As Syracuse City Council continues to attempt to resolve the city’s housing crisis, councilors will consider introducing a “for cause” eviction law.

Syracuse city councilors will consider the city’s option to introduce anti-cause eviction laws. The state-sponsored legislation is designed to protect renters from price gouging and provide some protection from evictions. Councilman Jimmy Monto, who helped sponsor the program’s introduction, said it’s time to think creatively to solve the city’s housing problems.

“We need to approach this holistically,” Monto said. “I don’t think anything happens in a vacuum. So when we think about a housing strategy, that strategy needs to take tenants into account.”

Monto advocates for the passage of some kind of Good Cause legislation and hopes that community discussions will clarify which areas need attention.

“The hope is that we’ll talk about it and look at what the bill would mean for Syracuse,” Monto said. “It’s state legislation that we can get behind. We’re allowed to make some changes, we need to talk about what those changes might look like and what impact they would have on the city.”

Councilman Pat Hogan is not so sure. He fears that this could prevent an increase in housing capacity.

“I’m not sure it’s going to increase our housing capacity in the slightest. I think it’s more suited to the south of the state,” Hogan said. “I think it’s going to be detrimental to some people who are already small landlords and already own apartments in the city.”

Hogan said he believes increasing housing capacity will help solve some of the city’s renter and housing problems.

Discussions on the Good Cause legislation come as the council looks to approve a new housing strategy at its next meeting on August 12.