It is staff’s recommendation that the City Council repeal Urgency Ordinance No. 907-U (Commercial Tenant Eviction Moratorium) and adopt a new urgency ordinance, thus extending the City’s existing Commercial Tenant Eviction Moratorium due to the financial impacts of COVID-19.

On April 9, 2020, the City adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 904-U known as the “Commercial Tenant Eviction Moratorium” in response to the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that resulted in a stay-at-home order, social distancing protocols, and temporary business closures throughout California and the nation. The ordinance established a temporary moratorium on evictions of commercial tenants citywide to protect them from eviction due to nonpayment caused by the financial impacts of COVID-19.

Urgency Ordinance No. 904-U was set to expire on May 31, 2020. On May 11, 2020, the City adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 907-U, which replaced 904-U and extended the moratorium to July 31, 2020.  Staff is now recommending the adoption of a new urgency ordinance to extend the moratorium by three months from July 31, 2020 to October 31, 2020 to allow small businesses additional time to recover from the State and County Health Officer pandemic mitigation orders.

Although the County adopted its own commercial eviction moratorium in April and recently extended the moratorium from July 30, 2020, to September 30, 2020, at its Board meeting of July 21, 2020, the County ordinance allows commercial tenants to pay off rent owed over a 12-month period compared to the City's moratorium, which requires payment within three (3) months from the expiration date.  In addition, the County's moratorium has been extended to September 30, 2020, while the City’s moratorium is good for 3 months, expiring on October 31, 2020.

The City continues to be concerned over the limited protection available to small businesses throughout the State and nation.  However, it should be noted that the City's moratorium is more favorable towards property owners in that the City's ordinance requires payment of rent owed within a 3-month period following the expiration of the moratorium while the County's ordinance allows for payment within a 12-month period.  If the City elects not to adopt this ordinance, it will expire on July 31, 2020 and the County ordinance would then apply. 

Although still not known, it is expected that absence of the subject moratorium could result in greater economic impacts than what is already being experienced by the community.