Title
Urgency Ordinance amending the South San Francisco Municipal Code to add Chapter 8.90 (Single Room Occupancy Hotel Conversion) to Title 8 to define and expand relocation benefits for tenants of single room occupancy (SRO) hotels and formalize a local approval process for SRO hotel closures, and mandate additional noticing before a building with SRO units is closed and or converted.
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WHEREAS, the City of South San Francisco ("City") is currently experiencing an affordable housing crisis, with demand for such housing far outweighing the available supply, and with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") "Fair Market Rent" rate for a one-bedroom apartment in the County increasing from $2,665 per month in 2023 to $2,818 per month in 2024; and
WHEREAS, single room occupancy ("SRO") hotels in the City are a source of naturally occurring affordable housing and have been designed to meet the needs of extremely low and low-income residents; and
WHEREAS, many SRO units are occupied by extremely low and low-income residents, including families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the removal of SRO hotel units would exacerbate the affordable housing crisis that exists in the City; and
WHEREAS, the conversion of SRO hotel units affects people who are least able to cope with displacement in South San Francisco's housing markets; and
WHEREAS, there have been a number of recent closures, conversions, and affordability non-compliance of SRO hotels in the City, and the market conditions that led to those conversions and closures create a high risk of similar conversion of existing SRO hotels located within the City; and
WHEREAS, such conversion or closure of SRO hotels in the City would displace vulnerable residents of the City, including low-income families and seniors, and the risk of such displacement poses a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City Council wish...
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