Residents submit over 3,600 signatures to overturn vacation rental ordinance

On Thursday, Citizens for a Better Palm Springs submitted the signatures of 3,645 registered voters demanding the Palm Springs City Council either repeal the new vacation rental ordinance they approved in December, or submit it to the voters.

“This overwhelming show of support from Palm Springs voters demonstrates that the City Council did not have the support of the public when they passed their dangerously flawed vacation rental ordinance,” said Brady Sandahl, a Palm Springs resident and business owner who has helped lead the campaign. “The new ordinance includes several extreme and arbitrary measures that violate homeowners’ property rights, threaten home values and jeopardize the local economy.”

According to the organization, the city clerk has 30 working days to count and verify the signatures. If the Clerk finds that the petition contains at least 2,540 valid signatures, the council will have two options:

1) Repeal the ordinance, allowing them to revise and adopt a better alternative at a later date

2) Place the ordinance on a future ballot, putting the decision into the hands of all city voters. The ordinance, originally set to take effect this weekend, will be immediately suspended until it is either repealed by the Council or settled by voters

Officials with Citizens for a Better Palm Springs said one of the thousands of citizens who signed the petition is Neil Wortman, a 77-year-old Palm Springs resident who relies on the income he earns from occasionally renting his home to families and other visitors.

“I welcome the city to do more enforcement and shut down the people who don’t follow the rules,” Wortman said. “But I signed the petition because I don’t think the new vacation rental ordinance is fair or right. We had an unenforced set of rules over the past eight years that caused the problem. They didn’t do anything, and now it’s our fault that they didn’t do anything.”

According to the group’s news release, while Citizens for a Better Palm Springs supports a robust enforcement policy for vacation rentals — and also supports the safety inspections required by the new ordinance — the group believes the ordinance the City Council passed in December goes too far.

“Everyone in the community, including the City Council, agreed that the problem was enforcement, but the council overstepped and adopted an ordinance that puts too much at risk,” Sandahl said. “We are hopeful that the Council will rescind their ordinance and work with the community to come to a better alternative.”

Citizens for a Better Palm Springs also announced that it has received small donations from 25 individuals, averaging $53 each, in addition to larger donations from real estate professionals and vacation rental owners and managers.

Donations are still being accepted.