Sebastopol looks warily at rent control after election defeat in Santa Rosa

With tenant advocates still picking up the pieces after a failed attempt to pass rent control in Santa Rosa last week, Sebastopol community leaders will revisit the divisive topic Monday as part of a continuing conversation about promoting affordable housing.

But even in a city where elected officials already have imposed a temporary freeze on rent hikes, it’s not clear there’s appetite for the potentially bruising fight needed to fend off the monied interests that helped defeat Santa Rosa’s Measure C on Tuesday.

That way forward depends in part on feedback given to Sebastopol City Council’s subcommittee on housing Monday night at the last of six scheduled meetings, said Mayor Una Glass, who sits on the subcommittee with Vice Mayor Patrick Slayter.

Evidence of public support for rent control as a means of stabilizing housing costs means city officials would be more likely to debate its merits in the future, Glass said.

At this point, a temporary ?3 percent cap on rent increases that was approved by the City Council late last year is scheduled to sunset June 17 without any proposed discussion of an extension.

“I’m not seeing a lot of will to do that,” Glass said of continuing the moratorium.

About 47 percent of Sebastopol’s more than 7,300 residents live in rented housing, according to the U.S. Census.

About 57 percent spent more than 30 percent of their gross monthly income on housing in 2012 and were thus considered to be “overpaying” for housing, according to state standards.

Sebastopol’s foray into tenant protections resulted from a proposal by outgoing Councilman Robert Jacob, who urged the council to take action on rent control in the final weeks of his term last fall, unleashing a rancorous debate that revealed significant complications and deep divisions on the topic.

Among the most significant issues is a California law that exempts a wide array of rental housing from tenant protections, including anything for which a certificate of occupancy was issued after Feb. 1, 1995, plus single-family homes and condominiums.

Relatively few units in Sebastopol - at most about 350 - would be legally subject to rent control laws, and any measures would impact both renters and landlords unequally, city officials said.

In addition, the effect on the market would, some argued, drive up rates for unregulated rentals because people in rent-controlled units would be less likely to vacate and, thus, depress supply.

“It’s such a divisive issue that it’s really hard to have a read on it,” Slayter said this week.

When the council decided Nov. 1 to approve an urgency ordinance capping rent increases at 3 percent a year and prohibiting evictions made without just cause, it was largely because they feared the very discussion of rent control already was putting pressure on rental costs.

The 45-day measure was extended in mid-December for another six months, providing time for a housing subcommittee to evaluate alternative efforts the city might undertake to try to expand the supply of affordable housing and analyze the pros and cons of rent control.

In the meantime, a referendum on a rent control measures adopted in Santa Rosa last year provoked a knock-down, drag-out fight backed by more than $1 million in campaign contributions, with opponents of the ballot measure - including real estate lobbies from outside the area - outspending supporters by nearly 5-to-1.

Measure C ultimately failed, with more than 52 percent of those who voted casting their ballots against it and more than 47 percent voting in favor.

Given that outcome, it “seems like a stretch that Sebastopol would take it on,” said city Planning Commissioner Paul Fritz, who serves as liaison to the council housing subcommittee.

“What happened in Santa Rosa will probably impact here,” he said. “If it had passed in Santa Rosa, there might be more of an appetite.”

Glass said she hopes for a large turnout at Monday’s meeting in order to hear a cross-section of opinions, from both renters and landlords.

“This meeting will be providing us with information and feedback from the community about how and whether rent control can help our housing situation, and what solutions on rising rents can be thought of by our community as a whole,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.