July 7, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

OpEd: Will We Love LUVE and Tighten LUCE?

By Steve StajichNEWS-LUVE41516

Full Disclosure: I read the Land Use Voter Empowerment or LUVE initiative, currently gathering signatures to get on a ballot, and cannot pretend to have understood each and every aspect described in it. Like a day’s fishing outing, more fish got away than made it into my ‘boat’ of understanding. I’m left playing the role of the high school student who asks with trepidation “Will we be tested on this?” I can at least answer the question “What is Santa Monica’s current development platform?” and it is the Land Use Circulation Element or LUCE… which LUVE would like to alter.

Similar to the arguments that are already fomenting online and otherwise about LUVE, it has a singular outstanding dimension which may be working both for and against the LUVE… something like the catchy ‘hook’ in a popular song. (We’ll get to it in a moment.) But once you have a hold of that ‘sticky’ riff, it is probably true that there exists a general complication with LUVE as described by those opposing it: It does feel “complex.”

Many might say that raising a teenager is “complex” but it still needs to be done. Yet you might describe the process of parenting a teen in more easily understood language than that of the text of the LUVE initiative. Of course, raising a teen does not normally involve various levels of local government, interpretation of existing laws and codes, projected social and environmental impacts – or does it? Now that I think about it, maybe anyone contemplating raising kids should be made to read a document about what’s involved that is at least as complex as the text of the LUVE.

I cited a singular aspect of LUVE and it appears to be this, copied from the online text of the LUVE initiative: “The measure would create a new permitting requirement and process. A “Major Development Review Permit” would be required for projects exceeding the LUCE’s Tier 1 maximum height (32 feet/two stories) and size limits. The processing for such permits would include review by the Architectural Review Board, which would make recommendations to the Planning Commission. It would, in turn, be required to make certain findings before recommending the project to the City Council. If the Council made specified findings and approved or conditionally approved the project, the permit would not become effective unless and until the voters approved it in a general or special election. Similarly, a new requirement of voter approval would apply to all development agreements. Any development agreement approved by the City Council would not become effective unless and until it was approved by the voters. The measure states that the developer would pay any special election costs incurred in seeking voter approval of a review permit or development agreement.”

Let’s hope the struggles with or over the LUVE initiative don’t become Shakespearean, but it’s the paragraph above that I believe is causing many to say, “Ay, there’s the rub.” A group opposed to the LUVE, Santa Monica Forward, thinks the compelling of voting demanded by the LUVE is wrong-headed. In a statement published in the Santa Monica Daily Press, the “Forward” group argues that “sometimes you need a hammer and sometimes you need a wrench, but ballot-box planning is like mandating that all future generations must use only a hammer going forward, no matter what the problem they face.”

However, I take issue with Santa Monica Forward’s implication in that same statement that the LUVE is falsely invoking that the initiative “will protect us from shadowy forces whose only desire is to ruin our way of life.” Money is not a shadowy force; it can be a sledge hammer for those who are hammer fans. Let me ask “Forward” if our city has a downtown retail area that includes not only a mall but a second multi-story shopping center that has been built not just once but twice since I’ve lived in Santa Monica… because all of that is really great for low income housing and clean air and less traffic? To borrow from classic radio, “The Shadow knows.”

And this of course is why development and planning are slippery slopes requiring, among other things, complex laws and ordinances and reviews. Should voters always have the last say in these things? In each decision that is made concerning a structure over 32 feet in height? There’s something that feels very controlling about that, although the costs and bother involved would definitely slow development in our city. Still, those with something big to gain might just put up with that. I’d rather they took a look at our LUCE and just took their money and blueprints to another city rather than decide to fight to get on one of our ballots. But that’s hoping that a certain sustained level of frustration will keep developers from overbuilding – and with that bring increased traffic and a lesser our view of the sky – just because getting things done in Santa Monica is difficult. Difficult… hm. Maybe I should take another shot at reading the complex text of the LUVE.

