The Redwood City City Council on Monday deferred final ballot action on a sweeping rent and eviction control initiative, saying it wants more complete analysis of the measure’s broader impacts first.

The June 8 decision came after the California Apartment Association, local housing providers, and coalition partners urged the council not to act under the state Elections Code without first completing a full economic and fiscal analysis of the measure. See CAA’s June 5 action item.

Under state law, once the initiative qualified for the ballot, the City Council has limited options: adopt the measure as written or submit it to voters. Before taking final action, however, the council requested additional analysis of the measure’s broader impacts on housing production, the city’s fiscal health, staffing and administrative burdens, and the measure’s potential interactions with state law.

The city had released an initial economic analysis, but it covered only the rent control provisions and did not evaluate the measure as a whole.

In a letter to the City Council, CAA noted that the measure is not limited to rent control. The rent control provisions occupy fewer than two pages of the 46-page initiative, while the remaining provisions impose a broader regulatory framework covering evictions, relocation payments, tenant safety plans, rights of return, buyouts, anti-harassment rules, program administration, hearings, enforcement, and remedies.

Representing Redwood City housing providers and CAA at City Hall, Rhovy Lyn Antonio, CAA senior vice president of public affairs, urged the council to complete its due diligence before moving forward.

“This is not a city-sponsored measure. You did not write it. Staff did not write it. Unless you were in the room when these 46 pages were drafted, you cannot know tonight whether the city has fully understood every consequence,” Antonio told the council.

Many measure supporters urged the council to adopt the initiative outright, but several council members echoed concerns about acting without a full understanding of the measure’s fiscal, legal, housing, and administrative impacts, including the potential burden on the city to administer and defend an ordinance it did not draft.

The unanimous vote means the city will seek a supplemental, more detailed analysis before taking final ballot-related action.

CAA said it will continue working with Redwood City housing providers and community stakeholders as the city completes a supplemental analysis and decides whether to place the measure on the November 2026 ballot.

The additional review keeps attention on the measure’s full scope, including provisions beyond rent control that could affect housing operations, city administration, and future housing investment.

For more information, contact Rhovy Lyn Antonio at rantonio@caanet.org.