On Wednesday, the City Council unanimously placed the ‘Cathedral City Short Term Vacation Rental Regulation Measure’ on the March 2, 2021 Special Election ballot. If approved by voters, the measure would uphold Municipal Ordinance No. 842, which established additional regulations on Short-term Vacation Rentals (STVR) citywide to address concerns raised by local residents about criminal activity, noise, and other impacts.
Cathedral City’s current regulations were unanimously enacted after hearing hundreds of complaints from local residents and months of engagement with the community. The City concluded that additional regulation was necessary to preserve the character of Cathedral City’s residential neighborhoods, improve neighborhood safety, and reduce criminal activity, noise, and other impacts of STVRs.
These regulations must now be approved by voters as a referendum petition sponsored by the real estate industry collected the required number of signatures to repeal two sections of Ordinance No. 842.
Said City Manager Charles McClendon, “We appreciate the petitioners’ right to allow city voters to decide this issue. The City’s proposed regulations were simply in response to a large amount of community complaints and concerns about noise and public safety as well as concerns about housing availability and affordability. Keeping our neighborhoods in harmony and accountable to local residents as well as rented to families that make up our local workforce are most ideal.”
If the Cathedral City Short Term Vacation Rental Regulation Measure is approved by voters, the City’s proposed regulations will be upheld, including safety provisions such as:
- Requiring all STVRs to maintain adequate property insurance.
- Repeat safety violations at the same STVR property within a 12-month period will result in suspension of the STVR permit.
- Neighboring properties within 300 feet of an STVR shall be notified of any suspension or public hearing, to provide opportunities for neighbors to comment about the property in question.
- Outdoor amenities such as pools and spas must be closed between the hours of 10 pm and 8:00 am as a safety measure.
- All rental agreements must be filed with the City prior to occupancy or within 24 hours of execution of the contract by the STVR occupants; and are public information.
- Current STVRs located outside of Common Interest Developments that permit STVRS and not part of home sharing will have a base year to operate. Following the base year, current STVRs will have a year to operate under a hardship provision along with a three-month grace period. Current STVRs with those exceptions will cease operations on December 31, 2022.
