La Quinta will allow new ‘home shares’ even where other new short-term rentals are banned

A year after La Quinta residents narrowly voted to keep short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods, the city council decided Tuesday to open the door for new home shares — rentals where a property owner must remain on site during a guest’s stay. Residents will be able to get a new home share permit even in areas where other new short-term rental permits are currently banned.

The council’s unanimous vote came as La Quinta officials have reported recent drops in citations and complaints related to short-term rentals, after the city implemented stiffer fines and penalties for violations starting in January 2021.

As part of its vote Tuesday, the council adjusted a few of its other short-term rental rules, including a new provision allowing owners of larger properties to request an exemption to the ban on new rental permits, pending further council approval.

The council also agreed to require a four-fifths vote to change the city’s current ban on new short-term rental permits in residential areas — a move supported by rental opponents in La Quinta.

How we got here

The renewed discussion on short-term rentals came after last year’s defeat of Measure A, a citizen-led ballot measure that would have phased out most of the city’s rentals by the end of 2024.

The measure sparked significant debate within the tourism-driven city, with rental owners saying it's their right to rent out their properties, and some neighbors contending these rental homes disrupt neighborhoods and hamper their quality of life.

The ballot measure to ban the rentals ultimately failed by 308 votes, with 51% of city voters opposed and 49% in favor.

The ballot initiative was proposed after the COVID-19 pandemic increased the popularity of short-term vacation rentals locally — leading to an uptick in complaints from residents about noise, parking, trash and other issues in La Quinta.

The city council responded to the uptick by approving a moratorium on short-term rental permits, eventually agreeing to turn that into a permanent ban on new permits, except in specifically zoned areas. La Quinta has also raised permit fees and adopted stiffer fines and penalties for those who violate the city’s rental rules, steps the council has credited for a citywide drop in complaints.

With no new permits issued in banned neighborhoods since August 2020, home shares make up a small sliver of the city’s overall rental inventory. City data from September shows there are 17 active home share permits, compared to 1,164 general short-term rental permits.

What residents said

The ordinance considered by the council, which was discussed in recent study sessions, drew mixed reactions from local residents during the meeting Tuesday.

Kay Wolff, a resident representing the Cove Neighborhood Association Steering Committee, said her group was opposed to allowing new permits for home shares due to concerns about the regulations being too easy to violate.

“How could you ever monitor that owners are in the home basically all the time while renters are there? The honor system will not work when money and income are involved,” Wolff told the council.

Wolff said the new rental regulations implemented in the last few years are “working mostly,” though she added many owners are finding “new and tricky ways” to operate without permits. City rental data shows that 82% of citations issued in 2022 were for unpermitted rentals, with a similar trend so far this year.

“We know who they are, and you know who they are, but they're hard to catch,” Wolff said. “Allowing home shares will just exacerbate this problem.”

Other parts of the proposal were more appealing to the Cove neighborhood group. Wolff said they strongly supported requiring a four-fifths vote to lift the current ban on new residential permits, as a way to assure the public that changes aren’t made hastily.

Another resident, Melissa Labayog, took issue with a part of the proposal that would allow large properties over 25,000 square feet to obtain a new short-term rental permit, pending further approval by the council. The city identified 26 properties that could be eligible for the exemption, and Labayog said a couple of those properties have bad reputations.

“As a former teacher at La Quinta High School, two of the large STVR exemptions on the large lots you’re proposing are horrible homes in terms of having problems with students having large parties at those properties and getting drunk,” Labayog said.

Residents who spoke during the meeting also took issue with a couple other parts of the proposal: one provision to explicitly make apartment complexes eligible as short-term rentals, and another giving homeowners associations the ability to change their short-term rental policies, pending council approval.

The council ultimately declined to include those two changes in the ordinance approved Tuesday, though they may soon revisit them.

What the council said

Despite a few disagreements on the details, the council largely agreed that allowing new home shares wouldn’t result in major disruptions. Councilmember John Peña said the city has received “very few, if any” complaints about home shares compared to other types of rentals.

“Maybe people will try to get around that... But our staff and our code enforcement officers have done a good job of tracking down people that don't have permits and are not doing that correctly,” Peña said.

“I think that there's a lot of people, whether it's a single person who has a house and wants to rent out a couple rooms and make some extra income, (we should) let them do that,” he added.

Councilmember Deborah McGarrey noted the Measure A ballot initiative that was defeated last year included language to continue allowing home shares, even as other short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods would have been banned.

Councilmember Kathleen Fitzpatrick said the home shares are “the hardest one for us to be able to monitor and enforce.” She said she would support the move if the city can boost its enforcement to revoke those permits after a second violation.

“I just don't want to start another slippery slope. We're just clawing our way back to, as Kay said, almost there,” Fitzpatrick said. “We're getting to a place where I think our neighborhoods are more reflective of densities that are tolerable at this point.”

Mayor Linda Evans said allowing new home shares was a “no-brainer,” noting those types of rentals usually don’t cause disturbances.

“I have a hard time saying, 'Don’t move forward, just in case,'” Evans said, noting the city’s ad-hoc short-term rental committee and other local groups recommended allowing them. “It's not like we're going to get 700 home share permits. I don't anticipate it’s going to be out of control.”

Regarding the rules for larger properties, councilmembers noted any potential exemptions would still require further approval by the city council in a public hearing, so concerns related to safety, parking or proximity to schools could be addressed then on a case-by-case basis.

With the council’s vote Tuesday, the proposed ordinance won’t be enacted until it gains approval on its second and final reading.

Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: La Quinta to allow home shares where new short-term rentals are banned