Coastal resources: local coastal program: coastal development permits: City of Santa Monica.

Removed a provision (former subdivision (b) of Section 30512.5) that would have prioritized Santa Monica for Active Transportation Program funding under Streets and Highways Code Chapter 8 if the city submitted its complete local coastal program by December 31, 2027. This eliminated a financial incentive tied to an early submission deadline.

Fixed a drafting error in Section 30610.91(e)(5) where 'This Except as provided' was corrected to 'Except as provided,' removing a stray word.

Fixed a drafting error in Section 30610.91(e)(3) where '10 years. years from the date' was corrected to '10 years from the date,' removing a duplicated word and extra period.

Section 30610.55 was deleted in its entirety. This section had provided specific exemptions from coastal development permits for the City of Santa Monica before its local coastal program is certified, including: renovations of buildings under 10,000 sq ft (up to 10% floor area/height/bulk increase), changes of use to visitor-serving uses, ADA compliance improvements, EV charging station installation in existing paved areas, and a housing development project exemption for multiunit projects near Wilshire or Pico Boulevard (effective until July 1, 2031).

The entire Section 1 containing 14 legislative findings and declarations was removed. These findings addressed the need to modernize coastal permitting for urbanized transit-oriented communities, criticized parking-centric access assumptions, cited climate and housing goals, and referenced the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

In Section 30610.91(c)(2) and (d)(2), the provision stating that the executive director 'shall not require replacement parking when there are existing areas dedicated to public parking within one-half mile of any removed parking' was deleted. This had been a safe harbor making it easier to remove parking as part of road conversions.

The annual reporting requirement in Section 30610.91(e) was narrowed to cover only subdivision (d) applications (CDP waiver requests for road conversions), no longer including subdivision (c) applications (de minimis LCP amendment processing).

Section 30610.91(e)(5) was modified so that the 10-year record retention requirement in paragraph (3) survives beyond the December 31, 2032 sunset date for the rest of the subdivision.

If Santa Monica submits its complete local coastal program by December 31, 2027 (two years earlier than the January 2029 deadline), the city will be prioritized for Active Transportation Program funding for projects consistent with its certified LCP.

If the commission fails to act on the city's complete proposal within six months, it must reimburse the city for reasonable costs associated with time spent coordinating on suggested modifications, upon legislative appropriation.

The commission must provide Santa Monica a written list of identified issues requiring further refinement within 45 days of receiving the complete proposed local coastal program, and both parties must coordinate in good faith to reach agreement on suggested modifications within six months.

The executive director's determination for de minimis processing of lane conversions must now consider public access benefits of enhanced transit infrastructure in addition to bicycle access, broadening the factors considered beyond just bicycle improvements.

If the commission fails to act within six months, it must provide quarterly written updates to the Legislature describing the reason for delay, remaining steps needed to place the LCP on its agenda, and an estimated timeline for approval and certification.

Explicit language added stating that projects including removal of public parking shall not be precluded from being eligible for de minimis processing under Section 30514(d), removing potential ambiguity about whether parking removal disqualifies a project.

The permit exemptions in Section 30610.55 no longer have a hard sunset of January 1, 2029. Instead, they remain in effect until the commission certifies a local coastal program for Santa Monica, after which the section becomes inoperative. This could extend the exemption period indefinitely if certification is delayed.

The lane-conversion provision (Section 30610.91) now requires that replacement parking not be mandated only when there are existing areas dedicated to public parking within one-half mile of any parking removed by the project, rather than an unconditional waiver of replacement parking.

The bill's state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' acknowledging that the new requirements imposed on Santa Monica constitute a state-mandated local program subject to reimbursement under the California Constitution.

New Section 30512.5 requires the City of Santa Monica to submit a complete local coastal program to the Coastal Commission by January 1, 2029. The commission must act within 6 months of receipt unless the city requests an extension. After certification and acceptance, the city immediately assumes coastal development permitting authority.

The interim permit exemptions in Section 30610.55 were drastically narrowed. The old version exempted parking management, roadway improvements, temporary events, building renovations (up to 50% footprint expansion), housing projects, outdoor dining, and bicycle facilities on state highways. The new version only exempts: (1) minor building renovations not exceeding 10% of floor area/height/bulk and limited changes of use in buildings of 10,000 square feet or less, (2) ADA compliance improvements to public facilities, and (3) EV charging stations in existing paved areas with coastal restrictions.

Section 30610.91 was expanded to cover converting 'part or all of the developed portion of an existing road right-of-way into a bicycle right-of-way, transit right-of-way, pedestrian walkway, or combination thereof' rather than just converting a single motorized vehicle travel lane. The standard for de minimis processing changed from 'additional public access benefits without significantly reducing existing public access opportunities' to 'commensurate or enhanced public access to the coast.'

A new housing exemption was added in Section 30610.55(b) that only takes effect on and after July 1, 2029 if the commission has NOT certified a local coastal program for Santa Monica. It exempts housing development projects located abutting or between Wilshire Boulevard and Pico Boulevard, where multiunit housing is allowed, excluding single-family dwellings with ADUs. This exemption sunsets on July 1, 2031.

A new subdivision (d) in Section 30610.91 allows the executive director to fully waive the coastal development permit requirement (pursuant to Section 30624.7) for lane conversion projects on non-state highways if the project provides commensurate or enhanced public access. The executive director must consider bicycle access benefits and cannot require replacement parking if public parking exists within one-half mile.

