No lottery to ration out the licenses for weekend rental of homes. The mayor sides with other newcomers to pimp houses to short term rentals and further degrade the quality of life for permanent residents. Remember all this when election time comes around, non resident owners can’t vote.
That was the decision made Monday night on a 4-2 vote at a special meeting/workshop held at the Pacific Grove Community Center to clarify the short-term rental lottery procedure. The four-hour meeting had upward of 100 in attendance, many of whom were short-term rental owners. Council members Bill Peake and Nick Smith were those that remained in favor of keeping the lottery. Councilman Robert Huitt was not in attendance Monday.
It was in October that council members approved the first reading of Pacific Grove’s amended short-term rental policy. That ordinance incorporated the use of a lottery system that would siphon out short-term rentals in areas where their numbers exceed density requirements.
The ordinance, which will now have a new first reading at the Dec. 6 council meeting, allows only 15 percent of housing per block dedicated to short-term rentals and for that number to include both Type A (owner doesn’t necessarily reside at site) and Type B (owner resides on site) licenses. Other changes include adopting a 55-foot zone of exclusion to address density problems of short-term rentals and that the total number of STRs be capped at 250 citywide.
