City weighs short-term rental rules

The discussion was borne from an unruly house party on Lombardi Lane rented through Airbnb which ended with gunshots. While no one was injured in the incident last month, calls for preventative measures from residents have grown louder in its wake.

Mayor Gina Papan acknowledged the issues raised by a line of public speakers criticizing the home sharing industry, and committed to swift action.

“Hopefully we are moving on this as quickly as possible, and getting something on the books that will assist these people,” she said, referencing the dissatisfied residents at the meeting.

She suggested a future regulation should address issues such as the city’s ability to collect transient occupancy taxes on any short-term rental; require hosts to acquire a business license; address enforcement measures and financing; and other efforts.

Following hours of deliberations though, consensus could not be reached to synthesize the variety of suggestions floated at the meeting by councilmembers, residents, Airbnb representatives and others into a formal resolution.

Instead, interim City Manager Tom Williams said officials will seek to meet the mayor’s mandate for urgency and return at a future meeting with a proposed ordinance drawing from best policies established by cities with similar regulations.

“We plan to bring you an ordinance using what we research and know works well in other communities,” said Williams.

Some residents called for an outright ban on short-term rentals, while other responsible hosts in Millbrae said such a decision would unfairly constrain their private property rights.

Recognizing strong opinions on both sides, City Attorney Joan Cassman said officials are charged with crafting a policy addressing the best interest of all residents.

“We have to balance everyone’s rights,” she said.

J.J. Straight, Airbnb’s campaign manager, said the company is wholly committed to working alongside officials in their effort to draft the policy best suited to meet the community’s needs.

“For us, keeping this community safe is our number one priority … we want to work with you on the best solutions for Millbrae,” she said.

Straight took time though to note such disruptive and violent behavior at the house party is uncommon for rentals facilitated through the site, and suggested an overwhelming majority of the listings in Millbrae are offered by thoughtful residents.

While suggesting she was comfortable with advising on future policies, Straight also warned against officials considering an outright ban on Airbnb’s services in Millbrae.

She noted the variety of competitors to Airbnb available online which allow similar services, and suggested disallowing her company would only push that traffic to other, less recognizable and reputable organizations.

Deferring to the responsible hosts who may be relying on the short-term rental market to supplement their income and better afford the high cost of living locally, Vice Mayor Wayne Lee said he would not support a ban.

Rather than targeting the services, he suggested more work should be done to keep “bad elements,” such as those who threw the disorderly party, out of Millbrae. Purchasing license plate readers could be an effective form of tracking residents of other communities who come to town and stir up trouble, he said.

The proposal did not gain much traction, as officials instead focused much of their discussion on establishing a registry of homes in Millbrae available on the short-term rental market, in hopes of establishing accountability among hosts.

“Hopefully we can build a system which will help us track and regulate this type of behavior,” said Cassman.

Beyond regulations, Papan said another worthy initiative is assuring police or code enforcement officers respond to complaints about properties which are allegedly abusing the online rental market.

She cited those who attended previous council meetings complaining about misbehavior at neighboring properties, and returned to the most recent meeting claiming no response was offered by city officials.

Papan scolded staffers for not acting more quickly on reports of problems in neighborhoods.

“Time is of the essence for every person in this room. So if responses are not happening, that’s a big problem,” she said.

To a similar point regarding urgency, Papan called on officials to draft regulations in short order so councilmembers can take action addressing the variety of concerns raised.

“We would like to see some action on this, not one year from now,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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