Ocean Beach Slumlord Micky Mills Able to Obtain 115 Licenses Due to Loop Holes
Some have thought that Councilmember Jen Campbell had reformed and sanded off some of her rough edges, but after Thursday’s Community and Neighborhood Services Committee, which she chairs, those thoughts crashed and burned.
Because it’s been a little over a year since the requirements imposed by the City to license short-term rentals went into effect, it was time for the committee to review the results of the STRO and pass on any recommendations for improving the ordinance to the full Council.
Current regulations allow just one license per owner/ person, and a citywide cap limits the short-term rental of entire homes to no more than 1 percent of the city’s housing stock (not including Mission Beach, which has a much higher cap of 30 percent). At the meeting, city staff gave committee members an update on a year’s worth of city enforcement efforts, plus the members got an earful of public comments and presentations, including from OB’s own Planning Board.
Staff claimed the city has removed “more than 7,000 illegal listings from online platforms; the revocation of 91 licenses, which are now required for the rental of all homes for fewer than 30 days; and the issuance of six $1,000 fines,” according to U-T veteran reporter, Lori Weisberg.
But there’s also been multiple problems with the ordinance and how it’s enforced.
Weisberg reported:
In the months after the licensing went into effect, calls began to grow for the city to close what some said was a gaping loophole in the ordinance that allowed owners of vacation rentals to secure multiple licenses through willing proxy hosts.
In one case, an Ocean Beach property owner was able to persuade family members, friends and acquaintances to put their names on more than 100 license applications. That owner, Michael Mills, has since lost dozens of his licenses following an investigation by the city of San Diego’s enforcement team.
Jay Goldberg, a San Diego housing activist who runs the niceneighbors.org vacation rental data portal, offered up a slide presentation Thursday documenting the unintended consequence of what he calls the Mills loophole.
“This has resulted in apartment buildings being converted to hotels and an over-concentration of rentals in many areas of the city that exceed the 1 percent cap,” Goldberg said. “… The fact of the matter is that owners with five licenses or more currently hold 30 percent of the full-time licenses in San Diego.” [Our emphasis.]
On top of all that, the committee that represents all of the chairs of the some-40 different community planning groups, including the OB Planning Board, presented the committee with a priority list of needed changes. Here are the recommendations from the Community Planners Committee, unanimously approved on July 23:
- Close the loophole that allows an owner to obtain multiple STR licenses by using a different “proxy host” on each application. There are small-time hosts stuck on a waitlist meanwhile these “corporate hosts” have 5 or 10 STR licenses. Mickey Mills in Ocean Beach obtained 115 STR licenses! Legally!
- Limit the number of units in a building that can be converted to STR, to stop entire apartment complexes from being converted to airbnb hotels.
- Cap the number of licenses per neighborhood. There’s a 1% citywide cap, but currently 8% of the rental housing in Ocean Beach is now year-round vacation rentals. And there are 800 more STR licenses up for grabs (outside of Mission Beach.)
- Stricter enforcement, including against hosting platforms who violate the ordinance by allowing unlicensed listings and 1-night listings.
[Read the full letter here and see their presentation here]
Yet, here is where Jen Campbell proved she hasn’t undergone any reform, as Weisberg reported,
“Council members, though, seemed unfazed by the concerns raised about property owners finding creative ways to secure multiple licenses.”
All Campbell had to say was, “So we’ve heard from many of you regarding what’s working and what’s not and our offices will work closely with the appropriate departments to address many of these issues.”
Earlier in the meeting, Campbell had given a full-throated endorsement of the ordinance.
“Our short term vacation rental ordinance has proven actually to be a success and it’s been copied by other cities across the nation. … The ordinance, which requires permits, has reduced neighborhood disruption, preserved housing availability. And we’ve heard from many people who sold their properties rather than rent them out as whole-home (short-term) rentals, so now there’s a house open for a San Diegan to buy or rent.”
Of course, it was Campbell’s office which had “led a years-long effort to get a compromise vacation rental ordinance on the books after an earlier referendum effort led by Airbnb and VRBO forced the council to repeal far stricter regulations.” In fact, that maneuver by Campbell and her chief of staff led in part to the unsuccessful recall campaign against her.
Perhaps it was naivete and wishful thinking that brought anyone to believe Campbell had reformed. Clearly, she hadn’t; she was just the same old Jen Campbell after all.
Kevin Hastings, vice chair of the OB Planning Board, who had been involved in helping put together the CPC letter and presentation, was not happy after the committee meeting. Weisberg described him as “disappointed by what he felt was a dismissal of activists’ well-documented concerns.” Hastings said:
“Jen Campbell and city staff pat themselves on the back and said everything is great, that there’s nothing to see here. And this, despite all the repeated commentary and data provided on loopholes, abuses of the ordinance, and none of that was acknowledged today.”
