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# Santa Monica Council to Take Up Red-Light Cameras, Housing, City Land Deals
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-council-to-take-up-red-light-cameras-housing-city-land-deals/
- Published: 2026-09-08T10:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-08T09:59:59.000Z
- Author: Maaz Alin
- Tags: Government & Politics, City Hall

The City Council tonight will weigh an automated red-light camera program, new housing rules near a transit station and lease talks for a string of city properties, part of a wide-ranging agenda that also touches parks, schools and pedestrian safety.

**Roadway safety**

Topping the public agenda is an ordinance introducing an Automated Traffic Enforcement System, or ATES, to cite drivers who run red lights at two intersections. The program, brought by Public Works Director Christopher Dishlip, relies on Senate Bill 720, the Safer Streets Act, which lets cities pursue red-light violations through a civil process. Under that law, citations go to a vehicle's registered owner rather than the driver, carry lower penalties and do not add points to a DMV record.

Proposed fines start at $100 and rise to $200, $350 and $500 for repeat offenses within three years, with a $50 late fee. The amounts are capped by state law, and the staff report frames the program as a safety measure rather than a revenue source, noting any surplus must be spent on transportation safety. The report cites Culver City, which has run red-light cameras since 1999 and reported a 12.6% drop in violations in 2017.

The cameras are a companion to a [Vision Zero](https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-launches-two-year-vision-plan-for-beach-and-pier/) study session, at which staff is seeking council direction and acknowledges the city fell short of its 2016 goal of eliminating fatal and severe-injury crashes by 2026\. From 2021 through 2025, Santa Monica recorded 214 such crashes and 21 traffic deaths; 20 of those killed were pedestrians or bicyclists. Total fatal and severe-injury crashes fell from 62 in 2024 to 52 in 2025, but pedestrian-involved crashes rose every year, from nine to 22\. Staff proposes moving from the city's longtime "five E's" model to a seven-element "Safe System" framework.

**Housing and zoning**

The council will hold a public hearing and consider first reading of an ordinance raising development standards on 89 single-unit (R1) parcels north of Interstate 10 in the Expo/Bundy area. The change responds to Senate Bill 79, the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, effective statewide July 1, and would let the Expo/Bundy zone qualify for a temporary exclusion from the law until one year after the city adopts its next housing element, expected in 2030\. City Planning Director Jing Yeo's report says density would rise to 40 units per acre and the floor-area ratio would increase from 0.5 to 1.25 for qualifying projects, with the 28-foot height limit unchanged. The council chose the R1 approach July 28 over upzoning multifamily parcels, citing displacement risk.

Separately, the council will consider extending for two years emergency zoning rules for "Light Fleet-Based Service for Autonomous Vehicles," adopted July 14 and set to expire Sept. 12\. Staff reports fleet operations have produced vehicle queues of up to 15 cars, along with street and alley staging and noise and lighting impacts near homes.

**City property talks**

The council is scheduled to meet in closed session this evening at 5:30 p.m. to take up lease negotiations on several city-owned properties, with City Manager Oliver Chi as negotiator. They include Miles Playhouse and portions of Reed Park and Jocelyn Hall, where the city is in talks with Ceská olympijská a.s., a Czech Olympic organization whose "Czech House" project director, Blanka Konecná, is the listed negotiating party.

Other properties include the Bergamot Station Arts Center at 2525 Michigan, where negotiators including Housing and Human Services Director Aileen Reynolds and Housing Manager Natalie Verlinich would meet with parties including Bridge Housing and Michaels; city sites on Airport Avenue, involving Gradient Holdings and Transwestern; and 256 Santa Monica Pier, where the city is negotiating with Santa Monica Brew Works CEO Scott Francis.

**Parks and community**

On the consent calendar, the council will consider a five-year concession agreement, with a five-year renewal option, to move the Santa Monica Trapeze School to Clover Park, 2600 Ocean Park Blvd. The school, at the Santa Monica Pier since 2008, would pay $4,000 a month plus 8% of concession sales, invest $170,000 in startup costs and add about $48,000 a year to the General Fund.

The council will also consider a request from Mayor Torosis and Councilmember Hall to open negotiations with the [Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District](https://www.smmusd.org/?ref=smdp.com) on a successor Master Facilities Use Agreement governing community access to school facilities, and to weigh contingency options should Measure ES fail. A separate request from Councilmembers Raskin and Negrete and Torosis seeks $1,188 in discretionary funds for the Santa Monica Ballet Folklorico Dance Company's classes at Virginia Avenue Park.