The Oakland City Council voted this week to extend the emergency ordinance that places a moratorium on conversion of residential hotels through Dec. 11, 2018, or whenever permanent regulations are adopted. 

The moratorium, co-sponsored by Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan, Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Larry Reid and Abel Guillen, establishes a temporary moratorium on the conversion, demolition, reconfiguration, and rehabilitation of residential hotels.
 

Many community members and residents of residential hotels came out to speak in support of the extension. One Oakland resident said: “If I were kicked out of the residential hotel where I live, my life would immediately go from manageable to unmanageable.”

Oakland business owner Judy Elken said: “It is important that Oakland remain a mixed-income city, and this extension is necessary to prevent the displacement of low income residents that call these residential hotels home.”

 
“As we discuss the housing crisis in the City of Oakland, and work to strengthen affordable housing and protections for renters, it is important to make sure that these solutions are effective for our entire community,” said Councilmember Kaplan.

“Many people live in residential hotels as a last resort, and if they were to be kicked out, they would have nowhere else to go,” said Councilmember Kaplan.

“By voting to extend the emergency moratorium, Oakland is protecting these residents, and helping them remain in our city.”

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post