Santa Monica city officials will consider a comprehensive five-year equity plan and major development changes at Tuesday's City Council meeting, including a $5.5 million agreement with the RAND Corporation and new housing policies stemming from state legislation.
The centerpiece proposal is the city's first Citywide Equity Plan spanning 2025-2030, which establishes five broad goals aimed at addressing historical inequities and transforming how the coastal city delivers services to its diverse population of nearly 115,000 residents.
"Santa Monica is a city that values diversity, inclusion, and equity, and we are committed to upholding these principles," said Mayor Lana Negrete.
The equity plan emerged from an extensive seven-month community engagement process that city officials describe as the most diverse outreach effort in Santa Monica's history. The city's Diversity Equity and Inclusion team hosted 73 community-led meetings and five public listening sessions, engaging 32 community groups and receiving responses from 257 city staff members.
The plan's five goals include confronting past harms through "truth, healing, and restorative action," deepening community trust, expanding opportunities for underserved communities, transforming government operations, and building an equity-focused workplace culture.
Key initiatives span from 2025 through 2030 and include creating a database of residents displaced by past city actions, implementing reparations recommendations, establishing community connector programs, and developing equity impact assessments for all city policies.
Also on Tuesday's agenda is a significant development agreement amendment with the RAND Corporation, the nonprofit research organization that has operated from its Santa Monica headquarters at 1776 Main Street since 2004.
The proposed agreement would allow RAND's existing 326,170-square-foot building to house a broader range of commercial uses beyond its current restriction to "institutional office" use. The expansion would permit business and professional offices, creative offices, limited life sciences research, media production facilities, and ground-floor retail and restaurants.
In exchange, RAND would pay the city $5.5 million in two installments — $3.5 million upon the agreement's approval and $2 million triggered by future development or ownership transfer. The deal extends RAND's development agreement by 10 years to November 2065.
City staff cited the need for the changes due to dramatically reduced building occupancy following the COVID-19 pandemic. Only about 225 RAND employees now use the building daily — less than 25% of its capacity — leading to underutilization that officials say impacts the vitality of the Civic Center area.
"The property's underutilization results in a decrease in daily office visits, foot traffic, and patronage of local businesses," according to city documents.
The agreement also includes continued annual contributions of $40,000 to the Santa Monica Early Childhood Lab School for low-income family tuition assistance, extended through 2065.
Additionally, the council will vote on emergency zoning changes implementing Senate Bill 1123, which became effective July 1. The state legislation allows single-family residential parcels to be subdivided into up to 10 units, with Santa Monica opting to permit accessory dwelling units as part of such projects.
The emergency ordinance includes relaxed development standards to ensure project feasibility, including increased floor area ratios up to 1.5, building heights up to three stories, reduced front setbacks, and elimination of certain stepback requirements. Projects with five or fewer units would be exempt from the city's affordable housing fee, currently $43.91 to $51.30 per square foot.
The zoning changes also expand ADU allowances to all projects using state housing laws, including those in multiple-unit zoning districts under the previous SB 684 legislation.
All three measures require City Council approval, with the equity plan representing a roadmap for addressing systemic inequities, while the RAND agreement and zoning changes aim to increase housing production and commercial activity in the city.
The City Council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Santa Monica City Hall, with public comment opportunities available for all agenda items.