West Hollywood’s Planning Commission held a public hearing this week on a Zone Text Amendment proposed by City Council that sought to extend the minimum lease term for individually owned single-family homes and condominiums to one year.
This proposal was a change from the previously considered 60 days suggested by the Planning Commission, which aimed to combat short-term rentals and stabilize neighborhood housing.
During the meeting, staff highlighted the importance of this amendment for housing stability and neighborhood livability, stressing the need for transparency and extended community outreach given the amendment’s implications. City Council’s decision to push for a one-year minimum lease term instead of the 60 days recommended by the Planning Commission marked a significant shift aimed at curbing short-term stays that could disrupt community cohesion.
The public hearing also included a presentation that traced the legislative history of the lease terms, noting that previous ordinances had set different minimums for various types of housing. The current proposal was to standardize this to prevent short-term rentals that bypass hotel regulations, which are seen as detrimental to the residential character of neighborhoods.
The commission raised concerns about the distribution of a mailer, which was supposed to inform condo owners about the upcoming City Council meeting, apparently did not reach all intended recipients, including some of the commissioners themselves. He inquired whether the mailer was indeed sent to all condo owners and occupants, to which the response confirmed it was targeted at both groups. This led to further questioning from the adequacy and effectiveness of the outreach process.
The commission also addressed the compilation of complaint data related to condo buildings, seeking clarity on whether the data specifically related to individual rental units within condominiums or the buildings as a whole. Their concern stemmed from an observation that the reported issues (such as noise complaints) might not accurately represent the situation if they were only assigned to building addresses rather than specific units. This is a significant distinction because it affects how the problem is perceived and addressed by policy changes.
Public comment started with Marley Gazetta, a resident and the HOA president of a 20-unit condo complex in West Hollywood. Gazetta provided a vivid narrative of the difficulties faced by the HOA under her presidency, particularly due to the behavior of Airbnb tenants. These difficulties included trespassing in stairwells, vomiting on property by a guest who was expelled from an Uber, plumbing issues caused by the guests, and the misuse of the guest parking lot which compounded existing parking strains. She detailed the legal challenges the HOA faced when trying to address these issues, noting the prohibitive costs of legal action against tenants with low-fee legal representation.
Following the public comments, the commissioners discussed the proposed Zone Text Amendment. The discussion among the commissioners reflected a consensus on the necessity of the amendment, recognizing the directive from City Council as a response to these ongoing issues.
The meeting concluded with a unanimous vote in favor of recommending the Zone Text Amendment.
The Zone Text Amendment was set to be revisited by the City Council for a second reading, with the effective date planned for January 2025 to allow ample time for notifying and engaging the community, particularly those directly affected like single-family and condominium owners. The extended timeline also provides a buffer for additional regulatory adjustments based on public feedback and further analysis by city staff.
Does this mean for apartments too? So many are still advertising ‘short term’ leases available.
Seems to me that one person offering a “vivid narrative” does not make for good law.
There is already a 60 day minimum lease. This extension is completely unnecessary. It’s just another example of the Unite union pressuring the city council to protect hotels and their jobs. Some of the examples stated are ridiculous like vomiting on the property. People that are trashed could vomit on the property if they have a year lease. What does the term of their lease have to do with that?.
Yet another intrusion on private property rights. I would love for a city council member to respond to a proposal like this to say, “I don’t accept the premise that this is any of our business.” Busy-body neighbors who are always going to find something to complain about, and HOA presidents who are drunk with power latch onto some issue in the pursuit of a utopia that is never going to be found and at the expense of people just trying to manage their lives. I have lived in several WeHo buildings, both as a tenant and as a homeowner,… Read more »
Exactly. The hotels here are like $600/night. And if you go away for a few months you can’t rent out your own condo or house even if the HOA allows it? Ridiculous.
Even the HOA shouldn’t have that much power! A young woman in my building had to go out of state to take care of her mother who was quite ill so she had two friends stay in her place for several weeks (maybe three months). No one else in the building knew it until she came back. No one had even noticed these two guys. But one neighbor went ballistic that she had not gotten permission and was breaking the rules. I asked him to explain how he had been affected by their presence and how it was any of… Read more »
Yeah that sounds familiar… Subletting is one thing but you should really be allowed to let anyone stay in a unit you own, within reason.
I way over-estimated how long that woman was away taking care of her mother. I asked her yesterday and she was gone for six weeks, which means those two guys sub-let for fewer than the 60 days allowed.
It’s 30 or 31 days at present though? They wanted to change it to 60 days at that city council meeting in March and then on a whim did 365 instead, AFAIK.