San Anselmo adopts rent control amid referendum effort

San Anselmo is forging ahead with a rent-control ordinance, but some residents are seeking to place the issue on the ballot.

The Town Council passed the ordinance in a 3-2 vote on a second reading Tuesday. The ordinance will go into effect in 30 days unless enough signatures are gathered to place it on the November ballot.

The ordinance would cap annual increases at 5%, or 60% of the consumer price index, whichever is lower.

Under the ordinance, rent may be increased one time per year unless allowed by a fair return petition. The rent cap applies to properties with three or more dwellings on the same parcel, or contiguous parcels under common ownership. A property owner cannot charge a tenant for utilities in addition to rent.

Councilmembers Tarrell Kullaway, Alexis Fineman and Steve Burdo voted in favor. Mayor Eileen Burke and Councilmember Brian Colbert were opposed.

Burdo said he objected to a ballot effort because it could incur unnecessary costs to the town. He said the onus was on the signature gatherers to put it on the ballot if they could garner the public support to do so, but cautioned about the influence of outside interests.

“We crafted a thoughtful policy after much discussion, listening sessions, public meetings and community conversations,” Burdo said. “We crafted a policy which reflected the feedback we heard.”

Burke characterized the issue as too contentious to be decided by a slim majority vote by the council.

“I think we will see our residents gather signatures pretty rapidly and it will be on the ballot,” Burke said. “I think this ordinance goes way, way too far.”

Fineman said the issue of affordable housing and housing access needs to be addressed at once.

“I think that this is a response to the landscape, the consequence of many decades of our housing policy locally,” Fineman said.

Colbert said rent control limits housing stock. He said other referendums on rent control in Marin are evidence enough that San Anselmo voters should have their say as well.

“I also approach this issue with humility and the belief that government works best when it listens to the people,” he said.

The signature-gathering effort is already underway, said Michael Sexton, a Fairfax resident whose group, a nonprofit composed of Marin homeowners, housing providers and renters, is aiding in the San Anselmo effort.

“The referendum will ultimately allow the desires of the residents to be heard and their will followed,” he said.

Sexton said San Anselmo residents need to gather 970 signatures. The group’s goal is 1,100, he said.

“All San Anselmo registered voters are eligible to sign,” he said. “In addition, residents will walk neighborhoods, speaking with neighbors, collecting signatures and expanding public awareness on the various aspects of added rent control.”

The ordinance would be retroactive to the base rent on June 21, 2023. For tenancies that began after that date, the base rent would be what was charged upon initial occupancy.

Landlords may file a fair return petition to raise rent above the limit. A planning director or designee would hear petitions. Owners or tenants could appeal the decision to the Planning Commission. Its decision would be considered final, but it could be challenged in court. Tenants could also bring legal action against landlords in court and could be entitled to damages.

Exemptions to rent control in San Anselmo include dwellings constructed after 1995; deed-restricted affordable housing; single-family homes and condominiums; hotels; dormitories; medical and residential care facilities; in-law units; and properties with one or two dwellings.

In Larkspur, voters narrowly affirmed the city’s rent-control ordinance during the March primary. The ordinance caps rent increases at 5% plus inflation or 7%, whichever is lower.

In Fairfax, a rent-control ordinance capped increases at 75% of the regional consumer price index and no greater than 5%. An initiative will be considered by voters on Nov. 5 to repeal rent control.

The state’s rent-control bill, Assembly Bill 1482, or the Tenant Protection Act, caps rent increases at 5% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower. The law expires on Jan. 1, 2030.

California’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act prohibits local rent-control regulations on properties constructed after 1995. Detached homes and condominiums are also exempt from rent control.