sr-071255-5e., ~~
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DATE: May 24,1 ~~ ~~~ ~~ :~i z ~~ ~~ g~~~~~/lljS---Gopie~ {his repc~s°t gent
,~a a3.1 Couxseii~gzi.
T0: R.?vl.Dorton, City Manager emc
P'ROA'I: L.S.Storrs, Planning Director ~ '®~ ~ ~ ~~ "~
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SUBJECT: URBAN RENEWAL 'a>m: >~t~`~ -_
TRI< t-
I have read the report and recommendations of~~"the S~t~e,~ ~ ~=;
Commission of Housing, as requested by Mayor Barnard, and have
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considered the possible application of the facts stated therein ~a
Santa Monica's Hausing problems,
Possibly the most notable facts presented in the report,
from Santa Monica's viewpoint, are those having to do with sub-
standard 'Housing and overcrowding. The statistics shown reflect
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very clearly the fact that Santa t~Ionica, tiehile not among the most
blighted communities in California, is far from being in an ideal
situation.
This will be shown by the following figures, gleaned from
the report:
COUNTY OR CITY ' ALL D'slELLIiVG UNITS OCCUPIED DbdELLiNCr UNITS
~~~~.~-~~~..N _ .N- . ~. _~ _._ ~
_ _ .
., _
.. .~
percent with
' W.~ ^~ IPopulation ~i
"Perden'c 'witYi
~ i hot running lin dwelling i,Ol or more
Total j water,with n Total {units
persons per
private toilet'. dwelling unit
and bath, not "!
dilapidated
The-State..... ' 3,590,660 86 393339406:._16,.045,.635 ",. ..12,5.......
Urban 2,801,811 89.9 .2,762,530• 8;154;852 ' 10.5
Los Angeles Co. :: 1,442,681 91.2 .;1,371,043: 4,004;995 10.3
Los Angeles City; 698,039 i 90.6 666,687; 1,878,340 10.0
Beverly Hills 11,332 g9.4 10;616. 32;907 1.2
Inglewood 15,873 95.7 15,372!. 459458 " 5.9
Santa I~'Ionica 27 570 81.2 259855'! 699590 10.3
.raw ey , 3, 0 1 ,o o.
In this table it will be observed that Santa Monica is very close
to the medaan figure for urban areas in the state, while Beverly Hills
is near the top and Brawley indisputably at the bottom.
SUBJECT: URBAN RENEWAL pg. 2
rigures were taken from tine 1850 census tables, and reflect
a condition which has been improved since that time by reason of the
work of the Building Officer under the BUILD A~~RICA BETTER ~'ROGRAi~1.
It should also be considered that the figures on dilapidation take
into account structures which may have been abandoned or in any case
are not occupied.
This points up the need for an effective means of compelling
the removal of structures which are unfit for human habitation. At
the present time the Building Officer can prevent such structures
from being occupied, but the Municipal Code section governing forced
removal of such structures appears to need mare teeth.
This office has made a preliminary study of the portion of
Santa Monica bounded by Lincoln Boulevard on the East and taco
Boulevard on the North, and has found much dilapidation, together
with the overcrowding reflected in the census tables. The BUILD
AMERICA BETTER ?ROCRAM also is having significant results in this
section as to correction of dilapidation, but it appears to have
little or no effect on overcrowding.
This suggests that a housing ordinance may be desirable,
since the city has operated under the state housing act and the
building code only in the past. It may well be that a local
ordinance should establish maximum-occupancy loads for all dwell-
ing units, based upon over-all floor area, kitchen and bathroom
facilities, etc., the standards set up by the state Health and
Safety Code being obviously below the minimum necessary for physi-
cal and social health.
SUBJECTs URBfiDi RENEbdAL P. 3
As to the application of the Urban Renewal Act to Santa
P~ionica's problems, the city rides squarely on the horns of a
dilemma.
If it does nothing, conditions worsen; if housing is
upgraded, genuine redevelopment becomes much more difficult.
If through the o~oeration of the housing laws or other-
*,vise the blighted neighborhoods of the community are upgraded,
private capital will inevitably be attracted and will build new
multiple dwelling units.
Ordinarily, this should be encouraged, but the difficulty
is that in parts of Ocean Park, in particular, streets are wholly
inadequate, lots so small that a decent development requires at
least three {most lots between i~`Tain Street and the ocean from
Iicllister Avenue South are about 25 by 100 feet in dimensions) and
in addition existing buildings which are not too dilapidated as to
be subject to condemnation, are nevertheless toa old as to have a
somewhat depressing effect on surrounding property values.
Even so, any upgrading of the area will make the formulation
of an urban renewal project for the area impossible. In fact,
several experts in the field, notably Richard Ives, Regional Director
for the Urban Renewal Administration, and F.Howard Evans, Chief of
the Division of Slum Clearance and Urban Renewal,HHFA, believe that
a workable program for the area, as defined by the federal and state
acts, is nat possible even today.
rirst, they argue, the area is not a slum within the meaning
of the act, and secondly, they believe that a sound financial program
for the project cannot be worked out. Lastly, they believe that it
SUEJICTs U~Ai4 R ~'vEt~7AL :zg. ~
would be difficult, if not impossible, to find temporary housing for
the persons who would be displaced, as required by the law and that
the final development of the area would be so expensive that i.t would
take the housing to be erected out of the price class of the tenants
for whom in theory it would 'nave to be built.
RECOR;I'~LSNDATIONS
The views of Mr. Evans and I~ir. Ives notwithstanding, it is
recommended that the application of the Urban Renewal Act to Santa
i~ionica be given furt'rer study, and that if necessary the city suggest
appropriate amendments to the act.
In the meanwhile, the city cannot in good conscience overlook
its own deficiencies in the housing field.
It is,therefore, recom~riended that a chapter on housing be
drafted and added to Article v of the Municipal Code, such a chapter
to contain adequate standards an size of rooms, plumbing and sanitary
provisions, and maximum occupancies.
Such. standards, for the reason that they are necessary for
the public health and safety, could be made retroactive.
rurther, the chapter should contain workable provisions for
the effective eondemr_ation and removal of substandard structures, if
necessarily at the public expense and with the costs to become a lien
on the property.
In general, the chapter should paralle3, but go beyond, the
provisions of the State Housing Act.
SUBJECT. U~rZJ3Al ~i~wAL Pg. 5
After all, Santa Monica, which enjoys its much vaunted
climatic and geographic advantages, cans~ot afford to be the
epitome of the median city in a state wherein housing conditions,.
as depicted in the 19.54 report of the State Commission of Housing,
are far from satisfactory.
Santa Monica should head the list in percentage of
buildings not dilapidated and having hot running water, and be
at the bottom of the list in terms of number of overcrotaded units.
Anything less is a compromise of the public '_nealth and ever the
economic interests of the citizens.
Bnelosuress
I+iap showing housing conditions South of Pico Boulevard and
hest of Lincoln Boulevard.
Study shocaing possible pattern for redevelopment of
portion of Ocean Park.
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