Westminster auditorium had standing room only to hear the short-term, vacation rental resolution. The Venice Neighborhood Council voted down the resolution which was written to have the council office look into the short-term rentals that make up a big part of Venice.

One thing that was brought out was the disparity of the law. The Los Angeles Municipal Code and city ordinances governing rentals were not given but Vice-President Marc Saltzberg said rentals under 30 days are illegal in R-1 and R-2 zones.

Under the City’s ordinances, all such rentals of 30 days or less fall into the category of “transient occupancy.” One would ask if they have to have a conditional use permit (CUP) to operate as such. They must register with the Department of Finance and they are subject to 14% tax. “They are illegal yet they have to pay taxes,” Marc Saltzberg explained.

They are “transient rentals” and yet are not governed as hotels/motels. They are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Building and Safety. The lack of clarification continued.

Definition of Vacation Rentals Differs
Everyone who participates in “vacation rentals” seems to have their definition of such. One man who was spokesperson for Home Share spoke and had many confused.
Normally, home share to most is letting someone use your house while you use there’s and most of the time this is in another country. There is no money exchanged in this type of transaction. But the definition has evolved to mean “renting your room, house, multi-unit for money.

Now there is the home owner who rents rooms in his home out to visitors as vacation rentals.

Then there are investors who rent a “place” out purely as a vacation rental. There may be more than one unit in “place” but all units are rented as vacation rentals. These investors do not live on the property and may or may not have an agency handling the rental.

The concern was mainly with this latter type of rental that is occurring and growing in Venice. Some spoke about lack of control neighbors have in the situation, not the place for a neighborhood, not what one wants to have next door. Some suggested call the police.

Jerry Jaffe of the neighborhood committee and a real estate broker spoke about investors considering the purchase of property solely for short-term, vacation rentals.
This is a “growing business,” he said. “This puts a completely different value on a piece of property.”

“I sure don’t have a problem with home sharing, swapping or renting,” wrote one who attended the meet but didn’t want to be named. “The issue was short-term, hotel-like rentals, sometimes 5&6 per beach block that are illegal and not being taxed as hotels. I don’t even mind when the owners are managing, but many are chains with absentee managers who rent out party houses from afar and don’t care about causing nuisances.”