Monthly NOMA Meeting
Monthly Meeting:
June 2021: TBA
7:00 p.m. via Zoom


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City of Santa Monica Meetings
City Council 
May 11, 2021
​Agenda >
Online Video & Audio Services >
Planning Commission 
May 12, 2021
​Agenda >
Online Video & Audio Services >

Electrify Santa Monica Rebate Opportunity

​The City of Santa Monica is offering rebates for the replacement of natural gas equipment with efficient all-electric alternatives. For residential properties, applicants may apply for up to $1,000 in rebates. Eligible low-income applicants may receive up to $1,800 in rebates. Funding is limited and applications will be accepted until funding is exhausted. Learn more >

Additional funding is available for electric appliances through Southern California Edison’s Rebate and Incentive Programs. Applying for both rebate programs is encouraged for maximum savings. 

Spring Cleanups in Santa Monica

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Let's work together to keep our community clean!
Get a cleanup kit at one of the convenient Santa Monica locations listed below and pick up trash around your business or neighborhood. Kits will be available for pick up through August 31.

Snap some pix - you may get a prize!
Starting Thursday, April 22 through Tuesday, June 1, snap a picture of yourself or your group when you're out cleaning and post on your social channels using #WeAreSantaMonica and #SantaMoniCARES for a chance to win a $100 gift card to a Santa Monica business!
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Pick up your Cleanup Kits at:
Animal Kingdom
Downtown Santa Monica, Inc
In2Deep Diving
Perry's
Pico Improvement Organization
Santa Monica Travel & Tourism
Ten Women Gallery

Spring Cleanup Swag
Downloadable Poster >
FREE yard signs are also available for pick up.

Please contact 311@santamonica.gov for more info.

Summer Camp and Class Registration Now Open

Shake off the past year and jump into summer with Santa Monica recreation programs!  Recreation classes for youth and adults will start in June.  Summer break youth camps will be available June 14 - August 13 (Monday-Friday).

Priority online registration is now open to Santa Monica residents. Non-resident registration will open Wednesday, May 12 at 6:00 a.m. Online registration is required; walk-up registration is not available. ​

Register with SMAlerts to Stay Informed

Dear Members and Friends,

​There's no doubt we live in challenging times. To keep you informed of emergencies and other significant public safety incidents, the Santa Monica Police Department recommends you register with SMAlerts which will enable the City to provide you with critical information when needed.

If you’re interested in receiving such alerts from the City, please go to the link below and register.
​ 
santamonica.gov/alerts

City Launches 311 Program to Improve Customer Service

Santa Monica 311, available in English and Spanish, is an integrated program accessible via phone, email, and web.  The City also launched a new mobile app that replaces the Santa Monica Works/Go system to make it easier to contact the City and submit requests. ​The new 311 program will allow residents to access information they need about City services quickly, in multiple languages, via phone, email, web, and mobile device. Read More >

Take the Santa Monica Sustainable Works Survey

In order to better serve our community and help build a more sustainable tomorrow, we want to get to know you better. Your feedback on this survey will help us craft programs to meet your sustainability and climate action goals. This survey should take you no more than 5 minutes to complete and all responses are anonymous.

Community Survey & Zoom in on Your NRO

Community survey on draft concepts to plan for housing in Santa Monica, 2021-2029
https://www.santamonica.gov/housing-element-update-draft-concepts?mc_cid=ecee0d7201&mc_eid=a33a80fc1c
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), on behalf of our state government, has assigned Santa Monica to plan for nearly 9,000 new housing units by 2029, with 70% required to be affordable. There’s no state funding for this, and it would increase our city’s population by about 20%. Please click on the link above to take the survey to let your voices be heard.

Zoom In On Your NRO - Beat 4
Every Tuesday at  1:00 PM
Below is the zoom link information for the Beat 4 weekly “Zoom In with the NRO”. This is an open forum with the opportunity to ask your NRO your questions. This is an online version of "Coffee with a Cop". 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/96255367218?pwd=ZUZFb3pNMUlldStPVEsvcGdFeWplZz09
 
Dial by your location
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)

Meeting ID: 962 5536 7218
Passcode: 786123
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adyNoX52aG

Sidewalk Repair Project in NOMA Neighborhood

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Excel Paving has been hired by the City to work on sidewalk repairs throughout our neighborhood (area 10N shown here). The work includes the repair, removal, and reconstruction of damaged or displaced sidewalks, walkways, curbs, driveway approaches, cross gutters, and curb ramps. 

Construction Period: 
Beginning Monday, March 22, 2021, and continuing for approximately 2 months on weekdays, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM.

