S A N TA M O N I C A
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SANTA MONICA FIRE LAUNCHES UNIQUE PROGRAM
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
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October 8 – October 14, 2021 Volume CIX, Issue 114
Hotels, Liquor Stores to be Allowed on Third Street Promenade Santa Monica City Council approves zoning changes for Promenade By Dolores Quintana anD sam Catanzaro At the September 28 Santa Monica City Council meeting, lawmakers approved an Emergency Interim Zoning Ordinance intended to make it easier for a large range of businesses to operate on the Third Street Promenade. The iconic shopping area has faced immense challenges in recent years with high vacancy rates, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Downtown Santa Monica Inc.– the non-profit organization responsible for the management of the Promenade–has formulated the Third Street Promenade Stabilization and Economic Vitality Plan intended to address these challenges. The plan intends to refresh the look and feel of The Promenade and in effort to make it a more diverse marketplace with expanded retail and dining opportunities in an effort to to open the area up to smaller and more eclectic businesses rather than larger retail chains.
“The Third Street Promenade is an iconic public street and gathering place meant for all to enjoy, and it will be an important component of our economic recovery,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “In these three blocks, we can creatively adapt both the retail and public spaces for new uses, tenants, and experiences that are a magnet for our local residents and a draw for the region as well.” The IZO passed September 28, which will remain in effect until December, 2022, looks to achieve this goal by increasing foot traffic and opening up retail spaces that are lower in rent to attract many more businesses. Some of the new businesses that will be allowed are pet stores and veterinary services, tattoo and body modification parlors, medical and dental offices as well as hotels and liquor stores. In addition, City Manager David White spoke about extending the hours of road closure on the Arizona Avenue space where the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market takes place in the evening on Saturday nights to open a ‘Night Market’. There would also be an easing of codes like the FAR or Floor Area Ratio calculation to allow for use of rooftop spaces. Some Councilmembers objected to allowing liquor stores, including Councilmeber Phil Brock.
The Third Street Promenade at Arizona Avenue.
“I don’t understand how that’s a desired use on the Third Street Promenade now, in the past or in the future,” Brock said. Councilmember Laura Negrete during the meeting addressed the number of objections to tattoo parlors potentially being allowed in the area. “Tattoos are pretty expensive. I have them. They’re an art form and you would be surprised who has them these days. We happen
Photo: Sam Catanzaro
to have a tattoo artist, who is well known in the community, doing tattoos that I know I can’t afford to get from him. But the clientele that he brings, beyond just the celebrity clientele, are the people you are looking [for] to open up the space,” Negrete said. In addition, the new plan allows for: streamline permitting of existing land uses by minimizing applicability of Conditional Use
Third Street, see page 6
Santa Monica Sues Real Estate Firm for Converting Rent-Controlled Units Into Vacation Rentals City of Santa Monica files complaint against NMS Properties Corporation By sam Catanzaro
Santa Monica is suing a real estate corporation for converting a rent-controlled apartment building into illegal vacation rentals. In a lawsuit filed on September 28, 2021, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board and the City
of Santa Monica allege that since 2018 NMS Properties, Inc. and its affiliates have violated and continue to violate the state Ellis Act and local Rent Control regulations, as well as laws intended to protect long-term tenants and preserve the City’s affordable housing stock. The lawsuit alleges that the owners and managers of the residential rental property at 1242 10th Street, including WMNS Communities, LLC and NMS Properties, Inc., unlawfully converted what had once been a rent-controlled 10-unit multi-family residential apartment building with stable, long-term tenants, into a building that is
now used for unlawful vacation rentals and other unlawful rental activity. The complaint alleges that in 2015 the defendant owners bought the properties at 1238 and 1242 10th Street and started renovations with the purpose of upgrading the units for future market rate rentals, with modern kitchen appliances, in-unit washer/dryers, smart technologies and more. In addition, the The complaint claims that the dangerous conditions created by the extensive construction drove many tenants out of the building. The lawsuit further alleges that when the last three tenants at 1242 10th Street refused to leave or be bought-out, the owners invoked the
1242 10th Street in Santa Monica.
Ellis Act as a mechanism to remove them from their rent-controlled units but did not leave the residential rental business as required. “The purpose of the Ellis Act is to allow landlords, who intend to get out of the rental business, to evict tenants who would otherwise have a right to remain in their homes. It is not designed as a means of evading rent control by driving out long-term tenants in order to command higher, market rental rates,” said Alison Regan, General Counsel for the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. The complaint alleges that after invoking the
Vacation Rentals, see page 10
Photo: Sam Catanzaro