Editordude: The following rant was originally a comment to this post, “Ocean Beach Town Council Gears Up to Oppose Mayor’s Proposal on Short Term Rentals for San Diego”.
By sealintheSelkirks
This is what started to happen to (middle) Mission Beach in the early 1970s when ‘vacation rental units’ exploded in numbers more than they had in the previous decade.
The kids who grew up on that part of the sandbar ran right into this head-on. And got clobbered. By the time we hit the find-a-place-to-rent age, roughly 1972-77, we were already being priced out or, as I personally experienced numerous times, were kicked out each June so the Zonies could come quadruple the rents the landlords collected from us each month. The landlords liked to rent far more to college students than locals since they’d be leaving each June, so the locals always suffered trying to find affordable places to live year ’round not just the summer.
We local kids got priced out, folks, and that’s already happening to OB, too, from what I’ve been reading here in the OB Rag. I’m thinking it is a bit different than how it went in MB due to the large corporations invested in these rentals; and who have bags of corporate cash for ‘campaign contributions’ and ‘revolving doors from public to private’ that all go towards ‘protecting their interests’ in getting the legislation they want.
That horrible STVR map OB Rag published…oh my. Does is not look like the wet dream of an impending Miami or Waikiki Beach? Is that in the future or am I just imagining things? It’s all about profits, right?
Let’s be honest here. Tourists are marks and are treated as such. Skinning the marks that come for whatever you are selling for as much as you can nick them for is a time-honored tradition. Just how many marks can you pack into one beach is a question that can be answered by looking around the world. The future of the beach areas are seriously in question here.
Who do you think the mayor is listening to? His wealthy backers & campaign contributors and the other influential people he will be in bed with financially for the rest of his life; or people he can ignore because, after all, we know money talks and corporations are real live people and you all are not going to be part of his future. Expect nothing from this guy.
Sorry to be so blunt but hey, it’s both a gift and a curse…
Last time I was down there, in 2001 to bury my last relative, I couldn’t find a single person living in Mission Beach that I went to Farnum and then MB School with in the 60s, nor any of the surfer/skaters from the 70s that had moved there in the early-mid 70s. Not a single face in the water for two weeks in MB or Southside of OB Pier, was familiar. Kind of made me sad.
Good luck, OB. Try to keep the 30 foot height restriction, and then take as much power away from those that would literally depopulate neighborhoods of long-term residents for their own profit. Remember what kind of people you are dealing with in those expensive suits, and realize that it will be a fight for your neighborhood’s right to exist.
sealintheSelkirks
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Preaching to the choir and STILL incredibly sad. ?
You are right and it is a sad situation that goes back to the all mighty dollar. We have a small place on Topsail Isle and there is always some one who cares nothing about preservation…Only
about building as many houses that will fit.
Hold my breath every year….we are on the south end and are so lucky to have a view of a portion of an developed sealine.
FORMER OB RESIDENT. STAND YOUR GROUND OR THERE GO’s the neighborhood.
Sadly this is going on all over the city. Really all over the state. I think it’s only a matter of time when I’ll be leaving do to financial necessity. Will be ironic if I become a Zonie but that’s not an impossibility.
Due, not do.
This former MB dude nails it! I remember this from the 60 ”s: I was in N PB then,& had a couple of friends who moved out each summer, then back in Sept.
I moved to OB in 68 to avoid the PB congestion, & surf the Cliffs: that was the heyday of Ocean Beach.
Been back in OB now for 30 years, and the decline is accelerating; primarily due to:” Vacay Rentals”!
We are very fortunate to have Franks ‘OB RAG: he keeps us informed!
Hey Frank, Is it Time for the :WALK OF SHAME (PART 2)?
I say all So Cal beaches should be 50% STVR, hotels, motels etc, and 50% vacant preservation land, subsidized by the govt where each citizen gets free two weeks a year. What a platform to seek political office on!
Time to stir it up, first and foremost I consider STRs a devastation to a community the same as to what a swarm of locusts are to a wheat field. We have seen time after time our city government set up a committee to address an issue only to have the city evaluate and apply a profit for themselves with the citizens thrown under the bus, I believe there current endeavor is the electric scooters. Anyway after pondering this issue for some time I think “not being a layer” a federal law from 1990 is applicable here. Please see below.
ADA compliance means that the business or piece of equipment fits up to the standards set forth by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). These rules essentially say that your establishment should be accessible by as many people as possible within reasonable limits.
I bet a large number of these LLC people change there minds about the STRs if they have to actually make there properties compliant. If this law applies we may have to put up with them but I am sure there will be far fewer and hey I have never met a government agency that doesn’t enjoy a good fine. Maybe its time to ask a lawyer, anybody know of one? Possibly someone familiar with the rag and this issue, not meaning to put anybody on the spot but this is important.
Thanks, Mark
Motels and hotels are required to comply with ADA, which costs them some money that must be made up in the room rates. Wouldn’t it be unfair competition if STVR’s didn’t ?
PS. Please do not hold me to the grammar or spelling, this was sent after a 15 hour work day and done while sitting in traffic as a passenger. Anyway I’m sure you get the point.
Thanks
ADA is only one example – signs, liquor licenses, other indicators of semi-commercial use are not addressed one way or another. Thank you for pointing out the ADA issue.
I was born in OB in 71, spent most of my life there. Went back after college then Moved in 2007 with the hopes of returning and finishing my life there someday. I love OB. I happened to be tbere this week for the my first visit in a long time. I can’t believe how many chain stores there are and how much building is going on. Good luck Obecians. You have real fight on your hands. I hope you find a way to keep OB OB.