Restricted Access: 
At times, portions of the sidewalk will be closed to pedestrian traffic during construction hours throughout the project work areas. Residents whose driveway approach is impacted by the construction activity will be notified prior to commencement of work on said driveway approach. 

​Parking: 
Parking around the work area will not be permitted when “No Parking” signs are posted.

NEIGHBORHOOD ALERT
​ACTION NEEDED

Two bills currently being heard in Sacramento will force cities to allow multi-unit housing in current single-family-home neighborhoods like ours.
 
If passed, SB 9 and SB 10, would:

  • Allow developers to build six (or possibly more) market rate units on ANY residential lot where a single-family home now stands. 
  • Effectively eliminate R1 single-family home districts like ours. 
  • Override local zoning so cities would be unable to stop high-density multi-unit housing from being placed in any residential neighborhood.​ 

This is NOT about affordable housing.  Neither bill addresses that issue.  
 
These bills are gifts to developers, allowing them to radically increase the density of our neighborhoods.
 
Please tell our state representatives how you feel about this issue.
 
State Senator Ben Allen: https://sd26.senate.ca.gov/contact/message
 
Assemblyman Richard Bloom:  https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD50
 
For more information: Livable California: https://livablecalifornia.org/
 
Join - Stay informed - your neighborhood organization: http://www.smnoma.org
From Livable California: SB 9 FACT SHEET/ACTION SHEET:
​IT’S NOT A DUPLEX BILL FOLKS!
 
FACTS: SB 9 allows 6 units without public input where 1 single-family home now stands. It ends single-family zoning statewide, overriding city powers.
 
SB 9, a return of the divisive SB 1120 which died in Sacramento in 2020, is soon heading to hearings before the legislature. 
 
SB 9 is not, as misreported by media outlets, a “duplex” bill. It is a radical density experiment, unheard of in the U.S. Oregon is about to launch its experiment with duplexes on single-family lots. SB 9 allows three times that level of density on your streets.
 
In 2020, even the respected League of Cities misunderstood SB 1120, not realizing the fine print allows 6-unit density without hearings. Now some legislators are waking up to its copycat, SB 9.
SB 9 lets developers choose from 3 upzoning scenarios, without public hearing or public review: 
  • 4 stand-alone houses or 2 duplexes where 1 home stands now; 
  • 6 units, a mix of houses, duplexes and granny flats, where 1 home stands now;
  • 8 units, a mix of houses, duplexes and granny flats unless a city rejects that plan 

How can this possibly fit on a lot? 
  • SB 9 works hand-in-hand with existing ADU law, or Accessory Dwelling Unit law, to quickly multiply upward from a simple “duplex” to 6 units, and even 8 units;
  • No garage required, just 1 parking “space” per unit, to squeeze in extreme density;
  • No parking required within ½ mile of major transit, or in a designated historic district, or when the Accessory Dwelling Unit is part of another building; 
  • No yard required, just 4-foot setbacks, crowding up against neighbors;
  • SB 9 allows speculators to create this density on lots as small as 1,200 sq. feet;
Whether poor, working-class or well-off, from South L.A. to Santa Barbara to Oakland, homeowners would lose all say over the zoning of the street they put their savings into.
 
Top scholars agree that such state-ordered upzoning will drive land costs very high, and in turn housing costs will spiral upward, not down.
 
Please see below if you wish to understand the complex “Three Scenarios” mechanisms of SB 9, missed even by the League of Cities, and missed by California’s largest media outlets* in 2020 when this bill was titled SB 1120 — and died on the Assembly floor. 
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SB 9’s Three Scenarios
Analysis by Livable California Volunteer Attorneys and Urban Planners Lead author: Retired attorney Nick Waranoff - December 2020
 
SB 9 would allow 8 units where there is now one lot (one parcel). A city, however, would not be required to approve more than 6 units. Here is how this would happen:
 
1. SB 9 would add Govt Code section 65852.21(allowing 2 units on a single parcel in a single-family residential zone [the so-called “duplex” provision, but in reality a “two residential units” provision]) and Govt Code 66411.7 (the lot-split provision). 
 
a.)  The two residential units on one parcel provision authorizes two residential units on a single lot in a single-family residential zone.
 
b.)  The lot-split provision authorizes a single lot to be split into two lots of equal size.
 
c.)  An application to do either or both of these is processed ministerially, by right.
 
d.)  There is no requirement for affordable housing and no CEQA review.
 
