HomeMy WebLinkAboutParedes April - In FavorFrom: April Paredes <aprilparedes 10@g ma il.com>
S ent: Monday, Augus t 17, 2020 9:37 AM
To : PC publiccomment
S u b ject: Public Comment Item #3.2
Dear City of Orange Planning Commiss ion:
My name is April Paredes and I am the property owner on 1243 E. Adams Ave in the city of Orange and I have had
the opportunity to share my home with guests through Airbnb.
Airbnb has been an avenue where hosts like myself and others have been able to share their home with guests that
are look ing for a getaway and the opportunity to explore new cities in an affordable way . Since I have opened my
home to guests through Airbnb, I have received a noise complaint from my neighbor, which was immediately
address ed. Since then I have not received any other complaints from this neighbor or any other neighbors.
Unfortunately, I have received complaints from my guests that they have been discriminated on the bas is of their
race, I hope the city is not using regulations as a ploy to limit the number of guests from different ethnicities and
backgrounds from stay ing in this city.
From the outset prior to inviting a guest to stay at my home I take the necessary prec autions to know who is staying
at my home, which includes making sure that the guest has not had any problems with prior Airbnb hosts and
understanding the motivation behind them staying at my home. In addition, I have implemented internal house rules to
ensure that guests staying at my home behave in an appropriate manner and do not c ause any type of disruption. I
have taken proper meas ures of putting cameras as well as a noise s ens or to measure whether the noise is in the
zone of causing disturbance in order to ensure my guests do not become a nuisanc e for residents in the area.
I am aware that the City of Orange Planning Commis sion has propos ed regulations that they will be discussing and
potentially voting on and below I have included my comments:
Propose d re gula tion: Re quire hosts to notify the ir ne ighbors of the ir short-te rm re nta l / Limit the numbe r of
hosting pe rmits to 300 for the e ntire city:
The propos ed regulation raises different concerns of whether this regulation is being applied uniformly. Will this
regulation apply to homeowners that operate their homes as day cares or are using their homes to c are for elderly
people, and in a way are using their property similar to Airbnb hosts? Applying this regulation to only Airbnb hosts is
discriminatory and if a regulation should be applied it should be uniformly applied to every property owner operating
their home in a way similar to how Airbnb hosts are utilizing their home.
Property owners who host through Airbnb are respons ible for maintaining their home s uch as keeping up with the
maintenanc e of their home, paying a monthly mortgage and covering any other expenses associated with the
property, the proposed regulation of providing notice to neighbors infringes on a property owner’s autonomy. If a
property owner wishes to invite guests to stay at their home, then that right should not be open for public comment
and the property owner should not have the burden to notify its neighbors of the intended use of their home. As I
previously mentioned above, I have only received a noise complaint from my neighbor and that complaint was
immediately addressed and since then I have not been aware of any c omplaints or anything of that s ort.
As hosts we would also like to know the purpose behind this regulation of notifying the neighbors of our short-term
rental, what is being achieved here? If the purpose is to make the neighbors aware of the use of each home then
neighbors c an easily conduct a digital search like my neighbor did and find out whether a home is listed on Airbnb or
not. Currently, the City of Orange has already established noise and safety ordinances that address concerns in the
neighborhood, so if the concern behind these regulations is to address safety or public concerns then they already
have been addressed and there are already repercussions in place for violators, so there would be no other benefit
from these regulations. Further, in regards to limiting the number of hous ing permits to 300 for the entire city, this
regulation becomes problematic given that some hos ts do not rent out their home on a long-term bas is, half of the
year they may share their home with guests, but other times they will not so limiting the number of permits might
give a benefit to a homeowner who might not be renting their home and at the same time preventing some
homeowners from hosting their home.
Propose d re gula tion: Only a pe rson’s prima ry re side nce ca n be use d a s a n Airbnb:
Airbnb has provided hos ts the opportunity to share their homes with guests from all different walks of life and give
them an opportunity to experience a different home and treat that home as their own. By imposing this regulation
there will be an intrusion on the privacy of guests. Guests enjoy using Airbnb becaus e it allows them to get away and
explore a home that they can use as their own and not live under the shadow of the homeowner. Guests enjoy
privacy and they want to use different parts of the home freely without the fear that they are disturbing the
homeowner.
The propos ed regulation is also discriminatory because it limits out of s tate homeowners from sharing their home with
guests through the Airbnb platform. Limiting Airbnb to just homeowners who reside in the property prevents
homeowners who are out of town, which is an invasion on the constitutional rights of homeowners who would like to
host guests, but unfortunately reside out of town. Also, there are homeowners who utiliz e their property as a second
home and limiting short-term rentals to only owner oc cupied homes then would disc riminate against them as well.
Propose d re gula tion: Re quire d a 300 ft buffe r be tw e e n pe rmitte d short-te rm re nta ls:
As hosts we would lik e to know the purpose behind this proposed regulation? W ould the only reason be not to have
short-term rentals back to back? If this is the case, then what would be the deciding factor of who can operate as a
host and who cannot? Since we as hos ts might be impac ted, we would need clarification for this regulation and the
purpose behind this and the benefits behind proposing this regulation.
Propose d re gula tion: Re quiring a 2-night minimum sta y:
I have hos ted guests from different backgrounds and the number of day s guests have stayed have varied. Most
guests are traveling nurs es that need a place to stay for the night and instead of staying in the street or in their car
they stay at my home where they can s leep the night. Limiting the stays of guests to a 2-night minimum affects the
plans of these guests who need a place to stay, but c annot afford to stay at a hotel or a hotel is not a feasible
option.
Best regards,
April Paredes