Moratorium continues for multi-unit vacation rentals in Palm Springs
UPDATE 7/13 11 P.M. – The Palm Springs city council unanimously voted Wednesday to continue a moratorium on permits for apartment buildings to be used as vacation rental properties.
The moratorium will last 3 more months while staff and the vacation rental subcommittee get more time to study the issue.
The council changed the language of the moratorium so that it only impact properties that are 5 units or more. Current permit holders can continue operating and are not impacted.
ORIGINAL STORY 7/13 5 P.M. – A major change could soon be coming for vacation rentals in Palm Springs.
But the possibility to put a moratorium on new permits for vacation rentals in the city was pulled from the July 7 night’s city council meeting, as Mayor Moon says the subject is so important it must be discussed in a full public forum to give residents unrestricted input.
The Vacation Rental Tourism Association released a statement on July 13, urging the Palm Springs City Council to vote “No” on an additional moratorium on vacation rental permits for multi-family units in the city.
Officials with VRTA said the current ban, though temporary, has already created economic turmoil for homeowners, real estate professionals and the entire community. They said they’re concerned during the past three months of the moratorium, they have seen no action taken by the Palm Springs City Council.
The VRTA released the following statement on Wednesday:
To enact an urgency ordinance, the city is required to have a legitimate and fact-based purpose that addresses a real and pending health and safety issue. There is no definitive threat to public health or safety under our current well-crafted ordinance. “We believe that the Palm Springs City Council will do the right thing and work with the entire community to craft a public policy based on facts not fear,” said Mike Flannery of Acme House Company. “We urge the council to construct responsible policies by bringing everyone together to work towards the best possible outcome for the citizens of Palm Springs.”
Two different petitions have been circulated; one against vacation rentals,which received a few hundred signatures over the course of several months; the other, in support of maintaining and enforcing of our current ordinance, gathered 3000+ signatures in a mere 48 hours. It is clear where the community stands on this issue.
We share the same goal as the neighborhood groups and want well managed and compliant vacation rentals adding to the local economy, while maintaining the quality of life for residents. We remain committed to working with the City Council and our neighborhood groups to address the small number of outstanding issues related to vacation rentals.
July 8th: Mayor Moon posted the following statement on Facebook Thursday morning:
Pulling the item from last night’s Council agenda for a moratorium on vacation rentals was the right thing to do. This item had been placed on the agenda by the city manager at the request of the vacation rental subcommittee. The rest of the Council did not know it was going to be on there. Normally, when a council member wants an item to be placed on the agenda for a future meeting, that request is made during Council Member comments at a previous meeting. That process allows the entire council to openly and publicly discuss the appropriateness of placing a proposed item on the agenda. I have asked the City Manager to, henceforth, allow the Council members to see the agenda BEFORE it is published and becomes official. Keep in mind, once that agenda is published, it cannot, by law, be changed except at the public meeting, as we did last night.
The subject of vacation rentals is a critically important subject that must be discussed in a full public forum with unrestricted input from our residents. That is why, last night, we made the decision to hold one or more public study sessions on this subject, most likely at the convention center, similar to the one we held on the subject of the downtown development project. This will allow as many people to speak as wish to do so, and for there to be open, unfettered and transparent discussion and debate. Everyone deserves a chance to be heard, and that could not be done last night in a normal Council meeting setting.
There are two sides to the vacation rental question, and both sides are equally valid. What the Council decided to do last evening is to have a full and open public discussion and debate before any decisions are made by the Council on the vacation rental question. Our goal will be to find a compromise that will permit a carefully regulated vacation rental industry to operate within strict limits while at the same time protecting the right of our residents to the quiet enjoyment of their homes. We also must craft a methodology of effectively enforcing vacation rental ordinances.
