MY WRITE
I’d like to clarify and correct some statements made in last week’s column about proposed developments at 14th Street and Pico Boulevard, as well as 19th Street and Broadway.
I stated that the two projects would take advantage of more liberal zoning standards just approved by the City Council. They don’t. However, they do qualify for incentives and bonuses as approved by the city in year’s past designed to encourage housing construction in commercial districts.
Both developments are in commercially zoned districts, and because they have housing components — not because of any retail component — they can take advantage of larger floor areas than if they were strictly commercial buildings. The 19th and Broadway project also can take advantage of an additional density bonus because three of 32 units will be very low-income units, built on site Because the 19th and Broadway project is entirely condominiums, it must be approved by the Planning Commission in an open public hearing. And because of the recent changes in the codes redefining “affordable,” the Pico and 14th project also has to go before the Planning Commission. Under the old zoning codes, it would’ve been administratively approved.
The Pico and 14th development is a development with a large proportion of the units designated for senior citizens. Although it is a “moderate” income project, it still qualifies for increased size and density bonuses because it is housing slated for a commercially zoned lot.
I mentioned the “50 percent reduction in floor space” used in determining whether a development would be approved administratively or by the Planning Commission.
That code only applies to projects in the downtown area — mostly in the 5th to 7th streets neighborhood, south of Santa Monica Boulevard.
Perhaps a better example of how recent changes in the zoning codes benefit primarily developers of low-income housing such as Community Corp. of Santa Monica, is a proposed housing project at Main and Pacific streets in the Ocean Park neighborhood.
This project far exceeds height and density requirements for a similar “non- 100 percent affordable development.” Recent code changes also pre-empt public review for this development because it is less than 50 units.
Zoning codes are very complicated. The current city zoning ordinance is more than 580 pages long with exceptions to exceptions. There are over 30 zoning districts plus overlays — each with its own set of codes. No wonder even the experts even have problems sorting it all out. (Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and a freelance writer.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 14, 2003. Read the original PDF.