The only other glimmer of consciousness, as reported by Weisberg, was when, “Councilmember Marni von Wilpert asked the city staff if the major online platforms had been cooperative.”
She was assured that they had been, but what the staff members never mentioned during the presentation was that it took them 11 months to force Airbnb and VRBO to provide required monthly reports that contain addresses, license numbers and the names of hosts. In April, the platforms provided the past due reports, but only after the city submitted administrative subpoenas.
Both Airbnb and VRBO previously told the Union-Tribune that part of the reason for the delay in compliance had to do with addressing the need to protect hosts’ privacy rights.
What does all this mean? It means there won’t be any serious effort by Campbell or the City Council to reform the short-term rental ordinance in the near future. Which is a dismal demonstration by her and the current city government and the loop holes will still remain and people like Micky Mills will still be able to ride roughshod over an ordinance that was meant to rein in the illegal short-term vacation rental shenanigans.
Now, it’s time to sue.
Oh boy. Would love to. You and I have had this conversation, about why I would love to go law school ;-) but my question always come down to who would be willing to take on this case and who would have the standing?
We’ve discussed this a couple times in the workgroup but the standing issue keeps coming up. People who have been evicted probably have the most standing but they would probably be better off suing the property owners directly if they can prove the owners violated the no fault renter protections and then flipped the units to STR. People who have been evicted and become homeless because they can’t afford rent anywhere? Again, they have more standing against the property owner but it’s technically not the owners fault if someone can’t afford to live here and pay prevailing rates. So another idea we had is if homeless advocates and service providers can absolutely tie the uptick in homeless and the cost of caring for homeless persons to the large amount of evictions and increases of rents, they might have standing for undue hardships created by bad policy that contributed to that hardship. But still… it all comes down to who has enough proof and standing. And no one has been able to touch the STR apps yet because they’re not to blame for bad owners doing shitty things to tenants.
So, we could just sue the city for something like dereliction of duty and violating public trust. Or maybe we can find out if the city is getting kick backs or committing fraud but IDK if that can be proven either.
Totally open to other ideas.
These airbnb apartment buildings and really any place with more than 5 guest rooms are definied as places of public accommodation by the California Building Code. This triggers certain fire safety and accessibility requirements. The city cannot simply waive the state law by issuing an STR license.
This sounds like easy pickings for an ADA attorney.
Jen probably spent the whole meeting looking at Todd’s Facebook and Nextdoor posts and clicking the “like” button.
Thanks for the chuckle.
She would have to know how to use a computer for that…
As if she heard, Jen Campbell’s office just sent out her routine online “newsletter” and her answer is …
Dear District 2 residents,
Yesterday, at the Community & Neighborhood Services Committee meeting, the Committee received a presentation from the City Treasurer’s Office and the Building and Land Use Enforcement (BLUE) Department on the progress of the City’s Short Term Vacation Rental (STVR) Ordinance. I would like to thank our City staff for their hard work on this issue, and the members of the public for their participation in the meeting as well.
Since my first day in office, I have fought to move regulations forward to halt the explosion of STVRs and create a framework where hosts know what rules to follow, and renters and residents can expect strict enforcement of those rules. Parties on all sides of this issue have forged a compromise that created a real, enforceable ordinance to monitor and cite STVR hosts and their guests if rules are broken.
San Diego’s Short-Term Vacation Rental Ordinance has proven to be a success, balancing the needs of residents, tourists, and property owners. The ordinance, which requires permits for rentals, has reduces neighborhood disruptions and preserved housing availability for long-term residents. While we cannot ban short-term vacation rentals due to legal constraints, the ordinance has successfully cut the number of short-term rentals in half. The program also generates over $55 million in Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenue, which funds enforcement and community programs.
I have heard from many residents regarding what is working and what is not. My office has worked closely with the appropriate departments to address many of these issues and will continue to do so. Now that we have completed our first year, we will continue to improve and refine this ordinance to maximize its effectiveness.
If you looked up “crock of shit” in an urban dictionary, that is what you would see, a perfect example.
I’ve always loved that photo of Campbell and Faulconer in front of the closed gate of the OB Pier. It shows the ineffectiveness of our local government. It was taken late May 2019 and they were all patting themselves on the back on what a great job they had done getting the Pier to reopen. Ah, yeah.
Jen Campbell and her chief of staff were looking at her computer and giggling during the public comment on this item.
And Henry Foster, the new council member, didn’t even look up from his computer. He also made no comments on the item.
Why are the councilmembers playing with their gadgets during a public hearing? Maybe they were watching the padres game. Real winners we’re electing here.
