HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1318 - ZOA 16-364 Extend Temp Moratorium Short Term Rental (STR)INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
CITY OF PALM DESERT
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
STAFF REPORT
REQUEST: CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE AN INTERIM URGENCY
ORDINANCE MAKING FINDINGS AND EXTENDING A
TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUANCE OF SHORT-
TERM RENTAL PERMITS CITY-WIDE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10
MONTHS AND 15 DAYS
SUBMITTED: Ryan Stendell, Director of Community Development
APPLICANT: City of Palm Desert
CASE NO: Urgency Ordinance and ZOA 16-364
DATE: February 23, 2017
CONTENTS: Draft Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1318
Existing Short -Term Rentals Map
Legal Notice
Recommendation
Waive further reading and adopt Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1318
extending the temporary moratorium on the issuance of Short -Term
Rental Permits (STR) for an additional 10 months and 15 days.
Executive Summary
Approval of staff's recommendation will approve an interim urgency ordinance, which
will extend the existing 45-day moratorium for an additional 10 and a half months on
issuing new STR permits. The moratorium will still allow existing permitted short-term
rental properties to continue to operate, and allow for the City Manager to grant new
permits if certain criteria are met. The Council -appointed two member subcommittee
has met with City staff. The recommended stakeholder task force will begin meeting in
March to review and create any proposed updates to the City's Municipal Code.
Staff Report
Urgency Ordinance ZOA 16-364: Short -Term Rentals
Page 2 of 3
February 23, 2017
Background
•
On January 12, 2017, the City Council approved a 45-day interim urgency ordinance on
issuing new STR permits within the City of Palm Desert. The moratorium allowed
existing permitted short-term rental properties to continue operating. In addition, the
moratorium contains provisions for issuing a new permit if an owner meets certain
criteria and pays any back Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT) for the period of
unlicensed operations. At that Council meeting, the City Council selected two members
to join a Short -Term Rental Subcommittee (Councilmembers Kelly and Nestande).
On February 2, 2017, City staff met with the subcommittee and discussed the formation
of a 19-member stakeholder task force consisting of the following:
• Rental Companies/Property Managers — Two members
• HOA Presidents/Members — Two members
• Homeowners within an HOA — Two members
• Homeowners not within an HOA — Three members
• Hotel Industry — Two members
• Realtors — Two members
• City representatives — Six members from Planning, Code Compliance, Finance
and the City Manager's office.
The first task force meeting is scheduled for March 2, 2017. Staff's goal is to balance
the expedience of this process with hearing all parties' concerns prior to making a
recommendation back to all of the City Council members.
Analysis
Staff is requesting that the City Council authorize an additional 10 and a half months to
review and host a series of public meetings. Government Code Section 65858, allows
the Council to extend an initial 45-day moratorium for a cumulative one-year period
through a public hearing and approval by a four -fifths (4/5) vote. Staff believes that
taking this period to assess the current regulations on STRs is time well spent, and is
recommending approval of the attached Interim Urgency Ordinance.
Environmental
The proposed ordinance is not subject to environmental review under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15060(c) (2). Additional
information may be found in Section 2 of the attached Draft Interim Urgency Ordinance.
Staff Report
Urgency Ordinance ZOA 16-364: Short -Term Rentals
Page 3 of 3
February 23, 2017
Fiscal Impact
The City will continue to receive Transient Occupancy Taxes on the existing permits
within the City, and will evaluate the fiscal impact of any proposed modifications prior to
bringing this item back to the City Council.
Submitted By:
Ryan Stendell, Director of Community Development
Rev. wed:
Rober Brea e-, City A orney
Approval:
ri Aylaian, City Manager
INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM
DESERT, CALIFORNIA, MAKING FINDINGS AND EXTENDING A
TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUANCE OF SHORT-TERM
RENTAL PERMITS FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10 MONTHS AND 15 DAYS
CASE NO: ZOA 16-364
WHEREAS, the Palm Desert Municipal Code permits short-term residential
rentals subject to the requirements of Palm Desert Municipal Code Chapter 5.10, which
includes a requirement for a short-term rental permit, as well as operational
requirements and standards; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, notwithstanding steadily increasing short-term
rentals, the City has not experienced significant public nuisance complaints associated
with properties used as short-term residential rentals, because the City has maintained
a rigorous short -term -rental enforcement program ; and
WHEREAS, other communities in the Coachella Valley have experienced
significant public nuisance complaints as the density and frequency of short term
rentals has grown and have recently taken actions to ban or curtail short term rentals;
and
WHEREAS, there is concern that the density and frequency of short-term rentals
in Palm Desert will increase in response to limitations imposed elsewhere, which may
result in unwanted changes in the character of residential neighborhoods within the
City; and
WHEREAS, based on the foregoing, on January 12, 2017, the City Council
adopted Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1316 finding that issuing additional short-term
rental permits, prior to the City's completion of a study of the potential impact of such
short-term residential rentals, would pose a current and immediate threat to the public
health, safety, and welfare, and imposing a 45-day temporary moratorium on the
issuance of such permits; and
WHEREAS, the City has begun studying the issues related to short-term rentals,
has prepared and submitted a report describing the measurers taken to date to alleviate
the conditions which led to the adoption of Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1316, but
has not yet finished its study and evaluation; and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 65858(a) allows the City Council to
extend an interim moratorium ordinance based on immediate threats to public health,
safety, and welfare; and
INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
WHEREAS, as a result, the City Council desires to extend the current
moratorium by an additional 10 months and 15 days to allow the City to complete
studies regarding short-term rentals and prepare proposed updates to the City's
Municipal Code.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT,
CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Extension of Moratorium and Findings.
