The City Council’s Legislative Matters Committee has proposed a change in the condo conversion ordinance that would benefit some long-term renters.

By Norah Doyle

The Somerville Legislative Matters Committee recently took steps to protect tenants affected by the condo conversions, which have led to the displacement of some long-term renters. 

To address these displacements, Committee members proposed changes to the city’s condo conversion ordinance. This change in the ordinance proposal would extend the notice period for vacant rental units from 1 year to 2 years. This is essentially the window of time landlords need to give written notice to a tenant of their intent to change the property.

This change would help deter landlords from emptying their property before a sale in order to avoid paying tenant protections, which is what was leading to the displacement of long-term renters.

Additionally, the proposed changes to the current ordinance included raising tenant relocation payments from $10,000/$14,000 to $14,000/$18,000, depending on the situation of each displaced tenant. The changes were presented to the committee by Housing Policy Coordinator, Morena Zelaya.

The proposed changes were voted on at the Committee level to be recommended for approval. Now that the committee has recommended approval, the final vote to approve and implement these changes by the City Council is expected to be held at their next meeting.

The Committee meeting also touched on a separate conversation to potentially disincentivize the use of mopeds on Somerville’s community path. However, as city attorney Cindy Amara noted, since the path is owned by the MBTA, the city’s ability to regulate it may be limited. The committee chose to leave this item open for further exploration and discussion after the summer recess.