April 11, 2026
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (“SMCLC”)
An abundance of bills have come out of Sacramento that override local zoning and will lead to the gentrification of Santa Monica neighborhoods by allowing new multi-unit construction in what are currently single-family districts.
Fortunately, one of those bills—SB79—gives cities some leeway to determine where state-mandated housing will be located, as opposed to allowing developers to build wherever they want.
We urge you to adopt the alternative plan option made available in SB79 (as Los Angeles has recently done), so that Santa Monica may craft its own plan for this wave of new development, rather than letting developers make those planning decisions for us.