There is concern on some quarters that not having a moratorium while a new, revised ordinance is crafted, and improved controls put in place, will result in a “land rush” to the permit office for vacation rental permits. That may happen to some degree, however, in my opinion, that is an acceptable price to pay in order to allow us, as a community and a Council, to have the opportunity to work openly and cooperatively and with total transparency, with the involvement of all parties, to find the best possible solution to this complex and important subject.
KESQ and CBS Local 2 will continue to keep you informed as the city strives to find a compromise for residents and the vacation rental industry.
7-7 – Packed City Hall as council pulls item from agenda
The Palm Springs City Council decided to pull the item from the agenda, and send it back to staff for more investigation before deciding the fate of vacation rentals in Palm Springs.
The city council chambers were packed and it was standing room only. The majority of people in attendance were their to sound off against the possible moratorium.
“I am happy that they pulled the item and I am hopeful that the city council will see that they way that they went about this by making an urgency action was not the way to go about this. It’s not good government it’s a little bit irresponsible,” said Kelly McLean, a member of the Vacation Rental and Tourism Association.
Some rental property advocates are celebrating this as a victory, but some types of rental properties might still be in jeopardy.
At the next meeting the city council will be voting on whether or not to allow multi-family dwellings to apply for vacation rental permits.
“It means that the property that I have been building over the past 3 years, crafting and caring for, would lose 20 to 50 percent of it’s value overnight because the next person who buys it will not be able to use it as a vacation rental,” said Jamie Kowal the owner the The Amado which is a multi-family building Kowal purchased to be a vacation rental property.
Opponents of vacation rentals in Palm Springs say they are going to continue to fight against homes in their neighborhoods becoming saturated with vacation rental properties.
“For the last 8 years the industry has been setting the agenda, and as a result neighborhoods like mine are falling apart and if it continues we are going to be nothing but a bunch of hotel rows,” said Mike Ziskind, a member of Protect Our Neighborhoods.
ORIGINAL STORY 7/5/16: A major change could soon be coming for vacation rentals in Palm Springs.The city is looking to place a temporary hold on any new vacation rental permits. That has this growing industry worried about its future.
Vote: Do you think a temporary ban on new vacation rental permits is a good idea for Palm Springs?
Shon Tomlin moved to Palm Springs and started doing vacation rentals as a way to offset the costs of renovating his home.
“I wanna invest in Palm Springs and I want to make it a better, brighter place by buying some properties that are not to code and investing money in it and fix it up,” Tomlin said.
He’s concerned about plans to put a hold on any new vacation rental permits.
“Finding out that this would put an end to that puts a pause on making that kind of investment, and I have Realtor friends who have a few homes drop out of escrow just because of this announcement,” Tomlin said.
Since 2009 the number of these homes has grown from 900 to nearly 1,900 homes. That growth is one of the reasons the city wants to press pause.
“We noticed a spike in the permits for vacation rentals and we also heard from an organized group that they were putting together a ballot measure because they didn’t feel the city was handling this well,” said City Council member J.R. Roberts.
Some of the main complaints are that neighborhoods are being taken over and renters are too loud.
“I have four vacation rentals on my block alone. Two of them are bad actors; they are recurring problems and the city has been unable or unwilling to resolve those problems. I did not move here to live on hotel row,” said Mike Ziskind with the Protect Our Neighborhoods organization.
Roberts is asking for three months to try to fix issues but the council will ultimately decide the length of the moratorium.
“Mostly the system works. Most people who own vacation rentals take care of them and enforce the rules. But that percentage that doesn’t is coloring everything. And I understand why the neighborhoods are upset about it and we need to look at how many we’re going to ultimately going to allow,” Roberts said.
In the meantime many rental companies and homeowners are coming together to keep their industry thriving. Currently there’s a petition circulating among the people against the moratorium so far they’ve gotten more than 2,000 signatures.
The council will decide on the issue Wednesday night at 6 p.m. Mayor Robert Moon said he will only allow 10 people on each side of the issue to speak tomorrow regarding this particular issue. He said they will prioritize speakers who are representing a group or organization.
