SMCLC Tells the City - "No Backroom Deals"

SMCLC and 150 of our supporters have sent an Open Letter to the City Council urging them not to reward a developer who demolishes affordable housing in order to build luxury condos with a "Development Agreement." Trammell Crow Company, a Texas based company, has evicted 47 families and now seeks to build 4-story multi-million dollar condos exceeding the zoning standards in the neighborhood.

June 8, 2009

Re: Item 6-A – No Development Agreements to Demolish Affordable Housing

DEAR CITY COUNCIL:

Trammell Crow Company, a large Texas-based development group, recently purchased the property at 301 Ocean Avenue and then evicted the 47 families living there.  Their plan is to tear down the existing building and replace the current affordable housing with high-end luxury condominiums priced for millions of dollars each.

We are concerned that Trammell Crow Company may soon seek a “Development Agreement” from City Council, granting them the right to build a bigger project at 301 Ocean than current zoning allows.

SMCLC has gone on record opposing "Development Agreements," which enable developers to build larger structures than they could under the current zoning code. "Development Agreements" make a sham of zoning as they allow wealthy developers to play by a different set of rules than the rest of us: If you don't like the zoning, you can change it for your project. Additionally, residents don't have a voice when these backroom deals are made; deals that profoundly affect their neighborhoods.

SMCLC urges the Council not to grant, or enter into discussions to grant, Trammell Crow Company a "Development Agreement" for the 301 Ocean Avenue site. Such a deal would be an affront to all Santa Monica residents concerned about the ongoing destruction of affordable housing.

We believe that City Council should be doing everything in its power to protect affordable housing, not incentivizing developers to demolish it by allowing them to build even larger, more profitable projects than the City normally allows.

Negotiating an agreement with Trammell Crow Company under these circumstances would be rewarding the worst kind of corporate behavior, encouraging developers to continue to evict Santa Monica families from their homes.

We suspect Trammell Crow Company will approach the City to ask to negotiate such an agreement. We will be watching carefully to see how the City responds and to see the message Council sends to developers who seek to destroy Santa Monica affordable housing.

Joy and Ken Abbott
Linda Albertano
Sarah Jane Allen
Sarah Elizabeth Allen
Warren Allen
Christine Angelli
Peter Altschuler
Eddie Arias
Lawrence Arnstein
Seda Aznavour
Paul Bailey
Michael Ballard
Mahmoud Baouni
Bill Bauer
Jolianne Baum
Mindy Beardsley
Lily Bell
Ron Bergan
Deborah Berger
Phyllis Bernard
Marian Blount
Heidi Marshall Booth, M.S.S.
Reuben Branfman
Patricia and Vincent Bruno
Demetra Canning
Catherine and Gordon Capps
Diane Citron
Avery Cobern
Rev. Jim Conn, former Mayor
Edward Costello
Jill and Don Crumbo
Joanne Curtis
Grady Ross Daugherty
Lisa DeCovolo
Oscar de la Torre
Lynn de Vollance
MaryAnn Dolcemascolo
Willow Evans
Francine Fanali
Rochelle and Nino Fanali
Neil Feineman
Gale Feldman
Mary Fenstermacher
William Follett
Marta Foust
Victor Fresco
Beth-Ellen Fried
Susanna Friedlander
Aaron Furlong
Dr. Daniel Galamba
Debra Gendel
Andrew Geranthor
Marge Ghiz
Susan Giesberg
Paula Goldman
Diana Gordon
Georgia Griggs
Beverly Haas
Don Hamilton
Patti Harburg-Petrich, P.E.
Ed Harker
Julia Sherburne Harris
Susan Hartley
Jim Haygood
Phil Hendricks
Willeen Hernandez
Scott Hobbs
Bobbe Houston
Dwayne Howard
Mary Hubbell
Caroline Jacobs
Zina Josephs
Shirley Kelson
Randall Klarin
Elizabeth Koers
Carol and Roland Koncan
DJamal Kord
Sherrill Kushner
Jeanne Laurie
Ila Lavont
Leon LeBuffe
Mary Legallet
Julena Lind
Maria Loya
Mary Marlow
David Misch
Sam Mock
Linda Modaro
Andrew Monroe
Mona Moore
Karin Morris
Lori Nafshun
Doria Nappi
Bea Nemlaha
Bethany Neubauer
Susan and Donald Nierlich
Janet Niimi
Barbara and Ron O’Meara
Maynard Ostrow
Audrey Parker
Cris Pernoll
Jerry Persky
Ellen Phillips
Carlos Pineiro
Jim Price
Kathryn Raddon
Tony Radford
John Reynolds
Ruth and Larry Rosen
Mary Rushfield
Lavelle Saier
Julia Salstrom
Gary Samson
Jacob Samuel
Judith Samuel
Lorraine Sanchez
Susan Scarafia
Holly Scholder
Jeff Segal
Marge Seitel
Stephen Sheridan
David Sherr
Sara Smith
Catherine Snedaker
Phyllis Johnston Sorter
Helen Spaulding
Lois Storey
Linda Sullivan
Naomi and Lawrence Taube
Dish Taylor
Roger Templeton
Laura and Christopher Thixton
Peter Tigler
Ruth and Derek Tilsley
Lee Trask
Angela Ungerean
Linda and Jon VanNess
Betty Yamamoto
Emily Wagner
Chris Wallace
Ty Wapato
Carrie Weil
Alicia Wille
Ted Winterer
Brian Wolf