SR 01-22-2019 7A
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: January 22, 2019
Agenda Item: 7.A
1 of 1
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Lane Dilg, City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office
Subject: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance Amending Section 4.36.040 of
the Santa Monica Municipal Code to Update Permanent Tenant Relocation
Regulations
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council adopt the attached Ordinance.
Executive Summary
At its meeting of January 8, 2019, the City Council introduced for first reading an
ordinance amending Section 4.36.040 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code to update
permanent tenant relocation regulations.
The ordinance is now presented to City Council for adoption.
Prepared By: Elsa Kapsinow, Executive Assistant to the City Attorney
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Ordinance - PCD - Tenant Relocation Regulations - Second Reading - 1.22.19
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City Council Meeting: January 22, 2019 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTION 4.36.040 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO
UPDATE PERMANENT TENANT RELOCATION REGULATIONS
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 7060.1(c) authorizes local governments to
mitigate any adverse impact resulting from tenants being permanently displaced from
their homes through no fault of their own; and
WHEREAS, judicial decisions interpreting section 7060.1(c) consistently authorize
monetary payments as a form of mitigation for displaced tenants; and
WHEREAS, the City’s long established relocation benefits are vital to Santa
Monica tenants, especially to those who must vacate their homes through no fault of their
own, and such benefits are consistent with section 7060.1 and decisional precedents;
and
WHEREAS, relocation benefits must be sufficient in amount to reasonably mitigate
the multitude of adverse impacts faced by tenants being permanently displaced from their
homes through no fault of their own; and
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WHEREAS, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board and City Staff has conducted
an analysis of necessary relocation benefits to adequately mitigate involuntary
displacement impacts in today’s rental market place; and
WHEREAS, that analysis concludes that modest adjustments to the City’s
permanent relocation benefits are necessary to adequately mitigate involuntary
displacement impacts on tenants.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.36.040 is hereby amended
to read as follows:
4.36.040 Amount of relocation fee—Permanent relocation.
(a) If a tenant is evicted from more than one rental housing unit on a property,
the tenant shall not be entitled to receive separate permanent 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 de termining 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).
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(b) Any tenant still in possession of a rental unit after the permanent relocation
amounts have been updated pursuant to this Section, 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 Secti on
4.36.070, the landlord shall place in escrow the additional amount of relocation fee
required by this Section within five working days of the effective date of the updated
amount.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the 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 3. 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, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any porti on of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 4. 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 sha ll become effective 30
days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________
LANE DILG
City Attorney
REFERENCE:
Ordinance No. 2601
(CCS)