City of Pittsburgh - File #: 2021-1359

• File #: 2021-1359
• Version: 3
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Passed Finally
• File created: 3/30/2021
• In control: Committee on Land Use and Economic Development
• On agenda: 3/30/2021
• Final action: 4/6/2021
• Enactment date: 4/6/2021
• Enactment #: 12
• Effective date: 4/8/2021
• Title: Ordinance amending Title VII Business Licensing, Article X Rental of Residential Housing Chapter 782 Temporary Eviction Regulation For Disease Prevention and Control Due to COVID-19 to strengthen its policy directives through certain technical and substantive revisions.
• Sponsors: Deborah L. Gross

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
4/8/2021	3	Mayor	Signed by the Mayor
4/6/2021	2	City Council	AMENDED BY SUBSTITUTE	Pass
4/6/2021	2	City Council	Passed Finally, As Amended	Pass
3/31/2021	2	Standing Committee	AMENDED BY SUBSTITUTE	Pass
3/31/2021	1	Standing Committee	Affirmatively Recommended as Amended	Pass
3/30/2021	1	City Council	Read and referred
3/30/2021	1	City Council	Waived under Rule 8	Pass

Title
Ordinance amending Title VII Business Licensing, Article X Rental of Residential Housing Chapter 782 Temporary Eviction Regulation For Disease Prevention and Control Due to COVID-19 to strengthen its policy directives through certain technical and substantive revisions.

Body
WHEREAS, on March 3rd, 2021, Chapter 782, entitled Temporary Eviction Regulation For Disease Prevention and Control Due to COVID-19, took effect within the City of Pittsburgh, intending to address hardships arising from the COVID-19 pandemic by providing certain temporary eviction relief; and

WHEREAS, since that time, various stakeholders have further informed members of Council as to areas where Chapter 782 might be strengthened through certain technical and substantive revisions; and

WHEREAS, in addition to those findings made by Council via the recitals in Ordinance 6 of 2021, in support of enacting Chapter 782, Council would add the further findings presented immediately below; and

WHEREAS, numerous studies have documented a direct connection between evictions and COVID-19 infection rates and deaths, including the following:
a. Leifheit, et al., Expiring state eviction moratoriums and CovId-19 incidence and mortality (2020)

b. Benfer, et al., Pandemic Housing Policy: Examining the Relationship Among Eviction, Housing Instability, Health Inequity, and COVID-19 Transmission, J. of Urban Health (2020)

c. Sheen, et al., The effect of eviction moratoriums on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (2020); and

WHEREAS, Michael Levy, an epidemiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, predicts that a 1% eviction rate would result in a 5% to 10% higher incidence of COVID-19 infection, leading to approximately 1 death for every 60 evictions; and

WHEREAS, researchers have also found that eviction is a major driver of racial health inequities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic (Benfer, et al., Eviction, Health Inequity...