The City of Palm Springs releases a staff report regarding short-term rental moratorium
The Palm Springs City Council released a staff report regarding a possible short-term rental ordinance which will be decided upon next Monday, Oct. 17.
The interim urgency ordinance will establish a temporary moratorium on the issuance of vacation rental permits within the City of Palm Springs.
According to the staff report, California’s Zoning and Planning Law will allow a temporary pause on the issuance of short-term rental permits. In the case that the ordinance is adopted, the city council says they may halt the issuance of permits, “...to protect the public safety, health, and welfare,” of Palm Springs residents.
This urgency measure would require a ⅘ vote of the City Council for adoption. The interim moratorium will end 45 days after its adoption unless the council decides to extend it for an additional 10 months and 15 days and subsequently for one year. This extension would require a ⅘ vote as well.
In their staff report, the Palm Springs City Council notes that as of Oct. 6, 2,519 vacation rental permits were issued within the city, “with 255 new vacation rental permit applications yet to be processed.”
During their Sept. 29 meeting, the council held a review and discussed the implementation of STR recommendations from a work group made up of real estate professionals, vacation rental industry stakeholders, ONE-PS members, and community members.
The work group recommended that the city council implement a 2,500 cap on vacation rental permits, seeing that all applications be processed, including applications for properties with an escrow closing date, within the first month of the adopted ordinance.
If the ordinance goes into effect, council members will spend the allotted time researching the impacts of short-term rentals on local residents, how other cities within the Coachella Valley have managed short-term rentals effectively and additional regulations.
