SANTA MONICA MIRROR CAMP GUIDE - SECTION B S A N TA M O N I C A
INSIDE
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
March 31 - April 6, 2023 Volume CLXXXVI, Issue 186
Peace Activist and Artist Marissa Rubin to Be Honored With ‘Tree of Gratitude’ Tree to be planted in memory of Rubin’s life and work on Earth Day in Palisades Park By Keemia Zhang Peace activist and artist Marissa Rubin is set to be honored by the planting of a tree - referred to as the Tree of Gratitude, in Palisades Park in memory of her life and work on Earth Day (April 22). It will be a ‘sister tree’ to the Children’s Tree of Life in the same park, planted in 1983 and largely organized by Marissa, who passed away on July 28, 2022. “No one is more deserving of a living memorial,” her husband, activist Jerry Rubin, says. The couple were wed at the Children’s Tree of Life in 1983 in a combined weddingpeace rally, with 400 guests in attendance invited by public flier. The couple first met at a Santa Monica dance studio in 1982, and became inseparable as “peace partners” until
her death from stage 4 pancreatic cancer last July. “There was no ‘are you seeing other people’, this or that.” Jerry reminisces. “We were just together.” The Rubins lived in the Ocean Park neighborhood for over forty years, working on projects and protests to help better the community - including Tree Hugging Day, the No Toy Guns Campaign, and the ongoing effort to save the Muir Woods mural. In the aftermath of the 2003 Farmers Market crash, Marissa worked “hours late at night” to create artwork for posters in memory of the victims. Marissa also self-published a poetry book, titled ‘Word Honey’, with proceeds going to a local animal shelter. Prior to her marriage, she organized an artistic program named ‘ClayDance’, where artists could express themselves through dance while sculpting, and taught art classes for seniors at the Camera Obscura Art Lab. Jerry admits that, if not for his wife, he “would have given up years ago” as an activist, “if she wasn’t just right there, encouraging me in every way, encouraging her friends, and everybody she came in contact with. I’m so, so grateful.” Marissa, who attended graduate school at
UCLA, worked as an art therapist with troubled adolescents at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. When she was diagnosed and admitted for treatment to UCLA Santa Monica, she was treated for free - “they were so thankful for the work she had done,” says her husband. During her lifetime, she received a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly for her work and volunteerism. “She had many causes. Environment, art, peace, and cancer.” Jerry says. At the end of her life, his wife insisted that friends who wanted to donate allocate their proceeds to the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. A plaque will commemorate the Tree of Life’s planting, delivered from Marissa’s home state of New York. Rubin hopes that prospective attendees for the April ceremony include Blue Bus Drivers - “they just loved her”, Jerry says - city council members and Mayor of Santa Monica Gleam Davis. The Tree of Life planting was coordinated by Urban Forester Matthew Wells, a friend of the Rubins. Members of the public are invited to take
Photo: Courtesy of Jerry Rubin Jerry and the late Marissa Rubin pictured in front of the Children’s Tree of Life in Palisades Park.
part in the Tree of Life planting ceremony at noon on April 22, near the Santa Monica Pier Cannon.
City Council Approves Land Use Amendments to Implement Housing Element Amendments to zoning codes to support affordable housing production and streamline approval process By Sam Catanzaro The Santa Monica City Council has taken steps toward implementing the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element. At the March 21 meeting, Amendments to the City’s Land Use Documents, including the Land Use and Circulation Element, Bergamot Area Plan, Downtown Community Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and General Plan Land Use Map and Zoning Districting Map, were adopted
by the Council to align with the Certified Housing Element and State-assigned housing allocation. The zoning code changes will go into effect 30 days after the second reading scheduled for April 11, 2023. The Council’s action aims to support new housing development in the City’s mixed-use and non-residential zones, with a significant emphasis on affordable housing production. The new amendments require that 15% of units be provided as deed-restricted affordable units. Additionally, the Council has incorporated lot consolidation limits for housing projects on portions of Main Street, Pico Boulevard, Montana Avenue, and Ocean Park Boulevard to ensure that housing opportunities are available in each of these commercial districts while balancing existing commercial activity. According to Santa Monica Mayor Gleam Davis, “Ensuring the implementation of a compliant Housing Element paves the way for Santa Monica to address housing production. We know that housing is critical to advancing
community priorities, including addressing homelessness. Santa Monica will continue to fulfill our State-mandated obligations while being thoughtful about housing affordability.” The City’s certified 6th Cycle Housing Element streamlines the approval of housing projects through an administrative approval process and more efficient timelines, commits City-owned property for the development of affordable housing, and updates zoning development standards to support housing production across the City. It also allows new housing to be developed in non-residential zones where housing is currently not permitted, provides opportunities for housing production on residentially zoned surface parking lots and community assembly sites to minimize displacement, and encourages the development of moderate-income housing citywide. The Housing Element also aligns local regulations with State laws. Recent progress to expand affordable housing in Santa Monica includes the
approval of the designation of surplus land at three City-owned surface parking lots for the development of affordable housing, the opening of the City-funded Community Corporation of Santa Monica property Las Flores with 72 affordable apartment homes, and over 230 more City-funded affordable homes at various stages of development. The City also made a loan commitment for the Little Berkeley property to serve low-income households. With the passage of the voterapproved Measure GS, more funding sources will become available to support affordable housing production.