The Palm Desert City Council approved an urgency ordinance 4-0 Thursday night, establishing a 45-day moratorium on new short-term vacation rental permits within all planned residential zoning districts.
The temporary moratorium was suggested by council members at an Aug. 27 meeting, after receiving complaints from about 20 residents of Hovley Lane West — most submitted in writing via email. During Thursday's meeting, many more residents shared their concerns about noise, parked cars and other disturbances from local short-term rentals.
"(One nearby STR) is essentially a party house, as noted by their wifi name, 'The Party House,'" a Palm Desert resident wrote to the council. "I recently told one of my young children it is unfair we should have to contemplate moving out of the neighborhood to give way to those only motivated by profit."
Palm Desert’s current ordinance, banning STRs in neighborhoods zoned R-1 and R-2 for single-family residential homes – except when the homeowner remains on-site – was adopted by the council in November 2017. The ordinance was passed following several hours-long public hearings during which opponents and proponents of short-term rentals spoke.
STR permits in areas zoned R-1 and R-2 at the time the ordinance was adopted were sunset on Dec. 31, 2019.
“When the City Council studied short term rentals in 2017, the focus quickly became about the R-1 and R-2 zones as they are the city’s primary single-family zoning districts and seemed to be where the majority of friction was occurring,” said Ryan Stendell, community development director.
PR zone not subject to 2017 ban
The planned residential – or PR – zone provides maximum flexibility to the original developer and is inclusive of, but not limited to: gated golf course communities, condominium projects, and single-family style communities, Stendell explained.
In a few areas of Palm Desert, the original developers chose to build low-density residential projects that function like R-1/R-2 properties but have a PR zoning designation.
“Because those developments were not in the R-1 and R-2 zones and were not generating short-term rental-related complaints when the topic was under consideration, they were not included in the ordinance revisions at that time,” Stendell said.
Areas such as Hovley Lane West, Shepherd Lane and ungated developments along Deep Canyon Road are examples of neighborhoods that are zoned PR but share many commonalities with those zoned R-1 and R-2.
City staff have been monitoring short-term rental permits in PR zoned areas since the updated ordinance was adopted in 2017.
In July, staff reported an increase in complaints since May from residents primarily along Hovley Lane West, requesting that because their neighborhoods are not gated, they be rezoned to R-1 to be included in the STR ban.
Under the new moratorium, no new STR permits will be issued within PR zoned districts, unless approved by the governing homeowners’ association. But existing STR permits within PR zoned areas will be able to continue operating, including permit renewals.
Concern about problems ‘further mushrooming’
At a previous meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Kelly suggested the moratorium as soon as possible, saying she was concerned that as Cathedral City also begins phasing out short-term rentals, potential home buyers looking for alternative STR properties may consider Palm Desert.
“If we are going to take a fresh look at this category (PR zoning) we ought to prevent the problem from further mushrooming,” she said, by acting quickly.
Councilmember Sabby Jonathan agreed with the urgency for a moratorium, but also wanted the council to address the PR zoning issue as soon as possible.
“Shortly thereafter I hope to address the longer-term issue of the existing STRs and how we can deal with that,” Jonathan said.
On Thursday, Mayor Pro Tem Kelly added: "The proposal tonight is to establish a moratorium, with the expectation that in the future we would look at the merits of the issues raised by all of these emails, and the possibility of changing our ordinance as it applies to PR neighborhoods without HOAs."
Amanda Ulrich writes for The Desert Sun as a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at amanda.ulrich@desertsun.com.
Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com or (760) 778-4694. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherry.
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