HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. 1600-2020 (20-390)City of South San Francisco P.O. Box 711 (City Hall,
400 Grand Avenue)
South San Francisco, CA
City Council
' Ordinance: ORD 1600-2020
File Number: 20-390 Enactment Number: ORD 1600-2020
URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN
FRANCISCO FURTHER ENACTING A TEMPORARY
MORATORIUM ON SMALL BUSINESS AND NONPROFIT
ENTITY EVICTIONS DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF RENT WHERE
THE FAILURE TO PAY RENT RESULTS FROM INCOME LOSS
RESULTING FROM THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
WHEREAS, international, national, state, and local health and governmental authorities are responding
to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus named "SARS-CoV 2," and the
disease it causes has been named "coronavirus disease 2019," abbreviated COVID-19, ("COVID-19");
and
WHEREAS, on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization ("WHO") declared COVID-19 a
Public Health Emergency of International Concern, and on January 31, 2020, the United States Secretary
of Health and Human Services declared a Public Health Emergency; and
WHEREAS, on March 2, 2020, the County of San Mateo activated its Emergency Operations Center
(EOC) to support the local County Health response to COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 3, 2020, the County of San Mateo Director of Emergency Services issued a
proclamation Declaring the Existence of a Local Emergency in the County and the County of San Mateo
Health Officer issued a Declaration of Local Health Emergency Regarding Novel Coronavirus 2019
(COVID-19); and
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency to
make additional resources available, formalize emergency actions already underway across multiple
state agencies and departments, and help the state prepare for a broader spread of COVID-19. The
proclamation comes as the number of positive California cases rises and following one official
COVID-19 death; and
WHEREAS, on March 10, 2020, the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo adopted a
resolution Ratifying and Extending the Declaration of a Local Health Emergency; and
WHEREAS, on March 11, 2020, the San Mateo County Health Officer issued a legal order barring
unauthorized visitors and non-essential personnel from licensed skilled nursing facilities in the County;
and
WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, San Mateo County Health Officer issued an order prohibiting mass
gatherings of 250 or more persons and as defined in the order, applicable to public and private gatherings
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File Number: 20-390
Enactment Number: ORD 1600-2020
and includes exceptions for houses of worship, museums, malls, hospital and medical facilities, and the
normal operations of hotels and airports; and
WHEREAS, on March 12, 2020, due to an escalating increase in the number of cases in San Mateo
County, under South San Francisco Municipal Code Chapter 2.72, the City Council of the City of South
San Francisco adopted a resolution proclaiming a local State of Emergency related to the Novel
Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19); and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States of America declared a national
emergency and announced that the federal government would make emergency funding available to
assist state and local governments in preventing the spread of and addressing the effects of COVID-19;
and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, San Mateo County Health Officer issued a School Operations
Modification Order requiring all schools to dismiss students from regular attendance; and
WHEREAS, on March 14, 2020, San Mateo County Health Officer issued an update regarding the legal
order prohibiting mass gatherings, further limiting public or private gatherings of more than 50 persons
as defined in the order; and
WHEREAS, on March 16, 2020, seven health officers within six Bay Area counties, including San
Mateo County, took a unified step to slow the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and preserve
critical health care capacity across the region by issuing a legal order directing their respective residents
to shelter at home for three weeks beginning March 17, 2020. The order limits activity, travel and
business functions to only the most essential needs. The guidance comes after substantial input from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and best practices from other health officials
around the world; and
WHEREAS, on March 16, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-28-20
ordering waiver of time limitations set forth in Penal Code section 396(f) concerning protections against
residential evictions, and suspending any provision of state law that would preempt or otherwise restrict
a local government's exercise of its police power to impose substantive limitations on residential or
commercial evictions related to COVID-19. The order further suspended statutory causes of action for
judicial foreclosure, including Code of Civil Procedure section 725a et seq.; the statutory cause of action
for unlawful detainer, Code of Civil Procedure section 1161 et seq.; and any other statutory cause of
