HomeMy WebLinkAboutPrelim - CC - 10-26-17DRAFT
PRELIMINARY MINUTES
REGULAR PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017
CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER
73510 FRED WARING DRIVE, PALM DESERT, CA 92260
I.CALL TO ORDER - 3:00 P.M.
Mayor Harnik convened the meeting at 3:01 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL
Present:
Mayor Pro Tem Sabby Jonathan
Councilmember Kathleen Kelly
Councilmember Gina Nestande
Councilmember Susan Marie W eber
Mayor Jan C. Harnik
Also Present:
Lauri Aylaian, City Manager
Robert W . Hargreaves, City Attorney
Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk
Lori Carney, Director of Administrative Services
Russell Grance, Director of Building & Safety
Ryan Stendell, Director of Community Development
Janet M. Moore, Director of Finance/City Treasurer
Mark Greenwood, Director of Public W orks
Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs
Stephen Y. Aryan, Risk Manager
Lt. Coby W ebb, Asst. Chief, Palm Desert Police/Riverside Co. Sheriff’s Dept.
Andy Martinez, Admin. Sgt., Palm Desert Police/Riverside Co. Sheriff’s Dept.
Grace L. Rocha, Deputy City Clerk
III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - A (CLOSED SESSION ITEMS)
None
IV. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
Request for Closed Session:
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A.Conference with Real Property Negotiator pursuant to Government Code
Section 54956.8:
1) Property:APNs 628-030-006, -007, -008, -010
(Near Homme/Adams Park)
Negotiating Parties:
Agency:Lauri Aylaian/Ryan Stendell/City of Palm Desert
Property Owner:Michael Kirkpatrick
Under Negotiation: x Price x Terms of Payment
B.Conference with Legal Counsel regarding significant exposure to litigation
pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2):
Number of potential cases: 2
Mr. Hargreaves noted that for Closed Session, he had two items for consideration.
One item is under anticipated litigation, which is the letter received from Mr. Kevin
Shenkman regarding a California Voting Rights Act challenge, and the other is for
the City Council to consider adding an item to the agenda by four-fifths vote, which
had presented itself after posting of the agenda.
C.Conference with Legal Counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to
Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1):
1)Nancy Torsney v. City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior
Court, Case No. PSC 1704705.
On a motion by Nestande, second by Harnik, and 5-0 vote of the City Council, the
aforementioned items were added to the City Council agenda for Closed Session.
W ith City Council concurrence, Mayor Harnik adjourned the meeting to Closed
Session of the City Council at 3:03 p.m. She reconvened the meeting at 4:08 p.m.
V. RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING - 4:00 P.M.
A. REPORT ON ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION.
Mr. Hargreaves stated that direction was given during Closed Session, but
no reportable actions were taken.
VI.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - P a l m D e s e r t Y o u t h C o m m i t t e e C h a i r
Matthew Chang
VII.INVOCATION - Mayor Pro Tem Sabby Jonathan
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Mayor Harnik alerted the audience that this evening on the agenda was the Public
Hearing for Short-Term Rentals, and it will probably be around 6:00 p.m. when that
item will be addressed.
VIII.AWARDS AND PRESENTATIONS
A. PRESENTATION TO THE CIT Y COUNCIL OF AN UPDATE ON
PALM DESERT YOUTH COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES BY CHAIR
MATTHEW CHANG.
Mr. Chang reported that this year he was elected Chair of the Youth
Committee, and he was excited to take a bigger part in the Committee and
the City. This weekend about seven members will be volunteering with the
Golf Cart Parade at the seniors section, including helping with setup and
cleanup. On November 1, they will have Youth/Senior Technology Day at
the Joslyn Center. He said this event is very fulfilling, because they get to
assist seniors on any technology questions they may have. He reported they
have an Anti-bulling W orkshop coming up at the end of November, where
they plan to develop tools for the Question & Answer segment of their
presentation, including learning activities to do when they go to the different
schools. In December, they will be attending the Celebrate the Season
Event. Lastly, they are continuing their work with the “No Idling Zone,”
stating they are working with local schools to establish no idling zones to help
with respiratory illnesses in the Valley.
Mayor Harnik pointed out that Matthew Chang was on the W orld Quest team
that took first place, adding they had the highest score ever achieved.
B. PRESENTATION OF 2017 PALM DESERT “MINI-MUSTER” ARTW ORK
AW ARDS.
On behalf of the Historical Society of Palm Desert, Mr. Mike Lewis shared
that Ms. Jan Holmlund started the Mini-Muster Program, and although she
has passed away, she will not be forgotten, because the program has been
running for 25 years. The Program was developed for third graders,
teaching fire safety and awareness through field exercises. To date, more
than 13,000 have received a Certificate of Completion from the Historical
Society. He thanked the City for proclaiming the month of October as “Fire
Prevention Month.” He also thanked the principals and teachers, the Parent
Teacher Organization (PTO), and the Palm Desert Rotary, because they
make the program a true success. He presented an engraved plaque to the
City Council for the continued support of the program. He called up the
following participating school principals to join him up at the podium to be
recognized for their contributions: Allan Lehmann of George W ashington
Charter Elementary, Mary Ownings of Abraham Lincoln Elementary, John
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Preston of Gerald Ford Elementary, Jeffery Hisgen of James Carter
Elementary, and Mark Baldwin of Ronald Reagan Elementary. The
teachers and Fire Department personnel were also called up to the podium
to be acknowledged.
Mayor Harnik and Mr. Lewis presented certificates to the following third
graders whose artworks were chosen to represent this year’s Mini-Muster:
Peyten Dias of James Carter Elementary, Hailey Gonzalez of Gerald Ford
Elementary, Karen Hernandez of Abraham Lincoln Elementary, Kamilah
Garicia of Ronald Reagan Elementary, and Kati Dusek of George
W ashington Charter Elementary. Mr. Lewis added that the winners will get
to ride on the fire truck at the Golf Cart Parade.
Deputy Chief Talbot thanked the Historical Society and the City, because
without their partnership this excellent program could not happen. This was
the 25 year since the program started, and at this point in time, they haveth
hit the second generation of students. He said parents have come up to him
to share they remember the mini-muster from when they were a child. He
added that this program helps the Fire Department, in that the rate of
juvenile fire setters in this community is below the national average, and the
Department is very proud of that fact. He said the best fire is the prevented
one. He thanked all the fire fighters, specifically Station 33 on Town Center
W ay, for coordinating with the City and Historical Society, going out to the
schools and setting up the props, and manning the stations. He announced
that October is “National Fire Prevention Month,” and reminded everyone to
always have two ways out of a home and ensure smoke detectors work.
Lastly, soon everyone will “Fall Back” on their clocks, which is a good time
to check the batteries on the smoke detectors.
Mr. Lewis presented an engraved plaque to Station 33 Fire Fighters,
reflecting the many years they have participated in the Program.
C. PRESENTATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE COACHELLA VALLEY
BRANCH OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN
PUBLIC W ORKS ASSOCIATION’S 2016/2017 PROJECT OF MERIT
AW ARD FOR THE CATALINA COMMUNITY GARDEN RENOVATION.
Landscape Supervisor Randy Chavez announced that on September 11,
2017, the Coachella Valley Branch of the American Public W orks
Association presented a Certificate of Merit to the City of Palm Desert for the
Community Garden Project and presented the award to the City Council. He
also thanked the City Council for its continued support of the landscape and
park endeavors to keep them top notch for all the citizens of Palm Desert.
He said there are community gardens on San Pablo Avenue, Catalina W ay,
and Guadalupe. He said staff started enhancing two of the projects, which
was a grass root effort between the engineers and landscapers in the Public
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W orks Division. They are proud of what they came up with, because they
were recognized by other agencies and municipalities as being a project that
was worth the merit. He pointed out that each garden box is made out of
recycled glass, stating each box removes approximately 2,000 bottles from
out landfill.
Mayor Harnik noted the boxes are made locally in the City of Indio.
IX.ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - B
Ms. LAURIE BALDW IN, President/CEO of the Palm Desert Chamber of
Commerce thanked the City for being the Title Sponsor for the 53 Annualrd
Golf Cart Parade on El Paseo this coming Sunday. She provided T-shirts to
each of the Councilmember and invited the Council to join in on the parade.
Responding to question, she said this year’s theme is Desert Safari.
MR. RICARDO LORETTA, Executive Director of the Dr. Carreon Foundation,
expressed his sincere thanks for the City of Palm Desert’s participation in
this year’s scholarship program. The $1,200 contribution in the City’s name,
the Kelly Family, the Loretta Family, and others, the funds leveraged into a
$5,000 John Benoit City of Palm Desert Scholarship for Palm Desert High
School student Chanel De La Mora. He said Chanel is a proud student at
Cal State University, San Bernardino-Palm Desert Campus. She is the first
in her family to attend college and she can look forward to a bright future.
Also thanks to the City of Palm Desert, they developed a “Four for One
Sponsor Program,” wherein a sponsor dollar is matched by a dollar from the
Foundation, then those two dollars are matched by One Future Coachella
Valley, formerly known as Pathways. He’s pleased to invite the City to
partner with the Carreon Foundation next year and assist with funds for at
least two students, and in return for this kind of participation, they would be
happy to have the Council at the Fall Mixer on November 13, 2017, at La
Casuelas Nuevas, at the Elected Leaders Mixer in January, and the
Scholarship Banquet in May. He said the Foundation has assisted 475 youth
of Mexican American heritage with $1.5 million in scholarships in their 26
years of existence, many of which are from Palm Desert. He thanked the
City Council once again, stating he looked forward to the continued
collaboration.
Mayor Harnik invited Mr. Loretta to look into the Outside Agency Funding
Process, which can be found in the City’s website.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan shared that decades ago, he happened to be
President of the College of the Desert Foundation and worked with
Dr. Carreon to establish his Foundation, in fact, the campus fountain was
named after him. He said Dr. Carreon was a very kind and generous soul,
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and he would be so pleased to see how far Mr. Loretta has taken his intent
and his foundation.
MR. BRIAN NAVA, SunLine Transit Agency, announced they will be holding
their 11 Annual “Fill the Bus” food-drive event. It will take place Thursday,th
November 16, 2017, and for the City of Palm Desert, the location will be at
W almart on Monterey Avenue and Dinah Shore Drive from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00
p.m.; last year they filled up three buses and raised 15 tons of food. He said
SunLine partners with Alta Media, KESQ, Channel 3 - ABC, W almart,
Ralphs, and Stater Bros. Each year they hold an internal competition to see
which location can raise the most items, but this year they are opening it up
to the public to see which city between, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, and La
Quinta, can raise more items. He asked for the City of Palm Desert to help
them promote the event.
MR. W ALLY MELENDEZ, Thousand Palms, approached the City Council to alert
them that the timing of the signal lights at Monterey Avenue and Fred W aring Drive
needed to be checked.
X. MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS & REMARKS TO THE COMMUNITY
Mayor Harnik stated City Councilmembers attend a tremendous number of
meetings, and the attempt in this section is to provide highlights from those
meetings that will impact the residents.
A. Mayor Pro Tem Sabby Jonathan Committee Reports and General
Comments.
1.Pickleball Meeting - he attended a public meeting regarding Pickleball
that was held on October 17 at the Freedom Park facility, which was
lead by City staff. He said it is a large and growing community of
Pickleball players, and their voices are being heard. He said the group
prioritized their needs and staff is getting started on them right away.
The highest priority was resurfacing the courts as they have been
damaged, adding that lighting and other improvement will come at a
later time. It also appears that Parks & Recreation Commission may
look to forming a subcommittee to look at the bigger picture of
expanding the number of Pickleball Courts in a medium to long-term
range.
2.Martha’s Village & Kitchen Tour - he and Councilmember Kelly had
the pleasure of visiting the facility, stating he had to thank
President/CEO Linda Barrack for touring the amazing facility that is
very effective in homelessness prevention. He said the services they
provide for individuals, men, women, specifically for families and
children is not replicated anywhere else in the Coachella Valley. W ith
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regards to homelessness, he also had the opportunity to visit the
cities of Palm Springs and Coachella, where along with the Desert
Healthcare District, they have been presenting the matching $103,000
grant. He looked forward to positive results with the Path of Life
Ministries Contract.
B. Councilmember Kathleen Kelly Committee Reports and General Comments.
1.Palm Springs Pride Parade - announced that Palm Desert will have
an entry in the Pride Parade this year. She personally couldn’t
participate due to a previous obligation, but it was a source of
pleasure to her to know that two Palm Desert City Councilmembers
will represent the City at that event.
Councilmember Nestande concurred, stating that after that event,
they could come down to Sacred Heart School and Church for their
annual carnival, where there will be rides, food, music, and it’s open
to the public. It’s at the corner of Deep Canyon and Fred W aring
Drive.
Mayor Harnik added she too toured the facility and found them to be
an amazing organization.
C. Councilmember Gina Nestande Committee Reports and General Comments.
None
D. Councilmember Susan Marie W eber Meeting Summaries Report for the
Period of October 1-14, 2017.
W ith City Council concurrence, the Councilmember Susan Marie W eber’s Meeting
Summaries Report was received and filed.
She announced that anytime the public wants to meet with a
Councilmember, all they had to do was go on line and email that
Councilmember to arrange for a meeting and/or call City Hall. She added
that the City Council was accessible and wants to hear their ideas and
suggestions.
E. Mayor Jan C. Harnik Committee Reports and General Comments.
1.Regional Access Project (RAP) Ribbon Cutting - she and other
Councilmembers attended the ribbon cutting, stating RAP was an
asset to the community in helping out other 503(c) nonprofit
organizations, and she was glad to have them in Palm Desert.
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2.13 Annual Greater Palm Springs Economic Summit - she said allth
Palm Desert City Councilmember attended, and they learned about
where the Valley was headed, in terms of tourism, agriculture, and
education.
F. City Council Requests for Action.
None
G. City Council Consideration of Travel Requests/Reports.
None
XI.STAFF REPORTS AND REMARKS
A.City Manager
1. City Manager’s Meeting Summaries Report for the Period of
October 2-13, 2017.
W ith City Council concurrence, the City Manager’s Meeting Summaries Report was
received and filed.
2.Personnel Update: She announced and welcomed Code Compliance
Officers Alex Vasquez and Rusty Hannah, they are the two new
additions to the Code Enforcement Department; they have been on
board for eight days.
3.TRAK-iT Going Live - she thanked staff, specifically, the Community
Development and Finance Department for their work in the
implementation of TRAK-iT, which went live on Monday. She said the
City reached a milestone, in that staff had been working for 18 months
on implementing this new software system for the purpose of
processing a business license, encroachment permit, etc. However,
it’s not completely seamless and staff will spend the next month or
two tweaking the system to make it work. She also thanked Cherie
W illiams for her tenacity and efforts on this, where most put in 18
months, she put in 24 months. Lastly, thanks to Information Systems
Manager Clay Von Helf.
B. City Attorney
None
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C. City Clerk
Ms. Klassen noted that the City Council meeting of November 9 will be
adjourned to November 16, 2017. The schedule will be the same, but its
3:00 p.m. for Closed Session and 4:00 p.m. for the regular session. She
added that the change was made to accommodate Councilmembers and
staff that will be attending a conference.
D. Public Safety
1. Fire Department
None
2. Police Department
None
XII. CONSENT CALENDAR
A.MINUTES of the Regular City Council Meeting of October 12, 2017.
Rec:Approve as presented.
B.CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AGAINST THE CITY TREASURY - W arrant Dated
9/29/2017.
Rec:Approve as presented.
C. APPLICATION FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE LICENSE by Bighorn Golf
Club, 255 Palowet Drive, Palm Desert.
Rec:Receive and file.
D. CITY COMMITTEE AND COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES.
1. Hotel & Signature Events Committee Meeting of June 7, 2017.
2. Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting of September 5, 2017.
Rec:Receive and file.
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E. RESOLUTION NO. 2017 - 73 - A Resolution of the City Council of the City
of Palm Desert, California, Setting Forth Its Findings and Authorizing the
Destruction of Paper Records that Have Been Digitally Imaged from the
Office of the City Clerk, to Rely on the Electronic Record as the Official
Record (Exhibit “A”) – Various Contracts and Subject Files from the Records
Center.
Rec:W aive further reading and adopt.
F. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION to Declare a 2007 Honda Motorcycle
(VIN JH2SC51767M500084) as Surplus Property and Authorize its Disposal.
Rec: By Minute Motion, declare a 2007 Honda Motorcycle (VIN
JH2SC51767M500084), dedicated to police services, as surplus and
authorize its disposal via auction or salvage.
G. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION for Information Systems Department to
Use Vendor List for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 for Equipment Replacement
Purchases in a Total Amount Not to Exceed $40,000.
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve the Information Systems Department
Vendor List for 2017-2018 annual equipment replacement purchases
in an amount not to exceed $40,000 and authorize City Manager to
execute any related agreements for same – funds are available in the
Equipment Replacement Fund.
H. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Payment to Superion, LLC, for Annual
Computer Software Maintenance in the Amount of $70,244.64.
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve payment to Superion, LLC, in the amount
of $70,244.64 to provide computer software maintenance for one
year – funds are available in Account No. 1104190-4336000.
I. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of a One-Year Extension to Contract with
Desert Air Conditioning, Inc., for Quarterly Maintenance Service to the HVAC
Units at the Parkview Office Complex in the Amount of $9,744 (Contract
No. C34071).
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve/authorize: 1) A one-year extension for
Contract No. C34070 with Desert Air Conditioning, Inc., Palm Springs,
California, for quarterly maintenance service to HVAC units at the
Parkview Office Complex in the amount of $9,744; 2) City Manager
to execute said contract extension; 3) City Manager to approve a
second contract extension in Fiscal Year 2018-2019, including any
price modifications, should staff recommend it – funds are available
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in General Government CAM #444, Account No. 5104195-4369601 –
this is an annual contract with quarterly payments.
J. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL of Amendment No. 3 to Contract with
Melissa Morgan Fine Art and Artist Steve Tobin to Extend the Loan Period
for Temporary Exhibition of Steve Tobin’s Sculpture Large Steel Root
(Contract No. C32400).
Rec: By Minute Motion, approve/authorize: 1) Amendment No. 3 to subject
contract with Melissa Morgan Fine Art and Artist Steve Tobin to
extend temporary exhibition of Large Steel Root currently installed in
the Civic Center; 2) staff to finalize negotiations of subject contract
with Melissa Morgan Fine Art and Steve Tobin, and the Mayor to
execute same, subject to satisfaction of the City Attorney – no funds
are required for this Amendment.
Mayor Harnik noted she would be abstaining on item J.
Upon motion by Harnik, second by Kelly, and 5-0 vote of the City Council (AYES:
Jonathan, Kelly, Nestande, W eber, and Harnik; NOES: None), the remainder of the
Consent Calendar was approved as presented.
XIII.CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER
None
XIV.RESOLUTIONS
A. RESOLUTION NO. 2017 - 74 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING
SELECTION CRITERIA TO BE USED DURING THE REVIEW OF
CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS FOR COMMERCIAL CANNABIS
BUSINESSES (Relative to Case No. ZOA 17-027).
