LAS VEGAS hosts immediate action needed

[Zacharias0]

Hi fellow hosts of the world and Las Vegas, 

I just received notice and the email below that the city wants to take us back to the stoneage and they forget they are beholden the people and not the corporations or HOAs. The city is planning to do an outright ban on short term rentals. There is a hearing on next Tuesday Oct 9. More details below. If you like your income and the freedom short term renting provides let your voice be heard. Be a driver of this bus and lets tell City Hall how important we are and that there is a way to make this work.  

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 The Planning Commission will be holding a meeting on Oct 9 where they will be discussing an amendment for an outright ban of all forms of short term rentals in residential areas within the city. The meeting is schedule for Tuesday Oct 9, at 6pm at City Hall. 

 

Please RSVP HERE so we can count on you to join us.! 

 

What can you do to have your voice heard?

1. Call the Planning Commission 702-229-6301 and let them know you oppose the ban. 
2. Email the Planning Commission members and share your personal story:  
   • Christina Roush – bcc_croush@lasvegasnevada.gov
   • Sam Cherry – bcc_scherry@lasvegasnevada.gov
   • Brenda Williams - bcc_bwilliams@lasvegasnevada.gov
   • Vicki Quinn – viclquinn@aol.com
   • Trinity Shlottman – trinityhs@yahoo.com
   • Louis DeSalvio – bcc_ldesalvio@lasvegasnevada.gov
   • Donna Toussaint - bcc_dtoussaint@lasvegasnevada.gov
     3. SHOW UP TO THE MEETING AND SHARE YOUR PERSONAL STORY 

     • Prepare a 1 min remark to share at the upcoming hearing on Oct 9 
     • Bring family, friends and neighbors. Having a large turnout will matter. 
        

       Suggestions that you can include in your personal email and public comment: 

       • Why you host and what you do with the additional income, and what it would mean if you could no longer host.  
       • We hosts guests from around the world, but also people who live right here within city or county limits. People have stayed with me for a variety of reasons, including... 
       • Memorable guest moments 
       • If you have supportive neighbors. 
       • Bans do not work; they are ineffective and unenforceable.
       • You voted to allow short term rentals and although the process was onerous, it was a first step to reaching a compromise. Now you’re proposing to take that away. Vote no on the amendment to ban STRs in residential neighborhoods
       • I want to be a responsible host and follow the rules but, they need to be fair and clear. This is a move in the opposite direction. 
         Please let me know if you have any questions. I will continue to update you as we get more information. 

          

         All the best, 

         -- 

         
         

         Aaron

         **[Name hidden due to privacy reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

         Community Organizer

         San Diego and Nevada 

         **[Phone number hidden due to safety reasons - Community Center Guidelines]

         
         

[Pete28]

Based on the Seattle experience of this, you might try offering gradations to appease the city

- owner on property renting rooms / suite is allowed almost everywhere. Owner controls noise, parties, smoking, parking etc.

- rental only allowed in designated zones - higher density areas where hotels etc are also zoned

- STR limited in multifamily, HOA approval needed etc.

Cities can ban Airbnb - Palm Springs, Santa Monia etc

[Zacharias0]

Update :

They recommended to vote on banning STRs. The recommendation moves forward to the city council and they will decide if it will move forward in its current form or with a few modifications. What really pissed the commissioners off was there was NO representative from AirBNB, VrBO or HomeAway. The commissioners stated they sent hundreds of spam emails to the planning board, but no one called or came to the table talk of a resolution. 

I went to the planning commission meeting and it seemed to be three schools of thought: the chicken littles vs the owner occupied strs vs the non owner occupied strs. Many people who wanted to ban them only had one gripe: dont hotel my neighborhood. There was only about 15-20 of them- 12 females all white w blonde hair of varying ages, an indian couple, a few older white men and 1 latino younger man. I was surprised at the demographics of those in support of the ban. Seemed like they were hyperbolizing an issue. Similar to when the language of marriage was changed from man and women. People would say so they can now marry a goat. The chicken littles lost the vote and society moved forward for the better.  

The 2nd school of thought was the owner occupied renters who had no issues, respected their neighbors, kept a low profile, and had licenses. They seemed to be the ones who really needed the money or were satisfying a need the city cant fulfill. One of the commissioners, Rousch, who ran an airbnb in CA said she understood both sides of the argument, but voted to ban them. She clearly doesnt know where she came from. She further stated that she doesnt buy the argument STRs provide an option for families or those who dont want to be around smokers as we have non smoking hotels. Mind you a family of 16 people would have to pay $150-$200 per room per night. When comparable STR options are no more than $500 a night in Vegas. 

The third school of thought were the non owner occupied rentals. These seemed to be the ones who caused all of the issues. They are sucking up inventory from buyers and host house parties to the highest bidder. 

In modified form as you mentioned Pete I would love to see only owner occupied short term rentals move forward. This will solve 99 percent of the issues but lets be honest this is no different than playing whack a mole. You remove the problem in one house and it pops up somewhere else. With this much easy money on the table can you blame hosts?

No one wants to work for a corporation until death and they arent exactly paying us a living wage or giving anyone a golden parachute upon retirement . Everyone has to look out for their own best interest. But theres no reason we cant all get what we want. 

[Pete28]

I'm not sure Airbnb cares - although they did show up in Seattle for the meetings - Seattle I believe is 3rd biggest market for Airbnb in US so loss of $$ and bad press for the Airbnb IPO 😞

The problem is they basically thanked the city for every crazy suggestion like taxing everyone $14 night no matter what the rental rate was. 

Owner occupied should be allowed  - I think that avoids the greed-heads with lots of properties running weekend party houses and driving neighbours crazy. But then again that might be most of the LV market - same as Palm Springs where STR is banned.