The Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday directed staff to fold a Planning Commission blueprint for small-scale "missing middle" housing into the city's next housing plan and to weigh backing a state bill that supporters say could cut construction costs, advancing an effort to build homes for the teachers, nurses and firefighters who cannot afford to live in the city they serve.
The proposal, called the Missing Middle Housing Realignment Plan, centers on the cottage court — a cluster of six or seven detached homes of about 850 square feet arranged around a shared courtyard. Planning Commissioner Shawn Landres, who presented the plan on the commission's behalf, said the form itself, if built at the right size and density, can deliver homes at prices working households can reach without subsidizing every unit.
"Santa Monica can build homes for its own workforce on the open market if we let the building form do the work," Landres told the council.
The plan targets households earning roughly 120% to 200% of area median income — people Landres described as earning "too much for subsidized housing but too little to buy here." A firefighter and teacher together making $162,000, a police officer with a working spouse, and a nurse raising children all fall in that band, he said, yet none qualify for subsidized affordable housing while the median home now sells for well over $1 million. About 90% of the people who work in Santa Monica live somewhere else, he added.
Under the commission's design, at least one cottage in every court would be permanently price-restricted at 200% of area median income, while the smaller size of the remaining units would hold down their market prices. The commission, which voted unanimously to send the plan forward, recommends allowing the form on single-family and small multifamily parcels, in the city's Moderate Income Housing Overlay, and on so-called community assembly parcels, where congregations may build on their land.
Landres estimated the program could yield roughly 300 cottages, depending on choices by homeowners, families consolidating adjacent lots and congregations. He pressed the council on a package of eight policy changes, singling out two: unbundling the city's transportation impact fee so that non-drivers no longer subsidize vehicle costs, and a Portland-modeled "ratcheted" density trade that grants more building capacity only as projects add more units, discouraging what he called "mansionization" and pricey townhomes selling for $2.1 million or more.
He was blunt about why the city's existing congregation-development program has stalled. "Our community assembly pathway has built zero units," Landres said, arguing that community land trusts and nonprofit development partners, paired with a revised affordability mix, could finally make such projects "pencil."
Much of the discussion touched on cost and equity. Councilmember Barry Snell noted the analysis assumed construction of $380 to $455 per square foot. Landres cited state legislation, Assembly Bill 1070, that would study applying the simpler California Residential Code to small residential buildings — a change he said has saved about 10% on hard costs in other states without a documented safety incident. Responding to a question from Snell about racial disparities, Landres tied the plan to the city's history of displacement, particularly of its African American community.
"We can't just write paper rules. We can't just upzone on paper," he said. "It's one thing to say you're sorry. It's another thing to actually offer people a pathway to a solution to make things right."
Because the item was a commission report, the council could not formally adopt it. Instead, Mayor Caroline Torosis moved to have staff incorporate the analysis into housing element preparation and to have the city's intergovernmental affairs team return with a recommendation on whether to take a position on AB 1070. The motion was seconded and passed without dissent.
The plan drew written support from residents ahead of the meeting. "We need incentives for builders to create homes that people who live and work in Santa Monica can afford," wrote Ethan Goldstine, a resident of more than 36 years.
The vote came as Landres closes out 11 years on the Planning Commission. Councilmember Ellis Raskin called the plan a fitting capstone, praising Landres for helping build "a more just and equitable city."