The Board of Supervisors Tuesday formally adopted a series of adjustments to the Riverside County ordinance regulating short-term rentals in unincorporated communities, though before voting, the board heard appeals from speakers seeking an outright ban on rentals in residential areas.
In July, the board tentatively signed off on amendments sought by the Transportation & Land Management Agency to Ordinance No. 927. However, the matter came back for a second reading and adoption Tuesday, following the board’s summer recess.
None of the supervisors chose to address the ordinance again, but a few county residents did.
“I’m definitely opposed to non-owner-occupied properties,” Ramona Bautista said ahead of the 5-0 vote. “Hotels and campsites have check-in clerks, but not STRs. They have disrupted the lives of so many families.”
She described how her neighborhood had been plagued by a vacation rental where a gun assault recently occurred, culminating in a bullet going through the window and narrowly missing the head of a sleeping child in a nearby residence.
Temecula-area resident Dave Petrella told the board the only real way to eliminate problem-oriented STRs is to place a blanket prohibition on all STRs in neighborhoods.
“We don’t want them in residential districts,” he said. “There are plenty of cities and other jurisdictions that ban them outright. This problem (in unincorporated areas) is not fixed.”
Short-term rentals are defined as dwellings leased for a maximum of 30 days and a minimum of two days and one night. Prior to ratification of Ordinance No. 927 in 2022, the county had a somewhat informal process for permitting short-term rentals, which number about 1,100 in unincorporated communities countywide.
During the board’s previous hearings, numerous people complained that the Department of Code Enforcement had not taken a proactive approach to stopping problem STRs, where all-night parties, blight from mounds of trash and extensive parking violations had occurred.
The TLMA initially proposed a stipulation that if an STR owner receives five notices, or citations, in a 12-month period, the STR certificate could be subject to suspension. Seven notices would trigger a revocation. In July, Supervisors Chuck Washington and Manuel Perez agreed with speakers that those numbers were too lenient.
“Enforcement, accountability and stop the nuisance,” Washington said, describing the real teeth in any law. “If we can’t achieve those, then this ordinance will be worthless.”
The board revised the numbers to three citations leading to suspension, and five citations triggering revocation proceedings. The supervisors also directed the TLMA to model the publicly accessible electronic complaint platform to match what San Bernardino County has, enabling people to view locations of STR complaints and read what, if any, actions have been taken by officers.
At the board’s direction, two Department of Code Enforcement representatives will be on duty at the agency’s Palm Desert and San Jacinto offices from 7 a.m. to midnight Thursday to Sunday, when complaint volume is highest. Previously, officers were off the clock by 10 p.m.
Another change eliminated the current “60-minute self-correction window” that previously permitted STR owners to address complaints themselves within an hour. Instead, the TLMA now will have enforcement officers go directly to locations where complaints have been lodged and attempt “knock and talk” tactics that immediately make parties aware of noise, obstruction and related problems.
Notices, or administrative citations, will be issued where complaints are documented. This will establish a gradual process for ticketing violators. However, under an “urgent circumstance,” where there’s a public health or similar issue, the noticing will be dispensed with, in preference to immediate suspension of an STR certificate and a cease-and-desist order mandating that actions be taken to correct the offense forthwith.