Mayor Harnik stated she would recuse herself from this item and left the
Council Chamber. Councilmember Nestande also recused herself and left
the Council Chamber.
Principal Planner Eric Ceja explained that at the last meeting the City Council
approved an Ordinance to allow for commercial cannabis businesses in the
City of Palm Desert, subject to a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), including
certain buffer criterias and cannabis uses in specific zoning districts, subject
to separation requirements. Council had asked staff to develop a selection
criteria for a merit-based review to ensure Palm Desert gets top-quality
operators. The Resolution before the City Council proposes five
selection-based criterias. He said staff researched other jurisdictions around
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the State, and looked at their selection criteria, and based on comments from
the City Council at the last meeting, staff settled on the following five: 1)
Location and neighborhood compatibility; 2) security plan; 3) experience and
qualifications of professionals; 4) building facade and interior improvements;
5) community benefits that an operator can bring to the City of Palm Desert.
Each one of these criterias is worth a single point. In their discussion about
developing a criteria, they talked about limiting the subjectivity of staff’s
review and coming up with a system of objective criteria. The process would
be as follows: Phase one will include the Planning Department accepting
applications for their completeness and moving them to Phase Two, which
would be to review them against the selection criteria. Because there are
only five points, only those applications that receive those five points would
move on, while those without the entire five points would be in a holding
pattern. Phase III, for any tie breakers, staff would go to a lottery to settle.
After the lottery phase, staff will start setting hearing dates, and once those
are completed, Applicants can take their Conditional Use Permit (CUP)
approval to the State and apply for their State License. Staff recommended
the City Council adopt the proposed Resolution to establish the selection
criteria.
Councilmember Kelly called attention to the staff report, Exhibit A, page 4,
Item 3.d, where it values past business experience specific to the cannabis
industry, stating she had concerns about including that item. She asked if
it would harm staff’s proposed system if that subpart were to be stricken.
Mr. Ceja replied it would not, because Item 3.c, specifically asks if the
principals of the business have successful business experience.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan invited public testimony on the proposed
Resolution.
MR. MARK A. HAYDEN, VP and Director of Development of Capstone
Advisors, 1545 Faraday Avenue, Carlsbad, CA, stated Capstone Advisors
is a real estate development company, and they have been in the Desert for
15 to 20 years. They have multiple holdings of office and commercial retail
properties and have been owners of 73930 El Paseo for 3 to 4 years, stating
they have made a significant investment in improving that property into a
state of the art, class A structure. He noted he had just become aware of
this issue a day or two ago, and without any formal notice, he was before the
City Council without a fair amount of time to prepare. He added that they
typically receive some public notice package notifying property owners within
a certain radius of a property or action, and they did not receive it. He said
he and the president of the company have been in contact with City staff,
which has been extremely respectful and available in giving them information
and walking them through the process. His focus this evening is to ultimately
request more time to go through this issue with City staff and be able to vet
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it out to better understand the Ordinance, because there are portions they
find confusing, and they need to find out how they fit into the process and
hopefully make it more balanced. For the record, he read out loud a letter
from Alex Zikakis, President of Capstone Advisors, Inc., and is of record in
the Office of the City Clerk. In summary, they strongly requested the City
reconsider allowing any dispensary on El Paseo, because they don’t think
this type of use is consistent with the quality of the shopping the City and
other businesses in the area would like to see on its finest shopping street.
Ultimately, if there is an option to reconsider this use within the El Paseo
Zone, given the quality of buildings on the west side and their anticipation on
the east side in doing their structure, he would like to pursue it. However, if
it’s not an option and the selection process is going to move forward, they
would like more time to work with staff to make it more understandable and
a balanced process for landlords.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan expressed his appreciation of Mr. Hayden’s
attendance and input, stating Council is concerned when it hears
constituents weren’t notified, specifically a stakeholder. However, he felt
Mr. Hayden was in the minority, because the City has been going through
this process for nearly a year where there has been an ad hoc committee,
publicity in the news, it’s been before the City Council multiple times, and
there will be a second reading of the Ordinance, which is the next item on the
agenda. Also, the El Paseo Merchants Association weighed in on the topic.
He reiterated it was a concern to the City Council when there is lack of
notification, and the City will always strive to do a better job, because it wants
stakeholders to be part of the decision-making process.
MR. VAN TANNER, Board Member of the Regional Access Program (RAP),
recalled for the City Council that Board President Mark Moran shared the
concern at a previous meeting about cannabis operations within the
industrial area where they purchased their building. He said they currently
have 13 tenants, and 7 of those tenants have children associated with their
program, and they also hold graduation programs that include children. He’s
heard comments about a particular site that has already been approached
for the use of cultivation and retail sales, and it’s within a couple of hundred
feet to their back door. He would like to go on record that RAP and the
programs associated with them are concerned about the potential habitation
of cannabis uses near their building.
Councilmember Kelly stated that on the issue of RAP, she recalled staff
assuring her that its presence would bear on the appropriateness of a CUP
under the consideration of neighborhood compatibility. In other words, there
would be opportunity when considering CUP applications, to think about
neighborhood compatibility and take into account RAP’s concerns. In the
staff report on page 3 of Exhibit A, there is a section relating to “Location and
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Neighborhood Compatibility.” She asked if RAP’s concern can be addressed
through that selection criteria.
Mr. Ceja responded it can be addressed with the proposed Resolution,
adding that with a Conditional Use Permit, staff is required to make a finding
for compatibility with surrounding uses. In addition, it’s emphasized in the
proposed Resolution under Item 1(c), where it addresses “sensitive uses
within 500 feet of the location.”
Councilmember Kelly asked staff if the factors mentioned by Mr. Tanner
would make his building a sensitive location.
Mr. Ceja answered yes.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan offered that one of the areas staff will struggle
with, and it may relate to RAP, is a question of intensity. He believed the
RAP building was a 25,000 square-foot facility, but what about a daycare of
1,000 square-feet with only three kids. He hopes the Resolution has enough
flexibility for staff to exercise judgment, including enough meat in the
Ordinance to be able to support their findings.
Mr. Ceja replied he believed there is enough language and teeth in the
Ordinance and Resolution for staff to have flexibility. Additionally, in the CUP
process, all property owners within 300 feet are notified of a public hearing
with the Planning Commission, so those in opposition or in favor of are
welcomed to those public hearings. Responding to question, he said staff
and Mr. Hayden have been in continuous dialog over the past couple of
days, and staff will continue to dialog with him.
Councilmember W eber pointed out that the Resolution is asking for a viable
business plan and successful business experience, which is not required of
other CUP’s for a business, stating the City was respecting the fact that this
was a sensitive issue and is being extremely careful.
Councilmember Kelly said she greatly appreciated the work by staff in
striving to be responsive to Council’s request to assure that the initial
applications are the best they can possibly be, adding she knew staff looked
at many possibilities and went out of town to the ones it felt can be
implemented most effectively. The one change she would like to make,
which she alluded to in her question, is in Exhibit A, 3(d) under
Qualifications, which essentially requires one principal of the business to
have past experience in the cannabis industry. As a general rule, she would
hate to say folks that have done something before have an inside track,
because it forecloses the City from the best talent. She feared the actual
consequence, since everybody wants to maximize their points, would force
applicants to pull a principal into their business with its past experience.
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Since one of the items already requires the principals to have successful
business experience in general, she would seek to strike Item 3(d) of Exhibit
A.
Councilmember W eber agreed to strike that item, because technically this
was illegal until recently, so those applicants would be admitting to breaking
the law.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan disagreed, because Council would be talking about
medicinal cannabis or applicants who were coming from Colorado or other
states. He asked Council to step back a moment and take the 20,000-foot
view, because the purpose in drafting a procedure for selecting which
cannabis business operators will be in the City was to get the very best in
terms of quality, integrity, and safety for residents and children. He’s not
satisfied that the proposed procedure accomplishes that goal, and it’s strictly
a policy issue. He believed the proposed structure was basically a pass/fail
system by assigning a 0 to 1 rating, and if there was a tie, those applications
would go into a lottery. He believed that everyone that would submit an
application would get the same score or similar, which removes control from
staff to ensure that the objective is reached, which is to get the best operator
in the City. He noted the letter from Mr. Bernheimer addresses this issue,
and while he won’t opine on his specific recommendations, because he
suggested adding ownership of premises, a longevity in business, etc.
However, Mr. Bernheimer did make a cogent point, which is why use a 1 or 0
structure, but instead do a 0-5, which will separate the field and enable staff
to make a better selection. Also, he was opposed to a lottery, stating he
preferred obtaining the operators in the same manner it selects vendors
when it goes out for a Request for Proposal (RFP). That process narrows
it down to the top three, they are evaluated, and a panel determines which
one will be the best, which he believed can be done in this application. The
reality is that cities are always facing legal liability and risk, and the loser is
going to complain no matter what procedure is in place. He said other cities
have utilized procedures similar to what is being proposed that gives staff
greater control, but he would suggest postponing this matter and giving
direction to staff to consider Mr. Bernheimer’s letter, and come up with a
procedure that accomplishes the City’s goal, which is to implement a
selection process that gives staff control over which cannabis operators end
up in Palm Desert.
Councilmember Kelly believes staff has tried to list everything that a best
operator would present, stating the criteria was a description of what an
operator is going to look like. Therefore, if there are multiple applicants who
can check all the boxes, essentially “they are all the best,” which can’t
literally be true, but they are all superior. At that point, lawfully and fairly, the
best thing to do is a lottery. If the items are looked at carefully, they don’t
strike her as being minimal requirements, because when an applicant is
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asked to have a particular quality to the exterior facade and demonstrate a
successful business experience, that’s going beyond the usual CUP
requirement. Therefore, the criteria was a definition of what high-quality
looks like.
Councilmember W eber asked staff to explain the thought process between
the 0 or 1 versus the 0 to 5 rating.
Mr. Ceja replied that direction to staff was to avoid having a subjective
process, so staff looked at a binary system with ones and zeros.
Councilmember W eber commented that in order for someone to meet
criteria 3(d), the applicant would have to be coming from Colorado or
specifically for medicinal marijuana. However, the City didn’t particularly want
out-of-state people coming here to do business, so how different would the
medical marijuana business be from a regular retail store, and should this be
a criteria. Based on the 18 months of the ad hoc committee meetings, she
recalled hearing that medical marijuana had quite a challenge in trying to do
deliveries, so to her, it was a totally different business operation from a
regular retail store.
Mr. Ceja said it was hard to say given the changes at the State level, in that
medical or nonmedical, will be on a near even playing field.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan commented he heard what everyone was saying
and maybe there is a place to meet half way. His concern is that, for
instance question No. 1(e) asks the applicant if it can identify adequate odor
control measures. If you have five applicants and they all receive a 1 rating
as a pass, but one has the state-of-the-art and most supreme odor control
measure that exist in the entire planet, and the other four don’t. He would like
to give that applicant a 5 rating and maybe the others a 3. His point is that
if they all get a 1 rating to indicate they passed, it doesn’t mean they are all
equal, in fact, it’s unlikely. Therefore, he proposed adopting a 0 to 5 instead
of a 0 and 1. Also, instead of going directly to a lottery system, if there are
two or more applicants that are tied, a staff committee of three shall attempt
to make a selection, and if they are unable to do so, then it would go to a
lottery system. He’s concerned about the impact of cannabis on the
community, so he was ensuring staff had all the tools necessary for the best
possible outcome. He believed those two changes would enable staff to
accomplish the goal. Responding to question, he said on page 3 of Exhibit
A, he proposed changing the second sentence under Selection Criteria to
read, “Selection criteria shall be rated on a point system from 0 to 5.”
Councilmember W eber asked the City Manager if she felt staff had the
expertise to differentiate between security plans, because she may view one
as having a great fire prevention and suppression and HVAC, etc., but
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another staff member can say it could be bumped up. Also, without the rules
for the criteria, it will be very difficult for an applicant to come up with proper
documentation.
Ms. Aylaian explained that the reason staff was proposing a binary system
was to avoid exactly what Councilmember W eber just described. She said
it’s difficult to make judgement calls and valuation on things that are not
easily quantified. It’s a clearer distinction whether something is adequate or
not versus determining if eight alarms are superior to four alarms of a
different quality or different design in certain areas. The recommendation is
based upon minimizing the need for subjective decisions, because the City
could be mired for a long period of time in an evaluation process that was
fraught with reasonable arguments from the vendors that were not selected.
Although a lottery system is never a first choice, staff wasn’t able to identify
any systems of selection it thought was fair to all potential applicants without
having a component of a lottery. If you open up the process to everyone and
allow the applications to come in and grade them on some other system, you
end up having to determine who goes first. This process is really all about
which application to process first and not about who ultimately gets it. Staff
anticipates between 50 and 200 applications, so if you end up with an
elaborate system to determine which CUP to address first, because
whichever applicant is prioritized, such that they get to go through the
application process first for a CUP, automatically will rule out any other
businesses that have proposed locations within the radius restrictions.
Therefore, the binary approach to screening was the most objective and
most defensible, and it gets staff to a pool of well-qualified applicants, and
from there, the decision is made on which CUP application is processed first.
There does not seem to be a fair way of judging, short of some sort of
random selection. If the City was to reduce this to some graduated scale of
1 to 5, looking at all the applications and evaluating them, suddenly what you
find is two applications that both scored an 85%, which is at the top of the
list, but then they are too close in proximity, so again, where do you start and
how do you decide to pick objectively winners and losers. She said the City
wasn’t trying to pick winners and loser, it’s trying to identify firms that are
well-qualified and that can meet the criteria, and then look at each
application in the order of precedence.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan said that was a broad defense of staff’s
recommendation, but he’s not sure he heard an answer to his question. He
asked if staff lacked expertise to do a broader evaluation beyond 0 and 1.
Ms. Aylaian replied she believed staff had the expertise.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan said he understood that the proposed procedure
is a gateway to see who is even qualified, because if the City receives
hundreds, he gets that you can’t spend five hours on each application. He
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searching for something that accomplishes the concerns expressed by the
City Manager, staff, and legal counsel, but at the same time provide the tools
to control the ultimate operators. He proposed adopting the Resolution as
step one, in which the applicant has to meet the criteria to get to step two.
Step two is then a broader evaluation of those that are qualified rather than
it being the lottery. He said staff can then develop an objective criteria with
a point system, which entails some subjectivity, but so does the 0 to1 rating.
He asked if that would be an effective procedure that meets legal concerns
and at the same time gives the City greater control.
Ms. Aylaian deferred to staff and legal counsel to see if that would be equally
defensible.
Mr. Hargreaves asked everyone to step back and examine this process. He
said the City basically has a CUP process, which is well understood and is
a creature of the City’s ordinances where staff has a lot of experience and
expertise in running businesses through it. The general process is that an
application comes in, it’s deemed complete, it conducts an environmental
analysis, it’s taken to the Planning Commission, then there is a
decision-making process there that questions whether the application meets
the criteria specified in the ordinance. If it does, great, and staff then makes
findings based on facts. He added that the law actually requires staff to make
those kinds of findings, then the application is either granted or denied a
CUP based on its ability to comply with the specified criteria. Conditional
Use Permits are generally always evaluated based on some criteria, they are
not evaluated based on how they stack up with a whole bunch of other
people, which is the most comfortable way to run a process. It’s application
versus criteria, a yes or no findings, which is all pretty clean. The problem
in this case, is that there are a limited number of spaces and it becomes
very complicated, because if you grant one you may preclude others, etc.
In the initial processing, the City is not so much selecting a particular one for
giving them a CUP, it’s selecting applications on a priority basis to go through
the CUP process, because that application will ultimately go to the Planning
Commission. The application will be judged against the criteria that’s in the
ordinance and it’s either granted or denied. By the time it gets to the
Planning Commission, the ones that don’t qualify should have been selected
out. The process staff tried to put together here is more of a prioritization for
going through the process than it is a selection process. The goal was to
create a line, where the first application goes through the process and if it
gets approved, you get a pin on the map, then the second application goes
through that same process, but even if that second application is the second
most qualified, if its within 1,000 feet of Application No. 1, it’s done,
regardless of how that application stacked up against anybody else. Then
next you have Application No. 3 and that one gets in. He said this is a
process that has a lot of moving pieces. And when Council talks about
selecting the very best, what does that really mean. First of all, the City
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doesn’t have a lot of expertise in choosing best businesses. Because then
you have to determine if a certain business will provide the best service in
terms of recommendations of whatever marijuana it provides or is it the
business that is ultimately the most profitable, or is it the flashiest exterior
design. He asked how would staff mix and match those criterias to arrive at
whose the best, and with humans being humans, if you give a bunch of
businesses a bunch of business criterias to ten different people, you will
come up with ten different answers. Therefore, with all those different
variables, staff tried to come up with processes that people understand and
it’s as objective as possible. It will filter out the ones that won’t be acceptable
and allow the ones that meet the specified criteria and the ability to move
forward. He said the City had to take a chance on how the process works
out, because no matter how good a business is, if someone else gets out in
front of you and they have a pin on the map, if you’re within 500 feet of that
pin, your not gonna get in. He knew staff spent excessive amounts of time
looking at all these perimeters and looking at how others have done it in
other cities. He said there are a few modifications that can be made with the
rating system, but if the City is going to use a process under the CUP, you
can’t get to a full-blown beauty contest under that process. If the City wants
to take that avenue, it has to divorce itself from the CUP process and maybe
attach it to the regulatory permit process, because it has more discretion
than the CUP process.
Councilmember Kelly called attention to the provision of 5(c) in Exhibit A,
which she believed would address Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan’s concerns.
That item reads, “Does the applicant provide any additional community
benefits described in either their business plan or other documentation
submitted as part of the CUP?” She said an applicant needs to be able to
satisfy all b, c, and a, to get a point under Category 5. The way she reads
this, only applicants that bring forward some form of value get a point under
number 5, which will separate the best of the best from the rest. She
believes that subpart gives staff the opportunity that Mayor Pro Tem
Jonathan is seeking to acknowledge when someone’s application really
demonstrates a significant community benefit. However, let’s say there is
10, 5, or 3 applicants who all get five point, the difficulty she has with saying
that a panel of three staff should then pick the best of the best, it puts them
in a difficult place of playing favorites, and the City works hard to be assured
that Palm Desert is a City of integrity. Therefore, that kind of scenario would
be problematic.
Councilmember W eber requested clarification on the scoring, because she
believed it would be a total of 20 points, and an application doesn’t have to
get all the points under one criteria in order to go to two.
Mr. Ceja explained it was only a total of five points, so it would be one point
for each criteria. Further responding, he said you would have to satisfy all
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the requirements, for instance Item 3, you would need a, b, and c, to obtain
that one point.
Councilmember W eber said she misunderstood, and if that was the case,
she would not be happy with that system, because she would want each item
to stand on its own. In that scenario, including Item 3(d) would be an
advantage in this particular industry.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan appreciated the clarification, because now he
understood the maximum points would be 5 instead of 20 being the
maximum. He heard the City Manager state staff had the expertise, but from
legal counsel he heard they didn’t, which is a point of concern. He believed
it would be a failure on the City’s part that because it didn’t have the
expertise, it would go to a lottery system, which was unacceptable to him. He
said Palm Desert was a contract City, so if it doesn’t have the expertise,
contract out for it or develop it internally. He’s trying to find a compromise
that everyone can live with, so he proposed changing the point rating system
from 0 to 1 to 0 to 5, and apply the rating to each sub-item, so there are a
total of 20 categories, maximum points are 100 and minimum is zero. He’s
willing, but he doesn’t like it, that if there are applications tied at that point,
go to a lottery.
