Some believed there would be hell to pay. If this week’s meetings are any indication of what’s to come, that’s a fair assessment.
The long-anticipated community meetings about the county’s proposed ordinance to allow short-term rentals and special events commenced at the Big Sur Grange on May 28, followed by a May 29 meeting at the Carmel Highlands Fire Department. At both meetings tempers flared, and while it seemed many if not most in attendance were opposed to short-term rentals, there were several present who spoke up in their favor and against the strict terms of the ordinance, albeit less heatedly.
Both meetings were led by county planner John Ford, who struggled through no fault of his own to control the flow of dialogue, as emotions at times reached a boiling point. In the Carmel Highlands meeting, Ford was drawn into a shouting match with a man opposed to short-term rentals (also a vocal attendee at the Big Sur meeting) who wouldn’t stop talking after Ford politely asked him repeatedly to do so.
A message Ford tried to bring home in both meetings—attempts that largely failed— was the time has passed for an airing of grievances about whether short-term rentals should even be allowed. Ford says the county is aware there are many people on both sides of the issue, and the proposed ordinance is an attempt to come up with a solution that will meet them in the middle.
In the Carmel Highlands meeting, Ford even admits: “I frankly, at this point, don’t know if we could define a box that 51 percent of the people would agree to. That’s just being really honest. So one of the things we’re trying to do is work through, what are the things that really trouble us for those that have concern about short-term rentals.
"And then, are there ways to address those. Can we have a civil dialogue about that. And that’s what we think we have attempted to do with these ordinances, is we’ve presented things, and frankly, one of things that you start to know you’re kind of getting some place, is when you’ve got both sides screaming at you saying you’re unfair.
"That is essentially what these ordinances have done. We’ve gotten opposition from the same concept from both sides, saying ‘You haven’t gone far enough! You’ve gone too far!’ And so perhaps it’s starting to scratch the itch a little bit.”
If Ford can be faulted for anything in the two meetings, it would be for failing to disclose facts that one must assume he is privy to: Just after Ford said the above statement, he was asked if there are any communities that have banned short-term rentals outright.
“We see discussions on that,” Ford says, neglecting to add that Carmel and Monterey have had ordinances outlawing such rentals for years.
In similar fashion, when attendees seemed to believe the Coastal Commission is opposed to short-term rentals, Ford let them go on believing that, when actions over the last years by the Commission clearly indicate it generally supports short-term rentals.
He also failed to disclose that the ordinance which the county passed in 1997 was not blocked by the Coastal Commission; rather, they sent a letter to Supervisors stating they didn’t the believe the ordinance should be subject to a coastal development permit, a view consistent with the county’s current stance.
The 1997 ordinance was never written into law because county planners failed to rewrite the ordinance to address the Commission’s advice, instead letting it collect the dust which is now being kicked up. Ford indicated in the Carmel Highlands meeting that he is unclear about what the Commission’s objections were.
Little, if anything, was accomplished at either meeting.
In Big Sur, a call was made for a show of hands for who would support short-term rentals if the ordinance stated the property must have an owner that resides on-site. Nearly all raised their hands in support.
Absentee landlords, at both meetings, were referred to with scorn, and many feared real estate companies would simply start buying up homes to rent them out short-term, effectively destroying communities.
Gary Patton, the attorney retained by the Monterey County Vacation Rentals Coalition (a group of homeowners in support of STR’s), was present at both meetings, and after the Big Sur meeting he felt good about the possibilities ahead.
"I admire what Mr. Ford did, saying look, ‘We could talk for hours about potential problems, or potential positives, but let’s focus on what might be a way to get a good system in place,’” Patton says. “That is what our coalition is going to focus on: What is it we can do to put a good program in place. And we think there’s a way to do it, and there’s a benefit if we can do it.
"It will be a much better situation if we can get a good ordinance in place for everybody, including those who are having problems.”
Patton, who specializes in land-use policy, adds that the idea of requiring a property owner to reside on-site is “possibly” feasible by law, adding, “We would probably prefer not to have that distinction made, but it’s a little tricky when you start making those kind of discriminations, it starts raising concerns about equality under the law.”
He could not say whether the coalition would support that stance if the county decided to adopt it, but says they would probably seek an ordinance without such discriminations.
Patton also adds the idea that real estate companies would buy up homes to rent them for profit is false, saying property managers in the coalition “have done the math” and it doesn’t add up: “Unless you’re actually going to be living in the property part of the time, to buy a property for short-term rental doesn’t make sense.”
Both meetings ended without any kind of resolution, other than Ford saying another set of meetings would happen again in two weeks, and that they will be intended to focus solely on solutions.
Given the acrimonious nature of this week’s get-togethers, Ford might do well study up on his conflict management techniques, buy some good luck charms and get lots of sleep. Past mistakes have led the county to this current impasse, and Ford is now bearing the brunt of his own agency’s missteps in letting the ’97 ordinance slip through the cracks.
The short-term rental battle has begun, and for all the talk of solutions, it feels as if the gloves have only just come off.