The city council finds as follows:
A. Beginning on the morning of November 8, 2018, a series of wildfire events, identified as the Camp Fire burned over 125,000 acres in the County of Butte and surrounding areas and damaged or destroyed over 6,500 homes and 260 commercial structures where the majority were within the boundaries of the Town of Paradise; and
B. On November 9, 2018, the Governor of California proclaimed a State of Emergency for Butte County and on November 12, 2018, the President of the United States declared the existence of a major disaster in the State of California and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfire; and
C. California Penal Code Section 396 controls price increases for rental housing, goods and services related to emergency response and recovery for an initial period of thirty (30) days after declaration of an emergency by the President, Governor or local agency, and generally prohibits charging a price that exceeds by more than ten percent (10%) the price of the rental units, goods or services as such existed before the declaration of an emergency event. Penal Code Section 396 permits a local legislative body to extend the price controls for additional thirty (30) day periods as needed to protect the lives, property or welfare of its citizens. Nothing in Penal Code Section 396 preempts a city's ability to prohibit the same or similar conduct and allows a city to impose a more severe penalty for the conduct prohibited by Penal Code Section 396. Penal Code Section 396 applies to hotels, motels and any other rental housing restricting set rates and lease to what was advertised immediately prior to the emergency declaration; and
D. The Council has previously found that the City of Chico is experiencing a housing crisis, and a severe lack of rental housing, particularly rental housing that is affordable to lower and moderate-income residents; and
E. The housing units damaged and destroyed by an emergency increase the rental housing shortage further impairing the ability of persons who live and work in the City of Chico to find housing or residents who have been displaced by an emergency to relocate to other housing in Chico; and
F. City officials have been alerted to the possibility of price gouging by persons offering housing for rent, goods and services in the City of Chico, and have been informed that price gouging may also include eviction of existing tenants of rental properties, so landlords may take advantage of victims of emergencies whose insurance companies may pay rental rates in excess of what was previously charged for existing tenants; and
G. While the pricing of consumer goods and services is generally best left to the marketplace under ordinary conditions, when a declared state of emergency or local emergency results in abnormal disruptions of the market, the public interest requires that excessive and unjustified increases in the prices of essential consumer goods and services be prohibited, the events of the Camp Fire and other states of emergency highlight the need for the City of Chico to establish local regulations relating to price gouging during times of emergencies to protect residents from excessive and unjustified increases in the prices charged during or shortly after a declared state of emergency or local emergency for goods and services that are vital and necessary for the health, safety, and welfare of consumers; and
H. The City Council hereby finds that this Ordinance is necessary for preservation of the public peace, health or safety based upon the findings contained herein.
I. The City Council intends to extend the applicability of this Ordinance until December 31, 2020, or until such later date as established by a declaration of a state of emergency regarding the Camp Fire.
(Ord. 2522 §2 (part), Ord. 2527 §1 (part); Ord. 2542 §1)