Councilmember W eber pointed out that the ad hoc committee debated this
lottery issue a lot, because it was a matter of how to keep this process fair
and above board. She went on to say this was not the end of the world,
because if there is a demand for this business and it continues to grow, the
City will add more retail locations.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan referred to criteria 3(d), suggesting changing the
word “specific” to “relevant,” because to have principals of business
experience is important. He agreed it doesn’t necessarily have to be specific,
in other words, it doesn’t have to be limited to someone who has experience
operating a cannabis business, but experience relevant to the business, and
it can simply be retail. W hen looking at a growth facility, it can be someone
who has farming experience.
Councilmember W eber said she liked that change. But in the meantime, she
asked the City Attorney that if the City used a system of 0 to 5, should the
City be concerned that someone will claim it isn’t fair as opposed to a yes or
no answer using the 0 to 1 rating.
Mr. Hargreaves replied that no matter what the City decided on, there will be
people out there that will say it’s not fair. He deferred to staff, because they
are the ones that will have to implement it.
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Mr. Stendell agreed to evaluate each item on a 0 to 5, and they will be happy
to do so, because staff has communicated at nauseam that it felt there was
a risk in doing it that way, but if that is the desire of the Council, they will do
it.
Councilmember W eber agreed there was a risk, which is why she liked the
0 to 1 rating structure, because she felt it leveled the playing field.
Councilmember Kelly offered that she was open to agreeing to Mayor Pro
Tem Jonathan’s proposed package if it struck criteria 3(d), adding she
believed the prior criteria 3(c) states, “Do the principals of the business have
successful business experience?” Therefore, if the Council wants a 0 to 5
scale, that item enables staff to think about how relevant it is.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan said he would agree to removing 3(d) if that was
the will of the City Council. He said it was important to move this forward, so
he was comfortable with that compromise. Therefore, the suggestion is to
change the point structure to 0 to 5 for each subcategory and eliminate Item
3(d), and if there is a tie, then at that point it goes to a lottery.
Councilmember W eber asked how staff could provide a rating of 0 to 5, for
lets say, Item 4(a) where it asks, “Does the applicant provide a detailed
tenant improvement plan that identifies all interior improvements?” She said
that application will eventually go through planning and everything else, so
for staff to determine if the application can go further down the road, a yes
or no system would be easy, rather than staff rating it from 0 to 5, which puts
them in the realm of judging tenant improvement plans against others, which
she didn’t believe was the goal.
Councilmember Kelly offered that some of these items lend themselves to
either being 0 or 5. She said they either have it or don’t, and it’s really just
a handful of items that would really be susceptible to some gradation. But
to speak to Councilmember W eber’s concern, allow staff to implement that
gradation where it fits.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan stated that in using Councilmember W eber’s
example on a detailed tenant improvement plan, with permitting, planning
deals with that every day. He said it was actually a good example where it
can be rated 0 to 5. For example, if someone comes in with a hand-drawn
sketch for a tenant improvement plan, that might be a zero or one, and if
someone else submits a detailed architecture rendering and a 3D imaging,
etc., that would clearly be a five. He trusts staff to have the ability to rate
each of the criterias, which he believes provides them greater control. He’s
also confident that if staff determines it doesn’t have the expertise, there are
consultants out there that do, and if that’s what the City has to do, it will do
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it. Again, in order to bring this issue to something all can live with, he made
the following motion.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution
No. 2017-74, as amended with the following modifications: 1) Change the point structure
to a 0-5 rating system to be applied to each item; 2) eliminate Category 3(d). Motion was
seconded by W eber.
Responding to question, Mr. Ceja agreed to using the 0 to 5 rating structure.
Mr. Hargreaves asked the Council if any of the criterias would render an
application being eliminated. For example, if an application doesn’t have a
security plan and they get a zero, they could be high enough in other criterias
that it wouldn’t necessarily preclude the application.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan agreed, stating now Mr. Hargreaves was coming
back to his basic concern, which was loss of control and that’s a slippery
path, because which items disqualify an applicant. In that case, staff would
have to go back to the drawing board and continue the item, if it was going
to play that came, but right now, the answer to the question is no. As
proposed by staff, there is no disqualification item.
Ms. Aylaian said staff can make that work by making them go through the
CUP process if they don’t have a security plan.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan announced to the public that there is a distinction
in this CUP process from all other CUP processes, in that there are multiple
applicants and limited permits, which does not exist in any other case. It is
the reason for Council having to deal with this particular procedure.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan called for the vote and the motion carried by a 3-0 vote
(AYES: Kelly, W eber, and Jonathan; NOES: None; ABSENT: Nestande and Harnik)
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan congratulated staff and colleagues for totally
vetting this issue and successfully coming to a compromise, stating he hoped
everything will work out well.
XV.ORDINANCES
A. For Introduction:
None
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B. For Adoption:
1.ORDINANCE NO. 1329 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A
ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT TO PALM DESERT
MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 25.34.120, CHAPTERS 25.16 AND
25.18, TO ALLOW COMMERCIAL CANNABIS OPERATIONS IN
THE CITY, SUBJECT TO A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT; AND
ESTABLISHING CHAPTER 5.101 - COMMERCIAL CANNABIS
REGULATORY PERMITS AND CHAPTER 8.38 - PERSONAL USE
OF CANNABIS, Case No. ZOA 17-027 (City of Palm Desert,
Applicant).
Mayor Harnik and Councilmember Nestande recused themselves
from this item and were absent from the Council Chamber.
Principal Planner Eric Ceja noted this was the second reading of the
Cannabis Ordinance that was passed at the last City Council Meeting.
He said he provided a supplemental Exhibit A due to an incorrect
spelling, which is highlighted on page 3 and 4. Responding to
question, he said the Ordinance will be adopted 30 days from today.
Councilmember W eber moved to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance No.
1329. Motion was seconded by Kelly and carried by a 3-0 vote (AYES: Kelly, W eber, and
Jonathan; NOES: None; ABSENT: Nestande and Harnik).
XVI.NEW BUSINESS
A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
(MOU) BETW EEN THE CALIFORNIA JOINT POW ERS INSURANCE
AUTHORITY AND CITY OF PALM DESERT, AUTHORIZING
PARTICIPATION IN AN ADA (AMERICANS W ITH DISABILITIES ACT)
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IN THE AMOUNT OF $141,500 (CONTRACT
NO. C36480).
Mr. Aryan noted the staff report and respectfully requested that as part of the
motion, that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute the
MOU.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan asked if the City had ever done this before and
what were the results.
Mr. Aryan explained the City currently has a program in place under the
Housing Authority with the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority to do
a similar program that was approved in March 2017. W ith regards to the
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City’s facilities, one was looked at in 2008 regarding the public’s right-of-way,
but never from an ADA perspective as a study analysis.
Councilmember Nestande moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) approve an MOU
between the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (CJPIA) and City of Palm Desert,
authorizing participation in an ADA Assistance Program in the amount of $141,500 – funds
are available in General Services Account No. 1104159-4309000; 2) authorize the City
Manager to execute said Memorandum of Understanding. Motion was seconded by Kelly
and carried by a 5-0 vote (AYES: Jonathan, Kelly, Nestande, W eber, and Harnik; NOES:
None)
XVII.CONTINUED BUSINESS
None
XVIII.OLD BUSINESS
None
Mayor Harnik called a recess of the meeting at 6:07 p.m. and resumed the
meeting after the dinner break at 6:34 p.m.
XIX.PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF ONE OF THE RECOMMENDAT I O NS
REGARDING PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO PALM DESERT MUNICIPAL CODE
CHAPTER 5.10 - SHORT-TERM RENTALS - FOR ENFORCEMENT,
O P ERA T I O N A L S T A N D A R D S , C O M M U N I C A T I O N , A N D D E N S I T Y
REQUIREMENTS FOR SHORT-TERM RENTALS W ITHIN THE CITY OF PALM
DESERT.
Mayor Harnik assuring the public, stated the City Council received hundreds of
letters and emails, and they have been read by Council and staff, including meeting
with many interested parties on both sides of the issue. She said the City Council
has appreciated the public’s engagement, and this evening she asked for the
audience’s decorum, patience, and respect for others opinions as they come up to
speak.
Mr. Stendell stated he and Mr. Swartz will be tag-teaming their presentation. He
said a study session on STRs was provided for the City Council, and the item has
gone through public hearings at the Planning Commission. However, not everyone
was able to make it to those hearings, so his presentation will briefly update
everyone on the types of zoning, talk about how the City got here, the proposed
Ordinance structure, and the two recommendations proposed by staff. One
recommendation was carried over by the ad hoc committee and the other was put
together by staff based on public testimony heard at the Planning Commission
public hearings. The City has the following four zoning districts for residential uses:
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Planned Residential (PR), which is by far the largest use category with a little more
than 24,000 units in the City; Single-Family District (R-1), which has just under
4,000 units; Residential Mixed-Family (R-2), which has less than 2,000 units; and
Residential Multi-Family (R-3), which has a little over 1,600 total units within the
City. Each category has its own intent and purpose, where PR is a more flexible
district, R-1 is a low-intensity residential neighborhood, R-3 is higher intensity that
includes apartments and condos. He displayed a spreadsheet showing almost
36,000 total dwelling units within the City, and the lion share of them are in the PR
Zone. The fourth column of this spreadsheet shows the total short-term rental
permits issued within each zone. Currently there are 840 permits in the PR Zone,
212 in the R-1 Zone, 64 in the R-2 Zone, and 46 in the R-3 Zone. Areas where staff
sees the lion share of nuisance issues reside in the R-1 and R-2 Zoning Districts.
Short-Term Rentals (STRs) seem to operate well in the PR and R-3 Zones with low
volume of calls to the City. How we got here is that staff noticed an up-tick in permit
issuance in the City and across the nation. He shared that he and the City Manager
had just returned from a conference where they were presented with a statistic that
indicated there was a 15X increase in STR permits from 2010 to date. The STR
industry has skyrocketed, and it was not just in Palm Desert or California, but
nationwide and probably worldwide as well. The web-base platforms like Airbnb
(Air-Bed and Breakfast) and VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) has made it easy
and advantageous to do so. The City received a lot of nuisance calls that included
having a STR on each side of their home. Therefore, the City Council implemented
a 12-month moratorium and directed staff to work expediently but also have a
genuine conversation with the community. Being that was in January 2017, and it’s
now October, the process took longer than expected, because there was a lot there
that wasn’t anticipated by staff. At every meeting staff learned more about the
issues and uncovered more work it had to do. The City formed an ad hoc
committee that initially started with 19 members, but as time went on and requests
were made by the public to be involved, it turned into a public forum. At the advice
of the City Attorney and City Manager, the process was to be inclusive, not
exclusive, because the City Council wanted to have this conversation to ensure it
was done transparently. For that reason, the dynamics changed into a full-blown
public forum. On October 3, 2017, the Planning Commission held its public hearing,
and each of the Commissioners comments has been summarized in the staff report.
The Planning Commission was made aware of a small technicality, in that the short-
term rental requirements are listed in Chapter 5 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code
(PDMC), which is not within the Planning Commission’s purview. However, the City
Council and staff wanted to make sure, that as the land-use authority, they had a
chance to weigh in. At the end of the day they recognized this issue wasn’t under
their purview and decided to pass along their comments to the City Council.
Associate Planner Kevin Swartz noted that approval of either recommendation
being proposed would implement new regulations for short-term rentals relating to
enforcement, operational requirements, and communication, stating there are two
options on how the City handles density and land-use compatibility. He said both
recommendations proposed were agreed upon by the ad hoc committee and staff,
which includes the categories of Enforcement, Operational Requirements, and
Communication, but they could not reach a consensus on Density. W ith regard to
the Enforcement category, currently the City’s Code Compliance Department
manages all complaints for STRs. The City has a third-party consultant that is
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tasked with searching websites for non-permitted STRs or for advertising something
that is not part of their permit. The City also has a hotline number where residents
can call, which then goes to a dispatcher who calls the operator, owner, or
representative, and they have 60 minutes to respond to solve the problem. Staff is
hearing that the City isn’t doing enough and that it needs more tools, because the
hotline is not effective, adding that many residents weren’t aware of the hotline and
that the response time of 60 minutes is too slow, including that the fines are too low.
The current administrative fine structure starts at $250, the second fine is $500, and
the third is $1,000. Therefore, staff is proposing the first fine to start at $1,000, the
second citation $3,000, and the third citation to be $5,000 with a revocation of the
permit for a period of two years. He said there are individuals operating without
permits, so staff is implementing a fee structure of $1,000, and the second fine
would be $5,000, with the City having the right to refuse a STR permit to that owner.
Part of staff’s recommendation is to have the City Council direct staff to look at
some sort of a swing-shift officer that will work on the weekends and late evening
hours in order to have someone that can actually respond to a complaint on site.
Staff is also proposing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to seek third-party options or
a different operator for the hotline and website. The second category is Operational
Requirements for Owners and Renters. Staff has learned that the current
Ordinance lacks accountability between the owner and renters, so staff wants to
implement procedures making them more accountable. The first one is to require
they meet and greet on site, so that the owner can provide a copy of the Good
Neighbor Brochure and go over the rules regarding noise, parking, trash, etc. The
renter will be required to sign a formal acknowledgment; the form would be provided
by the City. They are also to provide the operators with a 24-hour contact
information, stating this requirement provides the City the opportunity to fine both
the occupant and renter. The current Ordinance requires a response time of 60
minutes, and staff is requesting to reduce it to 30 minutes. The category of
Communication is being addressed due to the lack of communication between
existing homeowners, renters, and operators. He said existing homeowners need
to know which homes are short-term rentals, which is why staff is requiring that the
Applicant provide to the City mailing labels of those within a 200-feet radius of their
property, excluding the PR Zones, because most of those homes are gated. He
added that homeowners’ associations (HOAs) do a good job of letting residents
know which homes are short-term rentals. Notif ication is to be sent to those
residents within 200 feet, and the City would provide a copy of the Good Neighbor
Brochure where it will list the hotline number or the swing-shift officer’s number, if
the City decides to hire one. He noted some HOAs are more financially stable than
others, such as Bighorn, Desert Falls, Palm Valley, etc., where they have on-site
security to regulate STRs, but others do not. In some HOAs, their CC&R’s
(Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) do not permit STRs. Some HOAs are
adding language to their CC&R’s to exclude them and if legitimate, the City would
not issue permits to those neighborhoods. The last category is Density, where he
will cover the approaches the City will take. He displayed a map of the City and
pointed out the gated communities and their locations. W hen talking about density,
two recommendations are being proposed, the one from the Committee creates a
buffer/separation, and the one from staff prohibits any new STRs within the R-1 and
R-2 Zones. W ith the Committee’s recommendation, there wasn’t a consensus due
to the buffer idea, but they did agree to move the Ordinance forward to this point.
The buffer would only apply to the R-1 and R-2 Zones, in that no new rentals would
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be allowed within a 500-foot radius in the R-1 Zone and within a 300-foot radius in
the R-2 Zone. The idea was to eliminate concentration on one side of the street or
block, precluding one neighbor from being sandwiched in. He displayed a map
indicating where all the known STRs were located. W ith regards to staff’s
recommendation, he said the moratorium allowed staff to study the impacts of STRs
within the community, and it allowed residents to voice their concerns. Staff has
heard from hundreds of residents who have stated their quality of life is suffering
and many have considered moving out of Palm Desert. Therefore, staff proposed
not allowing any new STRs within the R11 and R-2 Zones. The existing STRs will
be able to continue to operate as long as they are in compliance with the Chapter.
Staff is confident that with the proposed enforcement, it will remove bad operators
and allow reasonable ones to continue to operate in a respectful manner, and from
a land-use standpoint, prohibiting STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones, was the right
thing to do. However, STRs will be able to continue in the PR and R-3 Zones.
Regardless of which recommendation the City Council chooses, if any, both the
Committee and staff recommend issuing two types of permits. The first one would
be a Temporary Short-Term Permit that would still apply to the R-1 and R-2, where
a homeowner could obtain a temporary permit to rent out on four separate
occasions for no more than 18 days. They could use all 18 days as one occasion
or break it up into two or three, but no more than four. This would provide the
opportunity for those individuals who rent out for the festivals or tennis tournaments.
He said many residents have stated they leave during those weekends, because
they don’t want to deal with the crowds, but they are able to capitalize on that
financially. W ith the Temporary Short-Term Rental Permit, the Applicant would still
have to comply with all STR requirements, including paying Transient Occupancy
Tax (T.O.T.). The other permit is the On-site Owner Permit, which would be a
homeowner that wishes to rent out a bedroom or casita. W ith this permit the owner
would have to live on site while renting out the room or casita and demonstrate
occupancy, which could entail verification through a neighbor. Again, the applicant
would have to be compliant with the STR Ordinance and paying T.O.T. In
conclusion, staff has put forth the amended recommendation in the belief that the
City’s primary role is to define uses within each zoning district. Short-term rentals
seemed to blur the line of compatible uses within the single-family zones to the point
that the amended recommendation is the best course of action. He offered to
answer any questions.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan inquired as to what constituted a violation, because when
a resident calls in a complaint about noise and within 30 minutes the noise is gone,
then at 2:00 a.m. it’s noisy again or it happens again in the next weekend. He
questioned at what point is there an actual violation subject to the sanctions
described by staff.
Mr. Swartz responded that if the City moved forward with a swing-shift officer, that
officer can make a judgement call, and if found in violation, a citation can be issued
on site. Further responding he said there are decibel levels for noise, which may
be hard to measure, so again, a judgement call would be made.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan stated he would assume that in a case where there is
timely compliance there wouldn’t be a violation, even though the adjacent neighbor
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had been disturbed, but what happens when it happens again or on the following
weekend.
Mr. Swartz said there is nothing written on whether someone gets one or two
strikes, but it would be a judgement call.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan asked staff to elaborate on the hours of operation for the
swing-shift officer, because the way he’s reading it, it will not result in a 24/7 live
person answering the phone.
Mr. Swartz said staff hasn’t established the guidelines, it’s something staff is asking
the City Council to allow them to look into.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan requested staff explain the statement made that HOAs
can opt out of regulation, asking if there was a presumption that they will
self-regulate, in which the City plays no role.
Mr. Swartz replied that HOAs can self-regulate if they want to impose more
restrictive limitations or conditions, but they still have to abide by the City’s
Ordinance, which still has enforcement tools. Further responding, he said the HOA
can say they don’t want music past 8:00 p.m., which is something that is not in the
City’s Ordinance. In other words, HOAs can come up with stricter rules.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan said he failed to understand that staff was differentiating
between regulation from enforcement. Therefore, enforcement would still be
provided by the City, but if an HOA wanted to set the bar higher, they could.
Mr. Swartz concurred, added that some HOAs impose fines on their residents as
well.
