By Jorge Casuso
April 22 – Council member Bob Holbrook will likely cast the tie-breaking vote next month to fill a vacancy on the City’s powerful Planning Commission, which will take a lead role in drafting the blueprint to guide development in Santa Monica for the next quarter century.
The vote expected to take place May 12 will come after the council last week deadlocked over two nominees – Ted Winterer, a Recreation and Parks Commissioner who finished fifth in the November race for four council seats, and Housing Commissioner Jason Parry.
Winterer was backed by Councuil members Ken Genser, Kevin McKeown and Bobby Shriver, while Parry was backed by Pam O'Connor, Richard Bloom and Gleam Davis.
The council’s appointee will fill the Planning Commission seat vacated by Davis, the council’s pick to replace Council member Herb Katz, who died in January after a long battle with cancer. (“Davis Picked to Fill Katz’s Seat,” February 25, 2009)
Winterer, who helped lead an effort at the ballot box last November to cap most commercial development in the city, is considered a slow-growth advocate, while Parry, who has been a member of the Housing Commission for 11 years, is considered a staunch advocate for affordable housing.
His goal, Winterer wrote in his application for the vacant seat, is “to implement land use policies which will slow the loss of affordable rental housing and preserve our socioeconomic diversity and the character of our neighborhoods.”
In his application Parry stated, “I care deeply about this community; it is important to me that we improve the quality of people's lives and protect what we love about Santa Monica.”
Both applicants share similar strategies to reach their goals – promote affordable housing, expand park space and encourage alternative forms of transportation. Both are staunch advocates of promoting sustainability.
The council’s appointee will help shape the City’s Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE), which should be drafted by the end of the year and which dictates where development will take place and how tall buildings can go, and outlines strategies to fight traffic congestion.
For the most part the council and the Planning Commission have agreed o the direction of the LUCE, but there have been sharp differences over height bonus that will be given to developers in exchange for “community benefits.” (“Proposed Building Heights Stir Debate,” July 3, 2008)
In their applications, both Winterer and Parry touch on the issue, but only in general terms.
Winterer wants to assure that the LUCE “increases mobility; reduces future auto congestion; promotes affordable housing, adaptive reuse, walking and biking; creates opportunities for new parks and open space; preserves the existing scale of our city and improves the aesthetics of our built environment; and provides significant public benefits and fees from new development.”
Parry, who chaired the Housing Commission from 1999 to 2006, want to “apply the LUCE principles with special emphasis on protecting the health, safety, and existing housing stock of Santa Monica neighborhoods. Maintain the overall scale and character of our city, while continuing to address gaps in housing affordability and diversify our housing stock to meet the varied needs of our community.”
The appointment of either candidate will do little to change the tenure or make up of the commission, which has undergone a radical change over the past five years – from a board that generally opposed development to one the is more lenient and includes two architects with major projects in the City.
("Commission Laments Olsen's ‘Loss;’ Frick Defends Department,” July 14, 2003
“City Council Faced with Crucial Planning Appointments,” July 10, 2007
"Planning Commission Gets 2 New Members, O’Day Reappointed," August 16, 2007 
