What's on Manhattan Beach's July 7 council agenda, in plain English

A preview digest — everything a resident actually has a stake in at the July 7, 2026 Manhattan Beach City Council meeting, jargon translated, both sides where an item is contested. Written from the primary agenda posted to the city's Granicus portal.

The Manhattan Beach City Council meets Monday, July 7, 2026. Two of the fourteen items are the ones most residents will feel in their wallet or their block: the final adoption of the city's housing-code rewrite, and a public hearing on higher parking rates and citation fines. Here is the plain-English version of each, plus how to weigh in.

How to comment (about 2 minutes)

The city takes written comment through its eComment portal at manhattanbeach.granicusideas.com. Pick the item, type your comment, submit — it lands in the public record and in front of the council. The window closes at noon on July 7. You do not have to attend in person or read the full agenda packet to be heard.

Item 6 — Housing Element ordinance, second (final) reading

What it is: Ordinance No. 26-0009 rewrites parts of the Manhattan Beach Municipal Code and the city's Local Coastal Program — the rulebook the California Coastal Commission signs off on for the coastal zone — to carry out the programs in the city's 6th Cycle Housing Element. The Housing Element is the state-mandated plan for where and how Manhattan Beach must allow new housing; every California city has to have one the state certifies. The changes touch ADU (accessory dwelling unit, i.e. granny-flat) rules, manufactured-housing rules, and supportive-housing rules, bringing them into line with state law.

Where it stands: The council introduced the ordinance on a 4-1 first reading on June 16, with Mayor Franklin voting no. California ordinances take two readings to become law; July 7 is the second. If it passes, the code changes become permanent, and the council will also consider Resolution No. 26-0054 sending the coastal-program piece to the Coastal Commission for approval.

Both sides: Supporters frame adoption as the city meeting commitments it already made to the state's housing department and reducing legal exposure for non-compliance. The dissent on first reading signals continuing council division over how far the local rules should go. The state mandate driving the underlying plan does not disappear if the council delays — the question at this stage is the shape of the local code, not whether the city has an obligation.

Item 11 — Parking rates and citation fines (public hearing)

What it is: A public hearing on raising hourly public parking rates — on-street, in city lots, and at the beach lots, both inside and outside the Coastal Zone — plus a separate increase to citywide parking-citation penalties. Four resolutions are on the table (Nos. 26-0068 through 26-0071). The agenda listing does not publish the specific new dollar amounts, so the exact rates and fines are not yet confirmable from the agenda alone; the staff report presented at the hearing is where those numbers live.

Who it touches: Anyone who parks in Manhattan Beach — residents, beachgoers, and downtown business patrons. Because this is a public hearing, July 7 is the formal chance to comment before the council votes.

Also on the agenda

Item 7 (consent): A $52,062 amendment to the engineering contract for the Parking Lot 3 Redevelopment Feasibility Study, bringing the total to $121,234 — the city is still studying what to do with the downtown lot.
Items 9 & 10 (consent): A memorandum of understanding with the Manhattan Beach Firefighters' Association and a citywide salary-schedule adjustment, both listed as no budget impact. Agreement details are not in the agenda text.
Item 13 (discussion): A request by Mayor Franklin and Councilmember Lesser to discuss capping councilmember conference travel at two trips per year.

The bigger picture

Adopting the Housing Element ordinance finalizes the legal framework under which the Sepulveda-corridor housing projects — the cluster of mid- and high-rise proposals moving through the city's technical plan-check review — advance. Those projects are not on the July 7 agenda and do not require a council vote at the plan-check stage; the code the council adopts July 7 is the rulebook they proceed under.

Sources: Manhattan Beach City Council July 7, 2026 agenda (Granicus / granicusideas.com); June 16, 2026 meeting record (Granicus clip 5255). Vote counts stated (4-1, 5-0) are from the record; individual councilmember votes beyond Mayor Franklin's no on first reading are not asserted. Specific new parking rates and citation amounts are not published in the agenda listing and are not stated here. General information, not legal or financial advice.