By Trudy Grundland / San Diego Reader / June 27, 2024
The death of a neighbor ended an era on our peaceful street. For sale signs are not allowed in La Jolla, but news spread fast of the sale: $2,175,000 for the 3 bed, 2 bath California ranch-style stucco home, west of La Jolla Boulevard. It was re-painted white, and a realtor told that us a quiet, mature man would be our new neighbor. But no one moved in. Then the garage got converted into a “sleeps eight” dormitory bedroom outfitted with four queen beds. That raised eyebrows. Months passed. Finally, in May of 2021, on garbage pick-up day, I saw a young man on the property. He identified himself as a host. Host? Airbnb, he said. Gave me his cell number.
Memorial Day weekend, a party bus arrived on the street. Fourteen giggling young women emerged and strolled into the empty house. Ubers and delivery vehicles came and went. That summer night, the women’s high-pitched shrieks and the booming voices of the young men visiting them blocked the sounds of the Sea World fireworks. I called the host to complain. He arrived in a foul mood. Told us we should mind our business and went inside. A little later, the Airbnb “guests” flowed out — their voices louder than ever, their bodies brightly illuminated by the headlights of a dozen Ubers — and walked past us without a word of apology or any sign of embarrassment. “Sorry for my existence,” one young man said to me.
We never saw the host again. He stopped answering our calls. We did not have his email. The neighbors and I sent messages to him via the Airbnb site, to no avail. We complained to Airbnb. Their response: “Airbnb cannot be held accountable for the behaviors of its hosts and guests. We’re just a platform.” Our patience wore thin. It felt as if we were living next to a frat house, a bar, a low-end hotel, and a theme park, all rolled into one. We no longer waited until midnight to call the non-emergency police number to lodge complaints.
For the balance of this article, please go here.
Yes, that’s disappointing it has to come to that. We went to Tennessee, rented a STR for a few days, behaved like the adults we were, and it was a great time. Just because it’s a rental, you don’t treat it like you own it? License for disruption? It ruins it on both sides.
I have been involved in the STR issue in Mission Beach since 2015, so I have learned a few lessons. In San Diego we have room sharing (Tier 1), home sharing (Tier 2) and whole home short term rentals in Mission Beach (Tier 4). Since the owners tend to live on site, there are fewer nuisance issues for Tier 2, and the owner lives in Mission Beach. Tier 4 is completely different. The owners may live in Mission Beach or not, but obviously the property is in MB to be Tier 4. Short term rental owners tend to have one very strong characteristic —> they all have blinders on; they can only see the dollars. All of the jumbo jumbo about giving the visitors an authentic experience is just that. Peer to peer businesses, including e-scooters, vendors, Uber, and short term rentals, were popularized by the internet. In San Diego, particularly in the very seasonal coastal communities, they are a catalyst for financial harm to the tens of thousands of San Diegans at the lower end of the socio-economic scale who are on the verge of homelessness. STRs are nightly rates are not constrained by rent controls, although they should be. Fifty to seventy years ago, STRs were viable and consistent with the economy of that day; but, now they have a negative cost impact to the City (cost to rehouse homeless caused by STRs far outweighs the TOT collected). It is time to ban whole home short term rentals, for both the reasons cited by Trudy above and to help protect our citizenry.
To San Diego City Councilmembers,
Can you please explain to your constituents who live in residential neighborhoods all of the individual, social, economic, and political benefits that come with living next-door or near a non-owner occupied short term rental?
Can you please explain how non-owner occupied commercial STRs in residentially zoned neighborhoods serve the greater public good?
Can you please explain to your many constituents, who live near STRs why they are being required to sacrifice their quality of life and the peaceful nature of their neighborhoods so the City can collect a TOT tax?
Can you please explain to your Constituents who live near STRs with revolving doors of unruly and in some cases dangerous criminal strangers, your interpretation of California’s Constitution Article I- Declaration of Rights Section I?
Do you believe neighbors who are often being demeaned, humiliated, intimidated, and dehumanized by hordes of unaccountable unidentifiable tourists and local partiers are being denied their constitutional right to “safety, happiness, and privacy” ?
Can you please explain in unequivocal detail how San Diego’s Short-Term Residential Occupancy Ordinance (STRO) comports with the following article in the California Constitution, for all people:
California Constitution Article I- Declaration of Rights Section I
All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.