People throughout Venice are asking themselves what is happening to the neighborhood. House down the street is a motel. House next door is a party house. What happened to the right to peaceful coexistence? Is this right? Is it legal? What is this that is happening?

It is the short term rental (STR) bonanza that is alive and flourishing in Venice.

It is changing the scene of Venice so much so that Update has asked Keep Neighborhoods First , a team on top of latest developments in this big and growing business to inform the Update readers and keep them informed with a continuous column. They plan to give background information on this, where it is going, relate stories from neighbors, relate stories from those in the rental market.

One thing is certain, each neighborhood west of Lincoln has a short term rental (STR) or will be getting one soon. There are big bucks in this. Just one can change the climate of a block completely. But the closer one gets to the water, the larger the percentage of short term rentals on a block.

First of all they are illegal. There is no municipal code that the police can enforce. But the Los Angeles Department of Planning says Short Term Rentals (STR) are prohibited in R1, R2, RD, and R3 lower-density, multi-family residential zones. That leaves commercial and R4 plus zones. Venice has commercial but no R4. So if that party house is not zoned commercial or surprisingly R4, it is illegal. Operators may pay the 14 percent bed tax, and City thanks them for the coins, but they are illegal.

They are totally disrupting the Venice rental market. They are raising the rents because fewer rentals are available for long term. They are raising the values of these houses because of the rent owners can get.

It is an inflated value based on an illegal activity.

This is big business for those dealing in the short term rentals from the owners to the businesses involved. Councilman Mike Bonin made a motion for the city to study this “sharing economy.” New York, New Orleans, Paris, Barcelona have banned these rentals.

Update looks forward to input from Keep Neighborhoods Free. Let’s hear your story.