Dear NOMA members and friends,

Let your voice be heard.

It is critical that we all turn out next Thursday night, OCTOBER 3, at the Civic Center to tell the city what environmental issues must be studied as part of the Downtown Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The findings of this report will shape all future development in downtown Santa Monica.

This meeting will provide the last opportunity for members of the public to have substantive input on something our members care deeply about – how much height and density are appropriate for our downtown.

NOMA’S REGULARLY SCHEDULED OCTOBER 3 MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED TO PERMIT ALL MEMBERS TO COME TO THE CIVIC CENTER MEETING INSTEAD. 

The city’s plans now include eight “opportunity sites,” to be developed with far greater height and density than is permitted under current zoning. (Just one example: A developer is currently proposing a project more than twenty stories high, with more square footage than Santa Monica Place.) 

Before any projects are approved, it is essential that the city study all potential impacts of enhanced development, including impacts on traffic, parking, infrastructure, air quality, safety, and the character of our community. 

Please consider attending, making a public comment or just providing support with your presence. The format will include an opportunity for members of the public to speak for approximately two minutes each, as well as an informal opportunity to provide comments to the city's staff and consultants.

                                                     Downtown Specific Plan Meeting
                                              Thursday, October 3, 2013
                                                       6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
                                             Civic Center – East Wing
                                                    1855 Main Street

Representatives of NOMA will be present at the meeting to assist. We will send out talking points shortly.

Please respond to this email at NOMAboard@gmail.com to let us know you are coming.

Remember: It's our Santa Monica.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The board of directors

North of Montana Association

[NOTE: The video of this meeting can be viewed here. Community comments start at about 21 minutes in. Thanks to all who spoke, including NOMA members Carol Landsberg, Meyera Robbins and Jule Lamm.]

Dear NOMA members and friends, 

It was standing room only in the Franklin School cafeteria Thursday night, as some 200 Santa Monicans turned out to sharply criticize a development project that has been proposed for the eastern end of the city’s busy Wilshire corridor.

Dozens of speakers representing neighborhoods across the city said the project by Century West Partners (CWP) would degrade the area, not enhance it. They said the proposed project is too tall, too dense, and the wrong mix of units for the neighborhood surrounding the proposed site at the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Berkeley Street.

As the crowd roared its approval, speaker after speaker expressed concerns about the project’s potential for gridlocking traffic in the already glutted area, eating up scarce on-street parking spaces, and ruining the neighborhood's residential ambiance. 

Residents also questioned the appropriateness of  $100,000 in campaign contributions that were made by the developer to promote candidates in the most recent Santa Monica City Council election. CWP representatives declined to answer any questions about the campaign contributions.

The mixed-use residential-commercial project under debate is proposed as five stories (60 feet) high, with 81,125 square feet of space. The vast majority of the 100 planned apartments are conceived as small studios or one-bedroom units, with very few units large enough for families with children.

Neighbors were particularly critical of the company’s plan to build a 5-story building on a parking lot that currently provides a buffer between commercial and residential areas. The parcel is presently designated as an “A” lot, with “R2” zoning, meaning that it may be built to just two stories or 23 feet high under current zoning. 

“If this developer is allowed to develop residential land, that’s going to happen everywhere,” said Tricia Crane, vice chair of Northeast Neighbors Association. “This is big bucks. This project is going to be the first of many.”

Others said the project didn’t include an adequate number of affordable units, had an unattractive and boxy design, and didn’t provide adequate green space, open space, or setback from the sidewalk.

Representatives of CWP said the company would take the comments into consideration.

The proposed CWP project is only one of many that have recently drawn the ire of Santa Monica residents, as the city considers scores of new developments that promise to  create many thousands more daily car trips on already crowded streets. Dozens of residents recently turned out at meetings of the Planning Commission to raise similar concerns about a proposal by Hines/26th Street LLC to build five residential and office buildings at Bergamot Station. (Related story here.)

A recent story in the Los Angeles Times reports that Century West Partners is in the midst of building $170 million worth of apartments in the area, including a $60 million complex in Santa Monica at 7th Street and Arizona Ave. (Los Angeles Times story is here.) 

Please watch for additional information on this and other issues on our website: www.smnoma.org

Meanwhile, please sign up for NOMA’s email list to get further updates on this and other pending development projects around the city.

[Reprint of this letter in the Santa Monica Mirror here.]