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By Jorge Casuso

November 26, 2024 -- Santa Monica is among a number of California cities poised "to unleash a building boom" after pro-housing advocate swept all four open Council seats, according to California YIMBY.

The prediction comes after the incoming Councilmembers backed by Santa Monica's political establishment will make up a 6 to 1 majority expected to reverse the unsuccessful efforts of a divided Council to curb major development.

Brian Hanlon, co-founder and CEO of California YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard), noted that slates backed by the group took seats at "city halls, county boards of supervisors, and in the Legislature" on November 5.

"From Eureka to San Diego, San Francisco to Santa Monica, and Berkeley to Bell Gardens, voters sent a clear message on housing: It's time to build," Hanlon wrote in an email last Tuesday.

"In Santa Monica, four candidates ran as part of a pro-housing slate; all four won, knocking off two anti-housing incumbents," the email said.

"The results give Santa Monica an overwhelmingly pro-housing majority, as the victors join pro-housing incumbents on the Council."

The United slate -- composed of Dan Hall, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell and Natalya Zernitskaya -- ran on a platform that addresses the State's housing crisis by making it easier to build more affordable units.

Under the State-mandated quota, Santa Monica must plan to build 8,895 units, 6,168 of them affordable, by October 2029.

"The simple fact of the matter is that we won’t solve our local housing crisis if we don’t build more housing at all affordability levels," Raskin wrote on the Democratic Club's candidate questionnaire.

"This will require careful and coordinated land use planning that will necessarily require denser and higher development in some places," said Raskin, a member of the City's Planning Commission.

Hall, who chairs the Pier Corporation Board, noted that the Council's failure in October 2021 to submit a housing plan approved by the State resulted in "proposals for giant skyscrapers" ("City Officials Caught Off Guard by Flurry of Development Submissions," October 13, 2022).

"Santa Monica should be willing to gently increase densities and raise height restrictions throughout most of the city to ensure that new housing (especially affordable) is located throughout the city," Hall wrote on his questionnaire.

"Downtown should be a focus, as well as our main transit corridors such as the Expo Line, and our commercial boulevards."

Snell, a College Trustee, said "the City streamlining the development process could expedite the construction of new housing, with a focus on affordable and mixed-income developments."

While Zernitskaya told the Democratic Club she believes "we must utilize the most efficient use of space and encourage new housing in underutilized locations near the types of amenities people need near their homes."

She added that "we should lower the costs of building housing through efforts such as eliminating parking minimums."

At a candidate forum in September, the four newly elected Councilmembers said they support "SB 10 allowing building multi-family housing in single-family neighborhoods."

If implemented by the new Council, SB 10 allows a 10-unit apartment building to be built on single family lots.

In addition, the development can include two Auxiliary Dwelling Units (ADUs), or "granny flats," and two Junior ADUs.

At the candidate forum, Snell and Zernitskaya said Main Street business parking lots should be used for affordable housing without replacing the parking.

The incoming Councilmembers, however, all said they oppose allowing housing development at the airport when it closes at the end of 2028.

The United slate received the backing of Abundant Santa Monica located in Irvine, a chapter of the Abundance Network, a pro-housing group whose senior policy adviser, Annie Fryman, is "a key figure in the YIMBY movement," according to the Network's website.

Abundant Santa Monica contributed a total of $62,500 to PACs supporting the establishment slate, according to campaign finance disclosure statements.

Streets for All, the non-profit behind an unsuccessful plan to build housing and a major park to replace the 90 Freeway in Marina del Rey, donated $37,500 to back the slate.

In his email last week, Hanlon noted housing advocates will enter the 2025 - 2026 California legislative session "with even more pro-housing votes, as new pro-housing legislators partner with our returning YIMBY champions.

"Now, more than ever, California needs to unleash a building boom, and welcome anyone who wants to make a home here," Hanlon wrote.

"In spite of any headwinds we may face, our collective efforts can still make California more affordable, sustainable, vibrant, and prosperous for everyone."


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