 

Related Posts

Michael Madsen, Star of Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, Dies at 67 in Malibu

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

Actor Remembered for His Intense Performances and as a Poet  Actor Michael Madsen, known for his distinctive gravelly voice and...

Los Angeles City Council Cracks Down on ‘Disaster Tours’ in Pacific Palisades

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

City Council Bans Commercial Bus Tours in Burn Zone Amid Community Backlash Tour buses that have been operating in fire-ravaged...

Tow Truck Scammers Target Crash Victims Across L.A.: Authorities Warn of Fraud at Accident Scenes

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

Officials Urge Drivers to Stay Alert After Collisions as Rogue Operators Demand Inflated Fees  Motorists involved in vehicle accidents are...

Woman Dies After Melrose Store Altercation: LAPD Launches Homicide Investigation

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

Critically Injured Young Woman Died July 2, After She was Badly Beaten at Work  The death of a woman critically...

CHP Officer Dies in Culver City Crash: Medical Emergency Suspected Behind Tragic Incident

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

Officer lost consciousness while transporting a suspect before crashing into a tree California Highway Patrol Officer Miguel Cano died early...

L.A. Beaches Brace for Holiday Rush: Over 1 Million Visitors Expected This Fourth of July

July 4, 2025

July 4, 2025

County Officials Urge Beachgoers to Pack Out Their Trash and  Monitor Water Quality More than one million visitors are expected...

(Video) A visit to New York Bagel & Deli in Santa Monica

July 3, 2025

July 3, 2025

Authentic NY Style Bagels with Extra Creamy Cream Cheese and Multi-Cultural Desserts. Located at 2216 Wilshire Blvd. A visit to...

Hot Dogs & Rosé: Something About Her and The Culver Hotel Roll Out Summer Specials

July 2, 2025

July 2, 2025

Westside Venues to Serve Playful Bites and Seasonal Sips For the Holiday Weekend A bold new offering is making its...

NeueHouse Hosts Bold One-Night Dinner With Culinary Phenomenon Diego Argoti

July 2, 2025

July 2, 2025

Acclaimed Chef Brings Culinary Mischief With a Five-Course Tasting Experience. NeueHouse Hollywood will host an exclusive, one-night-only dining event on...

(Video) Legacy, Reimagined: Architecture, Design & Construction by Home Front Build Los Angeles

July 2, 2025

July 2, 2025

Go To Homefrontbuild.com For More Information @home_front_build Legacy, Reimagined: Architecture, Design & Construction by Home Front Build Los Angeles Go...

405 Crash Near the Getty Sends Three to Hospital: Two Seriously Hurt Near Site Where LAPD Sgt. Died

July 2, 2025

July 2, 2025

Early Morning Multi-Vehicle Collision Shut Down Lanes Near Brentwood Three men were injured and traffic was snarled for hours following...

(Video) Jikoni, the AfriCali PopUp from celebrated cookbook author Kiano Moju Has Been Extended Until July 3 at Citizen Public Market

July 1, 2025

July 1, 2025

Bold Flavors and Spice Merge with Crisp, Chewy Chapati. Delicious With a Caring Chef and Staff. Jikoni, the AfriCali PopUp...

Pentagon Orders Troop Drawdown in LA: 150 National Guard Members Reassigned to Wildfire Duty

July 1, 2025

July 1, 2025

Federal Forces Begin Partial Withdrawal From Protest Response as California Leaders Push Back U.S. Northern Command announced Tuesday that 150...

California Highway Patrol Deploys for Independence Day Enforcement Surge

July 1, 2025

July 1, 2025

All Available Officers to Hit California Highways for Holiday Weekend As Californians gear up for Fourth of July festivities, the...

Court Postpones Arraignment for Driver in Malibu Crash That Killed Four Students

July 1, 2025

July 1, 2025

Fraser Michael Bohm Faces Murder Charges in Fatal PCH Wreck  The arraignment for Fraser Michael Bohm, the 23-year-old man accused...