I emailed Council Member Kevin McKeown yesterday to see if we could now discuss the law against vacation rentals. Here is part of his responsse:

"In any case, it turns out the policy against vacation rentals
pre-dates the City's 2004 restriction on short-term rentals, which are defined as 30+ days but intended for persons who have another permanent place of abode.  I had hoped to share the findings from that 2004 ordinance with you, as requested, once you were in compliance, but that now seems neither relevant nor timely.

Vacation rentals are flat out prohibited in Santa Monica's OP-2
zone (SMMC 9.04.08.50.020, which dates back to the 80s).
 
Mayor pro tem Davis and I are asking the Council tomorrow night
to authorize staff evaluation of our prohibition on vacation rentals, but we are doing so to see if the current ordinance and penalties are sufficient to be effective, not to reconsider allowing vacation rentals.

I didn't want to be so rude as to ignore this latest email, and
would have felt such silence was unfair given the item we have placed on tomorrow night's agenda, but it also makes me very uncomfortable to be put in the position of knowing that an illegal activity apparently continues.  As a Councilmember I must be very careful to stick to policy, not enforcement.

I am copying the City Attorney on this response so that my
caution and discomfort are a part of the record."

Some of what he says is in regards to the calendar on this website, a calendar which I have not been able to update since late-June or early-July when I took my listing down from various websites.

I cannot attend the meeting tonight, but am disappointed that I received no notice about it from either Mr. McKeown or Mayor Davis. I guess I'm going to have to call the city tomorrow, see what steps are being taken and, perhaps, see what the staff member is doing in terms of research. I'm still hoping for a peaceful conclusion to this, but I don't think it's going to be easy.

I was thrilled (and somewhat shocked) by how well my meeting with Mayor Richard Bloom went. We spoke for about an hour, getting into some detail about how regulations regarding vacation rentals would work.

It seems that in the past, no one championed vacation rentals. In other words, the current ban seems to be because neighbors didn't want a specific vacation rental near their homes, so they decided to ban them all. I'm hoping that pretty strict regulation, plus the benefit of new taxes, plus the worry of less tourist spending will combine to encourage other city counsellors to buy in.

Mayor Bloom suggested that I contact the other members of City Councel and find a champion who would take it to the next step.

My presentation to him consisted of the reasons why regulating -- rather than an outright ban -- would be good for the city. It also discussed some of the reasons given for the ban (people are always coming and going, tourists make more noise, etc.). He seemed to imply that detailing how to make it work might be a good next step. Santa Cruz recently legalized vacation rentals, so he directed me to the appropriate documents so I can copy what they've done there.

I also plan to start working on the vacation rental owners association. I've discovered a few things that might encourage owners to band together. First, the city plans to close down all vacation rentals. Second, those people who are renting out their places (or say they are) for more than 30-days but not to permanent residents are still breaking the law -- but it's a different law. It turns out the a hotel is defined by the city as a place that rents to people who stay for no more than 30 days. A short-term rental is also illegal, and it is a place that is rented to a non-resident for more than 30-days, but has amenities such as furniture, maid service, a pool or other things that are pretty rigidly defined. This means that even those places that are advertising that they won't rent for less than 30 days may yet be in trouble, because what they're doing is also illegal, just under a different set of rules.

My next step will be to create a proposal for a policy to legalize and regulate vacation rentals. If you know someone in Santa Monica who is doing this, please send them my way. I'd love to have some help. Plus, if you know someone who is on the City Council, please let me know. I think I have an uphill battle ahead of me.