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Home My WebLink AboutORD 1359INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1359 AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE EXTENDING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ISSUANCE OF SHORT-TERM RENTAL (STR) PERMITS WITHIN ALL PLANNED RESIDENTIAL (PR) ZONING DISTRICTS, UNLESS THE OWNER CAN PROVIDE A WRITTEN APPROVAL FROM AN HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS (HOA) THAT SHORT TERM RENTALS ARE PERMITTED WITHIN THE HOA, UNTIL A SUBSEQUENT ORDINANCE BECOMES EFFECTIVE, BUT FOR A PERIOD NOT TO EXCEED SIX MONTHS. WHEREAS, on September 10, 2020, the City Council adopted Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1357, approving a 45-day moratorium on the issuance of short-term rentals within all Planned Residential zoning districts, unless the owner can provide a written approval from the Homeowners Associations that short-term rentals are permitted; and WHEREAS, the Palm Desert Municipal Code permits short-term residential rentals within certain zoning districts, subject to the requirements of Palm Desert Municipal Code Chapter 5.10, which includes a requirement for a short-term rental permit, as well as operational requirements and standards; and ' WHEREAS, in recent years, notwithstanding steadily increasing short-term rentals in Planned Residential zoned districts, the City has not experienced significant public nuisance complaints associated with properties used as short-term residential rentals because the City has maintained a rigorous short -term -rental enforcement program; and WHEREAS, other Coachella Valley communities have experienced significant public nuisance complaints as the density and frequency of short-term rentals has grown, and have recently taken actions to ban or curtail short-term rentals; and WHEREAS, there is concern that the density and frequency of short-term rentals in Palm Desert will increase in response to limitations imposed elsewhere, which may result in unwanted changes in the character of residential neighborhoods within the City; and WHEREAS, based on the foregoing, the City Council finds that issuing additional short-term rental permits in Planned Residential zoning districts prior to the City's study and evaluation of the potential impacts of such short-term residential rentals would pose a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare, and that a temporary moratorium on the issuance of such permits is thus necessary; INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1359 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, ' CALIFORNIA, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Imposition of Moratorium and Findings. A. In accordance with the authority granted to the City of Palm Desert under Government Code Section 65858, from and after the date of this Ordinance, no new short-term rental permit shall be approved or issued for a short-term residential rental, until a subsequent ordinance becomes effective, but for a period not to exceed six months in PR zones, unless with written approval of the homeowner association having jurisdiction over the property, except as provided below: (1) Annual renewals of existing permits shall be permitted under Section 5.10; B, This Ordinance is extending the current 45-day interim urgency ordinance adopted pursuant to the authority granted to the City of Palm Desert by Government Code Section 65858, and is for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare. The facts constituting the urgency are: (1) as the density and frequency of short-term rentals have grown, neighboring Coachella Valley cities have received an increasing number of public nuisance complaints emanating from short-term residential rentals and have recently taken actions to ban or limit such rentals; ' (2) excessive density and frequency of short-term rentals in Planned Residential zoning districts may threaten the character of existing residential neighborhoods; (3) the density and frequency of short-term rentals within Planned Residential zoning districts has gradually grown over the last several years; recent limits placed elsewhere in the Coachella Valley may cause a significant increase in applications for short-term rental permits in the City; (4) the City needs time to study and evaluate the potential impacts of short-term rentals in Planned Residential zoning districts to determine the necessary regulatory requirements to ensure that short-term rentals do not fundamentally alter the character of existing residential neighborhoods. C. This moratorium shall not apply to existing short-term rental permits. D. The City finds and declares that this moratorium is a reasonable and necessary measure designed to protect the important public purpose of the preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare. 11 V INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1359 SECTION 2. Compliance with California Environmental Quality Act. The City Council finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly; it prevents changes in the environment pending the completion of the contemplated study of impacts. SECTION 3. Severability. If any sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance, or any part thereof is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance or any part thereof. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed each sentence, clause, or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sentence, clause, or phrase be declared unconstitutional. SECTION 4. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption if adopted by the City Council and shall be in effect until a subsequent ordinance becomes effective, but for a period not to exceed six months from the date of adoption unless extended by the City Council as provided for in the Government Code. ' SECTION 5. Notice of Adoption. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and cause it, or a summary of it, to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published within the City of Palm Desert. SECTION 6. Report. City staff is instructed to prepare the report required by Government Code Section 65858 (d) describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition that led to this Ordinance's adoption for presentation to the City Council no later than ten days prior to the expiration of this Ordinance. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 15th day of October 2020, by the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California by the following vote, to wit: AYES: HARNIK, JONATHAN, WEBER, and KELLY NOES: NONE ABSENT: NESTANDE ABSTAIN: NONE /1 i " k�k, KATHLEEN KELLY, YO�P TEM ATTEST: (Oaez. k 44, GRA E L. ROCHA, ACTING CITY CLERK CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 3 INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1359 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE) ss. CITY OF PALM DESERT ) CERTIFICATION FOR INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. I, Grace L Rocha, Acting City Clerk for the City of Palm Desert, California, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1359, the reading in full thereof unanimously waived, was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 15th day of October 2020, and said Ordinance was passed and adopted by the following stated vote, to wit: AYES: HARNIK, JONATHAN, WEBER, and KELLY NOES: NONE ABSENT: NESTANDE ABSTAIN: NONE and was thereafter on said day signed by the Mayor of the City of Palm Desert. ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM: GRACE L. ROCHA, ACTING CITY CLERK'� ROBOF CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA CITY A 4