According to our latest Santa Monica Pulse, residents are ready to drop Los Angeles County’s strict mask mandates. The state of California recently lifted its mask mandate for vaccinated people in most indoor settings. However, LA County has opted to keep indoor mask mandates for all. We asked residents if they agreed with LA County’s decision, or if the County should adopt the state’s less stringent mask mandate. 83 percent thought the County should adopt the state’s mandate, while 14 percent thought the County should keep its more stringent mandate. Less than three percent said they weren’t sure.

This month’s poll also focused on a couple key developments in the city. We asked residents if they were in favor of a proposed over 800,000 sq.ft. development on the site of Gelson’s lot which would include 10 buildings with 521 apartments, 10 percent of which would be considered affordable. The majority of residents — 66 percent — said they were not in favor of the development. About 23 percent said they were in favor and another 11 percent were unsure.

The future of Parking Structure 3 in downtown Santa Monica is also uncertain as its scheduled demolition was recently put on hold. When asked if they believed closing Parking Structure 3 and replacing it with affordable housing (the city’s original plan) would reduce crime and homelessness in downtown Santa Monica, only eight percent of respondents said yes. 78 percent said closing the structure and replacing it with affordable housing would not reduce crime and homelessness. Another 13 percent were unsure.