R11560City Council Meeting: October 24, 2023 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER 11560 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DECLARING
SUPPORT FOR THE BARRINGTON PLAZA TENANTS ASSOCIATION FACING MASS
EVICTION
WHEREAS, tenants of the 712-unit Barrington Plaza in West Los Angeles, the third
largest complex of rental apartments subject to the City of Los Angeles’ Rent Stabilization
Ordinance, are at risk of a mass eviction; and
WHEREAS, to prevent these evictions, the Barrington Plaza Tenants Association filed a
lawsuit against the building’s owner, Douglas Emmett, Inc., headquartered in Santa Monica,
California, on June 12, 2023; and
WHEREAS, if Douglas Emmett, Inc. the owner of Barrington Plaza, is to succeed in
efforts to remove all tenants from the high-rise building, this would be the largest mass eviction
in the City of Los Angeles since the Chavez Ravine evictions in the 1950s; and
WHEREAS, this mass eviction of over 522 occupied units, and the subsequent removal
of these units from the rental market will exacerbate market pressures for new rental units,
inevitably placing upward pressure on rent prices in Santa Monica; and
WHEREAS, Douglas Emmett, Inc. is invoking California’s Ellis Act – a 1985 law allowing
landlords to remove rental units from the market to leave the rental business – to evict hundreds
of families; and
WHEREAS, the owners of Barrington Plaza argue that the evictions are necessary to
perform building upgrades, including the installation of fire sprinklers; and
WHEREAS, the State of California and Los Angeles County in particular are already
experiencing a severe housing crisis as the cost of living far outpaces wages and inflation; and
WHEREAS, according to the California Housing Partnership, 521,596 low-income renter
households in Los Angeles County do not have access to an affordable home; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Ellis Act is to permit landlords to go out of the rental
business, but the state does not require the owner to state their intended use of the property,
and jurisdictions have limited tools for preventing the fraudulent use of Ellis and sham evictions;
and
WHEREAS, according to the Coalition for Economic Survival (CES), since 2001, the
Ellis Act has been invoked to evict 29,467 units in Los Angeles; and
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica supports its residents, of which approximately 70%
are renters, through the protection of rent stabilization and bolstering tenant rights in the city;
and
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WHEREAS, this looming eviction is especially concerning for renters in Santa Monica,
where Douglas Emmett, Inc. owns several large residential properties.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
SECTION I. The City Council of the City of Santa Monica supports the tenants of
Barrington Plaza as they fight eviction and attempt to save their homes.
SECTION II. The City Council of Santa Monica implores Barrington Plaza owner
Douglas Emmett, Inc., a company headquartered in Santa Monica, to honor the City’s
commitment to protecting renters’ rights by not evicting the tenants of Barrington Plaza and to
use Los Angeles’ tenant habitability program for any needed repairs to temporarily relocate the
tenants.
SECTION III. The City Council of Santa Monica implores Barrington Plaza owner
Douglas Emmett, Inc. to offer the tenants the right to return to their units at the lawful rent in
effect at the time the notice of intent to withdraw the accommodations was filed, plus annual
general adjustments available under the system of control, regardless of whether the tenants
provided a notice pursuant to Government Code Section 7060.2(b)(3) and regardless of the
date the accommodations are returned to the rental market.
SECTION IV. The City Council hereby directs the City Manager to transmit this
resolution to the Barrington Plaza tenants' association, the Los Angeles City Councilmember
that represents the tenants of Barrington Plaza, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and to Douglas
Emmett, Inc. headquartered in Santa Monica, and other parties as deemed appropriate.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DOUGLAS SLOAN
City Attorney
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Adopted and approved this 24th day of October, 2023.
Gleam Davis, Mayor
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby
certify that Resolution No. 11560 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of the Santa
Monica City Council held on the 24th day of October 2023, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers de la Torre, Torosis, Brock, Zwick
Mayor Pro Tem Negrete, Mayor Davis
NOES: Councilmember Parra
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk
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