Tag Archives: Short Term Rental

Run The Short Term Rentals Out Of Town

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And take the uncaring elected officials with them.

Tar And Feather

A group of Pacific Grove residents have introduced a proposed initiative measure that would prohibit short-term rentals in the city’s residential zones.

They included the intent to prohibit short-term rentals in most residential neighborhoods, city’s efforts to regulate short-term rentals as unsuccessful and insufficient to curb the negative impacts of such rentals, and to ensure that Pacific Grove has adequate housing for city residents to remain the “city of homes” as provided in the City’s Charter, General Plan and Municipal Code. It also recognized that the city may continue to regulate short-term rentals in the Coastal Zone as long as those regulations protect the community and are consistent with laws administered by the California Coastal Commission. Lastly, it proposed prohibiting short-term rentals in designated residential districts without changing existing rules that permit home-sharing.

Run The Short Term Rentals Out Of Town

Feel Free To Sell Out P.G. To AirBnB

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Stop STRs

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.

Feel Free To Sell Out P.G. To AirBnB

Collect More Taxes Or Keep P.G. Neighborhoods For Neighbors?

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Come-here spend-more politicians say more taxes will solve everything.

Kampe called the argument that STRs are the cause of a lack of affordable housing “nonsense.” He said the real problem is vacant second homes, something the city has no control over.

Kampe and three other council members said they would favor keeping the STR license program, but with limitations like capping the total number of licenses, the number of nights, and other aspects. One council member, Rudy Fischer, was absent.

Only one council member, Robert Huitt, said he believes STRs violate residential zoning ordinances and should be phased out.

Collect More Taxes Or Keep P.G. Neighborhoods For Neighbors?

Newcomer Akeman Wants Less Newcomers

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I felt the same way 30 years ago when Ache-man the news reporter moved here and wrote articles and later an instruction manual for moving to the area. The man does not realize he’s been part of the problem all along,

Tom Acheman

“There are times it’s like living in an airport terminal,” Thom Akeman says of the sounds of rolling luggage and loud voices of vacationers on his street located near downtown. Akeman served on a subcommittee that advised the city before last year’s revision, but he says residents’ concerns were not adequately considered.

Newcomer Akeman Wants Less Newcomers

City Sends Fire Department To “Inspect For Hazards”

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And what else I wonder? Untaxed granny units? Six Air BnB rooms in the basement? Pigs and chickens?

PGFD 6414

“We do, on occasion, find issues where people are living in spaces that don’t meet code requirements for permanent human occupancy,” he said. “We do find that once in a while here locally. Not to the degree that the Ghost Ship (building) had, but one life lost is one too many.”

City Sends Fire Department To “Inspect For Hazards”

Weekend Stay At Air BnB Turns Out Kinky

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Could happen in your neighborhood. Please say no to short term rentals.

Sharon Marzouk confronted what looked like a bad scene out of a porn film last Friday at her Menlo Park home where she was renting a bedroom to an Airbnb guest.
When Marzouk walked through the door, she says she found water trickling through the ceiling as the bathtub in the upstairs bathroom was flooding the second floor and pouring into the first.
Marzouk was hit with more surprises inside the bedroom of the Airbnb guest who she claims accidentally forgot to turn off the faucet: a large box of Magnum condoms, a vibrator, a bag full of used tissues, a few pairs of killer high heels, and a hand-written list of “pics” that included items such as “masturbating vid,” “bent over green Abercrombie,” and “blue and white skirt vibrator.”
Marzouk says the guest told her she was a real estate agent after confirming the booking, but when she stepped inside that room last week, she realized this was probably a lie.

Weekend Stay At Air BnB Turns Out Kinky

Short Term Rentals A Burglar’s Delight

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Do all Airbnb customers rifle through your mail other personal items? Or just burglars pretending to be looking for place to stay?

The thief had walked up to the house and rang the doorbell at 6 p.m. Tuesday, police said. When no one answered the door, she began snatching mail from a mailbox.

The woman was surprised when the homeowner’s voice came through an intercom.

“Can I help you?” the homeowner asked to make the woman realize she was being watched.

“Oh! I’m sorry I think I have the wrong address. Is this a Airbnb place?” the thief replied.

Short Term Rentals A Burglar’s Delight

City Leaders’ Greed Affecting Quality Of Life

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Residents be dammed, we want the tax money.

After 4½ hours of public comment and debate about if and how short-term rentals should exist in Pacific Grove, the City Council voted 4-3 to continue to allow them.

That decision was just the first followed by a series of amendments discussed to determine future standards and restrictions on the complex topic.

Among the changes to be instituted are:

• Safety and health inspections will be required of short-term rental applicants.

• Neighbors within 300 feet be notified about a short-term rental.

• A cap of 260 short-term rental units in the city was agreed upon. There are currently more than 180 registered units in town.

“The task force doesn’t safeguard the quality of life of residential areas,” said resident Regina Doyle. “… Instead of seeking (transient occupancy taxes), please ask residents if (short-term rentals) are in our best interest.”

City Leaders’ Greed Affecting Quality Of Life

Short Term Rental Permit Freeze

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What started as a casual room rental idea is turning into entire homes being rented out, with no permanent residents on site. So much for rental homes in P.G. for families to live in.

The vote was 6-1, with Councilman Ken Cuneo dissenting.

After listening to about a dozen people speak both for and against the moratorium during a long public comment period, the council debated the merits.

“The City Council needs to take the lead,” said Mayor Bill Kampe. “It’s our job to wrestle with this.”

There was an almost even split between supporters and detractors of the vacation rental practice. Comments in support ranged from reports of good experiences with renters to enjoying the exchange between cultures. Detractors spoke of unruly, noisy and uncaring guests who sometimes exceeded maximum occupancy, exacerbated parking problems and even trespassed.

Short Term Rental Permit Freeze

Jan Leasure Says We Can’t Stop STRs

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Landlords will do as the please to tear down the hometown.

“When you live in a neighborhood, I understand how it feels if it’s not going in the direction you want it to,” said Jan Leasure, owner of Monterey Bay Vacation Rentals. “But short-term rentals will keep happening.”

But a perusal of any of the short-term rental websites reveals anywhere between 50-200 vacation rentals in Pacific Grove.

Leasure has been in the property management business for more than 30 years and believes that “as long as there is a demand on the Peninsula, people will continue to look for short-term rentals.”

According to Leasure, vacation rentals will continue to prosper in places like Pacific Grove with its small-town feel and proximity to the ocean. “You can’t stop it, because you can’t legislate who buys a house.”

Jan Leasure Says We Can’t Stop STRs