The Santa Monica City Council went backsies on its approval of the big residential/retail East Village project, which was set to replace the much-beloved Village Trailer Park. The Santa Monica Mirror reports that a newly sworn-in council voted to rescind the development agreement, approved just last month, that would've allowed the project to proceed. The last city council had approved the agreement--the product of six and a half years of negotiations with developer Mark Luzatto--on November 27, though residents had been fighting the plan. Luzatto had agreed to downsize the development from 438 to 377 residential units and build subterranean parking, but the council seemed most concerned with the loss of up to 99 rent-controlled units in the trailer park. One councilmember told her colleagues that "this development agreement does not comply with the General Plan and the Specific Plan of the City of Santa Monica and, consequently, is void." A soon-to-be-presented report on the Bergamot Area Plan is expected to indicate that the city may not meet its goals if affordable housing provisions are not met. Village Trailer Park residents shouldn't pop that champagne just yet, though; Tuesday's vote doesn't kill the project, it merely buys the council more time to scrutinize it. Though who knows how long that will take.
· SaMo Approves New Housing On Site of Beloved Trailer Park [Curbed LA]
· New Look Santa Monica City Council Rescind Village Trailer Park Development [SM Mirror]
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