action that could be used to evict or otherwise eject a residential or commercial tenant or occupant of
residential real property after foreclosure; and
WHEREAS, both large and smaller events across the Bay Area and in South San Francisco are
cancelling or being postponed due to the County's and State's Orders and recommendations at all levels
of government to cancel large gatherings amid concerns over spread of the virus. These cancellations
and postponements cause loss in revenue for the event, as well as surrounding local businesses that rely
on such events to bring in patrons to their businesses; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the public health emergency, the precautions recommended by state and
county health officers, and in compliance with orders issued by those officers, many residents and
businesses in
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File Number. 20-390
Enactment Number., ORD 1600-2020
South San Francisco have experienced or expect soon to experience sudden and unexpected income loss;
and
WHEREAS, the California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7, provides cities and counties with the
authority to enact ordinances to protect the health, safety, and general welfare, of their citizens; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 36937 authorizes the City Council to introduce and
adopt an ordinance it declares to be necessary as an emergency measure to preserve the public peace,
health, and safety at one and the same meeting if passed by at least four-fifths affirmative votes; and
WHEREAS, this Ordinance is a temporary moratorium intended to promote stability and fairness within
the rental market in the City during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and to prevent avoidable
evictions thereby serving the public peace, health, safety, and public welfare; and
WHEREAS, further economic impacts are anticipated as a result of COVID-19-related workplace
closures, childcare expenditures due to school closures, health care expenses, labor shortages, and other
expenditures stemming from compliance with emergency orders, leaving small business tenants
vulnerable to evictions; and
WHEREAS, for the purposes of this Ordinance, a "small business" is defined as a business entity with
gross receipts of less than $25 million per year. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a "nonprofit" is an
organization that is registered as a California public benefit nonprofit corporation or has received federal
tax exemption under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).
WHEREAS, these economic impacts may inhibit small businesses from fulfilling their financial
obligations, including rent and public utility payments such as water, sewer, and solid waste collection
charges; and
WHEREAS, displacement of small businesses and nonprofits through eviction further destabilizes the
local economy by causing non-essential businesses to cease operating and forcing the termination of
employees who would otherwise be able to work, deepening the negative feedback loop of financial
consequences of the COVD-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, on March 24, 2020, the County of San Mateo adopted an Emergency Regulation
establishing a temporary, countywide moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent by residential
tenants directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, on March 27, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-37-20,
extending the deadline specified in Civil Code of Procedure section 1167 for a period of 60 days for any
residential tenant who is served, while the Order is in effect, with an eviction notice for nonpayment of
rent where the tenant paid rent due prior to date of the Order and the tenant notifies the landlord in
writing of an inability to pay the full amount due to reasons related to COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on May 18, 2020, the Presiding Judge of San Mateo County Superior Court issued an
emergency order related to unlawful detainer proceedings, which among other things, prohibits the entry
of
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File Number: 20-390 Enactment Number: ORD 1600-2020
default in any pending unlawful detainer action during the period of May 14, 2020 through June 12,
2020; and
WHEREAS, on May 26, 2020, the County of San Mateo extended the temporary countywide eviction
moratorium for non-payment of rent by residential tenants directly impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic through the adoption of Emergency Regulation No. 2020-001, which will be in effect through
June 30, 2020; and
WHEREAS, small businesses and nonprofits in South San Francisco are greatly affected by COVID-19
economic impacts and thus vulnerable to threat of eviction, which negatively impacts the local economy
by laying off employees and ceasing to provide essential services to residents of the City; negatively
impacting local health by forcing persons out of their shelter -in-place locations to prepare for business
eviction, increasing potential COVID-19 exposure; and reducing the number of retail and commercial
spaces available to provide essential services, also increasing potential COVID-19 exposure as a result