2. Under existing law, there is also a right to one Accessory Dwelling Unit and one Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit per parcel (Govt Code 65852.2).
 
a.)  An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) can be attached, or detached from an existing home, or a conversion of an existing space such as a garage. A local agency is prohibited from establishing a maximum size of an ADU of less than 850 square feet, or 1,000 square feet if the ADU contains more than one bedroom. When ADUs are created through the conversion of a garage, carport or covered parking structure, replacement off-street parking spaces cannot be required by the local agency (Gov. Code 65852.2, subd. (a)(1)(D)(xi)).
 
b.)  A Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (JADU) can be created within the walls of a proposed or existing single-family residence or garage and shall contain no more than 500 square feet.
 
c.)  A local agency can limit the places within its jurisdiction where ADUs can be located, only based on the adequacy of water and sewer service, and the impacts on traffic flow and public safety, if the agency chooses to pass an ordinance.
 
d.)  “Although cities and counties are mandated to permit ADUs and JADUs, they are not required to adopt ADU and JADU ordinances. However, any city/county that does adopt an ADU ordinance, must submit the ordinance to HCD [California Dept. of Housing and Community Development] within 60 days.”
 
e.) There is no requirement that an ADU or a JADU be limited to affordable housing.
 
3. Under SB 9, three allowed densities, of 4 units to 8 units would be allowed on what is one lot today. The three scenarios are:
 
a.) Scenario One (4-unit density):  The “two residential units” provision of SB 9 (sometimes mistakenly called the “duplex” provision, but not limited to “duplexes”) is invoked but not the lot-split provision: The single lot can now have two free-standing houses, two townhouses, or a duplex. There is no requirement as to whether the two residential units be a “duplex,” or attached to each other, or free-standing. In addition, an ADU and a JADU are allowed as of right on the parcel. Total 4 units: “Two residential units” plus an ADU and a JADU on a single lot.
 
b.) Scenario Two (6-unit density):  The lot-split provision of SB 9 is invoked, but not the “two residential units” provision allowed on each of the two new lots. One lot becomes two lots. Each lot can have one free-standing house or townhouse, PLUS an ADU and a JADU. Total 6 units: “Two residential units” plus two ADUs and two JADUs, on a single lot that has been halved into two lots. 
 
c.) Scenario Three (8-unit density):  Both the lot-split provision and the “two residential units” provision are invoked. One lot becomes two lots. Each lot can have two free-standing houses or townhouses, PLUS each lot is entitled to an ADU and a JADU. Total 8 units: Four “residential units” plus two ADUs and two JADUs, on a single lot that has been halved into two lots.
 
Note regarding Scenario Three:
Under SB 9, a city is not required to approve an ADU or a JADU where both the lot-split provision and “two residential units” provision are invoked. So a city could limit the eight-unit scenario to four housing units on what was formerly one parcel (one lot). See proposed section 65852.21(e), part of the “two residential units” provision, that would provide, “Notwithstanding Section 65852.2 [the existing ADU law referenced above], a local agency shall not be required to permit an accessory dwelling unit on parcels that use both the authority contained within this section [the two residential units section] and the authority contained in Section 66411.7 [the lot-split section]” and proposed section 66411.7(h), part of the proposed split-lot section, that would provide, “Notwithstanding Section 65852.2 [the existing ADU law], a local agency shall not be required to permit an accessory dwelling unit on parcels that use both the authority contained within this section and the authority contained in Section 65852.21 [the two residential units section].
 
*The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, Cal Matters, and  other media did not understand the fine print in SB 1120 before publishing “duplex” stories in 2020 that dramatically downplayed this radical experiment, underway nowhere in the U.S.

Santa Monica Housing Element Update

State law requires the City of Santa Monica to update its Housing Element every eight years. With the previous eight year cycle Housing Element (2013 - 2021) coming to an end, the City must now plan for the next eight year cycle. Santa Monica’s 6th Cycle Housing Element must be adopted and certified by October 2021. Without certification, the City could be penalized and lose important State funding. 

For more information on the Housing Element, please check out the Housing Element Update website or email HousingUpdate@smgov.net if you have any questions on the Housing Element update.

Crime Mapping

Click here for a map of local police activity in Santa Monica. Use the Santa Monica Police Department's crime mapping system to obtain crime information and register for crime alerts.
Use the Transit App to Check Realtime Bus Arrival
Transit is the Big Blue Bus official app for trip planning and real-time bus arrival information! They've partnered with Swiftly to provide more accurate, consistent, and reliable arrival predictions in Transit, and every place their real-time information is available.
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North of Montana Association: Working Together for a Better Santa Monica