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Thursday, March 6, 2014        6:30 - 9:00 pm

 Santa Monica Main Library, Multipurpose Room
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Topics: Expo Light Rail Update, Power of Positive Communication, Hines Referendum Update, and more...

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Letter from NOMA to Santa Monica Planning Commission


To: Santa Monica Planning Commission

From: North of Montana Association

Re: Agenda Item 5-A; Draft Zoning Ordinance Update R-1 and Montana Avenue

Date: December 17, 2013

The Board of Directors of the North of Montana Association is distressed to learn that the Planning Commission is discussing proposals that would allow day care centers in residential neighborhoods and Increase the threshold for Development Review for Montana Avenue from 5,000 sq. ft. to 10,000 sq. ft.

We strongly urge that the Planning Commission do the following:

A.    Maintain R-1 district zoning for only single family homes. The LUCE calls for a “range of housing options … in multi-family neighborhoods, to suit the spectrum of individual lifestyles and space needs.” It does not call for adding housing options to single family neighborhoods.

B.   Remove day care centers from the proposed R-1 zoning. The LUCE directs us to “Preserve and protect existing neighborhoods against potential impacts related to development: traffic, noise, air quality, and encroachment of commercial activities.” (emphasis added.)  The LUCE does not call for day care centers in residential neighborhoods. Commercial enterprises need to be located in commercial or mixed use neighborhoods. The zoning must be consistent with these policies.

C.    Maintain the existing threshold for Development Review for Montana Avenue at 5,000 sq. ft. Doubling this threshold to 10,000 sq. ft. would erode the character of this quaint and charming street.

Zoning Ordinance Update Process Gets Underway

December 10, 2013

Dear NOMA members and friends,

Santa Monica is embarking upon the important and historic process of revising its zoning ordinance. The City has posted its Draft Zoning Ordinance, and public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council are set to begin. 

This important document has not been revised since 1988. The finalized version will form the basis of development decisions in this city for many years to come. Please consider attending the hearings and letting your voices be heard. Remember, it's our town.

An electronic version of the draft is available at this link: http://www.smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Zoning/Zoning-Update/ 
Hard copies are available at all Santa Monica library branches and for sale at the Planning Counter in City Hall. The schedule of public meetings follows here.

Planning Commission

December 11 -- Overview, Introductory Provisions, General Terms
Agenda is here. Meeting starts at 6 p.m.

December 18 -- Administration & Permits, Base & Overlay Districts, Residential Neighborhoods 

January 8 -- Base & Overlay Districts; all other chapters

January 15 -- General Regulations

January 22 -- Related Provisions

February 5 -- Recommendations to City Council

City Council

March 3, 4, and 11 -- review

March 25 -- adoption

NOMA JOINS CITYWIDE OPPOSITION
TO HINES PROPOSAL FOR BERGAMOT


November 20, 2013 -- The board of directors of the North of Montana Association (NOMA) today voted unanimously to oppose the current proposal for development of the Bergamot site. We see the proposed project as far too big and too dense for the site, and we feel that it would cause unacceptable traffic problems that would degrade the quality of life of both the immediate neighborhood and the city as a whole.

In a recent meeting with officials from the development firm Hines, the company's proposal was opposed by representatives of all the city's neighborhood organizations, Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMMRR), and Santa Monicans for a Liveable City (SMCLC). 

See the full text of our letter to the Planning Commission here.

NOMA BACKS EFFORT TO SAVE 'CHAIN REACTION'

At its November 2013  meeting, the board of NOMA voted to support the effort to save "Chain Reaction," the landmarked Santa Monica statue designed by Pulitzer Prize winning Los Angeles cartoonist Paul Conrad.  

Attached here is a message from the organizers of www.savechainreaction.com, with information on how to sign the petition, donate, and spread the word.
---

Help Save Our Sculpture

Paul Conrad's iconic Chain Reaction public art sculpture located next to the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica belongs to ALL of us.

But it may not be there for much longer. The City plans to scrap this significant work of art by Pulitzer Prize winning LA Times cartoonist and sculptor Paul Conrad if $400,000 is not raised by Feb. 1, 2014 to save it.  This Santa Monica landmarked sculpture is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as important and supported by the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Santa Monica Conservancy.  Its message of peace remains relevant today.

That is why we are urging you to help save Chain Reaction.

If Chain Reaction disappears, we lose:
  • an irreplaceable work of public art 
  • a monument to peace and nuclear disarmament 
  • a Santa Monica landmark
Here’s how you can BE A LINK in saving Chain Reaction:

·      DONATE: rally.org/savechainreaction.com

·      SIGN THE PETITION: www.change.org/petitions/santa-monica-city-council-restore-and-preserve-paul-conrad-s-public-landmark-chain-reaction   

·      SPREAD THE WORD: www.facebook.com/SaveChainReaction

Find more information here: www.savechainreaction.com 

SUSPECT HELD IN MONTANA AVE. BREAK-INS; 
NOMA CREDITED WITH RAISING ALARM

November 15, 2013 -- Santa Monica police have arrested a suspect in the recent rash of smash-and-grab burglaries on Montana Avenue, and are continuing to investigate. 

Writing in Surfsantamonica.com, Jason Islas reports that Ronald Perkins, 55, was arrested Thursday. "At this time (Perkins) has been arrested in connection with the burglaries,” SMPD Spokesperson Sergeant Jay Moroso told The Lookout. “That doesn't mean that he's the only one out there.” 

In what merchants say is likely the biggest burglary spree on Montana Avenue in more than three decades, six stores were targeted between November 6 and 11. The stores had their windows smashed and their cash registers broken open. SMPD sources told NOMA that two similar burglaries occurred on Lincoln Boulevard and Main Street in the same time frame.