Councilmember Kelly stated her question relates to staff’s recommendation to omit
STRs in Planned Residential areas from the requirement of mailing a notice to
nearby neighbors. Because when looking at the map of where existing STRs are
located, there is the occasional odd STR in an HOA that doesn’t seem to have
them. Therefore, she asked if staff thought about the fact that requiring mailing of
the notice would alert folks that somebody had submitted an application for a permit
in an HOA that perhaps doesn’t permit STRs.
Mr. Swartz said staff believes that with the new language, HOAs can contact the
City and hopefully solve that issue.
Mayor Harnik commented that the way she understood the fine structure based on
the language, it could be possible for someone to get multiple fines for different
things in one day. If someone had a 7-day rental, they could get a $1,000, $3,000,
and $5,000 fine during that period.
Mr. Swartz agreed.
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Mayor Harnik went on to say that the fines for those non-permitted operators were
not stiff enough, questioning if there were guidelines that staff used to come up with
those figures.
Mr. Swartz agreed, stating staff originally looked at higher fees such as $10,000 and
$15,000, but the City Attorney advised it would be difficult to collect those higher
amounts.
Councilmember W eber pointed out that in some cases, it could be the resident
didn’t realize they needed a permit, which can be discussed when being cited,
because many people told her they were unaware and had not idea they needed a
permit. Excluding those in the audience today, she believed there is a reasonable
amount unaware of the requirements.
Mr. Swartz said the violator will be informed, but they will still be issued a $1,000
fine.
Mayor Harnik declared the public hearing open and invited public testimony FAVORING or
OPPOSING this matter.
MS. DEBRA HOUSTON, Joshua Tree Street, Palm Desert, approached the Council
to express her support of STRs, stating she had been coming to Palm Desert for
more than 20 years before she was lucky enough to buy a home, which she has
renovated and rented out since 2008 without any complaints. Since then, she has
built some wonderful relationships with her guests that want to rent a home rather
than stay in a hotel. These guests take care of the house like it was their own, and
they spend a lot of money in Palm Desert whether it is dining, gas stations, golf
courses, shopping, etc., and in addition, they are paying their Transient Occupancy
Tax (T.O.T.). She agreed that if there is a party and nuisance house, they should
have their permit revoked, so she was in favor of punishing the few perpetrators, but
not penalizing the many law-abiding homeowners and renters who want their
vacation private homes. She asked that instead of creating a catastrophic
ordinance, instead create tougher regulation to set apart nuisance renters, because
they are not wanted anyway.
MR. BRETT MITCHELL, Ironwood Street, Palm Desert, shared, he was concerned
with the proposed fines, because what happens when someone who doesn’t want
STRs makes a small investment of renting their home for three days with the intent
of obtaining a strike. Further, he has invested more than $15 million in Palm
Desert, stating the homes he’s purchased were disasters when he purchased them
and their property values have gone up. He said Palm Desert will rethink this as the
City of Indian W ells, because their property values have gone down in the last three
years, adding that they are hoping to get STRs back. He said investors don’t want
bad renters, and they want good relationships with the neighbors. He reiterated that
the City needs to consider the owner who doesn’t want a STR next door, how
simple it would be to get someone with three strikes.
MR. RICHARD FOLKERS, Juniper Street, Palm Desert, thanked the City Council
for all the time dedicated to this matter, because it is controversial and difficult to
handle. He personally has STR on the left, right, and across the street, and two
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down the road, so that 200-foot rule would cover four units. He asked what could
be done to get bad operators removed, because he didn’t think there was anything
strenuous enough for those who are in his situation. He knew these investors put
a lot of money into these homes and fixed them up, and it’s a concern to them to
lose their rentals, but on the other hand, these areas used to be neighborhoods and
they are losing their flavor. He requested placing term limits of five years on permits,
because some situations are very controversial, understanding that it works well in
some places, but no so much in others.
Mayor Harnik pointed out Mr. Folkers was a former Public W orks Director for the
City of Palm Desert.
MS. JACQUELINE DAMRON, Silver Canyon Lane, Palm Desert, noted she was
also a homeowner at Big Bear Lake, but she doesn’t rent her houses. She went on
to share that in Big Bear they did the 24-hour hotline, and it doesn’t work. The
expectation is that someone is going to be on duty answering the telephone and
someone’s going to be dispatched, but it doesn’t happen. She said a homeowner
can be very careful in whom they think they are letting into their home, but suddenly
there are 14 cars and 35 people, and they spend the night; the trash and parking
are a nightmare. She expressed her opposition to the City spending $100,000 for
a 24-hour hotline and swing-shift person and asked the Council to reconsider.
MR. JIM W ALKER, San Jose Avenue, Palm Desert, shared that the issues in his
street started in 2013, when an out of the area buyer bought the house, remodeled
it, and increased a five-bedroom house by making the garage part of the home and
inserting two more beds there. So this home now has room for 12 people, but is
advertised for 14 people on the website. This home is always over occupancy, and
they have been fighting this issue for years. He noted the City has worked well with
them, in that they understand where they’re coming from. He said the homeowner
has never cared about the neighborhood, so the neighbors band together to
approach the City. Because of the parking issues, a neighbor painted the curb red
to keep them away from his house, so all the parking ends up in front of his area
and mailboxes. The problem he has now is diminishing returns, and why should this
neighborhood improve their homes when STRs bring their value down, which is
totally wrong. He said they are opposed to STRs, and the fines don’t matter as long
as the bottom line is black. He said the current regulations don’t work, in that they
have used the hotline and have called upon the Sheriff’s Department on several
occasions to supplement their enforcement. He asked the Council to take his
comments into consideration, stating he appreciated the City’s efforts on this matter.
MR. DEBRA VOGLER, Shadow Mountain Drive, Palm Desert, stated she was
opposed to STRs in the R-1 and R-2 areas, including other areas that include
residences. In the event the City Council took a vote to allow them, she asked the
City to consider imposing the following requirements and restriction to avoid them
becoming party houses masquerading as single-family homes: 1) STR should not
be rented for less than 30 days; 2) rentals should be comparable to local hotel
rates; 3) require contracts by renter/landlord/owner to be filed with the City prior to
renting; 4) charge a separate administrative fee for maintaining contracts; 5)
contracts should be assessed at the time contract is filed; 5) failure for completed
documentation should result in a fine; 6) tax payer money, including taxes on
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residential properties should not be used to promote or enforce code compliance
for specific business segments or sectors; 7) consultants or writers should not add
to the burden of extra police enforcement; 8) other home businesses are not
allowed to add to the traffic burden or disturb the peace, and should not require
extensive code compliance monitoring; 9) impose a Transient Accommodation Tax
sufficient to enable the City to hire sufficient number of code officers with authority
to cite and arrest violators if necessary. She said this expense should be seen as
the cost for doing business and therefore shared by the short-term business
owners. She went on to list other numerous fees, restrictions, and regulations.
Lastly, she urged the City Council to work with Coachella Valley Economic
Partnership (CVEP) for the right kind of infrastructure that will enable the City to
bring high-tech companies to the area, because it needs more than hospitality and
tourism to grow the economy and raise property values.
MR. STEPHEN ROSE, East Sunny Dunes, Palm Springs, complimented the City
Council on whatever it decides, because it has gone through a thoughtful and
inclusive process. He felt compelled to share the misery that has been brought
upon the residents of Palm Springs in single-family neighborhoods. W here he once
knew his neighbors, they are now living in a neighborhood of strangers where 15%
to 20% of the homes are full-time hotels, stating 80% of them are owned by out of
the area and the majority never spend a night in them; it is tearing their
neighborhoods apart. In a single year over half a million tourists decent on
neighborhoods that are already inhabited by 25,000 residents, stating they are
being crushed. He said residents have been forced to run a ballot initiative to take
back their neighborhood. The initiative is very similar to what Palm Desert is
presenting to its residents in recommendation B, with a notable exception that Palm
Springs has included a 24-month sunset period on existing STRs. He urged the
City Council to protect and cherish the neighborhoods, because they are much
more than just another venue for tourists, and not to sell them out for an 11% of the
take. The whole scheme enriches the few at the expense of many. For years
residents shared their community and entertained their guest, but not for money, but
for the pride of place and the comfort of their company. If the industry wants to
provide this product, they should build a vacation village on properly zoned land,
and they should build them to the same Building, Health and Safety standards that
are required of hotels. He said if you break the neighborhood, like Humpty Dumpty,
you can’t put them back together again.
MS. JANINE JUDY, Masson Street, Palm Desert, stated she lives on a long
cul-de-sac consisting of twenty homes. Currently there are three STRs on her
street and one directly behind, and the three on her street are owned by the same
owner, adding that only one non-short-term-rental separated the three homes. Two
of the STRs are definitely party houses, stating she couldn’t imagine what the
neighbors who live behind them or next door experience almost every weekend. In
2009 she moved to Palm Desert from another local City to be closer to her job, but
more important, to live in a safer neighborhood. Unfortunately, she no longer felt
safe with the increase traffic, strangers, noise, and Uber drivers who drive extremely
fast in a family neighborhood. One of the options for consideration this evening is
a buffer for the residential zones. If buffers are to be implemented, why should
there be a difference between R-1 and R-2, because both are residential family
homes. W hether or not they are houses, condos, duplexes, or apartments, STRs
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have no place in single-family neighborhoods, since they are basically a commercial
operation. She supports staff’s recommendation to prohibit new STRs in R-1 and
R-2 Zones. Her street is a family neighborhood, not a hotel district. She also
agrees with staf f’s recommendation to prohibit all new STRs, higher penalties for
continued violators, and stricter enforcement procedures. She said residents do not
know the names or the history of those in STRs, so how does a City protect the
residents, especially their children from strangers.
MR. HECTOR AYALA, W illow Street, Palm Desert, stated he built his home as a
vacation rental and this past year has been extremely complicated for him. He said
many people are coming back to the Desert and he’s being asked if the moratorium
has been lifted. His response is that it has not been lifted, but he has offered to take
them to Palm Springs. This group of 40 to 50 people comes with a lot of money and
have been coming to the Desert for many years, but they decided to stay in Palm
Springs. He knows a lot of people that rent their homes and they will always use
them as vacation rentals, but the City won’t be collecting that T.O.T. He said they
have been building homes in the Desert for a while, and they are to be used as a
vacation rental, adding they pay the school and City fees. He said the City hasn’t
enforced the T.O.T. and is losing a lot of money, but once enforced, he believed the
amount collected by the City would be doubled. His recommendation is to restrict
rentals to people over the age of 30 and not allow music at all. The house he built
was meant to be used as a vacation rental, but with the moratorium, it sat empty
that he’s experienced several break-ins. Until the City makes a decision and/or
provides solutions, he has a police officer staying in the house for free to avoid it
being vandalized.
MS. SHELLY BRICKER, San Pasqual, Palm Desert, shared she has three STRs
on her street, and the two across the street are rented together as one. The house
is advertised as 12 bedrooms and sleeping 30-plus people, stating she didn’t
understand how that was allowed. Regardless of what the City Council decides this
evening, she requested these houses be looked into specifically. She won’t list
everything she’s had to endure these past three years, which includes increase
crime involving these homes directly, to the point where a property owner had to
hire a private security for a period of time. She grew up in Palm Desert and chose
to raise her children here, stating she is an active member of the community and
former president of W ashington Charter Parent Teacher Organization. Palm Desert
schools are the best and at the top of the list in the State, and she is representing
the young family demographic that helped develop Palm Desert into what it has
become. She is opposed to reducing neighborhoods into cheap weekend
short-term destinations. She asked the City Council to listen and take into
consideration what its residents have to deal with on a daily basis.
MR. JIM KANE, Skyward W ay, Palm Desert, offered that for most of the past 35
years he’s marveled at the way Palm Desert has managed their mix of commercial,
residential, recreational, and educational opportunities, stating it’s been done better
than any other city in the Valley. However, in 2012, the City took a wrong turn when
it permitted STRs in all neighborhoods. He didn’t want to play the blame game,
because he believed the City Council acted in good faith then in trying to alleviate
some economic problems from the 2008 collapse. He understood no one could
have foreseen the tidal wave of STRs and the exponential growth of Airbnd or their
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ability to out-think the hotel industry and most cities globally. He wants the Council
to know that the experience of the past five years has made them adamantly
opposed to STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones. To paraphrase the City’s own Vision
Statement, “Neighborhoods are supposed to be the building blocks of the City.”
The truth is that out-of-control STRs are a cancer in a neighborhood. He supported
staff’s recommendation, but it didn’t go far enough, because you can’t cure cancer
with a band-aid. He said this was a lot bigger than just a few older retirees wanting
to live in Mayberry. He invited the Council to drive by the neighborhoods to see the
hundreds of street signs or the petitions with almost 2,000 signatures that have
been gathered in opposition to STRs. They are not oblivious to the challenges
before the City Council, and they are extremely appreciative of the time Council and
staff has spent on this matter. On a positive note, he discovered there are a lot of
bright, educated, and caring neighbors who can come up with a solution to a
dilemma if they are asked. He begged the City Council to listen to this group,
stating it will hear some very innovative and progressive ideas at a better way to
write an Ordinance that will actually boost real estate values and will properly
support the local resort industry. Best of all, it will reduce the insults to the quality
of life of the citizens that this Council was sworn to serve.
MR. ALAIN PINEL, Buckboard Trail, Palm Desert, an active real estate broker,
shared that over time he had the privilege of running several of the top ten real
estate companies in the country. As City leaders, it has to envision what they want
Palm Desert to come. In 2012, the City passed an Ordinance that completely
changed the quality of life in residential neighborhoods. As soon as the minimum
rent stay was cut down to two nights, hunting season was open for investors to rush
and buy whatever home they could grab. It didn’t take long for the negative impacts
to take effect. Gone were the motivations many people had to purchase a home in
Palm Desert, including the prospect of attracting badly needed young people,
entrepreneurs who could open a business here, diversity of residential
neighborhoods, sense of sanctity for those wanting to raise their families here, and
the hope of building equity. The City gets in return $1.5 million a year, but its
amazing benefits such as the weather, available space, and affordable prices will
actually go to waste, because the right people are not being marketed. He doubted
town leaders meant to create this crisis, but it happened. However, today, it wants
to be a good community partner by reestablishing the 30-day minimum stay in
residential neighborhoods to regain control of the City’s destiny by making it a safe
and enjoyable place to stay.
MR. BRUCE POYNTER, Calliandra Street, a retired local fire captain, shared he
has five STRs within sight of his property, stating that on any given Friday or
Saturday night, one or more of them generate ten times the noise and traffic as all
the neighbors combined. There is loud music, car horns, car doors slamming,
screaming, yelling, and often fighting, stating no hotel would tolerate it. On three
of the past Saturday nights, at least one or more have required, police, fire, or
medic response, and sometimes all three. One of his neighbors has required public
safety services in that time frame. Besides supervising an engine company and
paramedic units, he also monitors fire and police dispatch, and on the same Friday
and Saturday night, these parties are full blast, and it happens to be the busiest for
emergency services. He said police are dealing with armed robberies, drunk
drivers, tractor/trailer crashes on Interstate 10, and the Fire Department is
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responding to house fires using the jaws of life, extricating crash victims on
Highway 111, paramedics are resuscitating drowning victims, drug overdoses, etc.
He acts as the defacto site manager while the business person is sound asleep in
Orange or San Diego County. W ith the turnover of these properties and the
percentage that turn into parties, he didn’t believe any number of code enforcement
officers can control them. He said complaint will rotate to law enforcement, and
dispatch will put noise disturbances at the bottom of the list, meanwhile the party
goes on. He understood both sides of this issue, because he comes from a large
family of real estate brokers and agents. However, full-time residents are suffering
more than most are aware and out of town investors don’t care. He believed Palm
Desert has the best Council and best services in the Valley, but as a resident, he
felt abandoned in favor of commercial interest. He asked the City Council to restore
the 30-day minimum stay, so that neighbors can return to the peaceful and friendly
place it used to be.
MS. DENISE TOLAND, Buckboard Trail, stated their mid-century duplexes were
built in 1963 and her unit shares a common driveway and carport, and laundry
rooms are access through adjacent exterior doors. For two years nothing but a
four-inch thick wall separated her from a STR. She is a woman living alone and one
day coming out of her home she felt like she was emerging out from a Motel 6. If
only properties had security guards and surveillance cameras like Motel 6. She
shared how one morning a shirtless shoeless man appeared just outside her
laundry room, and on one afternoon her door opened, it was a couple who mistook
her home from for the STR. Also, on one evening a man on drugs mistook her
home for the one next to hers, he was fresh out of prison looking for an old
girlfriend. W ith a drug induced strength, he shook her door forcefully, lifting the
hinge pins half way out from the hinges, and she called 911. Police couldn’t get
there fast enough that by the time they arrived he was gone, and she was assured
he was no longer in the neighborhood, but ten minutes later, he was back again
pounding on her door. She said these intrusions forced her to purchase a
semiautomatic weapon and learned to use it. W hen STRs make her feel vulnerable
and afraid, she feels safer with her loaded gun. She asked if that’s what the City
wants, fearful residents purchasing guns to protect themselves from strangers in the
neighborhood, stating it was not a Palm Desert she cared to envision.
MR. DAVID TOLTZMANN, Bursera W ay, Palm Desert, stated he has a STR behind
his residence. The STR is a new home built specifically for vacation rentals. Last
week he called both the Sheriff and Code Enforcement twice for late night
violations, stating he’s had to do this all summer. He questioned why he had to
police the property, listen to the drunken pool parties at 1:00 a.m., and dread who’s
checking in on Friday’s, and having to call the Sheriff and Code Enforcement all the
time. He moved to a home with a vacant lot behind it, and now he has a small
hotel. He didn’t consider himself an old fart who doesn’t want change, because he
understood change was vital. However, STRs and their investors are not the
answers, and they have no place in residential neighborhoods. He asked the City
Council to ban them in the R-1 and R-2 Zones with a sunset clause to phase them
out, and return neighborhoods to neighbors.
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MR. DAVID PETERS, Amber Street, Palm Desert, a general builder contractor and
a real estate broker, stated there is a STR next door and one across the street. The
one next door he helped build and sell, but the new people in it now have seven
bedrooms. The house he sold had four bedrooms, but the three-car garage was
closed off and converted to more bedrooms, which meant they can have up to 14
people staying there and another 5 or 6 people during the day. He said there could
be up to 20 people next door, and he’s tired of having to sleep with earplugs
because of all the noise, or having to police it. It was time f or the City to take a
different approach and see what works in Palm Desert. For many years the 30-day
rental worked well where there were people coming from Canada and stayed 30 to
60 days, including people from the east coast. He said those types of guests
participated in the City of Palm Desert shows, charities, church, etc. He reiterated
this problem didn’t exist when the minimum stay was 30 days, adding the City didn’t
have hundreds of letters or signed petitions to stop it. He asked the City Council
to reinstate that 30-day minimum stay. The reason these renters don’t stay at a
hotel is because they can’t raise their music to high decibels or do the same thing
they can in a house. He asked the City Council not to feel sorry for these people,
because if the City puts an end to STRs, the owners will probably make a big
amount of money when they resale. According to the multiple listing, Palm Desert
property’s prices are flat based on the average price of a household, and it’s been
that way for the last four years, which he believed was due to the STRs. He heard
hotel companies won’t come to Palm Desert, because of the STRs.
