Melissa Ormand and AEG Presents Executive Vice President and General Counsel Shawn Trell over the price and payment terms for the city-owned venue. The item was added to the agenda this week.
Finally, under Item 12C, the council will consider introducing and adopting an emergency interim zoning ordinance establishing standards and procedures for permitting light fleet-based autonomous vehicle services, along with a new use classification for such operations. Staff say the action qualifies for a common-sense exemption from further environmental review. Attached correspondence shows the state's Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, GO-Biz, raised concerns about the emergency ordinance ahead of the meeting.
The meeting also includes a lengthy consent calendar covering items such as a design services agreement for the Camera Obscura renovation, fire training contract modifications, the Tourism Marketing District's annual budget, and Downtown Santa Monica Inc.'s budget and a new events license for Lot 27, along with several board and commission appointments and closed-session litigation matters not detailed publicly in advance.