PSN4N: City Council “should not speak” for tribe about rentals
During a March 7 Palm Springs City Council meeting, Mayor Robert Moon said, “We are partners in the city with the tribe and we should be addressing a very major issue with the tribe in advance and we did not this time.”
A week after the meeting and Moon’s statement, the Palm Springs Neighbors for Neighborhoods has come out to counter the mayor’s representation of the tribe’s stance.
“The city council, once again, exaggerated this issue into another scare tactic to misguide the voters on Measure C (Limit short-term vacation rentals (STRs) in R1 Residential neighborhoods,)” reads the news release. “Research conducted by Neighborhoods 4 Neighborhoods, show that…[Moon’s] statement is not factual at all. “
The release goes on to mention a 2016 ban passed by the city which prevented short term rentals from being allowed in apartment buildings, which was also implemented without input from the Board, even though that ban effected “Tribal Trust and Allotted Trust land.”
“In addition, there are no public records to indicate that the City Council invited the Tribe to partner in the original Vacation Rental Ordinance nor the revised ordinance (following threat of referendum) that is now in place,” the release continues. “Once again, these issues have a direct impact on tribal land.”
Another point of contention related to how many vacation rentals Moon estimated on tribal lands.
“We would end up with no money to fund enforcement but yet we would still have 700 or 1,000 or so vacation rentals on tribal land which we would not have the resources to enforce,” Moon said.
The committee’s statement questions whether the Mayor’s estimate included “condominiums or other areas governed by Homeowner Associations,” which may or may not be affected by Measure C.
“In any case, the tribe will have to arrange and pay for enforcement services should they go against city regulation (and/or HOAs) and continue to allow short-term rentals of homes (apartments, condos) on their land,” reads the statement. “Surely the City and the Tribe can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement should it come to that.”
Palm Springs Neighbors for Neighborhoods (psn4n), a “primarily formed committee,” composed of “full-time, part-time and former residents,” supports Measure C, and has thrown its backing behind the Agua Caliente Board’s pushback against the Mayor’s statements.
“Nowhere in the letter did the tribe state that they would not adhere to the passing of Measure C. I can’t think of another time that the Tribe refused to follow residential zoning issues and restrictions”, said Rob Grimm, the campaign manager for psn4.
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