MR. PAUL MURPHY, Shyward W ay, Palm Desert, stated he and his wife moved to
Palm Desert from Oregon 19 years ago, adding they normally spend their summers
in Oregon. He of f ered that in the northern Oregon coast in Cannon Beach, today
more than 60% of the single-family homes are STRs. His niece has a lovely home
in Cannon Beach, but six of the eight homes on her street are STRs, stating she
doesn’t want to be there because it’s so noisy and out of order. He said school
enrollment is down that they can’t get people to serve on committees in Cannon
Beach, and their city manager resigned because he was sick and tired of running
a hotel. In Gearhart where they have their summer home, a community of 2,500
has 78 licensed STRs, but only two are owned by people that live there. They will
be phased out as the homes are sold or the owners pass away. Of course the STR
owners aren’t thrilled, so they started having recall elections, but that didn’t work,
so now they are trying to change the Ordinance. In any regard, it’s a mess there.
As a matter of fact, that election is coming up in November. Now let’s look to
what’s happening here, where a couple of weeks ago he assisted a young man
carrying 20 bags of ice into the STR across the street from his home. He asked him
why he didn’t go to a hotel and the response was that they were kicked out the first
hour they were there. Further, a few weeks ago, there were nine vehicles parked
on the street and two in the driveway. One was right in front of his mailbox where
the mailman had to knock on his door to deliver his mail. He walked across the
street and rang the door bell to inform the STR guest about the vehicle parked in
front of his home, and the response was that it was a public street and they
slammed the door shut. He emailed Councilmembers Gina Nestande and Kathleen
Kelly, and they spoke to the City Manager who then sent Public W orks to paint the
curb red in front of the mailbox, which he believes the cost of that is paid by the
taxpayer, questioning if the City was going to paint every curb red that’s by a
mailbox.
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MS. SHERRELL SUTHERLAND, Broken Arrow Trail, Palm Desert, a retired
assistant chief for the California Highway Patrol, approached the Council to talk
about the problems with code enforcement. She has no criticism of Palm Desert’s
Code Compliance Officers, because the system itself is designed to fail. No matter
how many off icers, ordinances, and fines it institutes, law enforcement is most
successful when there is proactive enforcement where you actively look for
violations and curb them before they become a bigger problem. She remarked it
was such a disservice to the residents. The current STR enforcement plan is
reactive, in that the City responds after someone has been bothered to the point of
calling the police before anything is done, and even then, an officer may not be
available based on the hour of the day. If a Code Enforcement Officer is not on
duty, the call falls on Palm Desert Police Department to handle, and yet the Sheriff’s
Department was never included in the planning about how to deal with the response
to STRs. The next problem is that many of the new regulations in the draft are not
enforceable, questioning how the City will ever know if new tenants are greeted by
a responsible party and briefed about the good neighbor policies or if a STR
responsible party responds to a complaint within the required time frame.
Additionally, how can the City enforce parking restrictions without knowing what
cars belong to the tenants of a short-term rental. She reiterated that these
ordinances are setting up Code Enforcement Officers for failure. She heard the
argument that they might as well make STRs legal, because they are going to do
it any way by going underground. If the City couldn’t enforce a few non-permitted
STRs, how did it think it can handle a vast expansion of permitted ones. She added
that she was confident that the majority of the residents do not want STRs, stating
she and others are willing to be part of the solution and urged the Council not to
hesitate in reaching out to them for committees or suggestions.
MS. DONNA AULT, Haystack Road, Palm Desert, thanked the Council for
addressing this important issue. She said pride of ownership is important to Palm
Desert, stating it’s what kept neighborhoods attractive, including increase property
values in a thriving real estate market. Pride of ownership is the model of a healthy
economy and healthy city, and it is not the model of STRs. She said many
residents feel abandoned by the City, distressed that so much consideration has
been given to the multiple commercial acquisitions of out-of-town investors. The
values shared of being good neighbors seemed to be working against the residents,
because these investors ravage Palm Desert residential neighborhoods. Residents
do not want conflict, however, they have been compromised long enough. Their
health, property values, and standard of living were the reasons they purchased a
home in Palm Desert, but they have been compromised. She understood any
investment is a risk, but they do not want to regret theirs, nor do they want to leave
the neighborhoods that they love. They have no problems with owner-occupied
rentals, but do have a problem with out-of-town investors making an obscene
amount of money at the expense of residents and neighborhoods they have worked
so hard to create. Unlike many of the residents, they do have options. They can
turn STRs into 30-day rentals, sell their properties, or profit from long-term leases.
Additionally, they can invest in mix-use areas zoned for STRs. She said so many
communities across the state, country, and world are trying to come to grips with
the affliction of short-term rentals, and it is this Council’s opportunity and calling to
correct the problem inherited. She appreciates that Council wants to stop the
bleeding, but she is asking that it remove the disease.
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MS. CHRISTEL PROKAY, Siesta Trail, Palm Desert, stated she and her husband
were proud residents of Palm Desert for 45 years. She understood, like everything
else, a town may change, but it should change for the better. She held a petition
with almost 2,000 signatures opposing STRs in residential neighborhoods, and
those numbers are increasing. The signatures are from local residents and
businesses that pay local taxes. She said it was worth noting that about 80% of the
people she contacted are opposed to STRs, they are frustrated, concerned, and
some deeply angry with the current situation. She went on say these residents build
the neighborhoods, so for them this battle is about the soul of Palm Desert and what
they want its future to be. She prayed that this Council does not transform the town
into an Airbnd destination and its residents into second-class citizens. She thanked
the City Council for listening and asked for their immediate help.
MR. TIM SKOGEN, Skyward W ay, Palm Desert, thanked the City Council for their
time, stating he and his wife have resided in Palm Desert for 35 years. They and
the neighbors care deeply about the City that is being torn apart by the negative
impacts of STRs. The adverse repercussion on real estate values and sales
patterns, using industry standards and statistics, the average Palm Desert home
value has essentially remained flat over the last four years, while other areas in
California have almost doubled. Another critical metric is days on a market prior to
selling. Palm Desert homes are averaging 28% longer to sell, which is directly
impacted by the third factor, which is the percentage that is reducing the selling
price, which is a 18% drop from initial pricing. None of this is good news for Palm
Desert residents and they should be very concerned. One may ask which city has
a high number of STRs in R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods, because there is some
correlation here that needs correction. In his neighborhood there is a house for sell
since May, and it’s already dropped in price $80,000, and that won’t be the end
price. The market report for that home advertises it as follows: “The home is a
huge value with huge income opportunity in that short-term rentals are permitted,
offering no HOA fees or restrictions, a perfect home for music festivals and
part-time retreats. You can make thousands on Airbnd, VRBO, and seasonal
guests. Personal options make this home a winner.” He said the City was
incorporated in 1973, which is 44 years ago, so for more than 40 years the
neighborhoods were the envy of the Valley. Since the Ordinance was changed five
years ago and reduced to a two-day stay, communities have degraded, which was
not this Council’s doing. This was the time for this Council to do so something
about it, stating many campaign platforms promised to protect the quality of life and
public safety. He asked the Council not to abandon its promises and turn those
good words into proper deeds. He said everyone in this room is at risk of having
a home next door become a commercial and mini-hotel party house. He thanked
the City Council for their thoughtful consideration.
MS. CATHY FORRISTER, Calliandra, Palm Desert, retired bank manager, stated
she has been a resident of the Coachella Valley for more than 40 years and has
resided in Palm Desert for more than 30. The Desert has always been a vacation
destination, and the City has always catered to visitors, but it has distinct areas for
them. During her years as a bank manager, a good share of customers were
seasonal residents, many rented for a month or more, came year after year, and
then decided to purchase in Palm Desert for the serenity the neighborhoods have
always offered. Those that stayed for short periods lodged in hotels, motels,
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timeshares, etc., and it kept a nice balance for all. W hen looking for a permanent
resident, she did her due diligence by researching the different areas at all times
during the day and all days of the week. She checked the different CC&Rs and the
different zonings, and she decided on south Palm Desert in the Silver Spur Ranch
because it felt like a small community with varying ages and quite neighborly.
W hen the City Council changed the rental terms in 2012, from 30 days to as little
as two days, it changed the neighborhood, taking away the sense of community.
For several years now, she has noticed party-typed rentals that have increased
traffic, nosie, and disturbances at all times of the day and night. She said these
guests are not here for the purpose of becoming part of the neighborhood, and the
owners become investors for profit, and those living near STRs become the
ordinance enforcers. She read up on both sides of the issue and her conclusion is
that no matter what regulations are placed, unless they are contained in an area
away from residential areas or patrolled by their own security and enforcement, they
will continue to disturb residents, which puts the onerous of calling and reporting on
the people being disturbed at all time. She asked the Council to restore the 30-day
minimum stay requirement for residential areas.
MR. JOHN CURRAN, Somera Road, Palm Desert, noted a letter was sent to the
City Council, but he remembered something he failed to mention. As a former
bartender near a big college for five years, he felt he could speak about being drunk
and stupid with some expertise. He’s opposed to STRs units in residential zones,
because of the drunk and stupid people that rent these houses, including the one
behind his home on Haystack Road. The City is proposing a new ordinance that
presumes to solve the problems of noise and party houses in the neighborhoods,
but it won’t work, because the City cannot manage drunk and stupid. He said New
Orleans puts drunk and stupid in the fence quarter where it’s isolated and they can
manage it. You have to put drunk and stupid in parts of the City where there is
security guards, cameras, and police close at hand. He said hotels, bars, shopping
malls, and commercial strips have cameras and security, stating they have police
crawling all over them when things are happening. He said you cannot stop drunk
and stupid by one or two code of f icers. If the City has 2% of the STRs as party
houses, that’s 25 houses, and if they are really cooking on a Coachella Fest
weekend, one or two guys can’t handle it. He said Palm Desert has a serious
management problem that can’t be fixed with what is being proposed. He believed
it was in good faith, but it was tinkering around the edges with new fines, new
methods, etc., but that’s not the approach needed, the City Council has to do the
right thing and get party houses out of the R-1 and R-2 Zones.
MS. JANN BULLER, Somera Road, Palm Desert, congratulated the planning staff,
because they listened to the residents. She was in favor with just about everything
being proposed in version two, but asked that it make two additional changes as
follows: 1) add a clause that phases out existing STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones.
It would be great if that can be accomplished in a year, but not more than two; 2)
delete the provision for temporary STRs, because it has the feel of a little bit
pregnant. She asked the City Council to please approve version two with the
suggested changes, and then everyone can get passed the moratorium and end the
uncertainty.
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MR. SAM HOOVER, W illow Avenue, Palm Desert, shared he has been a part-time
resident in Palm Desert for more than 40 years, stating he lives the rest of the year
in Lake Forest, Illinois, where he’s an attorney. He came to this issue rather late,
in fact, he’s only been back in town for a week, but the neighbors brought him up
to date with what’s going on. He actually was not aware of how bad the situation
was, but is very impressed with the group that has taken an interest. It’s amazing
that a neighborhood and a community can pull themselves together to this extent,
and the group championing the cause are well educated with fabulous backgrounds
consisting of experts in one area or another such as bankers, hotel managers, real
estate representatives, contractors, etc., stating they know what they’re talking
about. One thing was evident in that the Council is being under attack by the STR
industry. He went online and learned how these STR representatives are taught to
deal with city councils. For instance, they tell councils to view those in opposition
as whiner with anecdotal stories and portray them as emotional. It’s true they are
emotional, because they are severely impacted by what’s happened. Also, these
representatives are encouraged to meet with the City Council and Mayor, and be
very accommodating, making sure they appear very reasonable, but under no
circumstance give away any ground as far as regulation is concerned. There is no
mention about the effects of their STRs on the community. He said Palm Desert is
a prime target and it’s so lucrative to investors who buy a run down home and
charge $10,000, $15,000, or $20,000 for a week, which is enormous and a terrible
thing. He asked the Council not to enact legislation that will take-away rights from
its citizens.
MR. VAN TANNER, Cricket Cove, Palm Desert, thanked the Council for listening
to everyone this evening. He noted he had a long history with Palm Desert when
it comes to serving the community for the sole purpose of preserving and increasing
the quality of life for its residents, including tourists who help fund this great City.
In 2009, there was an Ordinance that prohibited STRs for less than 30 days without
a Conditional Use Permit. The Ordinance that was passed in October 2012
changed the definition of STRs to anything less than 28 days, but no fewer than two
nights and three days. This change increased STRs from 50 to 1,228 currently.
W hile the change increased the amount of revenue for the City to approximately
$1.8 million, it had also diminished the quality of life for those who live near them.
He might add that many of these residents were around way before the STRs came
to town. He said to whom does the Council owe its loyalty, to the residents or those
that profit from residential areas that are currently allowing STRs. He divulged he
didn’t have a horse in this race, as he and his wife live in a gated community that
does not allow rentals for anything less than 30 days, but he was advocating for all
those who bought their home in a residential neighborhood that now lives near a
party house. He’s confident no Councilmember would want a party house next
door. Therefore, he asked the Council to create an ordinance that gives the
neighborhoods back to its residents from those that seek short-term profits at the
expense of permanent residents. He asked that short-term rentals be banned in the
R-1 and R-2 Zones, and existing ones to end by December 2019, when they have
the option of turning their property into long-term leases or sell the property. He
said this was an opportunity for the Council to create a legacy and do the right thing,
because this Council had nothing to do with what happened in 2009.
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MR. TIM SULLIVAN, Deergrass Drive, Palm Desert, a 25-year resident, approached
the Council to summarize the recommendations of his neighbors. It was important
to note that Project Palm Desert Neighborhoods is a completely organic
organization. There is no consultants, no public relations specialist, no form letters,
or paid legal staff. It was just neighbors coming together with one hope to work with
the City to solve a real problem. Their reason for being is to protect designated
residential areas from commercial exploitation. Real neighbors that have lived here
and established these neighborhoods are the heart of the social fabric of Palm
Desert, which can’t be replaced by visitors. He said residents want to feel safe in
their home and not have to worry about a revolving door of strangers, adding they
want to be free of disruptive and disrespectful renters and outside owners, many of
whom don’t seem to care. He urged the Council to end the moratorium and the
months of uncertainty for everyone. Version two of the proposed ordinance is
heading in the right direction, and they are ready to embrace it with two changes.
First, add a provision phasing out existing STRs in the R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods,
except when an on-site owner is present and permitted. Counting on attrition to
eliminate the 276 STRs currently in R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods could take
decades, stating their quality of life has been compromised for the past five years.
A one year phase out or at the most two years, would show residents that their City
Council represents their interest. It also provides investors and property managers
sufficient time to redirect their capital or convert to long-term rentals. Secondly, no
permits issued for STRs, because issuing temporary permits in the R-1 and R-2
Zones continue to favor investors who are often from out of town. City zoning laws
should not be circumvented or compromised to accommodate other profitable
STRs, especially if the long-term rental market appears vibrant. Residents should
not be asked to compromise the quality of life so investors can maximize their
profits. Lastly, they tried to establish and recommend a proactive and collaborative
approach for the future of STRs. He knows they’re not going away, he’s simply
asking that they be accommodated in neighborhoods properly zoned, and in
neighborhoods yet to be developed where more forethought can be applied. This
is a wonderful opportunity to plan and partner with Airbnd and the like to create
vibrant neighborhoods for residents and visitors alike. He thanked the Council for
their time and their service to the City and its residents.
MR. STEVE NASH, W illow Street, Palm Desert, thanked the Council for the
opportunity to address this issue, including staff for producing a much improved
version two of the proposed Ordinance. He shared that he spent seven years as
a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, and he is now a captain for American Airlines.
He and his wife moved to Palm Desert in 2002, where they are raising their 11-year-
old daughter. He understood the rezoning of 2012 in the R-1 and R-2 Zones and
why it happened, but if the City doesn’t get a handle on it, it will turn Palm Desert
into a bunch of mini-hotels masquerading as single-family residents. The street he
lives on has a bunch of families with kids, and one block away, there are five STRs.
It means there are car loads of people they have never seen before, not knowing
their backgrounds or who they are, stating it’s not the kind of neighborhood he
wants to raise his daughter. He reiterated that version two is a much better
Ordinance with a couple of additions such as adding in a sunset clause for existing
STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones, allowing time for people to transform their business
plan to a long-term rental, and either sell their home or move into the home. The
other change is to eliminate the 18-day/short-term permit, because it couldn’t be
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enforced effectively, including eliminating the CUP’s. W ith these common sense
changes, he would be in favor of approving version two and getting this thing done.
MR. MIKE MCLEAN, a resident of Palm Springs, California, noted he owned a
vacation rental company, and stated he has attended many of the stakeholder
meetings, and at each meeting he’s asked for the data. W hat the City Council is
considering is a ban or defacto ban like there is no other option. He questioned
how the City got here, because staff’s rationale was that there was “an up tick in
permit,” what did that mean and how did staff quantify it. In other words, what was
the differential and the number of nuisance calls. He is compassionate and he felt
for the residents, and they shouldn’t have to go through what they’ve gone through,
but the problem is not in the STRs industry, it was with enforcement. The City had
a new ordinance in place since 2012, so it’s apparent the City hasn’t enforced what
it has, so instead of addressing enforcement, the Council is going to a draconian
measure of banning an entire industry, which doesn’t make sense. By using the
City’s data, it shows that 1,228 homes are registered as STRs, which represents
less than 3.5%. Therefore, of those 1,200 homes, how many homes have received
one citation or two citations, how many fines have been issued, and how many
permits have been pulled, etc. The biggest issue here is that the City Council is
going down a road of unintended consequences. There are numerous cities in
California that have banned vacation rentals, but they still have them. The City of
Ojai has a population of 7,000 and this morning there were 700 properties
advertised on VRBO Home-Away.
MR. MATT BECHSTEIN, a non-Palm Desert resident, admittedly said he was
pro-vacation rental speaking on behalf of homeowners in Palm Desert. He works
for Orange Palms Vacation Homes, and like his colleague Mike McLean, he’s
interested in being a good operator, stating most of their homes don’t have a record
of receiving citations or complaints, because they do their best to operate good
rentals and be good neighbors. He said they have dealt with these issues for the
past two years, and Palm Springs had an in-depth conversation about how STRs
should be managed, and they did a good job of coming up with an ordinance that
worked for them. He noted that Mr. Boris Stark who works for the City of Palm
Springs in the Vacation Rental Department was present to lend some advice as
well, because residents’ concerns are legitimate and real. But on the other side of
this issue, they manage multimillion dollar assets for people who put their
life-savings into these homes and it’s part of their retirement plan, and where their
families have vacationed for the last 50 years. Therefore, they do become close with
their owner-partners, and he wanted to convey that STRs is not an insult to people’s
quality of life. In fact, STRs were invited to Palm Desert in 2012 to do business and
encourage a healthy real estate market. He said professional managers were in
Palm Desert and ready to respond to real-time issues. He went on to say that if the
City decides to do 30-day rentals, it eliminates professional managers. He
encouraged Palm Desert City Council to talk to Councilmembers from Palm
Springs, because they really put some thought into their ordinance by consulting
with the industry and community.
