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A last-minute Newsom proposal could exempt a Santa Monica housing project from the regular coastal development process. The developer, Jeff Worthe, is a longtime Newsom donor and appointee.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing for an eleventh-hour legislative proposal that would give an environmental carve-out to a Santa Monica developer who is a Newsom appointee to state commissions and longtime donor.
The draft proposal, obtained by CalMatters, would effectively exempt a mixed-use project on Santa Monica’s oceanfront, designed by the late architect Frank Gehry, from the state’s environmental regulations of coastal developments, unless the city adopts its own land use policies by Jan. 1, 2028.
The project belongs to Jeff Worthe, who, along with his wife Kristin Worthe, has donated more than $274,000 to Newsom’s campaigns and inaugural fund between 2018 and 2022, according to state campaign finance records.
Newsom appointed Worthe to the California Privacy Protection A gency Board in 2023, and then to the California High-Speed Rail Authority last year.
The Santa Monica City Council and the California Coastal Commission both approved the $350 million project a few years ago after Worthe agreed to pay millions of dollars toward low-cost housing and city infrastructure.
But the approvals lapsed, and the project never broke ground despite Worth’s promise to start building in early 2025 .
The new last-minute proposal shocked and angered a coalition of environmental advocates, who for months have urged state leaders to reject any backdoor deal to exempt any project from the California Coastal Act, a 50-year-old law that set the environmental standard for coastal development.
In May, the coalition successfully fought off a legislative proposal that would have expedited Worthe’s project. In June, they fended off another proposal from Newsom’s office that would have exempted most housing developments along Santa Monica’s shoreline from the act.
About 90,000 people live in the city, which is known for its famous pier and a long stretch of beachside restaurants and hotels.
The specific carveouts in the latest proposal would set a precedent of overriding coa stal environment protections for the interest of wealthy developers, said Susan Jordan, executive director of the California Coastal Protection Network.
“Every other developer is going to want the same treatment,” Jordan said. “It sends the message: If you have deep pockets, you get a big payoff.” Assemblymember Rick Zbur , a Democrat representing Santa Monica, said he received the proposal Monday night.
He said he opposes it because it would undermine Assembly Bill 1740 , which he authored this year to set a deadline for Santa Monica to develop its land use plan — known as a “local coastal program” — by Jan. 1, 2029.
The bill passed 76-0 in the Assembly Tuesday and is headed to the governor’s desk. The city is one of 14 in California without such a plan, which means developers must obtain individual permits directly from the California Coastal Commission, which often takes longer.
Newsom’s proposal would fast-track Worthe’s project if the city fails to develop a plan by 2028 — a soft deadline the city had set for itself in a June agreement with the coastal commission. “This isn’t about the project,” Zbur told CalMatters.
“It’s about the precedent of exempting a project and about d oing something that is in conflict (with) and undermines a bill that I just worked so hard to bring all the parties together on.” Sen.
Ben Allen , an El Segundo Democrat who also represents the area, similarly opposed the proposal, arguing it would incentivize developers to delay the city from creating a local coastal plan. Allen said he supports Zbur’s legislation instead.
“I … am not interested in unwinding that work,” he said in a statement Wednesday. Newsom has been critical of the coastal commission and appointed several pro-housing commissioners in recent years to speed up coastal development.
His proposal comes as President Donald Trump has sought to weaken California’s environmental regulations and push for offshore oil drilling.
The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the coastal commission’s authority, which environmental activists, the commission and Newsom himself see as a power grab intended to undermine the state’s environmental protections.
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