A. In accordance with the authority granted to the City of Palm Desert under
Government Code Section 65858, from and after the date of this Ordinance, no new
short-term rental permits shall be approved or issued for a short-term residential rental
for an additional period of 10 months and 15 days, except as provided below:
(1) annual renewals of existing permits shall be permitted under Section
5.10.050(B);
(2) new short-term rental permits shall be issued only to operators or
potential operators who submitted to the City by February 10, 2017, clear and
convincing evidence that: (a) the residential dwelling has been used as a short-term
rental on a substantial basis within the last year; and/or (b) the operator has made
substantial investment in expectation of operating a short-term rental at the residential
dwelling for which the permit is sought.
B. Permits considered pursuant to Section 1(A)(2) above shall be issued only
if the applicant (1) pays any fines and/or transient occupancy taxes owing for any
operation of a short-term rental without a short-term rental permit; and (2) certifies that
the operation of a short-term rental in the residential dwelling will not be in violation of
any covenants, conditions, and restrictions or other restrictions governing the use of the
property and that any homeowners' association to which the property belongs has been
notified of the application for a short-term rental permit.
C. The City Manager or her designee shall evaluate evidence submitted by
an applicant for a short-term rental permit pursuant to the exceptions listed above. The
City Manager or her designee shall ask for any additional information deemed
appropriate and shall render a final decision as to the issuance of the permit. There
shall be no appeal.
D. This Ordinance is an interim urgency ordinance adopted pursuant to the
authority granted to the City of Palm Desert by Government Code Section 65858, and is
for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare. The facts
constituting the urgency are:
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INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
(1) as density and frequency of short-term rentals have grown,
neighboring cities in the Coachella Valley have received an increasing number of public
nuisance complaints emanating from those short-term residential rentals and have
recently taken actions to ban or limit short-term rentals;
(2) excessive density and frequency of short-term rentals may threaten
the character of existing residential neighborhoods;
(3) the density and frequency of short-term rentals within the City has
gradually grown over the last several years; recent limits placed elsewhere in the
Coachella Valley may cause a significant increase in applications for short-term rental
permits in the City;
(4) the City needs more time to conduct an in depth study of short-term
rentals to determine the necessary regulatory requirements to ensure that short-term
rentals do fundamentally alter the character of existing residential neighborhoods.
E. This moratorium shall not apply to existing short-term rental permits.
F. The City finds and declares that this moratorium is a reasonable and
necessary measure designed to protect the important public purpose of the
preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare.
SECTION 2. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act. The City
Council finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or
reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3)
(the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines,
California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for
resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; it prevents
changes in the environment pending the completion of the contemplated study of
impacts.
SECTION 3. Severability. If any sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance,
or any part thereof is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision shall not
affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance or any part thereof. The City
Council hereby declares that it would have passed each sentence, clause, or phrase
thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sentence, clause, or phrase be
declared unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately
upon adoption if adopted by at a least four -fifths (4/5) vote of the City Council and shall
be in effect for 10 months and 15 days from the date of adoption unless extended by
the City Council as provided for in the Government Code.
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INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
SECTION 5. Notice of Adoption. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of
this Ordinance and cause it, or a summary of it, to be published once in a newspaper of
general circulation printed and published within the City of Palm Desert.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 23rd day of February, 2017, by the
City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
ATTEST:
RACHELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK
CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA
4
JAN HARNIK, MAYOR
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INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE )ss.
CITY OF PALM DESERT )
CERTIFICATION FOR INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO.
I, Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk for the City of Palm Desert, California, DO HEREBY
CERTIFY that Interim Urgency Ordinance No. , the reading in full thereof
unanimously waived, was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City
Council held on the 23rd day of February 2017, and said Ordinance was passed and
adopted by the following stated vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
and was thereafter on said day signed by the Mayor of the City of Palm Desert.
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
RACHELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK ROBERT W. HARGREAVES
CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA CITY ATTORNEY
5
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INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1318
CITY OF PALM DESERT
LEGAL NOTICE
CASE NO. ZOA 16-364
NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE PALM DESERT CITY
COUNCIL FOR CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE AN INTERIM URGENCY
ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, MAKING
FINDINGS AND EXTENDING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE
ISSUANCE OF SHORT-TERM RENTAL PERMITS CITY-WIDE FOR AN
ADDITIONAL TEN MONTHS AND FIFTEEN DAYS.
The City Council finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a
project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations,
Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the
environment, directly or indirectly; it prevents changes in the environment pending the
completion of the contemplated study of impacts.
Project Location: City -Wide
Recommendation: Staff is recommending that the City Council approve the above request.
The City has begun studying the issues related to short-term rentals and has formed a
subcommittee group. However, the City needs more time to conduct an in depth study of short-
term rentals to determine the necessary regulatory requirements to ensure that short-term
rentals do fundamentally alter the character of existing residential neighborhoods.
Public Hearing: The public hearing will be held before the City Council on February 23, 2017,
at 4:00 pm.
Comment Period: Based on the time limits defined by CEQA, your response should be sent at
the earliest possible date. The public comment period on this project is from February 12 to
February 23, 2017.
Public Review: Please submit written comments to the Planning Department. If any group
challenges the action in court, issues raised may be limited to only those issues raised at the
public hearing described in this notice or in written correspondence at, or prior to, the City
Council hearing. All comments and any questions should be directed to:
Kevin Swartz, Associate Planner
73-510 Fred Waring Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 346-0611
kswartz@cityofpalmdesert.org
PUBLISH: DESERT SUN RACHELLE KLASSEN, City Clerk
February 12, 2017 Palm Desert City Council