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| IMPARTIAL
ANALYSIS BY THE CITY ATTORNEY |
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This measure would amend the City Charter to authorize the conversion of
rental housing to condominiums, stock cooperatives and other forms of common
ownership and to give tenants living in converted properties the opportunity
to purchase their units. The
types of rental housing covered by these procedures would include apartment
buildings, mobilehome parks, and other residential rentals, including single
family homes in zoning districts other than R-1.
The conversion procedures would not be available for a particular
property if an eviction had occurred pursuant to the Ellis Act within the
preceding five years or if an eviction for owner occupancy had occurred
within the preceding two years. Applications
to convert rental housing could be filed with the City by an owner, a tenant
group in the process of purchasing the housing, or a tenant group which had
already purchased. The
application would include, among other things, the sales price for each
unit, plans for parking and common area usage, any repairs or alterations to
be completed before sales of units, and a plan for allocating costs and
expenses. Tenants occupying
two-thirds of the units or spaces would need to co-sign an owner’s
application. A tenant group’s
application would require the signatures of tenants occupying half the units
or spaces. Tenants
who did not purchase units in converted buildings would receive an
irrevocable 99 year lease addendum which would continue their tenancies,
maintain local rent controls, and protect them against evictions under the
Ellis Act and evictions for owner occupancy.
Other “good cause” evictions permitted under Santa Monica’s
Rent Control Law would be permitted. Senior citizen tenants would have specified rights to name
successor tenants. The
measure would also establish procedures and time limits for the City’s
processing of conversion applications.
Resale controls and conversion fees in excess of specified amounts
would be prohibited. Converted buildings would be governed by building standards
in effect at the time of their conversion approval. Specific provisions would legalize and govern converted
bootleg units. Finally,
violations would be subject to both civil remedies and criminal penalties. The
measure also contains a provision of general applicability which is not
limited to converted properties. This
provision would establish that any residential building, converted or not,
which was destroyed by fire, earthquake, or other act of nature could be
rebuilt in its old form irrespective of current building standards.
That is, the building could be rebuilt within the previous building
envelope, in the same architectural style, and with up to the same number of
units as legally existed prior to the destruction irrespective of any
planning and zoning laws in effect at the time of the reconstruction.
Only current building and safety codes would apply to the
reconstruction. Substantial
modifications in architectural style would be subject to review by the
City’s Architectural Review Board. PREPARED
BY: Marsha
Jones Moutrie WORD
COUNT: 484 Back to Election 2002 Main Page
This page was last modified on 01/23/2008 |
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