Reading you comment made me cast my memory back to a council member I remember fondly – Mike Gotch. No matter how long the hearing, no matter how inane the speaker, you always had the impression that Mike was actually listening and giving his attention to the staff or the member of the public who was speaking.
That is quite a rarity these days.
Of course I remember Mike Gotch (there’s a bridge in Mission Bay named after him) and he was the great eco-liberal hope for a while. I also recall he passed away earlier than he should have.
During the meeting, Campbell repeated her lie that her “compromise” cut the number of vacation rentals by half, or even 2/3rds. Lori Saldana lost her mind hearing all the bullshit and stormed out yelling.
The IBA report prepared for the Coastal Commission hearing on this in 2021, which Campbell’s staff attended, showed approx 8,661 whole-home rentals prior to the ordinance based on some very rudimentary assumptions. Airdna, a listing tracking website, showed the number was closer to 5,390 citywide, pre-covid.
Today there are approx. 7,400 whole-home STRs when including the “Tier 2” that are whole homes. I lump these together because the IBA also did. And this doesn’t include the fraudulent listings using invalid license numbers, or claiming exempt.
Ocean Beach point in time count of whole-home Airbnbs was 419 before Covid and the ordinance, now it’s up to 488 and growing.
So tell me again, how many homes Jen Campbell saved?
This ordinance in all it’s glory has finally given investors the financial certainty to convert entire apartment buildings to STRs.
AirBNB has this useless idiot over a barrel.
She was sitting in the city council meeting grinning like an idiot at time and inappropriately laughing as well as shaking her head NO when it was mentioned AirBNB is depleting the housing supply during a housing crisis. It is destroying our neighborhood character, and she doesn’t care.
She should not be in office.
Not only has her ordinance been a HUGE failure, she refuses to listen to public consent and keeps saying it is a success… far from it.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who saw that this is exactly what would happen once Jen was allowed to pry open the Pandora’s Box of the existing municipal code that already forbade all ST(V)Rs — notice how they’ve dropped the “vacation” part out of it? — but not enforced.
This was never about legalizing “mom and pops” renting a room long-term or a second home off-season. It was always for that sweet corporate moola to protect her against those who see that she has never been anything more than a quack.
If you haven’t noticed this season around Fourth of July was a lot less crowded than it has been in past years. I’ve also noticed since I live on the boardwalk that there’s a lot of dark unrented units this season.
The pendulum is swinging towards, less and less short term rentals and vacationers. Part of it is the economy and part of it is the implementation of the short term regulations.
There was a short term party house next to me. It’s a duplex with three bedrooms on one side four bedrooms on the other side and the owner used to advertise 15 people can stay in on each side for $1000 a night, that party house is now just families because of the supervision of these regulations. I’ve been audited 3 times. Supervision is working.
However seems to me that the city has been “talking out of both sides of their mouth! !”
The city capriciously cut out 70% of Misdion Beach potential rentals right from the beginning! How can you swipe 70% of the rentals when you haven’t even given the supervision component a chance to work?! Now you’re only only left with 1089 Short term rental tier 4 permits! I think that was egregious and there was way too many cuts in our Vacation destination town.
Are you an Airbnb lobbyist? If MB had a 70% cut that would mean they were 100% vacation rentals prior.
And if a shortage of Airbnbs was to blame for less tourist visits, why are they sitting empty as you say?
Stop making up shit and just go away.
If you looked at a a rental next door to a charming, well landscaped 2 BR 1 BA house with a garage on the alley and a large barbecue grill in the backyard next door to your expected new home, even RENTERS would be shocked to know that the garage contains 5 (or 6) bunk beds, a sectional sofa and a large Screen TV. The house? A king-size bed in each bedroom, and a sofa bed in the livings room. Sleeps 20? Count on your fingers. Welcome to OB.
The building next door to me on Niagara has 9 units, all 9 are STRs. That is all.
Once again I’ll say, “Jen Campbell has got to go immediately.” She does not represent us. Right?
Yes!!! Email her! Let her know what you think.
JenniferCampbell@sandiego.gov
Agreed. Get rid of Jen Campbell!
Okay, but how? SHe’s not up for re-election this time around; the recall campaign against her during the pandemic failed … So what’s your solution?
We are stuck with her for now but I won’t stop us from shaming her and trying to pressure her into changing the STRO.
Whoever replaces her (And I hope Tracy D. will run) needs to know how important this issue is to the future of Ocean Beach. It is ruining this little town. It is driving out locals. Nobody is going to drive 30 minutes for a server job in OB. Families are leaving.
This is ridiculous.
Time to build much higher density housing in OB, and enforce the no short term rental law.
Whether you are pro-density or hate it, I think we all can agree that the number of AirBNB is a cancer on this town.
You should join the BIA.