Cathedral City to consider moratorium on short-term vacation rentals

Cathedral City will be tackling the issue of short term vacation rentals at its city council meeting Wednesday looking at putting a moratorium in place.

City staff has proposed a temporary moratorium on licensing short-term rentals while the city looks at how it can increase enforcement on problem rentals. This moratorium if approved by the city council, would be in effect for 45 days. The city would also reinstate a short term vacation rental task force to work on regulations and enforcement.

Right now there are 352 licensed short term rentals in the city. In January through May 2019, there have been 36 noise-related calls from 22 rental properties., but just 6 of those rentals account for two-thirds of those calls.

Last week we aired story speaking with a homeowner that lived next to a short term vacation rental. She says the constant noise issues next door are forcing her to consider other places to live and feels once the Fourth of July comes around, it’s only going to get worse.

This discussion is scheduled to take place here at city hall with the city council meeting starting at six tonight.