of less retail and commercial spaces available for residents and thus less space available for social
distancing; and
WHEREAS, to address these negative economic impacts and provide relief to local businesses and
nonprofits, the City Council enacted Urgency Ordinance No. 1598-2020 on April 8, 2020, to create a
citywide temporary moratorium on small business and nonprofit entity evictions due to nonpayment of
rent where the failure to pay rent results from income loss resulting from COVID-19, based on findings
of current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare and the need for immediate
preservation; and
WHEREAS, the temporary moratorium enacted pursuant to Ordinance No. 1598-2020 was scheduled to
expire on May 31, 2020; and
WHEREAS, on May 29, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-66-20 extending the
timeframe for the protections set forth in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Executive Order N-28-20 for an
additional 60 days, until July 28, 2020, which waives time limitations set forth in Penal Code section
396(f); suspends any provision of state law that would preempt or otherwise restrict a local government's
exercise of its police power to impose substantive limitations on residential or commercial evictions
related to COVID-19; suspends statutory causes of action for judicial foreclosure, including Code of
Civil Procedure section 725a et seq.; the statutory cause of action for unlawful detainer, Code of Civil
Procedure section 1161 et seq.; and any other statutory cause of action that could be used to evict or
otherwise eject a residential or commercial tenant or occupant of residential real property after
foreclosure; and
WHEREAS, the City Council continues to find and determine that there is an immediate need to
preserve public health, safety and welfare given the negative economic impacts derived from the
COVID-19 pandemic, and that regulating the relations between landlords and tenants is essential to
preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the City and thereby serve the public peace, health, and safety;
and
WHEREAS, since the expiration of the temporary moratorium pursuant to Ordinance No. 1598-2020 on
May 31, 2020, the City Council desires to further enact an urgency ordinance and impose the same
temporary eviction moratorium in response to the negative impacts experienced by local small
businesses
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File Number: 20-390
Enactment Number. ORD 1600-2020
and nonprofits in South San Francisco in order to provide immediate preservation of public health, safety
and welfare; and
WHEREAS, an urgency ordinance that is effective immediately is necessary to avoid the continuing and
immediate threat to public peace, health, and safety as failure to adopt this urgency ordinance would
result in the avoidable displacement or exposure to COVID-19 of the City's small businesses and to the
amplification of the factors that lead to the spread of the virus, as described in these Recitals.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, DOES
HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings
The City Council of the City of South San Francisco finds that all Recitals are true and correct and
incorporated herein by reference. The staff report and attachments for Urgency Ordinance No.
1598-2020, dated April 8, 2020, and provisions of the Governor's issued Executive Order N-28-20,
Executive Order N-37-20, and Executive Order N-66-20 including all recitals, are incorporated herein as
if fully set forth.
SECTION 2. Urgency Findings.
The City Council of the City of South San Francisco hereby finds that there is a current and immediate
threat to the public health, safety and/or welfare and a need for immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, or safety that warrants this urgency measure, which finding is based upon the facts stated
in the Recitals above, the accompanying staff report, and in the staff report and attachments for Urgency
Ordinance No. 1598-2020 dated April 8, 2020, as well as any oral and written testimony at the April 8,
2020 City Council meeting and the June 3, 2020 Special City Council meeting.
This Ordinance and any moratorium that may be established thereunder is declared by the City Council
to be an urgency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.
The facts constituting such urgency are all of those certain facts set forth and referenced in this
Ordinance and the entirety of the record before the City Council.
SECTION 3. Moratorium on Eviction of Small Businesses and Nonprofits for Nonpayment of
Rent during the COVID-19 Emergency.
A temporary moratorium on eviction for non-payment of rent by small business and nonprofit entity
tenants impacted by the COVID-19 crisis is imposed as follows:
(a) During the term of this Ordinance, no landlord shall endeavor to evict a small business or nonprofit
entity tenant in either of the following situations: (1) for nonpayment of rent if the tenant demonstrates
that the tenant is unable to pay rent due to financial impacts related to COVID-19 or (2) for a no-fault
eviction unless necessary for the health and safety of tenants, neighbors, or the landlord.
