A development that will provide 56 affordable apartments for seniors downtown is moving forward Monday.

The Architectural Review Board will provide feedback on the design of a seven-story apartment building with ground-floor commercial space planned to rise on a vacant lot at 711 Colorado Ave. The project from WS Communities has been in the works for almost two years.

Read More: https://www.smdp.com/senior-housing-heads-to-arb-for-discussion/175594

Mark Yaskoweak, the "nightmare neighbor" at an affordable housing building on the beach, was arrested by Santa Monica police Wednesday evening after Sheriff's deputies trapped the reclusive tenant in a cat-and-mouse scheme.

According to police records, a call for service at the location of the Community Corporation building on Vicente Terrace was logged at 6:30 p.m. and concluded at 10:53 p.m.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/May-2019/05_17_2019_Nightmare_Neighbor_Arrested.html

His rants and threats in the hallway of an old Santa Monica apartment building have earned him the nickname "the nightmare neighbor."

His name is Mark Yaskoweak and according to court records obtained by The Lookout he "has been under investigation with federal authorities for domestic terrorist threats."

Standing 6'4' and weighing more than 300 pounds, Yaskoweak has intimidated law enforcement officers who have staged several efforts to evict him and frightened other tenants in the Community Corporation building on the beach south of the Pier.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/May-2019/05_16_2019_Nightmare_Neighbor_Poses_Risk_to_Law_Enforcement_Court_%20Records_Show.html

Los Angeles officials are moving to provide free legal representation to tenants facing eviction.

The city’s budget and finance committee last week asked the chief legislative analyst to identify $2 million to help launch a right-to-counsel initiative.

Read More: https://la.curbed.com/2019/5/16/18623160/right-to-counsel-los-angeles-evictions-free-attorney

The United States is facing an affordable housing crisis.

Nearly two-thirds of renters nationwide say they can’t afford to buy a home, and saving for that down payment isn’t going to get easier anytime soon: Home prices are rising at twice the rate of wage growth. According to research from the advocacy group Home1, 11 million Americans (roughly the population of New York City and Chicago combined) spend more than half their paycheck on rent. Harvard researchers found that in 2016, nearly half of renters were cost-burdened (defined as spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent), compared with 20 percent in 1960.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that a renter working 40 hours a week and earning minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment (i.e., not be cost-burdened) in exactly zero counties nationwide.

Read More: https://www.curbed.com/2019/5/15/18617763/affordable-housing-policy-rent-real-estate-apartment

SB 50

A controversial housing bill that would have made sweeping changes to California’s zoning rules won’t advance this year, after lawmakers decided Thursday to hold the measure’s next vote until 2020.

If passed, Senate Bill 50 would allow fourplexes in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes, and force cities to approve taller, denser apartment buildings near transit stops and in “job-rich” communities. But moments before the bill was set to undergo a key vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee, lawmakers announced the bill will be held for the rest of the year, coming back up for a vote in January.

Read More: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/controversial-housing-bill-that-challenges-single-family-zoning-is-dead-for-the-year/ar-AABswHe

AND: https://la.curbed.com/2019/5/16/18628217/senate-bill-50-status-postponed

City staff are asking the Council to contract with an outside consultant to manage their homeless tracking system. In order for the City to receive federal funds for homelessness, they are required to maintain a standardized Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). Until 2014, the City used its own employees to man the system but then decided it would be more effective to hire outside help.

Read More: https://www.smobserved.com/story/2019/05/15/news/santa-monica-to-pay-85000-annually-to-consultant-to-track-the-homeless/3944.html

The City Council Tuesday night voted unanimously to permanently ban market rate "micro units" in Santa Monica but will revisit the issue later this year.

While amending the zoning code to ban market-rate Single Room Occupancy (SRO) developments, the Council acknowledged the units -- which range from 220 to 375 square feet -- could fill a niche in the local housing market.

The ordinance excludes 100 percent affordable housing projects or certain specialized housing uses such as emergency shelters, transitional housing and supportive housing citywide.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/May-2019/05_15_2019_Council_Permanently_Bans_Market_Rate_Micro_Units.html

AND: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-city-council-voted-tuesday-to-prohibit-apartments-smaller-than-375-square-feet/175541

Worried it might be missing the forest for the tree, the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday voted to allow a lone sycamore to remain while staff crafts a tree ordinance for the entire city.

The vote capped a four-hour meeting that included testimony from some 70 speakers who debated the merits of an 82-foot-tall tree that has shaded the property at 1122 California Avenue for nearly 100 years.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2019/May-2019/05_15_2019_Old_Sycamore_Triggers_Citywide_Tree_Ordinance.html

AND: https://www.smdp.com/the-sycamores-are-outstanding-specimens-of-their-species-with-a-remarkable-and-uncommon-canopy/175538

By Pico Neighborhood Association Board of Directors

Over the past two decades, the Pico Neighborhood has become a very desirable area for developers and land speculators.

The Pico Neighborhood Association (PNA) and Friends of Sunset Park (FOSP) have been advocating to create the Pico Neighborhood Zoning District (PNZD) to protect the character and scale of the neighborhood.

On Wednesday night, the Planning Commission will discuss what zoning changes to recommend to the City Council to achieve these goals.

What has become very clear is that the zoning tool that representatives from PNA and FOSP advocated for has been weaponized against us to do the exact opposite.

Read More: http://surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/letters/Letters-2019/05_15_2019_OPINION_Community_Not_Staff_Should_Chart_Future_of_Pico%20Boulevard.html