Democratic Club Set to Launch Campaign Against Mall Redevelopment

By Jorge Casuso

March 30 -- The Santa Monica Democratic Club is poised to launch a canvassing drive opposing the redevelopment of Santa Monica Place, which has been the subject of a series of recent community workshops, The Lookout has learned.

The group’s membership -- comprised of leaders and members of the City’s powerful tenants’ rights group -- is scheduled to vote on a resolution to oppose the project Wednesday night, according to Democratic Club officials.

But the group already has printed a flyer and retained a canvassing firm to knock on the doors of homeowners and renters in precincts with high voter turnouts, Democratic Club leaders said Tuesday.

“SM residents, Join Us in Urging the Santa Monica City Council to Reject Any Massive Expansion of Santa Monica Place,” the flyer reads.

The flyer claims the proposal by the Macerich Company, which owns the struggling indoor mall, would add “more than 500,000 new sq. ft. to the 560,000 sq. ft. Santa Monica Place.”

It also claims the proposal would “double the amount of development by adding 450 luxury condos and apartments in three high-rise towers.”

The flyer appears to be referring to a proposal that included three 21-story condo towers that was scrapped in January by the City Council, which directed Macerich to start with a blank slate and seek extensive input from the community.

Macerich officials rejected the notion that there is a proposal on the table.

“Any belief that there is a specific proposal from the Macerich Company is completely and wholly inaccurate,” Macerich Vice President Randy Brant said in a statement.

“Since the Santa Monica City Council unanimously voted in January to continue the process of exploring the revitalization of Santa Monica Place, Macerich and Santa Monica City staff have, under Council’s direction, moved forward with an inclusive community outreach program,” Brant said.

The Democratic Club argues that while the council, which voted to begin negotiations with Macerich to redevelop the mall, “urged Macerich to ‘start over,’” it “did not clearly reject the proposal,” according to the flyer.

“The problem is the council didn’t say no,” said Laurel Roennau, a member of the Democratic Club board of directors. “There’s no definition of starting over.

“What we’re expecting to see is that it will be done in a back room,” Roennau said. “They’ll come back with twelve or fifteen stories instead of twenty, and that’s not going to fly in Santa Monica.”

“It’s not in keeping with the character of the city and in violation of the development standards in place now,” Roennau said.

Canvassers with PZ and Associates, of which Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights co-chair and former Mayor Denny Zane is a principal, will ask residents to sign the flyer and mail or email it to the council members, Democratic Club officials said.

The door-to-door campaign will be paid by donations from the new members signed up by the canvassers, club officials said. The members will receive updates on the project by email and in the group's newletter.

The canvassing effort comes in the midst of Macerich and the City’s community outreach efforts, which included four workshops in March attended by more than 200 residents. There will also be ten smaller meetings.

So far, more than 2,000 residents have weighed in on the project by filling out and returning “reply cards,” Macerich officials said.

The workshops, meetings and cards are part of a 90-day process to gather community input that will help the City and Macerich -- which bought the shopping center five years ago -- decide what should be done with the ten acres of prime Downtown real estate.

A consultant will gather the information and "put together a report identifying consistent themes," said interim Planning Director Andy Agle. The community input will provide City and Macerich officials with "a grounding to look for options and alternatives," he said.

A financial consultant will then analyze how much each option will cost both the City and Macerich in a report that will likely be completed in May. "We'll then go back to solicit public feedback on options and alternatives with market analysis," Agle said.

The results will then be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council "to get a sense is there a feasible program in terms of moving forward."

If the council gives the go-ahead City officials and Macerich could be ready to sit at the bargaining table in as early as half a year, Agle said.