Title
Introduction of Ordinance Amending the Alameda Municipal Code by Adding Article XII to Chapter VI Concerning the Review of Rent Increases, and Adding Section 2-23 to Article II Concerning the Creation of a Rent Review Advisory Committee; and Recommendation to Provide Direction to the City Manager Regarding a Study to Analyze the Impacts of Rising Rents on Alameda Residents. (Community Development 481005)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Interim City Manager
Re: Recommendation to introduce an ordinance to create rent review procedures in Alameda and to create a Rent Review Advisory Committee and provide direction to the City Manager regarding a study to analyze the impacts of rising rents on Alameda residents.
BACKGROUND
On September 14, 2014, the City Council agreed to a community process to address concerns regarding the impacts of rising residential rents in Alameda, and to determine whether there were strategies that could address these concerns. Alameda resident Jeff Cambra agreed to facilitate a series of community meetings with various stakeholder groups.
Following those meetings, at the City Council meeting on January 20, 2015, the Alameda Rental Housing Community Discussion Group, representing tenants and housing providers, presented to the Council six broadly worded "discussion points" that the Group had vetted over a period of several months. Those points were intended to address concerns expressed by tenants regarding rent increases and concerns expressed by housing providers that the City not create or impose significant procedural or financial hardships on them. The discussion points are attached as Exhibit 1.
After discussion of these key points, City Council directed staff to draft an Ordinance that would incorporate those concepts and return the item to the City Council for further action. In addition, because the procedures contemplated the continued use of th...
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