(b) Endeavors to evict that are prohibited by this Ordinance include issuance of a three-day notice to pay
rent or quit or a notice of no-fault termination of tenancy after the effective date of this Ordinance, or
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File Number: 20-390
Enactment Number: ORD 1600-2020
attempting to enforce a termination of tenancy through an unlawful detainer filing based on any notice
issued but not yet expired prior to the effective date of this Ordinance.
(c) Prior to taking any action, during the term of this Ordinance, to endeavor to evict a tenant for
non-payment of rent or under any circumstance that constitutes a no-fault termination of tenancy, the
landlord must first provide the affected tenant or tenants with: 1) written notice of this Ordinance; (2) the
amount of rent to which the landlord is legally entitled pursuant to any written or oral agreement and
under the provisions of State or local law; (3) that this rent is due unless the tenant promptly establishes
in writing to the Landlord that the amount of rent due qualifies as a Delayed Payment, as defined in this
Ordinance; and (4) that the notice from the tenant to the landlord referenced in Section (d) regarding
Delayed Payment must be provided to the landlord as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter.
(d) For purposes of this Ordinance, notice provided by a tenant to the landlord within fourteen (14) days
from the date rent is due or from the date of receipt of the landlord's written notice required pursuant to
subsection (c), whichever is later, shall be presumed to have been provided within a reasonable
timeframe, provided that notices provided on a timeframe greater than fourteen (14) days may be
deemed reasonable, depending on the totality of the circumstances.
(e) Nothing in this Ordinance shall relieve the tenant of the obligation to pay rent as it comes due after
this Ordinance expires, or of the obligation for the unpaid rent that is a Delayed Payment, payment of
which the landlord may seek after this Ordinance expires. However, with respect to any Delayed
Payment covered by this Ordinance, a tenant shall have up to one hundred and eighty (180) days after
this Ordinance expires to tender the full amount of the Delayed Payment, before the tenant shall be
deemed to be in default of rent payment obligations. The tenant shall tender the full amount of the
Delayed Payment in three months (90 days) if able to do so; however, if the tenant remains unable to
tender the full amount of the Delayed Payment for the reasons set forth in Section (g), the tenant may
provide the landlord another written notice and additional documentation to support that claim and
thereby extend the payment date an additional month (30 days). The tenant may provide additional
written notices and documentation each month (every 30 days) to further extend the deadline, but under
no circumstances shall the landlord be required to extend the deadline beyond one hundred and eighty
(180) days after this Ordinance expires. Further, a landlord may not charge or collect a late fee for a
Delayed Payment as defined in this Ordinance. Any three-day notices to pay or quit or no-fault
termination of tenancy notices served prior the effective date of this Ordinance but not yet expired are
automatically deemed served the day following the expiration of this Ordinance.
(f) An action taken by a landlord to evict a tenant for a Delayed Payment shall not be considered a
violation of this Ordinance where the action was taken before the tenant provided the landlord notice of
the tenant's lost income and inability to pay full rent on the due date and provided documentation to the
landlord in accordance with this Ordinance, provided that the landlord ceases further endeavors to evict
the tenant on this basis upon receiving the notice and documentation from the tenant required in this
Ordinance.
(g) (1) For purposes of this Ordinance, "Delayed Payment" includes a payment made after the time set
forth in the rental agreement between a landlord and a tenant or tenants or as otherwise agreed between
the parties as a result of "financial impacts related to COVID-19" including, but are not limited to, loss
of
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income due to any of the following: (1) being sick with COVID-19, or caring for a household or family
member who is sick with COVID-19; (2) lay-off, loss of hours, reduction in staff reporting to work,
reduction in opening hours, reduction in consumer demand, or other income reduction resulting from
business closure or other economic or employer impacts of COVID-19; (3) compliance with a
recommendation or order from a government health authority to close non-essential business, stay home,
self -quarantine, or avoid congregating with others during the state of emergency; (4) extraordinary
out-of-pocket medical expenses; or (5) child care needs arising from school closures related to
COVID-19.