New annual reporting requirements in Section 30610.91(e) require the commission to post and transmit a report to the Legislature by January 31 of each year, including total applications received, number of waivers granted with descriptions, number of denials with reasons, pending applications, and geographic patterns. Records must be maintained in searchable machine-readable format for at least 10 years.

The sunset date for the interim permit exemptions changed from January 1, 2037 to January 1, 2029, aligning with the LCP submission deadline. The housing exemption has a separate sunset of July 1, 2031.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' meaning the bill now imposes a state-mandated local program on Santa Monica (the LCP submission requirement), which triggers potential state reimbursement obligations under the California Constitution if the Commission on State Mandates determines costs are mandated.

The sunset date for all permit exemptions under Section 30610.55 was changed from January 1, 2037 to January 1, 2029, meaning the exemptions will expire eight years earlier than previously drafted.

For housing development projects exempt from coastal permits, the location requirement was simplified from 'the city's general plan land use element, plan, specific plan, or zoning ordinance' to 'the city's general plan, specific plan, or zoning ordinance,' removing the separate reference to the land use element as a distinct document.

Minor grammatical fix in the temporary events provision: 'a total 10 days per month' changed to 'a total of 10 days per month.'

Stylistic changes replacing 'Santa Monica' with 'City of Santa Monica' in the digest and Section 3 findings.

The 'urban multimodal community' self-designation framework was entirely removed. Cities could no longer qualify by meeting criteria (high-quality transit corridor, climate action plan, Class I/II/IV bicycle facilities) and submit documentation for review.

County authority to designate individual local coastal program segments as urban multimodal communities in unincorporated urbanized areas was removed.

Permit exemptions are now limited exclusively to the City of Santa Monica rather than applying to any qualifying urban multimodal community statewide.

The exemption for Class I, II, or IV bicycle facilities within state highway right-of-way was moved from a separate statewide provision (former subdivision (d)) into paragraph (9) of the Santa Monica-specific exemptions, eliminating it as a general statewide exemption.

The Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation 30-day review process, deemed approval mechanism, five-year recertification requirement, and website posting/notification obligations were all removed as they are no longer needed without a self-designation process.

Definitions for 'coastal access zone,' 'high-quality transit corridor,' 'local coastal program segment,' and 'transit priority area' were removed since they supported the now-eliminated multimodal community framework.

The permit exemptions in subdivision (b) are now explicitly limited to the City of Santa Monica rather than applying to any city that meets the urban multimodal community criteria. A new definition states: 'City' means the City of Santa Monica.

A new Section 3 adds a legislative finding and declaration that a special statute is necessary because of the need to accelerate housing in Santa Monica and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation in the city, satisfying California's constitutional requirement for locality-specific bills.

A new sunset clause (subdivision (e)) provides that the section remains in effect only until January 1, 2037, and is repealed as of that date. The bill title is updated to reflect this repeal.

The recertification period for maintaining urban multimodal community status is extended from every three years to every five years.

The provision that documentation submitted by a city 'shall be presumed valid and sufficient upon submission' is removed, eliminating the presumption of validity.

The requirement that the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation notify the city 'in writing' of deficiencies is changed to simply 'notify,' removing the explicit written notice requirement for deficiency determinations.

The housing development exemption changes from requiring the site be 'designated for' multiunit housing to simply requiring that multiunit housing 'is an allowed use' in the general plan, specific plan, or zoning ordinance.

For building renovations, the general 150 percent footprint expansion cap is removed from the introductory language, leaving only the location-specific limits (no expansion in the coastal access zone, up to 50 percent expansion outside it).

Counties can now designate an individual local coastal program segment as an urban multimodal community if it is in an urbanized area or urban cluster per the Census Bureau, meets the same criteria as cities, and follows the same process. A new definition of 'local coastal program segment' was added.

Parking regulation exemptions now explicitly do not apply to areas between the sea and the first public road paralleling the sea within 300 feet of the inland extent of any beach or mean high tideline (the 'beachfront' area).

New subsection clarifying that the section does not limit the applicability of other existing exemptions from coastal development permit requirements.

Recertification period for urban multimodal community status changed from every 3 years to every 5 years.

New parking rate provision: local governments may increase parking rates without limitation until they reach $10 per day (adjusted annually for inflation via California CPI). Once above that threshold, increases are capped at the annual CPI change.

Local governments must make a written finding based on substantial evidence that roadway or right-of-way improvements will not reduce public access to the shoreline before approving such projects.

Temporary events now require a written finding that they will not unduly obstruct public access to the shoreline and do not prevent traversing of the shoreline. Events in the beachfront area are capped at 10 days maximum per event and 10 total days per month.

Building renovations in the beachfront area (between sea and first public road or within 300 feet of beach/tideline) may not expand the existing building footprint at all. Outside that area, expansion is allowed up to 50 percent of the existing footprint.

New provision stating that a city or county's adopted climate action plan and local road safety plan are deemed to satisfy the planning criteria if those plans apply to the relevant local coastal program segment.

Housing development exemption broadened from sites 'designated for multiunit housing' to sites 'where multiunit housing is an allowed use,' but now requires the project to qualify as a housing development project under Section 65589.5(h)(2) and excludes single family dwellings with accessory dwelling units.

Definition of 'temporary events' expanded to include motion picture productions as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 9151 of the Labor Code.

References to environmentally sensitive habitat areas changed from 'on, or within' to 'within 100 feet of,' slightly narrowing the buffer in some contexts while adding explicit distance language in others.