November 12, 2015
Proposed Revisions to City of San Diego Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) Hotel Regulations Ordinance
Page 2
The Housing Commission has reviewed the SRO Hotel Regulations Ordinance and conducted the
following activities:
1. Contracted for and produced an update to the citywide SRO Hotel Inventory (Attachment 3);
2. Performed public outreach and held a series of three public meetings to receive comments on
potential changes to the City’s SRO Hotel Regulations. The meetings were held October 14,
October 21, and November 4, 2015, at the offices of the Housing Commission. Meeting
invitations were either emailed or mailed by regular mail delivery to SRO Hotel owners of
record, tenant advocacy groups who have expressed interest in the past, as well as affordable
housing developers and real estate professionals who have contacted the Housing Commission
about SRO Hotels. The meeting notices were also published on the Housing Commission’s
website. The meetings were attended by each of the interest groups identified and comments
were given both verbally and in writing. See Attachment 4 for written comments filed with the
Housing Commission; and,
3. Developed a set of 10 proposed regulation changes for consideration by the City Council.
(Attachment 1)
Background
SRO hotels have traditionally provided some of San Diego’s most affordable housing. Over the years,
market conditions have placed pressure on SRO hotel owners to demolish or convert SRO hotels into
more profitable uses. On December 16, 1983, the City Council adopted an emergency SRO
Preservation Ordinance to slow the loss of SRO hotel units to market forces. The Ordinance was made
permanent on October 26, 1987, and mitigation measures were enacted, including tenant relocation
assistance provisions and a 1:1 replacement requirement for SRO hotel units removed from the rental
market. On September 7, 2004, the City Council amended the SRO Ordinance (Attachment 2) to ensure
compliance with California Government Code Section 7060--7060.7 (Ellis Act), which had previously
established a property owner’s right to remove rental units from the market in order to exit the rental
housing business. The amended SRO Ordinance also addressed AB 1217 (2003) which officially
granted cities the authority to regulate SRO hotels separately from traditional rental housing under the
Ellis Act. AB 1217 was applied prospectively, which meant that SRO hotels that filed a “Notice of
Intent to Withdraw Accommodations from Rent” under the Ellis Act before January 1, 2004, were not
affected by the provisions of the bill. The City received 22 such notices from SRO hotel owners. These
properties are known by the Housing Commission as the “Exempt List” and are exempted from the SRO
replacement requirements of the ordinance, but are still required to provide tenant relocation assistance
under the terms of the existing ordinance.
Over the past year, two Downtown development projects came before the City Council to request a
modification or waiver of the SRO replacement requirements so that their projects could proceed. Both
projects received a modification and/or exemption from the SRO housing replacement requirement. As
a result of these actions, on March 16, 2015, the City Council directed the Housing Commission to
review the City’s SRO Hotel Ordinance and analyze it to address current conditions.
Current Ordinance Provisions
Relocation
Applicants proposing the demolition or conversion of an SRO are required to pay relocation expenses to
long-term tenants (residencies of 90 days or more). Tenant relocation payments are equal to two times