HomeMy WebLinkAboutLevassiur Kathryn - In FavorFrom: Kathryn Le vassi ur <l e vassi urk@gmai l .com>
Se nt: Sunday, A ugust 16, 2020 3:08 PM
To: P Cpubl i ccomme nt
Subje ct: Publ i c comme nt f or 8/17 me e ti ng of Ite m 3.2 Short Te rm Re ntal use
Dear C hair Sim pso n and C ity o f Orange Planning C o m m iss io ners,
M y nam e is Kathryn Levassiur. I am a resident o f Huntingto n Beac h fo r the pas t 2 1 years
and have lived co ntinuo usly in Orange C o unty s ince 1 9 5 9 (F ullerto n, Buena Park &
Anaheim ) . I have no business interests in the C ity o f Orange. As the leader o f Huntingto n
Beach Sho rt-Term Rental Alliance and speaking fo r o ur gro up m em bers, w e s uppo rt taxed
and regulated sho rt-term rentals in o ur city as w ell as in the C ity o f O range. I have ho sted
STR in HB s ince 2 0 1 5 - exclusively o n the Airbnb platfo rm . The inco m e I have earned fro m
m y bus iness has helped m e pay the pro perty taxes, m aintain and upgrade m y ho m e, and
as a senio r, pay fo r ro utine o ut o f po cket m edical expens es. This inco m e has im pro ved the
quality o f m y pro perty and m y life.
I hav e seen the C ity o f O range pro po sed STR draft o rdinance and the regulatio ns seem
sensible and have the po tential o f achieving a high rate o f co m pliance. O ne aspect o f the
draft o rdinance that seem s o nero us is the inc urrence o f a m ino r o ffense w hen respo nding
to a neighbo r co ncern in 3 0 m inutes o r less. Wo uld y o u co nsider a w arning fo r a first tim e
o ffens e rather than c o unt it as a m ino r o ffense and that the initial respo nse tim e be m ade
by telepho ne at the m inim um , o r in perso n, w ithin 3 0 m inutes?
The c ity sho uld also c o nsider auto m ating the co llecting and rem itting o f TO T by lo o king into
a Vo luntary C o llectio n Agreem ent w ith Airbnb, such as the c ities o f C o ro na, Riverside, Lo ng
Beach, Lo s Angeles, O ceanside and San Diego have do ne.
There is also a new Airbnb Des tinatio n M arketing C am paign. Here is the Landing page fo r
DM Os/To urism Bureaus & an Airbnb Po st abo ut launching their partners hip to suppo rt lo c al
travel and eco no m ic gro w th. I have heard s everal interview s w ith C EO Brian C hes ky in
recent m o nths w here he has s aid that Airbnb w ants to w o rk w ith c ities and help m ake STR
pro gram s s pecific to the needs, co ncerns and enfo rcem ents unique to every c ity. Here's
o ne o f Brian C hes k y’s interview s fro m 7 /2 2 /2 0 w ith Reuters w here he talks abo ut Airbnb
w o rking w ith cities.
Here are tw o m o re links that yo u m ay find o f interest:
Airbnb actively rem o ving pro blem listings in Las Vegas fro m its platfo rm
Airbnb Under 2 5 Po licy - preem ptively banning peo ple under 2 5 fro m renting w ho le ho m es
In clo sing, all cities in Orange C o unty depend o n to urism and the inco m e it brings. It’s
im po rtant that cities o ffer different affo rdability levels o f lo dging fo r o ur visito rs and that
includes taxed and regulated STR’s . Thank yo ur co nsideratio n in reading m y public
co m m ent and fo r the w o rk o f this c o m m iss io n and staff is do ing to c reate a fair STR draft
o rdinance.
Since re l y,
Kathryn Le vassi ur
Huntington Be ach Short-Te rm Re ntal All iance
Ce l l : 714.343.7931
Emai l : i nf o@hbstra.org |We bsi te : https://w ww .hbstra.org/