Islas noted that the rash of break-ins roused the concern of the North of Montana Association (NOMA), which interviewed area merchants and sent out email alerts urging neighbors to be vigilant.

Several merchants told NOMA they are concerned that criminals are targeting the neighborhood because Santa Monica Police Department staffing patterns are concentrating patrols in downtown areas and at the pier, away from Montana Avenue. 


ZONING ORDINANCE UPDATE PROCESS BEGINS

Dear NOMA members and friends,

The City has posted its Draft Zoning Ordinance, and the public now has a month to look at it 
before the document begins to undergo public review in hearings
before the Planning Commission and City Council. 

This important document has not been revised since 1988. The finalized version 
will form the basis of development decisions in this city for many years to come. 

An electronic version of the draft is available at this link: http://www.smgov.net/Departments/PCD/Zoning/Zoning-Update/ 
Hard copies are available at all Santa Monica library branches 
and for sale at the Planning Counter in City Hall. 
The schedule of public meetings follows here.

Planning Commission

December 11 -- Overview, Introductory Provisions, General Terms

December 18 -- Administration & Permits, Base & Overlay Districts, Residential Neighborhoods 

January 8 -- Base & Overlay Districts; all other chapters

January 15 -- General Regulations

January 22 -- Related Provisions

February 5 -- Recommendations to City Council

City Council

March 3, 4, and 11 -- review

March 25 -- adoption


WAVE OF BREAK-INS REPORTED ON MONTANA AVENUE

November 11, 2013

Dear NOMA members and friends, 

We at NOMA have learned that there has been a rash of break-ins on Montana Ave. over the past week, and we'd like to alert everyone to be aware and vigilant of what is going on around you.

After talking with merchants, we have learned that there were five break-ins on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. In each of those cases, someone broke through a door or window, gained access to a store and made away with between $100 and $200 in cash. The stores hit last week were Number One Beauty, Andrew's Cheese, Palmetto, SemiPrecious and Citron. 

Jack Tour, who has owned Number One Beauty for 28 years, said his store was robbed at about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, November 6. The other four stores were robbed between approximately 2 and 4 a.m. on Thursday, November 7. 

Then, Sunday night, another store was hit: Cheeky Chic, a pop-up store at 1624 Montana Avenue. After gaining entry by smashing the glass in the front door, someone stole designer leather goods with a retail value estimated at about $4,000. 

Montana merchants are saying that this is the largest sweep of burglaries on stores along the avenue that anyone can remember over the past thirty years. Several said they are concerned that criminals are targeting the neighborhood because Santa Monica Police Department staffing patterns are concentrating patrols in downtown areas, away from Montana Avenue. 

Scott McGee. the Santa Monica Police Department's neighborhood resource officer for our area, tells us there have also been at least one recent window smash burglary each on Wilshire and on Main Street. Officer McGee says officers are coming in outside of their normal working hours to work these cases. "It's important to us and just a matter of time" before the suspect or suspects are apprehended, he said. 

We will provide additional details as we get them. Neighbors are advised to notify police promptly if they notice anything suspicious. Dial 911 in an emergency; otherwise, the Santa Monica Police Department's non-emergency number is: 310-458-8491.

THANKS TO ALL WHO SHARED PARK CONCERNS
WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS DAVIS, WINTERER, MCKEOWN

     November 8, 2013 -- Many thanks to all the concerned residents who turned out at the monthly NOMA meeting to share their concerns about the Council's recent vote to permit commercial training in historic Palisades Park with Council Members Gleam Davis, Ted Winterer and Kevin McKeown. The proposed ordinance had drawn sharp criticism from a coalition of all the city's seven neighborhood groups, as well as the Recreation & Parks Commission and the Landmarks Commission.

Many NOMA members and friends rose to ask the Council Members to reverse their decision, saying that Palisades Park is a unique, tranquil and irreplaceable haven for quiet contemplation and the enjoyment of nature. 

Council Members Davis and Winterer urged residents to give the ordinance a chance to work, and said they anticipated the ordinance would give the city an opportunity to impose order on the iconic gateway. Davis also said she felt  it would be impossible to ban commercial uses from the park, citing her observation of movie shoots and a recent children's birthday party held there. McKeown said he opposed the use of Palisades Park by trainers, but supported the ordinance because he felt that some regulation would be better than nothing at all. 

NOMA resident and attorney Stan Epstein said the Council had approved a poorly drafted ordinance that would not be able to effectively regulate the use of the park without extensive revisions. (See Bill Bauer's column outlining Epstein's objections here.) Phil Brock, chair of the city's Recreation and Parks Commission, said recent changes in city staffing make it unlikely that the ordinance will be effectively enforced in any case, because park rangers have been assigned other duties that keep them away from Palisades Park. 

NOMA board members said they would continue to coordinate with other neighborhood groups to seek solutions to citywide concerns about commercial use of scarce city park land.

In other actions, the NOMA board voted to:

-- Support the effort to save "Chain Reaction," the landmarked Santa Monica statue designed by Pulitzer Prize winning Los Angeles Times cartoonist Paul Conrad. (Please see the website of www.savechainreaction.com for information on how to sign the petition, donate, and contact elected representatives.) 

-- Joined with the boards of five other Santa Monica neighborhood organizations in endorsing a joint proposal to better define "Tier 2 Community Benefits" that may be considered by the city of Santa Monica in return for granting developers greater height and density allowances for proposed projects. More information about that effort is here and here.



CLICK HERE to see previous NOMA Bulletins. 

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