Loading...
O26551 City Council Meeting: October 27, 2020 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER 2655 (CCS) (City Council Series) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS 6.22.020 AND 6.22.100 TO REVISE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIMARY RESIDENCE AND PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS FROM RESIDENTIAL LEASING REQUIREMENTS WHEREAS, the State is experiencing a severe housing crisis that is driving the cost of living beyond the reach of an increasing share of the population; and WHEREAS, the City has long been committed to ensuring that Santa Monica is an inclusive and affordable community despite mounting market pressures; and WHEREAS, through discussions that occurred as part of the adoption process for the City’s major policy documents, including the Land Use and Circulation Element (“LUCE”) of the City’s General Plan in 2010, the current Housing Element in 2013, the City’s new Zoning Ordinance, Chapters 9.01 through 9.52 of Article 9 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code (“Zoning Ordinance”) in 2015, and the Downtown Community Plan in 2017, and recent amendments to the City’s Affordable Housing Production Program, the City has identified the need for a variety of housing types to serve all household sizes at all income levels; and WHEREAS, with approximately 75% of its residents in rental housing, the City has maintained a long-standing commitment to protecting tenants and existing rental housing stock, particularly in rent-controlled housing; and DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 2 WHEREAS, within the context of the Statewide housing shortage and associated impacts on housing affordability, the City has an interest in ensuring that its rental housing stock is retained for permanent housing to the greatest extent possible; and WHEREAS, on August 14, 2018, in light of rapidly-intensifying market pressures on local rents, Council directed staff to study what constitutes “corporate housing” and “short-term rentals” for purposes of the Santa Monica Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, on December 18, 2018, the City Council conducted a study session on corporate housing in response to growing concerns about the erosion of the City’s supply of affordable housing due to market pressures, expressing particular concern about adverse impacts of renovation of rent-controlled housing and construction of new housing that appeared intended to facilitate temporary occupancy; and WHEREAS, as a result of the December 18, 2018 study session, Council directed staff to bring back options for protecting rent-controlled units, amending the corporate housing definition, revising the Zoning Ordinance to address new housing models, and enhancing enforcement measures to maximize the use of the City’s housing stock for permanent housing; and WHEREAS, on September 10, 2019, the City Council conducted a study session on policy options for existing housing stock and new housing models, smaller units, co- living models and transitory-based housing models; and WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the September 10, 2019 study session, Council directed staff to examine amendments to the Municipal Code to clarify and update regulations for multiple-unit dwellings and related uses, to possibly allow for new housing models and housing for persons who wish to reside in the City temporarily in certain areas DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 3 in the City, but to prioritize protections for use as permanent housing of rent-controlled units and the City’s existing housing stock in residential districts; and WHEREAS, temporary housing, with lease terms of more than thirty days but less than a year, typically has a higher monthly price point than rental housing subject to annual leases, thereby increasing market pressure on rents; and WHEREAS, increased demand for rental housing in the City, combined with rising housing costs across the City and the State, have made it increasingly difficult for those who live and work in Santa Monica to find rental housing that is available, affordable, and meets their needs; and WHEREAS, on September 8, 2020, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2650 (CCS), adding Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.22: Residential Leasing Requirements (the “residential leasing regulations”), which required, among other things, that: residential housing units may be leased only to natural persons (Section 6.22.040); residential housing units may be leased only to tenants who will use and occupy the units as their primary residence (Section 6.22.050); residential housing units may be leased only if the initial lease term is of no less than one year (Section 6.22.060); and residential housing units may be leased only unfurnished (Section 6.22.070); and WHEREAS, based on public comments prior to the time of adoption, the City Council directed staff to consider public comments and return as quickly as possible with any recommended modifications to the residential leasing regulations as adopted; and WHEREAS, the City is dedicated to ensuring undocumented students have access to rental housing, and desires to ensure proof of primary residence is not unduly burdensome for those students; and DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 4 WHEREAS, exempting from the residential leasing regulations certain leases of (a) owner-occupied single- and multiple-unit dwellings and (b) accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units located on parcels with owner-occupied single-unit dwellings will not adversely impact the availability of permanent rental housing stock and will provide a potential housing option for residents who may temporarily need to vacate their homes due to emergency repairs or remodels; and WHEREAS, Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapters 4.36 and 8.100 provide protections for tenants when: a landlord is required to temporarily recover possession of a rental housing unit in order to comply with housing, health, building, fire, or safety laws of the State of California or the City of Santa Monica; a rental housing unit has been rendered uninhabitable, necessitating the tenant(s) of the housing unit to no longer dwell within that unit; a tenant is required to vacate a rental housing unit upon the order of any government officer or agency because work being performed in the rental housing unit requires a temporary relocation of tenants; or a construction means and method plan demonstrates, as determined by the Building Officer, that the work being performed on the property may require that tenants be temporarily relocated; and WHEREAS, in accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.36.100, a landlord may elect to provide a tenant with temporary rental housing to satisfy the City’s tenant protections during temporary relocation; and WHEREAS, exempting from the residential leasing regulations leases that provide for temporary relocation housing for tenants who are subject to temporary relocation under Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.36.100 or 