By Jorge Casuso

January 6, 2025 -- Santa Monica began the year with a new interim head of planning as the City Council begins quickly shifting its policies to make it easier to build new housing.

Last month, City Manager David White appointed Planning Manager Jing Yeo as Santa Monica's acting director of Community development effective December 31.

Yeo will replace David Martin who retired after more than a decade helping steer the physical development of a city coveted by builders and fiercely guarded by grassroots activists.

Yeo will serve in the role while the City wraps up a nationwide search for a permanent director that began with Martin’s retirement announcement in September ("Planning Head Who Helped Shape Santa Monica to Retire," September 19, 2024).

“Jing is a tremendous asset to the department, and I am grateful for her willingness to step up and lead the team as we finalize the recruitment process,” White said.

“Her extensive experience and vast knowledge will be critical in this time of transition,” White said.

Yeo joined Santa Monica’s Planning Division in 2006, starting as a senior planner and working her way up to planning manager in 2016.

Before working for Santa Monica, she served as a principal planner for the city of Palm Springs.

She holds a bachelor's degree in urban and economic geography from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in planning and urban design from the University of Toronto.

Yeo takes the helm as the City's longstanding development wars have been replaced by State-mandated housing policies that have removed most of the public's input on housing development.

At its first full meeting last month, the Council unanimously approved a process that grants "swift and smooth approval" for large housing projects in non-residential neighborhoods that meet zoning standards ("Council Makes it Easier to Build Large Housing Projects," March 18, 2024).

The vote reversed a policy put in place by the previous slow-growth Council that required projects on sites larger than an acre to undergo discretionary hearings and a costly environmental review.

The previous policy was prompted by the approval of a 521-unit housing development at the Gelson's site on Lincoln Boulevard that required only administrative approval from planning staff and a design review ("Gelson's Project Gets First and Final Board Approval," March 5, 2024).