Culver City Council Delays Discussing Significant Changes to Seismic Retrofit Ordinance

On Monday October 24^th, the Culver City Council heard suggestions from staff as to various financial vehicles that other cities had used to help fund seismic retrofit projects.  The City Council voted unanimously to apply for FEMA grant funding, increase the number of City staff to conduct plan checks, and distribute information on the state loan program called California Capital Access Program (“CalCAP”).  There was some discussion regarding the possibility of: (i) refunding permit fees and plan checking fees, if the seismic retrofit project was completed within eighteen months (similar to Beverly Hills provisions), (ii) lengthening the amount of time that a rental housing provider can pass through some of the costs onto existing renters and (iii) whether to adjust the existing 3% cap on rental increases to allow for additional recoupment of seismic retrofit costs.  Mayor Lee also mentioned that he wanted to review what happens to the pass-through costs when the current renter leaves the unit.  It is anticipated that these issues will be brought back to the City Council for further discussion at some point in the future (no specific date was given for bringing these items back).

The Association submitted a comment letter to the full City Council prior to the meeting recommending that the entire implementation of the existing seismic retrofit ordinance be placed on hold to allow small business rental housing providers to recover from the severe financial strain caused by Covid-19 moratoriums and resulting major losses of rental revenue.  Also, the Association recommended that the 3% cap on rental increases be removed or increased and that more than 50% of the costs for retrofitting be allowed to be passed-through to renters.  Lastly, the Association recommended that the City should waive or refund permit fees and plan checking fees or provide grants to cover such fees.

The Association will continue to monitor these issues, be a vocal advocate for our members and keep our members updated on further actions being considered by the City Council.