Officials explore new eviction standards for subsidized housing

While city officials cannot bolster eviction protections for tenants in privately-owned buildings, there are avenues to increase support for those living in city-owned and subsidized housing.

St. Petersburg City Council members sought to lay the framework for a potential ordinance that could increase notice requirements, standardize delivery and establish what constitutes “good cause” for evictions during Thursday morning’s Housing, Land Use & Transportation Committee meeting. They also discussed how extensive waiting lists affect a revamped affordable housing dashboard.

Committee Chair Richie Floyd said the discussion was part of his ongoing efforts to homogenize St. Petersburg’s processes. He called the meeting a first step and explained he intended to ascertain feedback from council members and take that framework to affordable housing stakeholders for their thoughts.

The ultimate goal, he added, was to “get the strongest deal for our residents possible.”

“When the city gives our money to things, we can set higher standards,” Floyd said. “We don’t have to make arbitrary decisions; we can have guidance as to how we can operate.”

Councilmembers must establish a threshold for the initiative, including if it would apply when providing land or funding. A similar precedent applies to any city, federal or state-funded projects with over three units.

They must also determine what constitutes good cause standards and whether that should include nonpayment, criminal or disruptive behavior and lease violations. New guidelines could increase the length of notices and time to pay, and may require information on legal, financial and homeless prevention services.

Floyd would like to see tenants receive 10 days’ notice before an owner files for eviction, a week longer than the state’s requirement. Councilmembers must decide if they should reduce that time for repeat offenders or for criminal and disruptive behavior.

While many details remain open for debate, Amy Foster noted officials could not apply the changes retroactively or to upcoming projects. She, Floyd and City Attorney Brad Tennant agreed the potential ordinance would only pertain to future developments.

Tennant told council members there is some precedent for a draft ordinance’s language, as city officials previously set mobility and accessibility standards for subsidized affordable housing developments. “We would start by looking there,” he said.

A graphic showing potential new eviction standards for subsidized developments. Screengrab.

He added that those regulations apply to any project with three or more units that receive locally approved funding, a below-market property sale or donation or a release of special assessments. Foster stressed the city’s administration would disapprove of new eviction standards for developers receiving density bonuses.

“Those are hard deals to work – all of these deals are very complicated,” she said. “But you have a goal in your Housing For All, From All plan to produce 200 workforce units without any funding, and we’re just starting to see that happen. And we’re really trying to get those units … created through those bonuses.”

Councilmember Brandi Gabbard said an online housing portal should provide clear guidance for owners and tenants. Foster noted that city officials, after a six-month collaboration with the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, will release a new dashboard Feb. 28.

However, she explained issues with it directing people to other housing options. Foster said affordable developers have relayed that dashboards consistently show no units are available due to massive wait lists – which also underscores the need to help prevent evictions.

“When Skyway Lofts opened up, it had 60 units,” Foster said. “The waitlist is 2,400 people. So, the usefulness of a tool like that is actually not very useful.”

A lack of options should eliminate a potential requirement for owners to help those facing eviction find another affordable unit, Gabbard said.

Councilmember Ed Montanari said he would like to better define the problem before implementing “extremely complex” solutions. He believes the city’s lack of housing is due to the basic economic principle of supply and demand, and cautioned his colleagues against overregulation.

Floyd said state eviction law is also confusing and stressed the importance of providing relevant legal counsel to owners and tenants. He also believes that the city’s affordable housing providers work with renters to prevent evictions but said a standardized approach would mitigate misinterpretations.

“Housing deals are complicated,” Floyd added. “The eviction process is complicated. It’s a big discussion for us to have in one committee meeting, but the people that work in this field know exactly what we’re on about today.”

He and administrators will now relay council members’ feedback to local stakeholders before further discussion and a potential draft ordinance.