Housing advocates are still gathering signatures for a rent control ballot measure, but several City Council members want to start researching now what the impact could be.

The potential ballot measure would require rent control in the city as well as a just cause requirement for evictions. The proponents must get signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in the city, or about 27,462 signatures, which must be verified by the City Clerk.

Meanwhile, 4th District Councilman Daryl Supernaw, with backing from councilwomen Suzie Price and Stacy Mungo, has prepared an eight-page list of questions to be answered, broken down by section of the proposed ordinance.

Many of those questions ask how the city would enforce rent controls if they become reality in Long Beach. Others focus on a retroactive provision that could jeopardize leases as far back as 2017.

“However, with the importance of this topic, waiting until after signatures have been collected and verified would delay residents’ access to impartial data until very late in the process,” Supernaw writes in a memo to the council. “We would like to seek more clarification on the proposed ballot measure from the City Manager and/or City Attorney’s office by reviewing the attached questions.”

The agenda item asks staff to return in less than a month, April 17, with answers.

In other action Tuesday, the council is scheduled to:

• Consider spending approval of more than $7 million for technology infrastructure at the under-construction Civic Center. The equipment would be procured with a 15-year lease-purchase agreement.

• Consider a request to the city manager to develop a free, voluntary bike registration program.

• Hear a requirement to loosen zoning restrictions for tattoo parlors in response to freedom of speech rulings.