MS. TANYA GOFF, Clifton Forge Street, Palm Desert, empathized with those living
next to any of the party houses described by previous speakers, but in saying that,
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she confessed she owned a STR in Palm Desert Country Club. She’s blessed with
having fabulous neighbors where the rental is located and there have been no
complaints. She rents to families with children and pets and it’s been nothing but
a great experience for her and the neighbors of her STR. She knows this because
she goes to dinner and hangs out with the renters and neighbors, stating she’s very
proactive in whom she allows in her home. W hat prompted her to buy another
home was so that she could have family come down to visit in Palm Desert free of
charge, because she doesn’t have space in her home. She said everyone is busy
painting STRs with a broad brush that investors don’t care and are making $10,000
a week, questioning where was that house, because she would love to make that
kind of money. She added that she employs gardeners, housekeepers, and she
also has a property manager. Her rental is on the golf course, so guests are prone
to use the struggling Palm Desert Country Club Golf Course. She would be open
to making the minium stay up to five days, but if it’s increased to 30 days, it would
crush so many that do cater to families that are taking a vacation and going to a
tennis tournament, because not everybody is going to Coachella Fest and drinking
to excess. She reiterated that her guests are not outside causing a nuisance to the
neighbors like what others are experiencing, because she’s committed and it’s
important for her to follow the rules and pay her tax and be a good citizen. For the
folks that are not permitted and are a party house, they make her angry, so she was
in agreement that the City needed to find a way to get rid of them, because they
don’t belong in the community, but business does.
MS. SUSIE PEAT, W illow Street, Palm Desert, 16-year Palm Desert resident,
expressed her opposition to short-term rentals of less than 30 days in residential
areas. She said that in 2007-2008 Denise Roberge had a noise issue with high
decibel levels during live music at her Agusta Restaurant at the corner of El Paseo
and Portola Avenue, where nearby homeowners were disturbed by the noise for
quite a while, which is the same type of noise that STRs create. It affects residents’
peace, sleep, and productivity day after day, weekend after weekend, and it’s not
what neighborhoods deserve. She pointed out that Agusta Restaurant was in a
commercial zone, yet it affected residents a quarter of a mile away or more, so
imagine that noise being just down the street. The City has more than 1,200 STRs,
and they are no longer in commercial zones, such as El Paseo, but down the block
where neighbors used to be. She added that STRs are not interested in preserving
the quality of life. In reading the minutes from 2007 and 2008, it’s interesting to
note that many of the representatives and staff that were involved at that time are
still working for the City, so they may recall the difficulties surrounding the Denise
Roberge issue and asked the Council to again vote accordingly.
MR. JEREMY OGUL, on behalf of Home Away, stated it was hard to indicate on his
speaker card whether he was in support or opposed to the ordinance, because on
the one hand it gives the City and staff powerful tools to provide rapid response and
enforcement, and impose stiff fines, which he wholeheartedly supported. However,
on the other hand, the Ordinance proposes placing a ban on permits in certain
neighborhoods, and based on what many other cities have tried, it doesn’t work.
He noted that Planning Commissioner Nancy De Luna put it so perfectly when she
said, “A ban doesn’t limit short-term rentals, it simply limits the City’s ability to
control and enforce the law.” He said there are a lot of anger and emotion driving
this debate, and much of it is justified, but unfortunately this issue is missing the
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data. The kind of data he can offer from Home Away, in that the average booking
in Palm Desert is nine nights, and based on surveys conducted by The Greater
Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the vast majority of vacation
renters are the age of 55 or older. His request is for the City to get the enforcement
system in place immediately and equip staff with the tools they need to shut down
nuisance operators, including collecting data on complaints in order to know where
to put the focus going forward. Until the City has all that in place, it’s too early to
decide to stop issuing new permits. Therefore, he respectfully requested that the
City Council strike Section 5.10.070 to remove the location-based restrictions and
adopt the rest of the enforcement measures and operational standards as
proposed.
MS. KELLY MCLEAN, Palm Springs resident, shared she worked with McLean
Company, which is her father’s, and is also a board member of the Vacation Rental
Tourism Association. Hearing the complaints and issues from the neighbors is
definitely concerning, and regardless of what steps are taken this evening, it is
incumbent upon a city to direct staff to come up with a solution for recurring problem
properties that don’t even show up on the hotline. She said residents don’t want to
police their properties, which she understood, but they need a place to go to where
they can meet monthly to discuss problematic properties and have communication
from both sides, whether that is with a task force, owner/neighbor, etc., but that it
leads to a resolution. She offered that vacation rentals support 3,500 jobs, which
are a lot of people working locally. She felt a lot of fear-based comments were
made that STR guests are only here to party for a weekend, which she felt was not
totally true. The CVB did an Intercept Study from 2016, and it indicated that 74% of
the visitors that stay in vacation rentals are staying for eight plus nights, the average
age is 55 and older, and 41% are college educated, 30% are graduate level
educated, and 70%+ are families. As part of the Tourism Association, many of the
property managers here this evening are ready to respond, because vacation
rentals in neighborhoods can coexist peacefully if they are managed well. She said
the hotline can work if City government works with stakeholders and neighbors to
come to a resolution, so they are opposed to a ban that will just lead to more
enforcement.
MS. KRISTIN KAMINSKY, Silver Spur, Palm Desert, a full-time resident of Palm
Desert, expressed her support for STRs, claiming it brought up her property value,
brought in tax revenue and customers. She is also in favor of compromise and
rather than vehemently opposing them, she believed a solution could be found,
which comes in the way of strict guidelines and fines. She honestly didn’t believe
the City wasn’t doing anything about the party homes, because last weekend she
called the rental complaint hotline and within 30 minutes that party she was dealing
with was completely gone. She was tired of STRs being lumped into the same
category, in that there is one down the street that has lovely vacationers, stating she
recently met a couple at the park that fell in love with their vacation home so much
that they want to move to south Palm Desert and purchase a property. Additionally,
an elderly couple next door rents out their casita short-term as a means of income,
so not all STRs are problems. She is also frustrated with those knocking on her
door and putting up signs against STRs as if they represent all-Palm Desert
constituents, because she didn’t believe they represented the restauranteurs,
business owners, or reasonable people who can come to solutions. Lastly, eight
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years ago, prior to STRs, El Paseo was a ghost town, therefore, getting rid of them
will negatively effect businesses and cause them to go elsewhere. She believed
Palm Desert needed STRs, and it was the way of the future, but with policy and
enforcement in place.
MS. CHRIS SPEAR, Virginia Avenue, Palm Desert, stated that for the past five
years she has been employed by a large vacation rental company. She is out in the
field on a daily basis with guests coming in from other parts of the country, and
whether they are here for a week or a month, she has met so many wonderful
people. However, if they don’t respect the house or neighbors, she has no problem
evicting them and she doesn’t need police or enforcement. After speaking at the
Planning Commission meeting, she realized there was lack of enforcement on the
City’s part, and much of it is from not understanding what goes on, because most
guests are not partygoers. The question was raised about the fines and if in a
seven-day rental they could get multiple fines, which she says no, because if it’s
one she’s involved with, and they are having a party, they are not getting a second
chance if she has to go back again. The party house is the unpermitted one, which
can be shut down, and it can be based on reviews. If you have police and
enforcement showing up to party houses week after week, the guests will put those
reviews on the website that the house will not be rented, which is an easy solution.
She’s against the proposed zoning, in that she lives at Palm Desert Country Club
and on a weekend night she can sit out on her patio and hear music from the
Country Club, but for the most part it’s very quiet.
MR. VINCE KARLEN, Joshua Tree Street, Palm Desert, thanked the City Council
for the opportunity to speak. He wouldn’t go into some of the unfortunate
experiences he has had with STRs, stating that instead he will focus on what
vacation rentals might mean for the future of the City, which is of interest to him as
a millennial and someone who has already lived in Palm Desert on and off for
almost 20 years. He confessed he was born in Europe and has traveled quite a bit,
and he wanted to assure the Council there are a great number of cities that frankly
are not particularly unique and don’t necessarily have a special character that’s
worth trying to maintain and preserve. However, Palm Desert’s specialness is in the
small town intimate feel that residents enjoy, where people know the names of their
neighbors on the street they share. A very telling example, earlier this year while he
was traveling abroad, his 73-year-old mother suffered a severe panic attack, and
of course the neighbor she knew drove her to the hospital, which would have been
faster than calling an ambulance. He asked the City Council to consider the type
of investment that transients and tenants make to the community besides providing
revenue tax for improving the roads. He said the City Council should ask
themselves if these guests care about the health of the schools, churches and
synagogues, and how many of them attend City Council meetings. He believed the
answer was that they didn’t care, because they are here today and gone tomorrow.
MR. MIGUEL ANGEL GOMEZ, Buckboard Trail, Palm Desert, he and his husband
purchased a house in Palm Desert, thinking it was STR-friendly, and they closed
escrow in December, but were unable to obtain a permit. He said they invested in
Palm Desert thinking they would be able to offset some of their investment by
turning it into a vacation rental as a retirement plan. He said residents should be
thankful they live in a place many want to visit and that it had a STR problem, but
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all the issues raised about noise and party houses are justified and they need to be
addressed properly. He also owns a house outside Desert Hot Springs that is a
vacation rental and has been very successful for three years; they have 5-star
reviews. They have good neighbors there that before there is a problem, they are
called to address it and they immediately engage with the renters or Airbnb, which
is the platf orm they use. He believed most the problems in Palm Desert are with
vacation rentals that are party houses that need to be dealt with swiftly, because he
wouldn’t want a party house next door. However, he wasn’t opposed to having a
STR next door where he would have an opportunity to meet people from all parts
of the world on a regular basis, stating he would welcome it, because most are
law-abiding. He would like to be given the opportunity to have his home as a STR
in Palm Desert, and he would follow all the rules and do everything necessary. He
said the City Council had a big decision to make and thanked them for all the work
done on this matter. He said he knew the Council will do what’s right for the City as
a whole, and he will be fine with their decision.
MR. DAVID KRAUSS, Noise Aware from Dallas, Texas, addressed the 60-minute
response time, which he believed was too long to respond to a noise nuisance. In
fact, he didn’t think neighbors should be relied upon to resolve issues. He
represented Noise Aware that uses privacy safe decibel sensors to resolve noise
issues quickly without relying on neighbors; the sensor works similarly to a smoke
detector. He was once the unwilling host to a large loud party at his own STR in
Dallas. He realized that noise is a major issue, and the way to solve it was to
pro-actively respond and reach out to your guests, which is what Noise Aware does.
They recently created a response center, which is an after hour immediate
response, similar to how a fire department would response to a fire immediately,
and they have seen awesome results. W ith proactive responses, 80% of issues
can be resolved within 15 minutes. It’s important for the City to consider
technology, because the most important thing about the rules created here this
evening is that they work. He offered to personally provide the City with their data,
stating they have done studies of comparing short-term and long-term incidents of
noise nuisance issues. He also offered to help staff craft what is a very difficult
ordinance to pass.
MR. SCOTT HINZ, Acme House Company in Palm Springs, was dismayed by all
the complaints and issues being dealt within Palm Desert, because as a
professional management company, they solve issues right away. He said they
employ monitoring systems in their homes, and it alerts them even before the
neighbors call them, and it’s been a fantastic tool. He said there are solutions to
dealing with issues and it’s not banning the whole industry. He urged the City
Council to use technology, because it’s real and it works.
MS. LISA RISING, Turn Key Vacation Rentals, stated they go through great lengths
to ensure they have respectful guests, homeowners, and agencies alike by going
through a stringent vetting process for guests that stay in the rentals, and they use
the technology mentioned by previous speakers Mr. Hinz and Mr. Krauss. They
have monitors inside and outside of the homes, including video doorbells, and they
also employ a security officer that makes weekly rounds to ensure rules are being
followed as it relates to trash, parking, etc. She was in favor of employing the
proposed Ordinance with a couple of exceptions. However, she didn’t believe there
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was justification for a ban, adding that after six months from when Palm Springs
passed their Ordinance, they are seeing zero citations for noise issues, so they
know it’s working. W ith more than 2,000 permits issued in Palm Springs, they have
yet to put a cap or a ban on their permits. She believed enforcement was the
answer here in Palm Desert. Additionally, there is not one city in California that has
adopted a separation or buffer rule, in that a 200- or 300-foot buffer would create
disparity and mess with property values. W hen you take away short-term rentals,
you take away a whole industry, because people are visiting Palm Desert and Palm
Springs in the Coachella Valley for a reason, and that is to bike, hike, and be part
of the community.
MR. VINCE HERRING, Pinyon Street, Palm Desert, spoke in favor of version two
as proposed by staff. He has followed this process from the beginning and watched
staff work hard, and this evening there was a lot of reinventing of the wheel, but
Council had a recommendation by staff. He noted he didn’t live in a gated
community, but he did have a homeowner’s association and the City Council was
the board who writes the CC&R’s for those that live outside gated communities. He
viewed these issues as money on the one hand and quality of life on the other, and
he hopes this Council makes the right decision.
MR. PAUL HERRERA, California Desert Association of Realtors (CDAR), informed
the Council that they have been working closely with the Short-Term Rental Task
Force since it was created earlier this year. In addition to discussions, they
deliberated on this issue with their own 19-member committee and ultimately came
back with a consensus that residents were raising important concerns and deserve
to be addressed both in policy and practice. Meanwhile, the City hosted
stakeholders meetings that clearly identified that Palm Desert had lacked policy
tools to be responsive to their concerns. City staff has done a commendable job to
writing policy that increases enforcement tools, penalties, and operating standards
for anyone owning or managing a short-term rental in Palm Desert. That part of the
proposal essentially is everything that was in the initial draft, including the buffer,
which received near consensus support, including their own. However, that’s where
the consensus ends, because today they oppose action that would curtail short-term
rentals based on assumptions rather than on documented track records of the
individual permit holder. He urged the City Council to approve as soon as possible
enhanced enforcement and operating standards that are in the draft ordinance, and
they also request a period of evaluation to determine if more steps are necessary.
Perhaps, the City will discover that what it proposes to accomplish doesn’t work,
and if so, it would be reasonable to follow additional policy options, including the
ones they currently oppose. However, to do so now, would be to skip a vital step
in how a City may use its power and authority to constraint rights when it finds it
proper and necessary. They don’t believe that the dialog of the past six months has
lead them to that point.
MR. PAUL LOUGEE, Belair Road, Palm Desert, shared he used to travel to Palm
Desert as a child and he recently got reacquainted with the community, adding he
grew up in Chicago. He fell in love with the Desert, partially because of the
uniqueness of feeling like a local for a couple of weeks, and he also saw an
opportunity to start a property management to help homeowners do a STR with their
own property and improve their return. Of the 13 homes he now manages on behalf
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of permanent residents in the Coachella Valley, many of them were struggling to
make ends meet because long-term tenants were mostly seasonal, or the tenants
they did have treated the home terribly and required an eviction by the Sheriff or law
enforcement, and at the end of the lease, the damages went beyond the security
deposit. Having now operated in the Desert in this industry over the past 12
months, he could certainly understand both sides of the argument. As others have
mentioned, operators do not want to impose on someone’s quality of life, but the
majority of the property managers have not had any issues, stating the majority of
the issues stem from enforcement and needing to address the bad actors. He
believed they are non-permitted and are out-of-town investors, and they don’t
regulate their rentals. He said it was important for enforcement to happen in order
to weed out the bad operators, so that good operators like himself don’t get a bad
name. Of the 13 homes he monitors, none have received a citation. He added that
the neighbors on his block know who he is, and the only neighbor who has an issue
with him, has claimed he was racially discriminated against, but at this point, Code
views him as the boy who cried wolf. He believed it was important to have a penalty
for people that are screaming foul when there is none. Just today, he signed an
agreement with Noise Aware to install monitoring devices in his homes, because the
one complaint he did receive dealt with parking. Therefore, since that time, with the
surveillance cameras, he can see who is parked in the driveway and the number of
vehicles. It’s a simple thing to do for operators who want to be in good standing
with neighbors and have good functioning businesses.
Mayor Harnik called a recess at 9:03 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
MS. MELISSA NALE, San Benito Circle, Palm Desert, stated she appreciated
listening to everyone’s comments, because as a short-term vacation homeowner
since 2012, she has not had those negative experiences. She appreciates Mayor
Pro Tem Jonathan comments about the citations, because she felt it was unclear.
She asked for further clarification, because if she had a guest that received a
citation, she would expect her property manager to respond and take care of the
situation, and if they did, she wouldn’t expect to be fined, but if it happened again
with those same guests, she would expect a fine, and she would want those guests
removed as well. She said staff prepared a great report and it’s never easy to do
on controversial ones that have many unique issues. One issue she wasn’t aware
of is the number of guests per bedrooms, in that she felt there should be a limit
placed, because she too would be against having 14 guests in one home in a
residential neighborhood or the ability to rent next to another short-term rental and
create a big party house, stating that shouldn’t be allowed as well. She was
disappointed that she wasn’t notified by the City about this meeting, given she is a
permitted vacation homeowner, but instead received an email from a vacation
homeowner group. Additionally, in reading through the Planning Commission
minutes, there was a comment made that they didn’t want to hear from investors.
However, not all people that are renting their home are investors. She lived in this
community in Palm Desert for five years, before her life took a turn and she had to
move out of the area. At the time, she thought she would live in Palm Desert for
quite some time, and she fixed up her home to an appraised value that was higher
than the rest of the neighborhood, but when she tried to sell it, the appraisal wasn’t
meeting the amount she wanted to get out of it, so she chose to put it on VRBO and
within a week it was rented out and business routed out of it. She’s in support of
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Option A, because she didn’t think a ban as presented by staff is necessary. She
said if one operates a short-term rental correctly, it’s successful for the
neighborhood and businesses within Palm Desert. She suggested the City allow
homeowners to operate their business as they see fit, stating she has been
operating successfully for five years without complaints.
MR. GABE AGUIRRE, Skyward W ay, Palm Desert, registered his opposition to
STRs, and the biggest reason is for the safety of his family, especially when he’s
working out of town and leaving his four year-old-son and wife behind. He shared
he had a STR in Orange County with a phenomenal property management
company, he received his check on time, and the place was always clean. However,
on one occasion he opened up the drawer and there was a crack pipe that his son
had access to, so you don’t know who is renting your house. He divulged he has
a long-term rental off Bursera, which is south Palm Desert, to good tenants and he
has had no complaints. He is probusiness, in that he is a financial advisor locally
and is in favor of getting the economy going, but the reality is that if there is no
crime, you don’t need code enforcement. He doubted the City had the budget to
spend the extra money for the enforcement required. He thanked the City Council
for all it was doing, stating he loved hearing both views on this issue.
MS. DEANNA MORGAN, Straw Flower Circle, Palm Desert, she concurred with all
the concerns raised this evening, stating she understood there are people that need
to make a living off of these STRs, but she is one of the unfortunate ones living next
to a party house. She said most of her weekends are spent sleeping in her guest
room, because the noise is too much. She no longer holds family gatherings
because of the issues that come along with STRs, such as second-hand smoke
from both cigarettes and marijuana, and the profanity. She is in favor of the
proposed regulations, including the 500-foot buffer, but with enforcement in place
to respond, because the hotline is not working.
