Santa Barbara Bringing Back Tenant Protections Against ‘Renovictions’

City Council Will Reconsider Changes to Tighten Eviction Ordinance at March 11 Meeting

Santa Barbara city council will be discussing amendments to the city's eviction ordinance on March 11. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

On Tuesday, Santa Barbara City Council voted to discuss whether to tighten the city’s eviction ordinance on March 11.

Councilmembers Wendy Santamaria and Kristen Sneddon brought the matter back to the council, asking for a proper hearing to reconsider amendments that would help working-class residents at risk of losing their housing through “renovictions.”

Councilmember Wendy Santamaria is hoping the city will listen to the testimonies of residents who have spoken up during council meetings. “We need to stem the flow of people being displaced,” she said. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

The council had previously considered these amendments in January 2024, after months of deliberation, public hearings, and a unanimous vote of approval from the Ordinance Committee in December 2023. But the council only approved an ordinance giving tenants the right to return after a renovation, but did not impose limits on how much landlords could increase the rents.

Sneddon and Santamaria supported adding three key points to the city code: codifying that rents for returning tenants be increased no more than 10 percent, requiring landlords to obtain an independent assessment of why tenants must vacate their units for 30 days, and creating a “cooling-off period” that would prohibit any renovations or demolition within one year of acquiring a property with five or more units.

Councilmember Sneddon said the city should consider approving these provisions as soon as possible, since they were already fully vetted, “painfully overdue,” and the cities of Carpinteria and Goleta have already instituted similar protections. “I want to personally apologize,” she said. “We have exacerbated this crisis by talking and delaying.”

Councilmember Santamaria, the newly elected District 1 representative and a longtime supporter of tenant protections, agreed, “This has been talked about and researched to death. We need to stem the flow of people being displaced.” These provisions, she continued, would prove the city was listening to residents who have poured their hearts out before the council.

More than 25 members of the public spoke in support of the changes, including residents who have been evicted.

Santa Barbara Association of Realtors representatives asked that no action be taken, and property owners said the city should focus on building housing rather than stricter regulations.

The council voted 5-2 to schedule the item for full council discussion on March 11. Councilmembers Oscar Gutierrez and Meagan Harmon were in full support of the motion, but Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilmember Mike Jordan opposed it.