Judge denies group’s request to shut down PS Vacation Rental program
On Monday, a judge denied a neighborhood group’s request to bar the city of Palm Springs from issuing any new vacation rental certificates to prospective short term rental owners. The group, ‘Protect our Neighborhoods’, was pushing back against a vacation rental ordinance that went into effect last month.
KESQ and CBS Local 2’s Jeremy Chen was at the courthouse Monday morning for the ruling. He’ll have updates on KESQ News Channel 3 at 12 p.m.
The suit filed by Protect Our Neighborhoods against the city of Palm Springs and the Palm Springs City Council calls for a temporary restraining order directing the city to halt the issuance of any new vacation rental certificates until the city conducts an environmental review into the effects of short term rentals or establishes new zoning regulations to treat vacation rentals like commercial businesses.
The motion will be heard this morning in Riverside civil court.
City officials, rental owners and residents opposed to the rental boom have butted heads over how best to deal with the rapidly growing industry.
Despite the city being known for its tourism, Palm Springs officials sought to stem the explosion of short term rental properties in the area, which have more than doubled since 2009, according to the city.
Officials said the proliferation of vacation rentals in the city has sapped housing availability for low-income residents and led to an increase in noise violations, disorderly conduct, traffic congestion, vandalism and illegal parking.
Several ordinance proposals were introduced since late last year, including one blocked by a voters’ referendum in February, led by pro-rental group Citizens for a Better Palm Springs.
The city council in March finally pushed through an ordinance, which limits property owners to renting out their homes 32 times a year, reduces issuances of new vacation rental permits to one per owner, and requires guests to meet with owners for a thorough run-through of the city’s rental regulations. The new ordinance went into effect April 16.
However, Protect Our Neighborhoods alleges in its suit that the city “has never undertaken any adequate environmental review of vacation rentals in the City of Palm Springs,” and is thus in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act.
Further, the group states that the city should not be allowed to issue vacation rental certificates without requiring that rental owners obtain a Land Use Permit or Conditional Use Permit first, as is required for commercial businesses.
“Such hastily obtained Vacation Rental Certificates may establish permanent vacation rentals without any limit on the number of vacation rentals in a neighborhood or regard for inconsistency with or the impact on residential neighborhoods,” the suit alleges.
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