Santa Monica Daily Press

During a special city council meeting last week, council members combed through a long list of candidates for various positions, filling out the roster of volunteer positions through summer 2023. Planning Commission Shawn Landres* *Indicates incumbent 

“There’s just something joyful about this project,” said Planning Commissioner Shawn Landres. “It brings housing, it brings light, it brings historic preservation.”

Commissioner Shawn Landres said that the City should be streamlining the approval of housing projects and encouraging developers to build in Santa Monica. However, he said that with the administrative review process it is essential to set very precise guidelines on the type of housing allowed in each area of the City. “I think at

Commissioner Shawn Landres suggested adding recommendations to the community benefits agreement that would ensure that PSJ’s behavioral health grants be utilized as effectively as possible. Commissioners voted and approved the recommendations, which were as follows: 1. PSJ shall consult with subject matter experts, community stakeholders, and co-funders in the grantmaking process. Ensure a robust system

Dispensary would be located at 1416 Wilshire Boulevard By Dolores Quintana The medical marijuana dispensary Harvest of Santa Monica has been issued the conditional use permits needed to operate in the City of Santa Monica by the Planning Commission.  Along with CPC Compassion, Harvest would be the second and final dispensary legally allowed to operate

Commissioner Shawn Landres began raising concerns over the proximity of the two dispensaries, suggesting that selecting a location on Santa Monica Boulevard east of 23rd Street would extend service to another neighborhood that was “far, far away — within the context of what ‘far’ means in Santa Monica.” Landres suggested that grouping the two dispensaries

“I would like to incentivize both the applicant and the neighbors to kind of work it out, but what I don’t want to do is hold new business hostage to prior business in a given industrial zone,” said Commissioner Shawn Landres. To add accountability, Landres suggested adding a condition to the permit approval requiring that

“I want to say very clearly, as we saw in the staff report, Council explicitly exempted applications that were in the pipeline as of a certain date when it moved to restrict the production of commercial uses on unavailable properties,” said Commissioner Shawn Landres. “So I too wish this was housing, it is a great

Commissioner Shawn Landres was momentarily worried that schools and daycares would be excluded from opening up on Wilshire. However, while Santa Monica’s zoning ordinance says that a dispensary can’t open 500 feet from a school, daycare or church, these businesses can open 500 feet from an existing dispensary.

Commission Chair Shawn Landres said that he’d like to see the city approve a law that would allow three similarly sized units one lot. “So I think we need to find a way over the next year or so to develop that ordinance that we started talking about earlier tonight. It’s clear that we’re not