8.100.030 will further the ability of landlords to find temporary rental housing for such tenants within the City. DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 5 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.22.020 is hereby amended to read as follows: 6.22.020 Definitions. For purposes of this Chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the following meanings: (a) “Landlord” means an owner, lessor, sublessor, or any other person entitled to receive rent for the use and occupancy of any rental housing unit, or an agent, representative or successor of any of the foregoing. (b) “Lease” means an agreement, oral or written or implied, between a landlord and a tenant for use or occupancy of a rental housing unit, or any portion of a rental housing unit, and for housing services. (c) “Primary Residence” means the usual place of return for housing of an owner or tenant, as documented by at least two of the following: motor vehicle registration; driver’s license or California state identification card; voter registration; income tax return; proof of payment of resident tuition to a California public institution of higher education, including proof of payment in accordance with an exemption to payment of nonresident tuition under California Assembly Bill 540, the California DREAM Act; or a utility bill. An owner or tenant can only have one primary residence. DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 6 (d) “Rental housing unit” means any of the following that is used as rental housing within the City: (i) A dwelling unit, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.52.020.0730, except that a dwelling unit for purposes of this Chapter may be less than 375 square feet in size; (ii) An accessory dwelling unit, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code 9.51.020(A)(1)(b); (iii) A junior accessory dwelling unit, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.51.020(A)(1)(f); or (iv) A unit in single-room occupancy housing, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.51.020(A)(1)(d)(i). (e) “Sublease” means a lease by a tenant to a subtenant transferring the right to possession to some or all of a rental unit for a term shorter than that of the tenant. (f) “Tenant” means a tenant, subtenant, lessee, sublessee or any other person entitled under the terms of a lease to use or occupancy of any rental housing unit. (g) “Unfurnished rental housing unit” means a rental housing unit that is delivered by the landlord to the tenant without any furnishings, computer equipment, housewares, bed linens, towels, artwork, televisions, entertainment systems, or appliances except for a stove, a refrigerator, a microwave, a dishwasher, a clothes washing machine and/or a clothes dryer. DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 7 SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 6.22.100 is hereby amended to read as follows: 6.22.100 Applicability (a) This chapter shall not apply to: (1) Rental housing units lawfully occupied and subject to a written lease as of the effective date of this Ordinance until the tenant or tenants using and occupying the rental housing unit vacate the unit; (2) Rental housing units lawfully occupied and not subject to a written lease as of the effective date of this Ordinance until the tenant or tenants using and occupying the rental housing unit vacate the unit; (3) Home-sharing lawfully conducted in accordance with Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.20; (4) Leases that provide for temporary relocation housing for tenants who are subject to temporary relocation under Santa Monica Municipal Code Sections 4.36.100 or 8.100.030; (5) Leases of rental housing units that are single-unit dwellings or dwelling units in multiple-unit dwellings if all of the following apply: (i) At the time of the lease, the rental housing unit is occupied by the owner as the owner’s primary residence; (ii) Within the prior ten years, a tenant did not leave the rental unit as the result of an owner-move-in eviction, an Ellis Act eviction, or the buy- out of a rental agreement after the prior tenant was provided with notice of an intent to exercise an owner-move-in eviction or an Ellis Act eviction; DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 8 (iii) The rental housing unit is leased by the owner for a period less than one year with the intent of the owner to return to reoccupy the rental housing unit as the owner’s primary residence at the expiration of the rental period; and (iv) The rental housing unit is rented out no more than two times per calendar year for a total period of less than six months; and (6) Leases of rental housing units that are ADUs or JADUs for which plans have been submitted for plan check by no later than December 31, 2020, if all the following apply: (i) The rental housing unit is located on a parcel improved with a single-unit dwelling occupied by the owner as the owner’s primary residence; (ii) The rental housing unit is rented for a period of more than thirty days and less than one year; and (iii) The owner of the single-unit dwelling lives on site through the duration of the lease. (b) In the event of any conflict between the provisions of this Chapter and any laws, regulations, requirements governing rental housing units described in paragraphs (1) and (2) below, those laws, regulations or requirements shall prevail. (1) Rental housing units owned or operated by any government agency or whose rent is subsidized by any government agency, including but not limited to subsidies under the federal government’s Housing Choice Voucher program (Section 8); and DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 9 (2) Rental housing units subject to a covenant or agreement, such as an inclusionary housing agreement or an affordable housing agreement, with a government agency, including the City, the State of California, or the federal government, restricting the rental rate that may be charged for that unit. SECTION 3. 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 4. 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 portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 5. 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: ______________________ GEORGE S. CARDONA Interim City Attorney DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 Approved and adopted this 27th day of October, 2020. _____________________________ Kevin McKeown, Mayor State of California ) County of Los Angeles ) ss. City of Santa Monica ) I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2655 (CCS) had its introduction on October 13, 2020 and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on October 27, 2020, by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Davis, Himmelrich, McCowan, Winterer, Jara, Mayor Pro Tem O’Day, Mayor McKeown NOES: None ABSENT: None ATTEST: _____________________________________ _________________ Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date A summary of Ordinance No. 2655 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to California Government Code Section 40806. DocuSign Envelope ID: EFAE3359-F6AE-492C-B1E4-DA6C50823377 11/2/2020