Fee for Razing Low-Cost Lodging on Coast Rises

Property owners who want to demolish low-cost lodging in Santa Monica’s coastal zone, which includes nearly all properties between Ocean Avenue and the beach, will have to pay $8,000 per room to do so under a new ordinance recently passed by the City Council.

The fees will go into a fund that would be made available to groups that want to develop low-cost lodging in Santa Monica. The ordinance defines low-cost lodging as rooms costing less than $80 per night.

Councilman Ken Genser abstained from the discussion and the vote because he is employed by American Youth Hostels Inc., which has applied for low-cost lodging subsidies in the past. The measure was approved by a 4-2 vote, with council members Christine Reed and Herbert Katz voting against it.

The state Coastal Commission, which regulates building in coastal zone areas throughout the state, has a $5,000-per-room fee in effect, and gives such fees collected within Santa Monica to the city for development of low-cost lodging. City Manager John Jalili said the council would have to receive commission approval to implement the new fee.