Fellow citizens of La Palma, 

Preserve La Palma’s Sense of Community and Safety, ask the city to take a stand and prohibit Short-Term Rentals (STR) from La Palma. Short term rentals do not belong in La Palma Ca (Airbnb, VRBO, Vacation Rentals, Home Away and more). La Palma is doing nothing useful on this issue but are trying to pass an ordinance to tax Airbnb hosts and guests- which does nothing for the citizens of La Palma but puts money into the local governments pocket. Which is not what we are asking for and won’t stop loud unwanted noise and all the other issues brought on by short term rentals. They don’t care their citizens are unhappy and lives are being disrupted by loud party goers, or that they have been threaten and feel unsafe in their own homes. They just want a way to make more money. This is unacceptable. This is not what they were elected to do.

Short Term Rentals: 

• Cause noise, trash, bonfire and nuisance complaints
• They disturb peace and quiet enjoyment of our fellow neighbors' homes
• They take business away from traditional hotels and accommodations costing jobs • Can cause city blight when operated in a “party house” fashion
• They statistically invite crime and social disorder to surrounding neighborhoods • They will prevent future residents from finding homes to live in 

15 other cities in Orange County have already taken the steps to ban short term rentals in their cities and we believe La Palma should as well: 

•Aliso Viejo •Anaheim •Brea •Costa Mesa •Garden Grove •Huntington Beach •Irvine •Laguna Nigel •Lake Forest •Orange •Santa Ana •Tustin •Villa Park •Westminster •Yorba Linda 

Short term rentals are rarely being used by out of state travelers who are here to explore California but rather by residents from nearby cities to party and throw events that disrupt our neighborhoods and bring in safety concerns. These operators have already received many complaints from multiple citizen organizations in La Palma about parties, parking problems and crime brought in from guests. 

TO BE CLEAR: 

We are not against homeowners who want to rent out a room or home for long term rentals. We are taking action against companies or individuals renting their homes for short periods of time to party goers and disturbing the peaceful enjoyment of our neighborhoods. 

Thank you for reading and taking action. 

Please, if you can, attend the next city council meeting on Tuesday July 5th, 2022, 6:30pm at city hall- to voice your concerns and stand with fellow neighbors. We need more voices to show up. We will continue to go to every council meeting until something is done. I will be presenting the petition in July- to give it more time to accumulate signatures! However, the more people who show up to the city council meetings, the better. The city was asked back in November 2021 to take action and nothing has happened, so we are taking action now to get this done. 

Here are the current city council members:

Mayor: Michele Steggell                             

Mayor Pro Tem: Debbie S. Baker         

Council Members: Marshall Goodman, Nitesh P. Patel, and Mark I. Waldman

 

With Gratitude,
-A Concerned La Palma Citizen, Homeowner & Neighbor