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Council directs staff to begin SB79 implementation work and to prioritize Pico protections
Summary
Facing California's July 1 upzoning deadline, Santa Monica's council directed staff to prepare an ordinance to delay default state upzones where lawful and to develop a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) alternative plan, with special attention to displacement risks in the Pico neighborhood.
The Santa Monica City Council voted May 12 to start a two-track response to California Senate Bill 79, the state law that grants zoning increases near major transit stops. After a staff briefing and an extensive Planning Commission recommendation, council directed staff to prepare an ordinance (approach 2) that would identify and temporarily exclude qualifying sites from automatic SB79 upzones and to concurrently pursue a city-led TOD alternative plan (approach 3) that transfers and concentrates permitted capacity where it will more reliably produce housing.
SB79 allows increased height, floor-area and minimum densities within a half-mile of designated major-transit stops if projects meet affordability and anti-displacement requirements. Santa Monica's staff analysis showed that commercial corridors largely already meet the statute's baseline standards while residential zones (particularly R1/R2 parcels near the Expo line and in Pico) could face substantial change and displacement risks.
The Planning Commission recommended a measured two-track approach: adopt the ordinance quickly to stave off immediate impacts in vulnerable neighborhoods and develop a comprehensive TOD alternative plan that preserves the city's growth strategy (directing bigger projects to commercial corridors and protecting single-family areas). Council members repeatedly told staff to plan parcel-by-parcel exclusions and to seek legal and planning analysis about fair‑housing implications and whether capacity in the Los Angeles portion of the Bundy/Exposition transit zone may be counted in calculations.
Council also directed staff to: - Prioritize work on the Expo/Bundy zone that straddles Los Angeles and Santa Monica and examine interjurisdictional capacity calculations with HCD; - Study anti-displacement measures (including a proposed "right to return" for displaced tenants, rental assistance and other tools) and return with legal options; - Provide regular progress updates and a status report within six months, and to coordinate TOD alternatives with the seventh-cycle housing element process where possible.
The action is intended to give the city tools to shape local outcomes rather than absorb automatic upzones on July 1. Staff will forward technical questions to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and expects the agency to clarify several open points about bus‑stop eligibility, site counting across jurisdictions, and affordability thresholds.
