From the Santa Monica Lookout:

Palmdale Council Votes to Explore Housing Deal With Santa Monica

By Jorge Casuso

February 21, 2023 — (UPDATED) A skeptical Palmdale City Council last week voted to continue conversations with Santa Monica City officials to build State-mandated housing in the inland city in exchange for cash.

The “new business” item on the agenda called for exploring a “possible partnership” between the “land poor” beach city and “land rich” Palmdale, said City Manager Ronda Perez.

The proposal is “very much in its infancy stage” and involves the “potential transfer of some housing units in exchange for money,” Perez added.

The proposal—which would require legislative action—would transfer some of the 8,895 new units, 69 percent of them affordable, Santa Monica must plan to build to comply with its State mandate.

Palmdale, where land is far cheaper and more plentiful, must plan to add 6,640 units over the next eight years to meet its State quota.

The information item was adamantly opposed by Mayor Laura Bettencourt, who feared it would bring Santa Monica’s urban problems to the Antelope Valley city of some 170,000.

“I am wholeheartedly, 100 percent against this, and I would probably fight this with every breath in my body,” Bettencourt said. “It’s a terrible proposal.

“They’re offering 100 million dollars for us to put housing units in the City of Palmdale,” she said.