The City of Long Beach is hosting a series of community events, as part of the process of developing a proposed short-term rental (STR) ordinance. If adopted by the city council, the ordinance will establish a framework for regulating STRs, or vacation rentals, within the city.
The next STR community workshop will be held at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Balboa Studio, 628 Alamitos Ave., on Saturday, July 21, from 10am to noon. The meeting was previously scheduled to be conducted at the Bixby Park Community Center but has been relocated to allow for more space.
The workshop will feature a presentation of the City’s findings from input provided by the public at the first community workshop, stakeholder interviews, results from the City’s STR online survey,and extensive case-study research, officials said. The event will also include interactive stations located throughout the event space to offer opportunities for attendees to provide feedback on community priorities and concerns identified through the City’s outreach efforts. Translation services in Spanish, Tagalog and Khmer, as well as light refreshments, will be provided.
The final STR community workshop will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 6pm to 8pm, at the Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave.
The project team is expected to present its findings for a proposed STR ordinance to the city council in the fall. The presentation will be based on community input received during the outreach events, a targeted case study of STR programs in other jurisdictions and an evaluation of potential program costs and revenues, according to city officials.
In March 2017, the city council approved an item brought forth by Councilmember Jeannine Pearce, and co-sponsored by Councilmembers Lena Gonzalez, Dee Andrews and Rex Richardson to direct City staff to review STR regulations following the growth of platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway in recent years. Regulating STRs in Long Beach would require an update to the City’s zoning regulations, including safety and design guidelines and transient occupancy tax (TOT) provisions.
More information about STRs in Long Beach is available at lbds.info/lbshorttermrental.
Source: City of LB
