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Yesterday, Assemblymember Rick Zbur (D-Santa Monica)’s heavily amended Assembly Bill 1740 passed the Senate, and headed to the Governor’s desk for his signature before becoming law. As introduced, the legislation would have dramatically changed the way cities along the Pacific Coast interacted with the Coastal Commission. However, the final legislation applied only to Santa Monica, created expedited permitting for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the coastal region and provided a clear path for the city to get approval for a Local Coastal Program (LCP).
For Santa Monica, the legislation will reduce the time and cost for projects that reduce car dependency and pollution in the city. The city has been trying on and off to get an LCP since they were first granted in 1980. With an LCP, the city will have direct control of coastal planning if they follow the plan. The city restarted the process to approve an LCP locally before sending it to the Coastal Commission for final approval last month.
“This agreement is a major step forward for Santa Monica and demonstrates what can be accomplished when local governments and state agencies work together in good faith,” Zbur said this summer when announcing he was accepting amendments to the legislation.
While yesterday’s vote was unanimous, the road to final passage was not an easy one. After the initial legislation was introduced, Councilmember Dan Hall went to Sacramento to testify on the legislation’s behalf as part of a lobbying day that also included Councilmembers Natalya Zernitskaya and Lana Negrete (who clarified that she was not in favor of AB 1740 as it was then written).
When news of the legislation broke in Santa Monica, opposition formed within the city to what some felt was an overstep…that the legislation would allow the city to permit more housing and development than what was appropriate. Several neighborhood and advocacy groups, including the Santa Monica Democratic Club, formally opposed the legislation.
After Zbur accepted amendments that changed the legislation to its current form, the drama wasn’t over. Governor Gavin Newsom crafted a piece of “rider” legislation that included the original language from AB 1740. Zbur and his counterpart in the State Senate, Ben Allen, pushed back and got that language removed before it could become law.
But the drama still isn’t over! Earlier today the Santa Monica Daily Press reported on a new trailer budget bill that seems crafted to reward a longtime donor by exempting his, and only his, project from Coastal Commission review. The project, known as the Ocean Avenue project, is a 12-story mixed use hotel and apartment complex that includes a museum highlighting the work of celebrity architect Frank Gehry. The Daily Press explains the legislative language used to narrow the scope of the legislation to one project.
“To qualify, a housing project would need to meet several conditions: it must sit on an urbanized infill site surrounded by existing development and identified for residential or mixed-use development in city planning documents; meet state affordable housing law criteria; satisfy labor standards; achieve LEED gold certification or an equivalent green building standard; and stay clear of sensitive coastal areas, including land within 300 feet of a beach or the mean high tide line, or within 100 feet of a wetland or mapped environmentally sensitive habitat area.
The draft also contains a provision requiring any qualifying project to include a museum dedicated to the career of architect Frank Gehry, complete with his archives and models of his buildings, and to obtain written authorization from the Gehry Living Trust or his estate to include it.”
Budget trailer bills, such as this one, don’t follow the legislative committee process and are supposed to be used sparingly. They are written behind closed doors by legislative leadership and/or the governor’s office and don’t have to be made public until 72 hours before a final vote.
Both Zbur and Allen have publicly stated their opposition to this legislation. Friday is the last day that the legislature is in session until 2027.
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