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City Council Meeting: October 23, 2007 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2240 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SECTIONS 4.36.040 AND 4.36.110 OF THE SANTA
MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO CLARIFY THE COUNCIL'S INTENT WITH RESPECT
TO THE TIMING OF PERMANENT RELOCATION BENEFITS INCREASES
WHEREAS, on June 12, 2007, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number
2234 (CCS) amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.36, the Tenant
Relocation Assistance Ordinance, in part to provide for annual adjustments of the
amounts of permanent relocation benefits due tenants; and
WHEREAS, certain property owners have taken the position that they need not
pay tenants the adjusted amounts despite the fact that the tenants had not yet vacated
their units by the effective date of the increase, since the owners had previously
escrowed relocation moneys or otherwise begun relocation proceedings before- the
effective date; and
WHEREAS, the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance has always provided
that tenants in possession of their- units are entitled to the benefits established by the
ordinance, effective as of the date the tenant vacates the unit, regardless of the timing
of prior filings or service of termination notices; and
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WHEREAS, the existing requirement of paying the tenant the amount in effect
when the tenant vacates effectuates the purpose of the ordinance which is to afford the
tenant assistance necessary to acquire replacement housing; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 2234 (CCS) was not intended to modify this aspect of
the law; and
WHEREAS, the clarifications of this ordinance are declaratory of existing law,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4.36.040 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 4.36.040. Amount of relocation fee.
The amount of the permanent relocation fee payable pursuant to the
provisions of this Chapter shall be established in accordance with the following
formula: 1990 relocation fee adjusted for inflation by the percentage change in
the Rent of Primary Residence component of the CPI-W Index for the Los
Angeles/Riverside/Orange County area, as published by the United States
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, between March 1990 and .the
July 1 preceding the date of vacancy rounded to the nearest fifty dollars. This
amount shall be updated annually commencing on July 1st, 2007 and on July 1st
of each year thereafter.
(a) The 1990 relocation fee established pursuant to Ordinance 1515CCS
and determined according to the size of the retail housing unit, was as follows:
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Housing Unit Size
Bachelor or Single
One Bedroom
Two Bedroom
Relocation Fee
$3,000.00
3,750.00
4,250.00
Three Bedroom 5,250.00
Four or more Bedrooms 5,500.00
(b) If a tenant is evicted from more than one rental housing unit on a
property, the tenant shall not be entitled to receive separate relocation fees for
each rental housing unit. The tenant shall receive a single relocation fee based
on the combined total number of bedrooms in the rental housing units from which
the tenant is being evicted. If one of the rental housing units is a bachelor or
single unit, it shall be counted as a one bedroom unit for purposes of determining
the amount of the relocation fee (e.g., a tenant who is evicted from a bachelor
rental housing unit and a one bedroom rental housing unit would receive
relocation benefits for a two bedroom unit).
(c) If the rental housing unit from which the tenant is being evicted is
furnished, two hundred fifty dollars shall be deducted from the amount set forth in
subsection (a) of this Section. For purposes of this subsection, a rental housing
unit shall be considered to be furnished if the landlord has provided substantial
furnishings in each occupied room of the rental housing unit.
(d) If one or more of the displaced tenants is a senior citizen or disabled
person, or is a tenant with whom a minor child resides, and the displaced
tenant(s) occupied the rental housing unit on or before November 17, 1999, an
additional one thousand dollars shall be added to the amount set forth in
subsection (a) of this Section. The amount added pursuant to this subsection
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shall be adjusted annually pursuant to the formula specified above commencing
on July 1, 2007, and each July 1st thereafter.
(e) Any tenant still in possession of a rental unit after the relocation
amounts have been updated pursuant to this Section 4.36.040 shall be entitled to
the updated relocation amounts even if the landlord commenced the termination
of the tenancy prior to the update. In the event that a landlord has already
complied with the provisions of Section 4.36.060 based on the relocation
amounts previously in effect, but has not yet received a written request from a
tenant for distribution of the fee pursuant to Section 4.36.070, the landlord shall
place in escrow the additional amount of relocation fee required by Section
4.36.040 within five working days of the effective date of the updated amount.
SECTION 2. Section 4.36.110 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 4.36.110. Applicability of relocation assistance
requirements as provided in this Chapter.
(a) A tenant shall be entitled to the relocation benefits established
by this Chapter in effect on the date that the tenant vacates the rental
housing unit.
(b) The landlord shall comply with the requirements contained in
Sections 4.36.030, 4.36.040, 4.36.050, and 4.36.060 within five days of
the effective date of any ordinance amending this Chapter or any update
of the fee amount pursuant to Section 4.36.040 in the event that a notice
to terminate tenancy for one of the reasons set forth in Section
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4.36.020(a) has already been served on a tenant or a notice to terminate
tenancy pursuant to Section 4.36.020(b) has already been served on a
landlord. In the event that on the effective date of any such amendment or
update, a landlord has complied with the provisions of Section 4.36.060
previously in effect, but has not yet received a written request from a
tenant for distribution of the fee pursuant to Section 4.36.070, the landlord
shall place in escrow the additional amount of relocation fee required by
Section 4.36.040 within five working days of the effective date of the
amendment or update.
(c) Nothing in this Chapter shall limit the amount of the relocation
fee that the City Council may require under Government Code Section
65863.7.
SECTION 3. This ordinance is declarative of existing law.
SECTION 4. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
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or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 6. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the
official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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MAR HA JOB ' MOUT E
City orney
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Approved and adopted this 23rd day of October, 2007.
~~
Ri~;cl and Bloom, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No. 2240 (CCS) had its introduction on September 25, 2007, and
was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on October 23, 2007, by
the following vote:
Ayes: Council members:
Noes: Council members:
Abstain: Council members:
Absent: Council members:
McKeown, O'Connor, Shriver
Mayor Bloom
None
None
Genser, Holbrook
Mayor Pro Tem Katz
ATTEST:
Maria M. Stewa t, City Clerk