Second in a series
Re “Rent Stabilization (Not Control) Is Peeking Around the Corner”
[img]1307|right|Meghan Sahli-Wells||no_popup[/img]When rent stabilization reaches the City Council later this year for approval as a concept, opening with a series of community workshops, the always amorphous, and so far insoluble, subject of affordable housing is expected to be included in the package proposal.
Don’t expect a plan by Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or maybe even Christmas.
Rent stabilization, said Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells, an avid supporter, “is one of those ongoing, long-term issues for which it is important to have a healthy, thorough community conversation about. It’s a big deal.”
The mayor reiterated her objection to “1970s-style rent control” because “it has had unintended consequences that have been less than desirable. Since the ‘70s, states have passed laws that have made it more difficult to repeat that model.
“One state law says that if a building is older than about 1986, you would not be able to do anything with it,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said. “It only concerns older buildings. I would like if we could pass something like that.”
The mayor sees such a rule as a trigger for gentrification. “Apartment owners would be tempted to tear down old buildings and build new ones,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said. “That way they would fundamentally change neighborhoods, and they could charge whatever rent they want.
‘That, to me, is not a desirable outcome. It is not necessarily what neighborhoods are looking for, nor what renters are looking for because they would not be protected.”
(To be continued)