MS. KEELY LEDEBUR, Siesta Trail, Palm Desert, stated she loves her
neighborhood and hopes to live in Palm Desert for a long time. Sadly the influx of
STRs brings a constant stream of strangers into the neighborhood, and with
strangers comes misery for many. She likes to know her neighbors, and she wants
her kids to feel safe when walking the dog, stating she doesn’t want to police a STR
down the street. She understands she lives in a resort destination and wants to
welcome the visitors to this beautiful City, but there are areas zones for commercial
businesses and hotels, and STRs don’t belong in the R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods.
MR. MARCO SUAREZ, Lavender W ay, Palm Desert, he and his wife have been
coming to Palm Desert for more than 30 years, stating that anyone who has ever
been here knows that Palm Desert is special, whether it’s the mountain views or
world-class restaurants, golf courses, or entertainment, and he’s proud to call home.
However, without the hundreds of people that f lood here now to this year-round
resort town, most of the great attractions go away. W ithout STRs, some of those
people will never be back. Like many, he started coming to Palm Desert as a
tourist, then a homeowner, and now a proud owner of one and possibly two
short-term vacation rentals. About 1½ years ago, he purchased a home off Hovley
Lane and spent about $40,000 in the local economy to fix it up and has paid the City
over $5,000 in T.O.T. Every month, they spend more than $500 on local service
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providers who in turn spend the money in the local economy. Last March they
purchased another home off Deep Canyon in the hopes of converting it into another
vacation rental, but at that time, they were unaware of the moratorium. On that
home they spent $80,000 in improvements, but unlike the home on Hovley Lane,
they have yet to pay any T.O.T. since they don’t have a permit. They do spend
more than $220 per month on local service providers, which would be more if they
are able to get a permit. His point is that the City benefits from short-term vacation
rentals, and he and his wife is not a big corporation, in that he and many others are
hardworking, money-saving responsible caring people who want to invest their
money wisely in order to sail into retirement with something they are proud of. He
said this was not a quick return on investment, but it is their long-term plan to buy
an income. He didn’t believe the City had a STR problem, but an enforcement
problem, because you have rentals with too many guests creating a noise and
parking problem. As a business owner, he can say that the public sector has the
answer, and with all do respect, more government oversight is not the answer. He
proposed the City hire a private company to do the enforcement and pay them only
when there is a fine, giving them half the money collected, and the other half can
be used on the existing enforcement team to oversee the private company. This
proposal would not cost the City any money, but actually put more money into the
City’s coffers, adding there is probably 20 other better ideas, all of which are better
than density restrictions. W hen voting this evening, he asked the Council to vote
for progress.
MS. JARMEELA VERONA, expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to help
come up with a win-win solution. She respects the challenges the City needs to
address to try to make everyone happy, and she has so much compassion for
homeowners that felt violated and imprisoned in their own home and community.
She fell in love with the community, the land, the history, and she wants nothing
more than to preserve the history and culture in a positive way. She said people
need to start bridging the gap between the life and morals she was raised with and
what is destined to come. She said people need to take more leadership roles and
do less fighting and focus on solutions. One of the ways this can be accomplished
is by implementing more enforcement, consider the decibel noise system, increase
the fees in the fines, and revoke permits for repeated offenders. However, denying
people permits before proving themselves doesn’t seem righteous or fair. She said
STRs brings revenue and jobs to the City. She said people are renovating homes
that were once a disaster, like the one sold to her. It would be great to set up
committees from both sides to find solutions, including allocating funds to them so
they can do things in the community and be a contribution. It would be nice to see
individuals that don’t live here to do some volunteer work and contribute to the fabric
of the community in some way. Enforcing a moratorium now seemed short-sighted
without giving people the opportunity to function properly and responsibility. She
plans to be here for a long time to contribute in a positive way to the community in
hopes of coming up with commonsense regulations, stating she’s open to having
a discussion with anyone and helping in any way she could.
MS. DARCI HOPE shared she was a native of Palm Desert and is raising her
children here. She loves Palm Desert and its high-quality of life, including the
friendly atmosphere. As a native, resident, and constituent, she is deeply
concerned about the future of Palm Desert. She has lived here long enough to see
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what happened in Palm Springs when they suddenly put a stop to Spring Break and
businesses closed down and the strip was boarded up, adding it took 20 years for
the City to recover from that grave mistake. She said Palm Desert needs its
tourists, because the economy depends on them. Palm Desert is a second-home
resort community of 50,000 people, and it’s very arrogant to think the City could
even begin to survive or be as beautiful and special without catering to the people
that spend their money here. W hat was once a sleepy retirement community that
shut down in the summer time has now become a bustling global destination. Yes,
there are people that rent out their primary and secondary homes, and even just a
room at a time, for the many different reasons that include hardship, losses of job,
divorce, unexpected medical expenses, offset increasing property taxes,
supplement their income, or just to make ends meet. She said residents have been
given a beautiful gift that it’s even a possibility to rent out. Unfortunately, many
owners who rent out are not able to be at these meetings, but they are helping local
businesses thrive, provide employment to housekeepers, handymen, and bringing
revenue to restaurants, golf courses, etc. Residents who are opposed to STRs are
not thinking about the repercussion of their actions, because our economy is based
on tourism. She has a neighbor on one side that never trims her trees, they are
forty-feet tall and grow over the property line and shed leaves on her yard. She has
asked the neighbor to cut them, but refuses, so she cuts them herself, then the
neighbor calls the police. Her point is that she has a bad neighbor, but she doesn’t
come down to the City and demand to have all the trees removed in Palm Desert,
because that would be absurd. No one wants party houses in their neighborhoods,
but there are far more STRs that are responsible and respectful to their neighbors
and neighborhoods. The City has rules in place like no music outside after
10:00 p.m., but it hasn’t been enforced, otherwise residents wouldn’t be so angry.
The City was also not imposing a T.O.T., which could be used toward the
enforcement of those rules. She said the City needs nighttime code enforcement,
but if it hasn’t been enforcing what is already in place, how will it enforce an entire
ban without the $1.8 million, and would the City then raise property taxes. She said
the City had the perfect scenario for STRs to pay for the regulation and
enforcement of rules regarding occupancy and noise. She hopes the City Council
looks out for the future of Palm Desert and gives enforcement a chance.
MS. MARY SUAREZ, Lavender W ay, Palm Desert, stated she was in favor of
STRs, but the City needs to move forward with strict enforcement. (About 45
seconds of this recording was blank.) She hopes the City focuses on the number
of bedrooms allowed and the ridiculous 300-foot rule, because they are still going
to be there when the City implements it.
MR. JIM PEARCE, Country Club Drive, Palm Desert, Owner and General Manager
of Fairway Vacation Rentals, stated all of their properties are in residential zones,
and he was proud to say that they have never been cited by the City or a HOA for
rental activities. It’s now crunch time and it’s important that a workable ordinance
be adopted. He asked the City Council to give consideration to the issue cited here,
stating that unless addressed, it will have an ordinance that is confusing, difficult to
enforce, laden with unintended consequences. At the Planning Commission
meeting of October 3, 2017, two extremely misguided ideas came up during
discussion. The first idea was to extend the moratorium on the issuance of STR
permits. The moratorium has been in place for ten months and it has had the effect
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of having operators go underground, the City has lost out on T.O.T, and these
underground operators have been emboldened by their success over the past ten
months. The second idea was to raise permit fees to fund greater enforcement,
which he believed was a terrible idea. The City’s philosophy should be to make it
easy and inexpensive to register and very expensive and consequential for failure
to do so. Additionally, the City generates $1.8 million in T.O.T. from STRs, which
is ample funding for the much needed upgrades to enforcement, adding that
amount is up about $1 million in just the past two years. The Ordinance only
requires a permit to rent for less than 27 days, which should be amended to rent for
less than 180 days, stating that without the change, underground operators will
claim that it was a 30-day rental with a rotating crop of actual residents, resulting in
no permit required and no T.O.T. enforcement mechanism for the City. The mailing
label requirement has been now focused on the R-1 and R-2, which is going to be
ridiculous, redundant, and confusing for neighbors surrounding a rental in planned
residential areas. The ordinance should provide for a single date by which all
annual permits must be renewed. He suggested the date of July 31, because at that
time, most operators and City staff have more time, providing for no excuses for
non-registration. He believed this was important to address, because it does not
distinguish between an innocent administrative error and a blatant intrusion on
neighborhoods. He thanked the City for its consideration and its efforts.
MS. REBECCA LUCAS, Riata Trail, Palm Desert, shared she has a STR abutting
her back yard, and there have been numerous weekends where her family couldn’t
use their own yard due to the very loud parties at the rental house. W hen they use
the City’s mechanisms for reporting abuse, the hotline and the Sheriff’s Department,
they were threatened by a lawsuit by the owner of the STR. In addition, he
threatens to interfere with the sale of their home. She emailed a letter to all
appropriate persons at City Hall detailing these threats in June. She hoped the
Mayor and Councilmembers would agree with Manhattan Beach Mayor W ayne
Powell when he said, “The residential nature of the community, the peace and quite
of the residents, rules over someone’s profit.” On a side note, when the City of
Santa Monica voted on this issue, one of their Councilmembers was asked to be
recused because her husband was an attorney for Airbnb, stating she hoped this
Council will do the same with any conflicts of interest that would affect its decision.
MR. BRENT ZAMBON, Verba Santa, Palm Desert, a single-family homeowner in
the R-1 Zone, expressed his support for the regulations of a week ban, but not a
full-out restrictive one. He believed a ban today would be suffocating property
improvement and the infusion of new families in the community. Many of the homes
in his area are older and in need of updating similar to Palm Springs and La Quinta.
He and his wife moved to Palm Desert from San Diego by choice to start a family.
He was originally introduced to the Desert via a rental, stating he certainly wouldn’t
have purchased a home without the short-term rental opportunity or 30-day ban in
place. He has invested substantially into their property with the understanding that
one day they will be able to use it as a short-term rental or a second home or
upgrade to a larger home. They now have one of the nicer homes in the area,
which at one time was the biggest eyesore on the street. He said there are many
more people in the San Diego and Los Angeles area and beyond that have similar
stories, ones that wouldn’t have purchased without a short-term rental income. He
said these people are needed to visit and investing in home improvements, and they
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should be welcomed for investing dollars into remodeling and providing year-round
tourism. W hile he may see more cars in the driveway, the noise has never been an
issue, and quite frankly, he’s happy to see people visit in June and July. There are
a few regulations he’s a fan of where in Maui, they issue a certain amount of
permits per zone where the city is more selective about what property will be taken
on, which encourages improvement. Further, a seven-day minimum stay would be
ideal, and a three- or four- weekly rental will allow surrounding cities to visit in May
or June, because people will not come to say an entire month in the summer. He
was in favor of requiring owners to obtain a property manager to qualify for a permit.
Lastly, adopt similar rules to the City of Palm Springs where they prohibit the
number of cars based on the number of bedrooms, and only allow 32 stays a year.
The 500-foot buffer is restrictive and virtually a ban, which he was against, stating
it will derail the growth and infusion of new blood in the community.
W ith no further testimony offered, Mayor Harnik closed the public hearing.
Councilmember Kelly stated one of the speakers raised concern about side-by-side
properties which had been joined and rented. She asked if there was something
in the proposed Ordinance that would address such situations.
Mr. Swartz said there was in Section 10.100, under operational requirements for all
types of short-term rentals, item “I” where it states, “No property use shall cross
over any property line.”
Councilmember Nestande commented she learned a lot of things this evening,
specifically about Noise Aware and companies of that sort, asking if staff had
contact information and if it has looked into the technologies available.
Mr. Swartz answered yes.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan shared he started this process with an open mind and he
had no opinion, stating he needed to absorb the comments, experiences, and
perspectives from the people. He met with a lot of folks, stakeholders, and
homeowners on both sides, including industry representatives, etc. He said this
issue was a tough one as heard by testimonies this evening, and it’s virtually
impossible to make everyone happy. His thinking has evolved and was looking at
what is best for this City and its residents. He is comfortable with staff’s alternate
amended recommendation, which would prohibit STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones.
He also thinks that existing permits need to be phased out from the R-1 and R-2
Zones, and the time line should be through June 30, 2019, which is 1½ years, but
more significantly, its two seasons. Additionally, he didn’t think the City should allow
permits in the R-1 and R-2 Zones. His rationale is that there was discussion about
what a horrible impact STRs obviously has on some people and their quality of life.
He believed the City owed it to residents to help in that situation. On the other hand
there was concern from industry and STR owners that they shouldn’t be banned.
He clarified that the City was not banning STRs, the proposal from staff maintains
80% of existing STRs, which are in the Planned Residential areas, and they are
untouched by staff’s recommendation and can continue. The City would be
affecting 20% of the STRs that are causing 80% or 100% of the problem. Through
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the process, he was searching for a reasonable compromise, and that’s where he
evolved to and that’s where he stood.
Councilmember W eber asked for further clarification about phasing out 20% of the
STRs.
Councilmember Kelly responded it meant phasing out 276 permits.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan added it was just a little more than 20%, but that would
only apply in the R-1 and R-2 Zones. Additionally, 80% of existing STRs are
untouched and there is capacity for future growth. The reason he wants to provide
a 1½ year phase out, is because he felt the City owed those property owners an
opportunity to react to the modification in the policy and either convert to longer
term rentals, occupy the home, or sell the home.
Councilmember Kelly stated she supports staff’s recommendation pertaining to the
R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods. There haven’t been many complaints from Planned
Residential areas, but they are not free from complaints, because the City received
quite a few submissions. It varies considerably from place to place, but it was clear
that the presence of gates and on-site security dissuades the worst renters. She
suspected that the statistic of generating an average of nine days and average age
over 55 years old is largely driven by the significant short-term rentals in planned
residential neighborhoods, because she walked every day in south Palm Desert and
she sees the comings and goings of occupants, and its not nine days, it people
coming for the weekend. In anticipation that the Council would be talking about a
sunset provision, she asked the City Attorney to supply suggested language and a
suggested date, which is as follows:
Proposed Substitute language for Section 5.10.07(c): Existing Short-
Term Rental Permits in R-1 and R-2 Zones may be renewed if otherwise
qualified, but all such Short-Term Rental Permits shall terminate, and
such uses permanently cease operation, by July 1, 2020. Additional
renewals for operation beyond July 1, 2020 may be granted only by the
City Manager based on the criteria outlined in Section 25.34.140
“Exceptions Based on Unconstitutional Takings.”
Councilmember Kelly went on to say that Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan’s sunset differs,
which is something that can be discussed. Responding to question, she said she
would like to discuss the elimination of short-term rentals in the R-1 and R-2 Zones,
because she would like to offer some of the history. She said Ms. Athena Martinez
participated quite actively in the task force work, and she was unable to attend this
evening, but she did submit a written statement. Ms. Martinez is representative of
one category of full-time residents who would like to make very sparing use of their
house, especially at prime demand times to help with the family budget. Therefore,
short-term rentals was inserted in the spirit of compromise to be accommodating
toward that interest. The thought process at this point would be that if STRs are
phased out in R-1 and R-2 Zones, and if notices have to be sent out as the
proposed Ordinances requires for these occasional temporary uses, it would be
easy for neighbors to monitor whether a rental was permitted or not. She would like
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to have further discussion on this matter, but that’s the history behind allowing
occasional short-term rentals.
Councilmember W eber asked for further clarification.
Councilmember Kelly explained that if it’s the Council’s collective judgment to no
longer issue short-term rentals permits in R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods, it then has
the question of how to handle those that exist. So, staff’s recommendation was to
count on attrition as folks decide they no longer want to use those permits. W hat
she and Mayor Pro Tem are suggesting is a sunset clause, because it specifies a
date certain by which existing operators need to wind up that business and put the
property to a different use.
Responding to question about the second sentence to the sunset clause provided,
Mr. Hargreaves stated the issue of how much time the City needs to provide to give
people to phase out, which is basically an amortization period. The law on that is
not clear, stating that generally under takings in the Federal Constitution, you have
to respect investment and expectations, to the extent you have investment
expectation on a permit you have to renew annually is in question. You can
arguably phase permits out as soon as they expire, or you can provide longer time.
In that the longer period you provide, the less push back and the more defensible
it is. He added that 1½ years would be defensible, but the 2½ he suggested would
be more defensible. The second sentence creates an escape clause in case
someone makes a compelling case under the fifth amendment that they are
required to have more time, and where the City can look at it on an individual basis
and make a determination. The language comes out of the Zoning Ordinance,
which creates that same exception. It basically states that if there is some aspect
to the Zoning Ordinance, because of its application to a particular piece of property
creates an unreasonable burden on that property, then the property owner can
make a showing under that section and be relieved of that particular burden.
Further responding, he said the City would run a greater risk that one can challenge
if it removes the second sentence.
Councilmember W eber said she understood the Ordinance would still allow 18 day
rentals for people that want to rent out a short term for festivals held in Indio. It will
also allow for the on-site rental such renting out a bedroom or casita.
Mr. Swartz agreed, stating it was a compromise to banning them in R-1 and R-2,
but if Council wants to remove it, it can be recommended as part of the motion.
Councilmember W eber said she didn’t want to remove them, she just wanted
everyone to know those two options could remain whether Council decided on
versions one or two. Additionally, does the City require a business license for
people that have a short-term rental, because many of the STRs speakers referred
to them as their business.
Mr. Stendell confirmed they have a business license as well.
Councilmember W eber stated that a homeowner that says they purchased a home
and they are going to rent it out, they don’t know they need a business license. Also
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one of the speakers talked about requiring a private security company for their
rentals making the homeowner responsible for it, which was not mentioned in the
Ordinance, but thought Council should consider requiring it. Additionally, there was
mention about having a seven-day minimum for a short-term rental, but still renting
it for three or seven days for 52 weeks during the year, which she didn’t think was
a solution.
Mayor Harnik commented that people can say they are renting it out for six months,
but they actually rent it for three days, stating there will be those who try to go
around the system no matter what is decided. She read the comments from the
Planning Commissioners and thought they were very insightful, including all those
involved who are concerned for Palm Desert and its future. She said staff made the
comment that STRs are doing a lot better in the Planned Residential, questioning
why that was the case, because what’s troubling, in talking to Code Compliance, is
that they didn’t feel the City had a good set of facts on the number of citations and
complaints.
Mr. Swartz agreed, adding that a lot of the homes in the Planned Residential are in
gated communities and the financially stabled ones do a good job of enforcing.
Mayor Harnik shared that in the Marketing Committee, the General Manager at the
JW Marriott said a seven-day stay should be the minimum, because it would kind
of level the playing field, being well aware that the shared economy with Airbnd and
VRBO is out of the bottle, and he provided very good reasoning. She said the
three-day stays were the party houses, questioning who got fined when there was
a violation, was it the renter, the owner or both.
Mr. Swartz responded that it’s mainly the operator, but it could be the renter or both,
because with the proposed modifications the City would be able to fine both.
Councilmember Kelly added that the issue was collection.
Mayor Harnik asked what happens after an unpermitted STR is discovered.
Mr. Stendell pointed out that the proposed ordinance includes stiff penalties, in that
operating without a permit, the fine starts at $1,000 and the second violation goes
up to $5,000.
