Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:35:33 -0800WeeblySat, 21 Apr 2012 08:43:41 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2012/04/things-are-happening.htmlA few weeks ago, I was interviewed on the local CBS evening news broadcast. That re-energized me in my quest to legalize Vacation Rentals in Santa Monica.

Since then, I started a petition here:
https://www.change.org/petitions/legalize-vacation-rentals-in-santa-monica-california that tells the city of Santa Monica that we want legal Vacation Rentals.

This isn't just about my right to use my property. It's about raising new revenue for Santa Monica and creating rules under which neighborhoods and Vacation Rentals can coexist.

Today's Santa Monica Daily Press features an article about the issue (http://www.smdp.com/Articles-local-news-c-2012-04-20-73886.113116-Vacation-rental-owners-fight-for-legality.html). The arguments against Vacation Rentals raised by neighbors are reasonable. Who wants to live beside a party house, after all? However, there are rules about noise in residential neighborhoods that could easily be enforced. I can't imagine why the police would ignore a loud party at a Vacation Rental, but would shut down one at a regular residence.

Another argument is that Vacation Rentals don't pay the 14% hotel tax. If I could have paid it, I would have, but there was no way to pay tax if I was running a business that was againt the municipal code. Every owner with whom I've spoken would love to pay the tax and to have an annual licensing fee that would cover the cost of annual inspections. This would improve the lot of all Vacation Rental owners because it would eliminate the properties that have beautiful pictures, but a terrible reality. (I've had two guests who stayed at Hill Street Cottage at the last minute when they arrived in Santa Monica and found the place they had rented unusable.) The City can't complain that Vacation Rentals don't pay the tax if they won't let us pay the tax.

Please sign the petition to show the Santa Monica City Councilmembers that this is an issue worth revisiting. It will raise new revenue (about $2 million) and will keep tourists in Santa Monica. Regulation will enable the city to ensure that Vacation Rentals are run properly and that they are good neighbors.]]>Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:12:04 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2011/09/an-addition-thought.htmlThe City of Santa Monica is clearly spending time and resources to ensure that the 200 vacation rentals in the city are shut down permanently.

In the meantime, I have a friend who lives a few blocks away in a rent-controlled building. Three of the units are being illegally rented at non-rent control rates, and upgrades were performed to these units without permits. The building owner recently cut down a tree in the front yard (without a permit). The building is in such bad shape that my friend lost a signifant number of clothes last winter when copious quantities of water fell through the roof and her clothes mildewed (she was away at the time). So far, despite her frequent complaints, the city has done nothing but fine the owners, who claim to be too poor to fix the building.

Perhaps the city should work harder on fixing this problem, which cannot possibly be unique to my friend's building, and spend less time shutting down 200 vacation rentals (whose owners would happily pay tax and licensing fees). ]]>Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:12:35 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2011/09/the-city-is-strengthening-its-law.htmlI 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.

]]>Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:48:27 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2011/09/fox-11-news-called.htmlI just got a call from a reporter at Fox 11 news. They're interested in doing a story about the ordinance in Santa Monica that makes it illegal for me to have a vacation rental. They'd like to interview me on TV. I'll let everyone know when I'll be on air. ]]>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:20:08 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2011/08/isnt-that-their-job.htmlI've been trying to get in touch with some of the other city council members. Mayor Richard Bloom suggested trying to get in touch with Gleam Davis and Pam O'Connor.

Gleam Davis emailed me back that she was very busy, but asked for times that I could speak with her. That's the last I heard from her even though I've sent her two emails since.

Pam O'Connor hasn't emailed me back even though I sent her a follow-up to my original email.

Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by their lack of response, but I am. I thought that part of the job of city council was to hear what their constituents' interests are. Aren't they supposed to represent us?

I'm thinking about contacting the other city council members -- the ones who aren't supposed to be as open to my ideas. What I'm thinking is that if I can talk to them, maybe they'll listen. I believe that I just need one who will really listed to my argument. I believe in rent control (which is the main argument against legalizing vacation rentals) and I believe in it strongly.

Since what I'm doing now (contacting those who are supposed to be more open to my ideas) isn't working, I'll try something different. ]]>Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:05:40 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2011/07/i-met-with-the-mayor.htmlI 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. ]]>Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:05:09 -0800http://www.hillstreetcottage.com/1/post/2011/07/first-post.htmlI thought I'd start by writing down what's happened so far. I plan to add entries as new things ocurr.

This started at the end of June, the day before we went to my parents' for a week.

The City of Santa Monica finally decided to start enforcing its ban on vacation rentals, and started by contacting 25 owners, about whom it had complaints. My complaints are, I'm sure, from the same people next door who complained throughout our renovation. We have eight or nine households abutting our property, and only one household complains. However, the city doesn't track whether it's one person complaining multiple times or multiple people complaining, so I have many complaints.

Armando, in planning, said I had to shut down right away. I asked if there was some way to stay open for the summer, since I had people coming from all over the world who had paid deposits. He mailed me a citation and a fine. I've been fined $500 for not having a business license (although they wouldn't give me one when I applied for one), $75 for not collecting hotel taxes (I can't pay taxes if I don't have a business license) and $75 for running an illegal business. The actual bill should arrive any day now. If I pay it, I have 30 days or so before I have to close. According to Armando, at that point, he'll come by to see if I've closed and, since I won't have closed, he'll send me another citation for the same amount. This should cover me until I no longer have booked guests. I'm not booking people for this winter.

When I returned from my trip, I searched the Santa Monica Daily Press and found an article from last year saying that the city wasn't prosecuting people unless they were really causing problems. In the last four years, they've closed down exactly one vacation rental. Since the situation has obviously changed, I contacted the Daily Press and this article was written. http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2011-07-11-72170.113116-Homeowner-wants-to-legalize-vacation-rentals-.html

I started to collect data and estimate that tourists who stay in Santa Monica vacation rentals spend about $1.8 million (not including lodging). If vacation rentals were taxed, an additional $1.8 million would be raised. (I'm still wondering about the coincidence of the numbers being the same.) The owners with whom I spoke also said that they'd be happy to pay a licensing fee that would cover the city's cost of inspecting vacation rentals.

I have a phone meeting with the mayor tomorrow. I'll post what happens with that. I'm gearing up for a long fight, but maybe I'll get lucky and prove that being reasonable and logical can get me far. More likely, I'll end up proving that nothing gets done without a good attorney. ]]>