This is a short general-information note on developments that have been showing up in Bay Area real estate, land use, and California landlord-tenant work. It is not legal advice and does not address any particular property or tenancy. Confirm current statutes, ordinances, and case filings before relying on them.
Richmond’s data-center pause reaches its extension hearing tomorrow. The City Council’s noticed public hearing is October 20, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. (or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard) on a proposed 22-month and 15-day extension of Urgency Ordinance No. 13-26 N.S., which paused new data-center land-use and permit approvals citywide. The City’s 10-day report under Government Code section 65858(d) states that the 45-day moratorium expires on October 30, 2026, describes staff work since September 15 (stakeholder outreach planning, peer-city research, utility interviews, a project page at richmondca.gov/datacenterstudy, and an RFP for a consultant), and recommends the longest single extension section 65858(b) allows while staff aims to return with municipal-code amendments by Spring 2028. The hearing notice (published October 10) says the proposed ordinance and staff report were to be posted by 5:00 p.m. on October 15. Do not treat the extension as adopted until Council acts and the clerk posts the outcome.
On the local landlord side, the Richmond Rent Board’s regular meeting is listed for October 21, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The posted agenda includes Item G-1: a joint presentation from the Housing Authority of the County of Contra Costa and Rent Program staff on applying rent control to Section 8 and LIHTC housing, with a request that the Board direct staff on next steps for Regulation 202, Regulation 204, and Resolution 19-01. See the Rent Board page for the packet. Separately, the California Attorney General’s statewide rent-cap chart lists the Tenant Protection Act maximum for the San Francisco Area (including Contra Costa) at 8.8% for increases taking effect between August 1, 2026, and July 31, 2027, and shows Richmond’s local AG chart entry at 1.5% for September 1, 2026–August 31, 2027—confirm against the ordinance and Regulation 615 before using either figure. At the state level, the California Apartment Association reports that Governor Newsom signed SB 1365 (announced September 30 / reported October 1), amending Penal Code section 396 so emergency price-gouging rent limits apply regardless of initial lease term, effective January 1, 2027; read the chaptered bill, not a trade summary, before advising a client.
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on October 6 advanced Supervisor Bilal Mahmood’s “SHADE Act,” which Mission Local reports passed 10–1 on first reading and would stop treating shadow as a standalone CEQA environmental impact while shortening certain appeal windows; confirm second reading, mayoral action, and effective date before treating it as law. In Contra Costa, follow-through coverage of SB 328 (signed September 29) continued: the measure is intended to streamline aspects of the Concord Community Reuse Project at the former Naval Weapons Station. As of this writing, no posted Design Review Board minutes or decision letters confirm the outcome of the October 14 DRB items (PLN26-0228 / 744 Yuba Street; PLN26-0148 / 518–520 20th Street), and the Historic Preservation Commission’s Point Pinole service-yard file (PLN25-0416) likewise still lacks a confirmed posted decision letter here.
Rules and dockets change. Read the current text and the actual application file, not a weekly summary.