Mayor Harnik agreed that after hearing from speakers and Councilmember W eber’s
comments, some didn’t know they are required to have a permit, therefore, the City
has to communicate that it’s unacceptable to operate a STR without a permit, and
those that do deserve a higher fine than $1,000.
Councilmember W eber added it shouldn’t deter an owner from apologizing and
making it right.
Mayor Harnik went on to say she has spent a lot of time talking to people in Palm
Springs about their experience, one of them being that they prohibit any amplified
music on short-term rentals. She’s not sure about going to that extent, but many
residents are earlier risers and/or they are trying to put their children to bed because
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it’s a school night, so she felt 10:00 p.m. was too late. Another issue that has come
up is the noise decibel that perhaps this device that has been talked about could be
part of the solution. She also agreed with the comment made by Ms. Goff that
STRs are being painted with a broad brush, adding she listened to a voice mail left
on Ms. Rebecca Lucas telephone that was so inflammatory and it was loaded with
threats and profanity, simply because she objected to the noise and imposition.
However, not all STR owners are that way. She heard a number of people today
whom she knows personally, talking about how STRs are bad, yet these people go
to other communities and use Airbnd and VRBO, and some have a short-term
rental. She believed many were over generalizing, but the City hasn’t done a great
job of enforcing, but it was due to many reasons. Many have said they didn’t want
to bother anybody and they didn’t want to call the City, and that the 24-hour hotline
wasn’t working well. Therefore, if the City is going to respond, it needs to have
something better than it had. She said the City actually thought it was doing a good
job, because it didn’t get a lot of complaints, but it has learned that people didn’t
want to complain, and the hotline wasn’t so hot. She said her neighbor next door
has a STR, and when their guests come for the tennis tournament, they are
delightful. She even had one couple introduce themselves to her, and they are
quiet, good, and fine, but she wouldn’t want STRs all around her. On one occasion,
she did call her neighbor to have them quiet down, and they did. Communication
is an issue here as well, because she didn’t want to send a message that this was
a business model that an investor can come to Palm Desert and into neighborhoods
to buy a few homes and create a business where they have a new set of people
every three days, because it doesn’t work. She wasn’t comfortable just moving
forward on this, because there was so much information to go through and felt more
discussion was needed. In fact, she requested information from a professional
property manager who in their years of operation only had one complaint, but then
this is what they do for a living. She said the City had to maintain its
neighborhoods, however, she’s gone places with her husband and five kids, and no
one has ever complained. She said the City had to get the bad actors out, because
it didn’t want party houses. For the record, she noted she sat on the City Council
in 2012 when the decision was made to change the short-term rental ordinance, and
it was changed for a good reason. Many homes were being foreclosed, and at that
time, the question was whether it preferred a closed and blighted house next door
or have someone who was renting for a week, which is how that came about. It was
a tough economic time, people were losing their homes, banks didn’t care and they
weren’t maintaining the homes. The Council couldn’t foresee this new industry of
shared economy coming at us like it did, stating it was one of those unintended
consequences.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan said everyone was struggling with the same things that
Mayor Harnik mentioned, but it was the City Council’s job this evening to set policy
and it owed it to the people on both sides of the issue to do so. The reluctance to
form a decision this evening comes from the discomfort that everyone is
experiencing in that there is no perfect solution, but he’s not sure that any more time
or any more looking at the same set of facts is going to make anyone more
comfortable. There is no perfect solution, but there is what he believes a
reasonable compromise, which is to deal with the problems it’s heard by eliminating
STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones and permitting them in the Planned Residential
Zones.
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Mayor Harnik agrees that no more permits should be issued in the R-1 and R-2
Zones without a doubt, because the City hasn’t found its way here, and it should be
backed up with enforcement. She was in favor of hiring a Code Enforcement
Officer, but not two or three, because the City didn’t want to take on the obligation
of the pensions and full-time benefits, but if more is needed, it can contract out. She
would like for enforcement to take place and have a central place for people to talk
and communicate, so that the City can gather facts and make the best decision, and
return in six months with an update. She said six months will be after the festival
period, so that may be a reasonable time to come back. Additionally, it’s ridiculous
to allow someone rent out seven bedrooms and converting the garage to add more
beds. She doubted a permit was issued for it and it should be shut down
immediately.
Councilmember Nestande stated she was understanding that Council was fine with
allowing a Planned Residential moratorium, and having Multi-family R-3 to be
removed, which would be a first step to making some people happy. She said the
City has been made aware that it has a problem, but it hasn’t given enforcement
and penalties a chance to work. She would be very hesitant to just prohibit
short-term rentals in R-1 and R-2 Zones without giving penalties and fines a chance
to work. She believed more time was needed to discuss it, so a compromise would
be to give them a chance. She agreed the City didn’t want to add more employees
due to pensions, but it’s been brought up that the City could hire a security guard
or contract out for services for patrolling south Palm Desert, Pinyon Street, Bursera,
Haystack, and Calliandra, which seems to be anecdotally where most of the
complaints are coming from based on speakers and letters received. However,
Palm Desert has a population of 50,000 residents and this Council represents them
all. She’s trying to make everyone happy, which is impossible, but she wants to do
what’s best for the City, children, family, friends, and businesses.
Councilmember W eber agreed that one of the problems was lack of enforcement
based on the out-of-control situations and trauma caused to residents, she
questioned how the City can stop these homes from expanding the number of
bedrooms in a home and how staff determines the maximum number of people that
can stay in a home.
Mr. Swartz explained that staff asks how many bedrooms are in the house and
based on a formula that’s how many guests they can have. He said the short-term
rental is attached to the home not with the guest that rents the house, and staff
doesn’t look at the actual contracts. Further responding, he said a rental that has
more guests than is allowed would be a violation, but what happens after is a good
question.
Mayor Harnik offered that when she stayed at a VRBO in Idlewild this summer, the
rules and regulations were posted, and if violated, you may be asked to leave
immediately.
Councilmember W eber stated that if the City was going to do enforcement, she was
in favor of escorting guests off the premises if the situation was so severe.
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Mr. Stendell added that staff was not equipped to answer the question as to what
will happen next if someone is found in violation. He said staff has not had that type
of situation and it doesn’t manage short-term rentals in that form. W hen staff is
asked those types of questions, such as what type of resources will it take, and can
it crack down on this, it will continue to get answers from staff that have a question
mark at the end of it.
Councilmember Nestande suggested hiring security guards.
Councilmember Kelly interjected, stating the more discussion there is, the more she
is convinced that short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods are simply not
compatible, because Council is talking about creating this elaborate monitoring
system, and if one is needed, it confirms it’s not a compatible use. W hether or not
it makes everyone happy, it the obligation of the City Council to preserve the zoning
to its highest and best use. It was critical for Council not to fancifully go to this
scenario that it can create a world of perfect enforcement, because there are too
many things to address. The folks have spoken to the City Council compellingly,
having picked their Palm Desert neighborhood to have a sense of community where
they know their neighbors without guessing whose going to be next to them at any
given weekend.
Councilmember Nestande asked about the people that purchased a home and was
told that this moratorium would be lifted and invested $50,000, like the one on
W illow Street. She said she felt for the people on both sides, which is why she was
pushing to give enforcement a chance, adding that Council couldn’t be so rigid,
because it would hurt those that will be losing thousands of dollars.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan commented that perfect enforcement assumes there are
violations, and it assumes that enforcement will deal with those violations. Based
on that assumption, it meant residents are dealing with violations and experiencing
them. Enforcement didn’t mean that violations don’t occur, it means they occur, but
they will be dealt with in some form. Therefore, residents are still experiencing the
fallout of violations. Or, lets just say there are no violation and it’s an absolute
perfect universe, the City will still have cul-de-sac neighborhoods that have
numerous STRs rather than homeowners, in that they are still renters, it’s a
revolving door, it’s still compromising the residential nature of the neighborhoods.
He agreed that Palm Desert is very special and by modifying the nature of the R-1
and R-2 Zones to where there is a business being transacted and is equivalent to
a Airbnd or VRBO, it erodes the residential nature. So even with perfect
enforcement, residents will still have STRs and still experience parties every
weekend, which typically when you have neighbors that own their home, there is an
occasional party or something that goes on, but it’s not every weekend and it
doesn’t start in the morning or include afternoon barbequing and drinking, which is
still in compliance. By allowing STRs in the R-1 and R-2 Zones, what is likely to
happen is that there will be violations, and even if there are no violations, the quality
of life would still be adversely impacted. However, Council had to be mindful of
those who have an expectation of earning a profit, which is why he is suggesting a
1½ years phase out. Like many investments, not all of them work out. Responding
to question, he said the Ordinance will not change things for the PR and R-3 Zones.
He also wants to eliminate the temporary permits for 18 days that can be used in
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four incidents. The season for most people is five months and four of those
weekends, at a minium, will have parties going on. Therefore, the Council might as
well eliminate the STR business in the R-1 and R-2 Zones.
Councilmember W eber believed that STRs got out of hand because the City had
no teeth in its ordinance and it was not following through with enforcement, so she
was okay with the 18 days for those that want to rent out their casita. She thought
the purpose of the ordinance was to make it an easy transition for the neighbors
that it now has an ordinance with teeth in it.
Councilmember Kelly offered that the City has an obligation to enforce its rules in
planned residential as well, because not all those in the PR are equally able to
self-enforce. Therefore, whatever the City does with R-1 and R-2 Zones, it will need
the enforcement mechanisms.
Mayor Harnik stated there will always be a need for Code Enforcement. W ith
respect to outside music, allowing it to go on until 10:00 p.m. was a mistake.
Ms. Peat spoke about the Agusta situation, so an easy remedy is to change it to a
reasonable time of 9:00 p.m. for families and early risers.
Mr. Stendell explained that 10:00 p.m. was consistent with neighborhood standards
listed in Chapter 9.24, which is Noise Control. In other words, there is not a
different standard for STRs, it’s the same for every parcel or house in the City,
which is 10:00 p.m. and it goes down from 55 decibels to 45 decibels and that was
across the board, which is reference in Chapter 9.24. If the City needs to change
the ordinance standard, it doesn’t have to change it at multiple places in the Code.
Councilmember Kelly stated that on the topic of noise and time, Council’s
expectations here should be the same as generally applied, and it may be a topic
it may want to invite staff to look at and bring back, but it wasn’t right for Council to
tinker with at this time. She went on to say STRs was not just a south Palm Desert
problem, based on testimony heard this evening voicing dire concern from north of
Frank Sinatra, the vicinity of Rutledge W ay by the schools, and a variety of other
neighborhoods. She asked if it was possible to approve people like Ms. Goff who
seems to be terrific people, but at the same time send a message that it’s not an
appropriate business model to purchase two, three, or four houses in Pam Desert
for short-term use. Sadly, she didn’t think it was possible to achieve those two
goals, but the City that tries to limit the number of rentals one person can own is
fooling themselves, because partnership agreements can be used to evade those
limits. Therefore, Council has to decide what are the best policies for the City
long-term.
Mayor Harnik agreed, but the City never had enforcement in place, which is what
is bothering her. She went on to say that she understood residents’ pain and she
too, saw the coming and goings, but enforcement was not in place and the City had
no teeth to back it up. Part of the confusion is that on one hand Council was saying
there shouldn’t be any STRs, but they can have an 18-day stay, which are
conflicting statements to her, adding she didn’t like that provision.
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Councilmember Kelly responded that 18 days out of 165 is a small concession, and
it seems to be hopeful to some members to feel good about staff’s
recommendation.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan reminded the Council that it wasn’t talking about
eliminating STRs, it eliminating 20% of the them, because 80% will remain.
Secondly, he didn’t like the 18-day stay, but if in order to move forward, the City
may need to try it out with enforcement to see if people can live with it. He was
willing to try it through June 30 and re-evaluate the temporary aspect, but he would
rather not do it. In order to move forward, he suggested staff’s recommendation
with version two, including the phase out of permits in the R-1 and R-2, and if
necessary, allow the 18-day temporary maximum for rental incidents, with the
agreement that it expires June 30, 2019, and then listen to the folks again and
re-evaluate.
Councilmember W eber was not in agreement, because what would happen to those
that have been waiting on a decision to be able to obtain a permit. Secondly, the
City has not had enforcement or rules in place so that all of these horror stories
would have been prevented, and it hasn’t been given a chance. Along that line, she
also shared the concern about the number of people that can in a home and turning
it into a hotel. She said she could be tolerant of one or two guests changing every
now and then, because there are respectful guests. Unfortunately, Council is
hearing about the guests that are not treating their rental like a neighborhood, but
she felt uncomfortable saying to a homeowner it was stopping STRs, because it’s
their private property. She questioned how both can be accomplished with an
ordinance.
Councilmember Kelly said it can be done by limiting residential zones to residential
purposes. She asked Mayor Harnik if she too was opposed to the 18-day clause,
because she was trying to see where there was a consensus.
Mayor Harnik replied the conflict with the 18-day clause is that you can rent four
times for a total of 18 days, which can supplement someone’s income, but it will
encourage the party house, which becomes, Coachella, Coachella, and Stage
Coach, etc. She believed the main problems are the party houses and the 18-day
clause lends itself to that type of rental.
Councilmember Kelly believed there was consensus for staff’s recommendation,
a sunset clause with a date to be determined, and amending the penalty f or
unpermitted STRs, so that the fine is up to $5,000 instead of up to $1,000, adding
that staff would not be required to use the $5,000 penalty unless they deemed it a
case of blatant abuse.
Mayor Harnik added that in Palm Springs they have an appeal’s court type of
process having to do with these kinds of issues, which can be helpful in these types
of circumstances.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan suggested staff’s recommendation, with the following
modifications: 1) a phase out with the proposed language, but he would propose to
July 1, 2019, which is 1½ versus 2½, and he would also omit the second sentence,
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because it would be inviting an open door. He believed that if people will challenge
they will do it any way; 2) no temporary permits in the R-1 and R-2 Zones, 3) elevate
the penalties for unpermitted permits as discussed.
Councilmember Kelly said she would second the motion if the second sentence can
be inserted back in order to defer to the advice of the City Attorney. Mayor Pro
Tem Jonathan agreed.
Mayor Harnik pointed out that STR permits will still be issued in the PR and R-3
Zones.
Councilmember Kelly believed these new measures will be tested during the sunset
period, including the PR Zones where residents are expressing concerns.
Therefore, this will not be the last time that Council will be deliberating on this topic.
She went on to say that the Ordinance is also requesting support for enforcement
and have staff come back in six months with an update on how everything is
working.
Mr. Stendell agreed, stating the recommendation is authorizing staff to create one
position and also research request for proposals or other options.
Councilmember Kelly offered that the greatest gift Council can provide is a greater
level of certainty, so that people can make decisions on their investment. Putting
off the date of sunset or even if there will be one, preserves uncertainty that is
unhealthy. Further, everyone has options using their property for a 90-day rental,
which for years and years generated appropriate levels of income, stating people
can make intelligent choices if the Council provides the guidance that’s necessary
to remove the uncertainty.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan concurred, stating it provides time for those homeowners
to create their own business strategy.
Councilmember Weber asked for further clarification, because what she’s hearing
that no permits would be issued for the R-1 and R-2 Zones, precluding people from
using their house.
Councilmember Kelly said there are a lot of things you can’t use your house for, but
she won’t list them.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan explained there are a variety of other options,
homeowners can continue to live in their home, rent it out for 30 days or more, sell
their home, etc., the only thing being proposed is that STRs are not compatible with
residential zoning.
Councilmember W eber stated she could take out a 30-day rental with someone and
just have them stay for the three days. Mayor Harnik asserted there will always be
people who try to get away with it.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan commented that the beauty of it is that Council, staff,
residents, and industry representatives are present, so in moving forward, if there
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are tweaks and refinements that need to be made, because there are problems not
anticipated, they will be addressed.
Mayor Harnik suggested that the motion should include that staff return in six
months to review, because it was not easy to get to this point. Responding to
question, she said she wants more information and data about how things are
working.
Mr. Stendell stated that instead of leaving any action open, he offered to provide
monthly reports if necessary. He said there is a central place to communicate now,
but the problem is that residents don’t get the correct information as to what number
to call. The owner of a STR, under the new guidelines, would have to submit
mailing labels with those within 200-feet. He said maybe staff will come up with a
refrigerator magnet, because right now residents don’t know where to call and the
City needs to do a better job.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan remarked that residents complain to the renter, which the
City never hears about. He was willing to modify the motion requesting staff return
to the City Council with a report.
Ms. Aylaian said it will take at least 60 to 90 days to set up and be operational with
the hiring of new staff, consultants, and setting up procedures. Therefore, staff will
need a longer period to effectively start gathering data.
Mr. Hargreaves requested Council be explicit so that it can bring back the changes
in the Ordinance. The City Council, City Attorney, and staff discussed the motion
and language and determined the motion to be as follows.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan moved to: 1) Ordinance No. 1332 passed to second reading, as
amended with the following modifications: a) Phasing out existing Short-Term Rental Permits in the
R-1 and R-2 Zones by July 1, 2019, using the proposed language provided by the City Attorney;
b) elevating the penalties for unpermitted Short-Term Rentals up to $5,000 per citation and for
second and subsequent citations, with the City having the right to refuse issuance of any Short-
Term Rental Permit within the City; c) eliminating all language referencing Temporary Short-Term
Rental Permits; d) directing staff to report back to the City Council in nine (9) months; 2) By Minute
Motion, authorize/direct: a) City Manager to develop an appropriate position and add one full-time
employee to the Code Compliance Division for the purpose of enhanced monitoring and
enforcement of Short-Term Rental Permits, with an estimated cost of up to $100,000 annually;
b) staff to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for operating a Short-Term Rental Hotline and
performing other compliance activities; c) staff to calculate a permit fee based upon the all-inclusive
cost of administering a Short-Term Rental Compliance Program and return to City Council at a later
date with enabling resolution for fee adoption. Motion was seconded by Kelly.
Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan thanked Mr. Stendell, specifically Mr. Swartz for doing a fantastic
job and being very attentive and respectful of everyone. Additionally, those individuals that
took the time to write letters, emails, call and meet, and doing it with dignity, because not
all cities are as blessed.
Councilmember Kelly added that Councilmembers may sound like they had their minds
made up, but in actuality, it’s taken every bit of input received to help form their judgements,
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and Council is appreciative of the people who wrote them a letter or spoke this evening.
Additionally, she thanked Councilmember Nestande with whom she served on the Task
Force Committee, because although you may start and finish on different places on some
of the issues, she learned from all the questions raised by her and for all she brought to the
table.
Councilmember Nestande said thank you for the kind words and the feeling was mutual.
Mayor Harnik commented she was sure nobody thought she came with her mind made up,
because this has been a bumpy road. She thanked staff for being at all meetings, stating
she didn’t know how or when they got all their work done.
Responding to question, Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan said he would not consider allowing the
18-day clause, stating he would like to let the motion play out to see where it stands.
Mayor Harnik called for the vote and the motion carried by a 4-1 vote (AYES: Jonathan,
Kelly, W eber, and Harnik; NOES: Nestande).
XX.ADJOURNMENT
W ith City Council concurrence, Mayor Harnik adjourned the meeting at 11:09 p.m.
___________________________
JAN C. HARNIK, MAYOR
ATTEST:
_________________________________
RACHELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK
CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA
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