Meeting Time: September 24, 2019 at 7:00pm PDT
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Agenda Item

a) REPORT 19-0637 ORDINANCE NO. 19-1395 - "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE HERMOSA BEACH MUNICIPAL CODE TO ESTABLISH A TWO-YEAR PILOT PROGRAM TO REGULATE THE RENTAL OF EXISTING NONCONFORMING RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES THAT ARE LOCATED IN COMMERCIAL ZONING DISTRICTS FOR FEWER THAN THIRTY DAYS" (City Clerk Elaine Doerfling)

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    Marylou Puckett over 4 years ago

    Dear Honorable City Council Members,
    Please do not vote in favor of this ordinance, the way that it is currently worded. My husband, Kevan Puckett and I, originally sent you a detailed letter stating the reasons for our opposition. Since it appears that the majority of the members on the City Council are in favor of the ordinance, however, it would be wise to “polish the text of the ordinance up a little”, before it receives a final vote. After the tragedy that befell the customers of an Air B and B in Tarzana, it became clear to us that the ordinance needs modifications. For example, posting too much information about the SVR on the outside of buildings could make the guests targets of crimes.
    Please re-read our original letter and also consider these additional thoughts on the issue, before putting this matter to a final vote!
    Yours sincerely,
    Kevan and Marylou Puckett
    Kevan and Marylou Puckett

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    Skip Blomer over 4 years ago

    As a resident and property owner in the City of Hermosa Beach, I am opposed to this proposal. Based on past experience, residents are deluged with those short term renters who stay for a weekend, contribute to the noise pollution with loud music or bands, make on-street parking even worse, and leave their, trash, liquor bottles, marijuana containers and other debris for others to clean up behind them. Code enforcement personnel are by their own admission unable to proactively police the violators themselves especially on the weekends when most violations occur, relying on residents to be the driving force in reporting violations after the fact. Yes there are fines for those property owners that violate the provisions of the proposed law, but only after the fact and the residents must endure the ruckus behavior in the meanwhile. Both myself and my neighbors will be closely watching how council members vote on this issue and will remember when elections are upon us.

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    Scott Hayes over 4 years ago

    I request that Agenda Item 3.a. – Report 19-0637 be removed from the consent calendar and be considered for modification.

    While I disagree with the Council’s decision to allow Short Term Vacation Rentals in existing, non-conforming residential properties that are located in commercial zones, it is clear that this pilot program is moving forward. I would like for the Council to consider adding some additional restrictions to the program to help ensure that the negative effects on the residents of Hermosa Beach are minimized.

    The Coastal Commission has indicated in their letter dated 12-6-16 that restrictions may be appropriate when the City already provides an ample supply of vacation rentals. A quick search of Travelocity.com found the following hotels in Hermosa Beach:
    1. The Beach House
    2. Hotel Hermosa
    3. Grandview Inn
    4. Holiday Inn Express
    5. Quality Inn & Suites
    6. Hampton Inn

    The Travelocity list does not include the Sea Sprite or the Surf City Hostel. I believe that 8 different vacation rental options is an ample supply for a city of less than 1.5 square miles.

    Additionally, there are even more hotels, many of them walking distance, in cities immediately adjacent to Hermosa Beach:
    1. The Redondo Beach Hotel, Redondo Beach
    2. Portofino Hotel, Redondo Beach
    3. Shade Hotel, Redondo Beach
    4. Shade Hotel, Manhattan Beach
    5. Crowne Plaza, Redondo Beach
    6. Hi View Inn & Suites, Manhattan Beach
    7. Seaside Motel, Redondo Beach
    8. Redondo Pier Inn, Redondo Beach
    9. Residence Inn & Suites, Manhattan Beach
    10. The Wave, Manhattan Beach

    It is clear that there are plenty of places to stay for out of town visitors to Hermosa Beach. As a result I believe that it is appropriate to add a restriction requiring 24-hour onsite management of STVR’s. STVR’s in Hermosa Beach have been known to become “party houses” and a 30 or 45 minutes management response time is an eternity to a resident trying to sleep at 2 am. When a manager is on site the likelihood of compliance with the pilot program’s requirements will increase dramatically. I believe that without this restriction, vacation rentals will proliferate to a point where they will impair the character of our community. Per their letter dated 12-6-19 this type of regulation has been historically supported by the Coastal Commission.

    I also have a few comments on specific sections of the ordinance:

    Section 3.A.3.c of the proposed ordinance does not reflect what was approved at the previous City Council meeting. It was my understanding that the response time for complaints was cut from 45 to 30 minutes. As discussed above, I believe that this section should be changed to require 24-hour onsite management.

    Section 3.C. of the ordinance should be modified to read something like “Any Short-term vacation rental in the pilot program area that was in operation…” The way it is currently written makes it sound like STVR’s that are currently operating in residential zones may stay in operation until April 24, 2020. I do not believe that this is the intent of this section.

    Section 3.D should clarify exactly what a violation is. Is a violation issued by a code compliance officer? Is a violation a visit from the police? What if the police to not file a report but just ask for immediate corrective action? My concern here is that violations may not be adequately reported and non-compliant STVR operators may end up with violations that do not get counted towards their maximum of 3.

    Section 5 – I believe that the parking requirement should be 1 space per bedroom with no maximum. I live across the street from a large illegal STVR and they regularly have 4 cars parked in the garage. While this particular unit has enough parking, in a situation with 4 bedroom STVR with only 2 parking spaces it would mean that 2 street spaces could be taken away from Hermosa Beach residences.

    Thank you for your consideration.