Santa Monica has officially pulled the plug on the long-troubled Pavilions Motel, with the City Council voting unanimously on Tuesday to approve a settlement that keeps the Sunset Park property dark and tightly controls what happens next. The deal closes the book on the city’s nuisance-abatement lawsuit and on a federal civil-rights suit the owners filed after losing their business license. Under the agreement, the 20-room Ocean Park Boulevard motel will stay vacant, and any future sale or reuse will need a green light from City Hall.
According to the Santa Monica Daily Press, the council voted 7-0 to approve the settlement with owners Saeed and Goharshad Farzam. The outlet reports the Farzams agreed not to reopen the Pavilions Motel, to drop their federal lawsuit, and to keep the property in compliance with Santa Monica’s drug-abatement, vacant-property, and public-nuisance codes. A $100,000 penalty is hanging over the deal as a suspended fine that would be triggered if they violate the terms.
What the settlement requires
Under the agreement, the owners are barred from operating any business at the site or allowing anyone to occupy the rooms. They also may not own another motel in Santa Monica for 10 years, a long timeout that effectively sidelines them from the local lodging scene.
If the Farzams decide to sell, the transfer must be an arms-length deal to a buyer vetted and approved by the city, which keeps officials firmly in the loop on who takes over. The structure is designed as a cooling-off period, aimed at keeping the property from sliding back into the pattern of activity that prompted enforcement in the first place.
Evidence cited in the city's complaint
The city’s May 2024 court complaint laid out detailed allegations of pervasive drug activity and chronic disorder at the motel. According to City of Santa Monica records, search warrants executed in January and February 2024 turned up roughly 146 grams of methamphetamine, about 98 grams of fentanyl, drug packaging, scales, and a handgun. The filing also documents five deaths at the property since 2019, at least three of them tied to drug or alcohol abuse.
The complaint describes recurring open-air drug deals in the parking lot and other conditions that, according to neighbors and police, were draining local resources and reshaping the feel of the surrounding block.
How the motel was shut down
The settlement follows a step-by-step enforcement process that played out both administratively and in court. As a hearing examiner later upheld the city’s June 2024 license revocation, then, after granting the owners a 90-day window to fix the problems, issued a March 24, 2025 ruling that the conditions had not been met and that the motel must remain closed under the current ownership for at least one year. That administrative outcome helped bolster the city’s civil case.
What comes next
City officials say they plan to keep close tabs on the Ocean Park Boulevard property, not only to make sure the settlement terms are honored but also to prevent a new problem in the form of a derelict, empty building.
The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that the Code Enforcement Division, the Santa Monica Police Department, and the City Attorney’s Office will jointly oversee compliance, and that any future sale of the property must receive city approval. If the owners breach the agreement, the suspended $100,000 penalty could be activated, and the city would still have access to the remedies it requested in its original lawsuit.
Legal context
The state nuisance-abatement case is filed in Los Angeles Superior Court as Case No. 24SMCV02305. In that complaint, the city sought to close the motel for up to one year, to levy individual fines of $25,000 per owner, and to recover its enforcement costs. The full list of allegations and requested relief is detailed in the City of Santa Monica court filing.
With the settlement now in place, the community will be watching to see whether the quiet at the former Pavilions Motel address finally lasts.
