On a 4-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to extend Santa Barbara County’s temporary eviction moratorium through Sept. 30.
The supervisors determined that extending the urgency ordinance “is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.”
The moratorium protects residential and commercial renters in unincorporated areas of the county from being evicted in the middle of a local health emergency.
As stated on the board’s agenda, tens of thousands of Santa Barbara County residents have lost their jobs because of COVID-19.
Pointing out that the county is one of the least affordable communities in the state, and already experiences a humanitarian crisis of homelessness, the board passed this ordinance to decrease tenants’ vulnerability to eviction and homelessness.
The ordinance states that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health orders “are expected to result in a severe loss of income to a widespread portion of the local population that depend on wages or business income to pay rent.”
For this ordinance to be applicable, tenants must provide written notice to the owner, and demonstrate through documentation or other “objectively verifiable means” a substantial income loss resulting from COVID-19 and related responses to the novel coronavirus.
The ordinance does not relieve a tenant’s obligations to pay rent or restrict a landlord’s ability to recover rent due.
The moratorium was first adopted by the board on March 24, and previously extended on May 19. Before Tuesday’s vote, it was set to expire on July 28.
Supervisor Peter Adam was the only member of the board in opposition.
“I have a fundamental problem telling people not to pay their rent,” he said.
Adam added that he believes that extending the urgency ordinance would further exacerbate foreclosures and evictions.
Noting that the problem of a build-up of unpaid rent is something that will have to be dealt with eventually, the rest of the board voted to pass the ordinance — effective immediately.
“We’re in a desperate situation that requires important tools like this that preserve people who have no other choice,” said board Chairman Gregg Hart.
Cities in the county have drafted their own eviction-moratorium ordinances.
The city of Goleta did not set a deadline for its temporary eviction moratorium to expire, according to Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover.
Goleta’s residential and commercial ordinance will remain in effect until the City Council repeals it.
The city of Santa Maria also has no termination date for its Local Emergency Order, according to Public Information Officer Mark van de Kamp. It will remain in effect unless it is rescinded by the director of emergency services.
On May 29, Santa Barbara’s City Council voted to keep the temporary eviction moratorium in effect as long as Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-28-20 remains in effect.
On June 30, Newsom issued Executive Order N-71-20, which extends the provision of N-28-20 through Sept. 30.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
