photo credit: City of Sebastopol
Design rendering of the Woodmark Apartments on Bodega Avenue in Sebastopol.

Sebastopol, much like Petaluma, has added new protections for the city's renters.

This week, the Sebastopol city council approved an urgency measure, adding what's called "just cause" protection, and expanding on what's already outlined in state law. 

The move came after tenants at the subsidized, Woodmark Apartments on Bodega Avenue were told they would need to have a farm worker in their household or face eviction at the end of the year.

Sebastopol city attorney Alex Mog said the temporary protections apply to tenants in complexes of 40 or more units, including units designated as "affordable" in the deed.

"While eviction and displacement can obviously be for lack of a better word, a big deal for any tenant," Mog said. "It's especially significant and disrupting to tenants in regulated units who have by definition limited income, limited ability to pay for moving expenses or security deposits."

Tenants can still be removed for things like subletting without permission or not paying rent, but renters at one of the five 40-plus unit apartment complexes in Sebastopol will be protected against evictions without a "just cause" at least until January 1st, 2027.

That's when the urgency ordinance expires.

The temporary protections also require tenants evicted for a no-fault cause, like a remodel, be provided relocation assistance equal to three months rent, or three months fair market rent, which ever is more.

Woodmark Apartments tenants will likely be eligible for the relocation assistance if they are evicted at the end of the year to accommodate the farm worker housing restrictions required in the property's deed.

Around 15 households at the complex could be affected. Close to 30 units are believed to have been vacated so far due to the farm worker residency requirements

The urgency rules are expected to go into effect December 18.