Santa Rosa City Council Moves Forward On "Rent Stabilization"

SANTA ROSA - The Santa Rosa City Council moved forward on a proposed "rent stabilization" ordinance after a lengthy hearing Tuesday night.

The Council voted 4-3 to direct staff to prepare an ordinance that would cap annual rent increases at three percent on units built before 1995. The three-percent cap retroactive to Jan. 1 would not apply to duplexes and triplexes if the property owner or family member lives in one of the units.

A proposal to pass an urgency ordinance prohibiting rent increases within the next 45 days failed to garner the necessary five votes.

Councilwoman Julie Combs said the City Council hopes to bring back the moratorium proposal as a non-urgency measure that requires only four affirmative votes.

The proposed ordinance also would include a just cause eviction policy on all rental units in the city. Tenants could be evicted for non-payment or habitual late payment of rents, damaging the rental unit, violating a lease, being a nuisance or when the property owner withdraws the rental unit from the market, Councilman Chris Coursey said.

The just cause provisions are intended to prevent property owners from evicting tenants in order to substantially raise rents for new tenants.

Tenants could still be temporarily removed from a rental unit for capital improvements.

"This is only one part of the city's housing policy," Coursey said regarding the proposed ordinance. "The problem is there's not enough housing, but we're working on that too."

"It's about preserving what we have, and we want it to happen as soon as possible," Coursey said.

Combs said she hopes the ordinance will be back before the Council in 30 days.

-Bay City News, image via Patch archives