S A N TA M O N I C A
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
INSIDE
SANTA MONICA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HOSTS OWL INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION NEXT WEEK
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March 11 – March 17, 2022 Volume CXXXI, Issue 135
Veo Scooters Opens HQ in Santa Monica, May Hire 300 More People Scooter company launches Third Street Promenade offices By Dolores Quintana Veo, the electric bike and scooter company, has opened a new headquarters in Santa Monica and their intention is to expand their workforce in the city by hiring another 300 workers to augment their current workforce of 200. The new headquarters is located at the Third Street Promenade and the company’s CEO Candice Xie has relocated to the city, so it seems like the company is committed to long term operations on the West Coast and in Santa Monica in particular. You may have already noticed the company’s scooters and bikes at the Expo Line Terminus at Fourth Street and Colorado. The company was founded in 2017 and has been in business in Santa Monica since 2021, so their current workforce is 200 already but the company has already committed to hiring another 300 mostly Santa Monica local hires
Veo Scooters, see page 8
Photo: Sam Catanzaro
Santa Monica Parking Structure Set for Demolition Parking Structure Three is set for demolition on March 14 By Dolores Quintana
The City of Santa Monica is set to begin the demolition of a downtown parking structure to make way for affordable housing. The demolition of Parking Structure Three is now scheduled for March 14 after the Santa Monica Bayside Owners Association’s lawsuit and writ of supersedeas were denied by the Court of Appeals. As previously reported, the Superior Court granted a short stay and gave the City of Santa Monica until February 25 to file a preliminary opposition. According to court records, both the City of Santa Monica and the California Coastal Commission filed oppositions to the SMBOA lawsuit on February 25. It would seem that the California Coastal Commission (CCC) felt compelled to add to the opposition because SMBOA’s lawsuit alleged that the CCC’s
ruling “erred in granting the permit because the legal requirement wasn’t met.” The Court’s ruling was brief and to the point, “The petition for writ of supersedeas filed by appellant on February 8, 2022, as well as the oppositions filed on February 25, 2022, have been read and considered. The petition is denied.” The ruling denied all of the appeals that SMBOA had filed in one swoop. We did not receive a statement from SMBOA at press time. The City of Santa Monica released a statement to us which said, “the City of Santa Monica is happy to learn that the Court of Appeal has lifted the stay on the demolition of Parking Structure 3. The Court also denied the request that the demolition not be allowed to go ahead.” The City of Santa Monica’s contractor AMPCO will begin to mobilize to demolish Parking Structure Three starting on March 9, the mobilization will include “delivering equipment, isolating utilities, installing scaffolding, and preparing for the demolition which will start on Monday, March 14 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.” at 1318-20 4th Street. During the demolition, sidewalk areas on Fourth Street will remain
Parking Structure Three.
open with the safety precaution of an overhead cover and the southbound traffic on Fourth may be temporarily reduced to one lane. The City noted in their press release that parking is available in the other parking structures in the city. There is more information on why
Credit: Sam Catanzaro
the City believes that Parking Structure Three needs to be demolished and the need for more affordable housing options in Santa Monica here. AMPCO and the City estimate that the demolition will be completed by Fall of 2022.