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WHAT’S UP WESTSIDE ..................PAGE 2 ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER ..........PAGE 3 EARTH TALK ....................................PAGE 4 CRIME WATCH ..................................PAGE 7 MYSTERY PHOTO ............................PAGE 9
MONDAY
08.14.17 Volume 16 Issue 235
@smdailypress
Council almost accidentally rejects affordable housing rules MATTHEW HALL Daily Press Editor
The Downtown Community Plan’s (DCP) stringent new rules for affordable housing production were almost demolished last week when a pair of councilmembers cast protest votes against the procedural motion to update the city’s zoning laws. The DCP was ultimately approved during its second reading on Aug. 8 and will become the law of the land but not before a procedural speedbump threatened to derail the process. Council was tasked with approving several individual ordinances connected to the DCP and to implement a set of requirements for affordable housing production, Council had to update the Zoning Ordinance. The DCP will require affordable
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Santa Monica Daily Press
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Marathon group installs new bike racks
housing production on a per-project basis ranging from 20 – 35 percent affordable depending on the size and location of the project. Housing advocates have said those figures are prohibitively high and worry housing production will simply stop in the Downtown. Several councilmembers were receptive to those arguments during the July debate including Terry O’Day and Gleam Davis who were present last week. O’Day asked for a renewed debate on the housing requirements but with only Davis’ backing, was unable to secure a majority. The vote then proceeded on updating the Ordinance with the new requirements. Sue Himmelrich, Tony Vazquez, and Kevin McKeown voted in favor and O’Day and Davis SEE COUNCIL PAGE 6
Photo by Hannah Jannol
BIKES: L.A. Leggers contributed to the addition of 26 new bike racks at Palisades Park.
False information alarming Lincoln parents MARINA ANDALON Daily Press Staff Writer
As local parents have expressed serious concerns about construction at Lincoln Middle School track and field, rumors have spread that the field will be closed to residents and the synthetic field is being made of used tires. These rumors are not true according to district officials. The field and track at Lincoln Middle School is currently under renovation and will reopen when construction is complete. However, parents and local residents have shown concern by emailing Superintendent Ben Drati as well as posting signs near Lincoln Middle School. At the recent Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District School Board monthly meeting resident and parent Roger Diamond expressed his concern about Lincoln Middle School track
and field. “It is disheartening to see that Lincoln Middle School is basically disappearing in terms of access to the field or track. As we grow old we still like to play on the field and throw a ball around,” said Diamond. He said local residents are furious with the construction and the possibility they will no longer have access to the field, especially for those local weekend warriors. Due to the Brown Act, school board members are not allowed to respond to items that are not part of the official agenda. However Superintendent Drati responded and said, “I am aware of the concerns, and have been receiving emails, also I have seen what has been posted out there about what people think that we are doing. I will say that is absolutely false.” The track will be reopened to the general public and everyone
Palisades Park officially has 26 more bike racks as of last Saturday, thanks to the L.A. Leggers. Celebrating their 28th birthday and first day of this year’s training season for the 2018 Los Angeles marathon, the marathon training group hosted a ribbon cutting for the new bike racks on Aug. 5. This is the second year in a row the Leggers have given back to Santa Monica, last year donating a water fountain on the southside of the Camera Obscura building. L.A. Leggers’s Board of Directors President Barry Morrill said this year they donated the bike racks as a recommendation from the City. The placement of the bike racks was configured by the City, based on where people need to park their bikes the most. The ribbon cutting occurred at six of the bike racks outside the Camera Obscura building, where the Leggers meet every week during training season. Dressed in his regular purple kilt for raising awareness for Pancreatic Cancer research and treatment, Morrill thanked everyone for their support and for taking care of the park. An estimated 340 showed for the first training day
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and ribbon cutting. “Today was excellent, we had a lot of first time runners,” he said. “Not just to the club, but people running their first marathon. That’s what we’re here for, to let people be healthy.” The bike racks are convenient he said, not only because the City needed them, but also because the Board wanted to give back to Santa Monica for housing the Leggers for over two decades. In addition, many L.A. Leggers runners bike to the weekly training days. Previously, they had to lock their bikes to benches or other random, nearby poles. “I think more people will commute that way now,” said six year member and recent Leggers Board member Snow Lam-Hansel. She is also one of the runners who bikes to practices. “Even if you’re not part of the Leggers, what’s great about it is anyone can use it,” she added. “I love that the club donated back to the community. I hope that we can continue to give back every year.” Afterward, everyone stretched in circular, synchronized groups outside or taste-tested kombucha and grabbed a free Leggers bag in the Camera Obscura building. editor@smdp.com
SEE LINCOLN PAGE 7
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