Rancho P. V. : Limit on Rent Hikes Asked

A special Rancho Palos Verdes city committee this week asked the management of an oceanside apartment complex to reconsider planned rent increases of as much as $325 a month.

Mayor John McTaggart, Councilman Robert Ryan and City Manager Don Guluzzy asked property manager Christopher Louis to consider limiting rent increases to 5% during a six-month period at the Porto Verde Apartments on Beach View Drive. Louis also was asked to limit the total amount of any increase to $200 and to increase the customary 30-day notice of rent increases to 90 days to allow tenants time to find other homes.

Louis said Wednesday that he had informed Chemical Bank, owner of the complex, of the meeting but did not expect a decision on the requests for 30 days. McTaggart said he threatened to adopt a rent-control ordinance and name it after Chemical Bank if the owners were uncooperative. “We’d much rather work this out by negotiation than go into any form of rent control,” McTaggart said. “I think we got the thing out in the open and got something happening.”