Santa Monica is working to take control of its own coastal permitting for the first time, a move that could eliminate a decades-old double-approval process that has slowed everything from restaurant patios to housing projects in the city's busiest corridors.
The city's Planning Division officially launched the Local Coastal Program Update at the July 23 State of the City event on Main Street, City Manager Oliver Chi wrote in his weekly newsletter published Aug. 5. The target: full certification by 2027 under a new Memorandum of Understanding with the California Coastal Commission, announced June 1.
What's been broken
Santa Monica has never had a fully certified Local Coastal Program. The city secured a Land Use Plan in 1992, but never completed the second required piece: an Implementation Plan that functions as the zoning code for the Coastal Zone.
That gap has forced every project in the zone through two separate approvals for more than three decades. First, applicants get city sign-off. Then they must obtain a separate Coastal Development Permit from the state Coastal Commission. According to a 2022 Coastal Commission report, the commission only partially certified the 1992 plan and has never certified a full city LCP.
"That double review adds real delay, cost, and uncertainty for everyone from homeowners to small businesses to major public projects, in the very part of Santa Monica that will determine the nature of our local economic recovery," Chi wrote.
What changes
Once certified, the LCP would give City Hall direct approval authority over temporary events, outdoor dining, commercial tenant improvements, adaptive reuse and residential development in the Coastal Zone. Projects that currently require months of state-level review could be handled locally.
The affected area is larger than many residents realize. Santa Monica's Coastal Zone extends inland to roughly Fourth Street north of Pico Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard south of Pico, encompassing much of Downtown including the Third Street Promenade.
Chi framed the certification as central to the city's economic recovery, writing that finishing the process will enhance the city's ability to move quickly and remove barriers for people and projects that bring jobs and investment to Santa Monica.
A legislative backstop
The city's self-imposed 2027 target runs ahead of a separate state deadline. Assembly Bill 1740, authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-51st District), requires Santa Monica to submit a complete proposed LCP to the Coastal Commission by Jan. 1, 2029, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press.
How to weigh in
At the State of the City booth on July 23, city staff invited residents to share their most cherished places in the Coastal Zone and explained where the zone boundaries run. Chi directed residents to the city's LCP project website for updates and future workshop announcements. No specific public hearing date has been set.
