The Devils in the Details

One of the hottest issues hitting local government right now is addressing the issues of short term rental housing.  Or - how cities can regulate VRBO, AirBnB, HomeAway, etc.

The issues are more or less the same in every community.  Too many parties.  Too many cars.  Too loud too late.  Too many on my block.  Or some combination / variation thereof.

There are a number of arguments that we can go through here from Property Rights to Community Integrity.  Not the purpose of this post.

On the October 20, 2015 city council agenda the City of Anaheim decided to address this issue through extending their moratorium on issuing any new permits related to any vacation rental homes.

Sounds innocuous enough right? I mean sure, it's anti-business, but its a measure to take while you are studying the issue and impact and figuring out the best course for the city moving forward.

There is just one small problem with their proposal.  There are plenty of these rentals that already exist.

And if you read in the details of the proposal, they plan to deny any of the permits related to such businesses - INCLUDING the renewal of business licenses, existing conditional use permits, or any permits for planning building or construction.

Let me translate that -

• If your annual business license is up for renewal in the next six months - you just lost your business
• If your conditional use permit is up for renewal - you just lost your conditional use permit and your business
• If your water heater breaks and you need a permit to put a new one in - you just lost your business

You read that right.  In an attempt to stop any NEW businesses while they address this issue, they effectively said all existing ones would be shut down if they come up for any work with the government in the next six months.

The question you have to ask yourself is - what little things like that are being snuck in on you and your business?