Senator Ben Allen
California Senator Ben Allen’s office clarified today, October 22, that concerns about Gladstones being called a transit stop and automatically triggering SB 79 and high density construction in Pacific Palisades should not occur.
His office explained “With regards to SB 79 – it’s not a matter of if it [Gladstone’s] is considered a transit stop (for this situation), it’s a matter of if the project is located in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. This was an important guardrail put into the bill to prevent over-densifying in regions prone to fire risk.
He then cited the language from SB 79.
(3) The proposed project shall comply with all other requirements of Section 65913.4, including, but not limited to, the prohibition against a site that is within a very high fire hazard severity zone, pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 65913.4.
(2) The [local agency housing element] plan shall not reduce the maximum allowed density for any individual site on which the plan allows residential use by more than 50 percent below that permitted under this chapter, except for sites meeting any of the following criteria:
(A) Sites within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to Section 51178, or within the state responsibility area, as defined in Section 4102 of the Public Resources Code.
The Senator’s office also promised to see if he could find out how the trailer bill was inserted into the budget that was passed in September 2024.
I attended the meeting of the CCC in Redondo Beach. The applicants played a video message (You can watch her video clip in support at 6:27:00) Lindsey Horvath supports the application of Gladstone’s project, but she clarifies that it won’t be classified as a Transit Oriented Destination or lead to the construction of SB79 high-density buildings.
I’m hoping this is true. I waited the entire day to explain to them that my family had to walk 5 miles into Santa Monica because this road Sunset /PCH was blocked and putting more density would only make it another evacuation deadly.
Unfortunately every bit of sunshine (no more SB-79 density issues) has a dark side. This wording: very high fire hazard severity zone codified into the Bill is just what insurance companies will citing in their homeowner insurance policy letters.
Yes but did he address that this exclusion disappears in 3 years?