The Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved extending a moratorium on the issuance of short-term rental certificates for Thousand Palms and neighboring B-Bar H Ranch for the duration of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and beyond to enable Riverside County administrators to gauge the impacts of STR properties on neighborhoods.
The temporary moratorium on STR issuances within the two unincorporated eastern Coachella Valley communities was due to expire on Friday, but Transportation & Land Management Agency personnel, along with Department of Code Enforcement officers, on Tuesday requested that it remain in place without a specific sunset date.
They said the main interest now is what happens with STRs while the fest is underway. Its final weekend is Friday through Sunday.
By law, the moratorium could remain in force another 10 months, though officials anticipated asking for an end to it well before then.
In the two areas of concern, there are a combined total of 59 STR properties.
A moratorium established in April 2025 halted the issuance of all STR certificates in Thousand Palms and the B-Bar H Ranch. That suspension followed a surge in boisterous parties at vacation rental properties throughout the communities.
TLMA confirmed complaints continued in both areas after the moratorium was invoked, but the number over the six-month period ending in early March 2026 totaled less than 40.
TLMA is working on amendments to Ordinance No. 927, the STR regulatory framework previously finalized in 2022. At a board meeting in February, Supervisor Chuck Washington expressed deep disappointment after hearing speakers address multiple instances of failed STR enforcement.
“We don’t seem to be moving the needle here. I get the same complaints from constituents,” he said.
Short-term rentals are defined as residential dwellings leased for a maximum of 30 days and a minimum of two days and one night. Prior to the ratification of Ordinance No. 927, the county had a somewhat informal process for permitting short-term rentals. Officials said there are now roughly 1,100 certificated STR properties in unincorporated communities countywide.
Board members recognized that the majority of STR operators are law-abiding, but people leasing out some properties for illegal events had grown accustomed to flouting regulations — and had not faced serious penalties to deter them from doing so.
Although the county maintains an overnight phone line that’s staffed by a complaint taker, the most that can be done between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. is for the staffer to call the STR operator to alert him or her to complaints. Deputies will respond to properties to investigate excessive noise and other disturbances, but Undersheriff Don Sharp admitted in February they have to “prioritize” calls. He said they will only go if they’re not needed for something that rates higher, such as domestic violence.
Amendments that were under board consideration but not yet approved included a new provision enabling the director of the Department of Code Enforcement, head of TLMA or the director of the Department of Planning to declare an “urgent circumstance” that grants authority to immediately order the abatement of a public nuisance at an STR.
The ordinance’s proposed new language also specified that any “responsible operator” of an STR may be denied a certificate of renewal if he or she received three notices of violation in a six-month span, or five notices over the entire duration of an STR certificate.
The slate of proposed amendments further called for an increase in the initial STR application fee from $740 to $1,040, and elevating the annual renewal fee from $540 to $750. The Planning Commission voted 4-0 in January to recommend that the board designate funds to expand the county’s STR Enforcement Team.