(2) To qualify as a "Delayed Payment" under this Ordinance, a tenant must notify the landlord in
writing within the time frame set forth in Section (d) above of the tenant's lost income and inability to
pay full rent on the due date and provide documentation to support the claim within that same time
frame. For purposes of this section, "in writing" may include e-mail or text communications to a
landlord or the landlord's representative with whom the tenant has previously corresponded by email or
text. Any medical or financial information provided to the landlord shall be held in confidence, and only
used for evaluating the tenant's claim.
(3) Courts shall have the sole discretion to determine in an unlawful detainer action or other eviction
action whether the tenant's written notice and documentation are sufficient to show a qualifying Delayed
Payment.
(h) For purposes of this Ordinance, "no-fault eviction" refers to any eviction for which the notice to
terminate tenancy is not based on alleged fault by the tenant, including but not limited to eviction notices
served pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure sections 1161 (1) or 1161(5).
(i) For the purposes of this Ordinance, a "small business" is a business entity with gross receipts of less
than $25 million per year. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a "nonprofit" is an organization that is
registered as a California public benefit nonprofit corporation or has received federal tax exemption
under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).
0) This Ordinance provides an affirmative defense to eviction in the event that an unlawful detainer
action is commenced in violation of this Ordinance. In addition, a knowing violation of this Ordinance
shall be a misdemeanor and in the event of a knowing violation of this Ordinance, an aggrieved tenant
may institute a civil proceeding for injunctive relief, money damages of not less than three times actual
damages (including damages for mental or emotional distress as specified below), and any other relief
the Court deems appropriate. The prevailing party in such civil proceeding(s) shall be entitled to
reasonable attorney's fees and costs pursuant to court order. The remedies available under this section
shall be in addition to any existing remedies which may be available to the tenant under local, state or
federal law.
(k) The limitations on evictions imposed pursuant to this Ordinance shall apply to the statutory cause of
action for judicial foreclosure and any other statutory cause of action that could be used to evict or
otherwise eject a small business or nonprofit entity after foreclosure, consistent with and as suspended
by Executive Order N-28-20 and Executive Order N-66-20.
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File Number. 20-390 Enactment Number: ORD 1600-2020
SECTION 4. Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held
invalid, the remainder of this Ordinance and the application of such provision to other persons or
circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
SECTION 5. Effective Date and Term.
This Urgency Ordinance shall become effectively immediate upon its adoption pursuant to California
Government Code Section 36937 and extends the effect of Ordinance No. 1598-2020 as of June 1, 2020.
This Urgency Ordinance shall expire on June 30, 2020 with the County of San Mateo's Emergency
Regulation No. 2020-001; however, if the County of San Mateo extends Emergency Regulation No.
2020-001 prior to June 30, 2020 to a future date, the term of this Urgency Ordinance shall be
automatically extended to that same future date, unless otherwise further extended or terminated early by
the City Council.
SECTION 6. Compliance with the California Environmental Ouality Act.
The City Council hereby finds approval of this Ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental
Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000 et seq., "CEQA," and 14 Cal. Code Reg. §§ 15000 et seq.,
"CEQA Guidelines") under Section 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines.
SECTION 7. Publication.
Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 36933, a summary of this Ordinance shall be
prepared by the City Attorney. Within fifteen (15) days after the adoption of this Ordinance, the City
Clerk shall (1) publish the summary, and (2) post in the City Clerk's Office a certified copy of the full
text of this Ordinance along with the names of those City Council members voting for and against this
Ordinance or otherwise voting.
Introduced and adopted at a Special meeting of the City Council of the City of South San Francisco held
the 3rd day of June 2020.
At a meeting of the Special City Council on 6/3/2020, a motion was made by Councilmember Nicolas,
seconded by Councilmember Matsumoto, that this Ordinance be adopted. The motion passed.
Yes: 5 Mayor Garbarino, Vice Mayor Addiego, Councilmember Nagales, Councilmember
Nicolas, and Councilmember Matsumoto
Attest by LI1
josaoGovea Acosta, Cityerk
Garbarino; Mayor
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