At the Oct. 25 meeting of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Ordinance 449.252 (a Temporary Moratorium on Short Term Rentals [STRs]) was approved unanimously. The board has now imposed a moratorium on issuing new STR certificates within the Idyllwild, Pine Cove and Mountain Center neighborhoods, and the Temecula Valley Wine Country. This moratorium will extend for 10 month and 15 days and expire Sept. 9, 2023. It was passed with a minimal amount of board discussion.

On Sept. 13, the board approved a 45-day moratorium on issuing new STR certificates in these areas. That moratorium was to have expired on Oct. 28 unless extended. The moratorium does not prohibit operating STRs that have already obtained a county STR certificate.

However, Ordinance 449.252 also requires that the Planning Department prepare and submit a report to the board before any action on the moratorium, such as extending or letting it lapse, occurs. This report must also be submitted at least 10 days prior to any action.

Extending the moratorium is intended to give the Planning Department staff more time to develop possible changes to the STR Ordinance 927, which will directly address the significant problems identified in Idyllwild and the Wine Country, according to Planning Director John Hildebrand.

“The next step moving forward will be for staff to continue working with those two communities to craft phase 2 amendments to the ordinance which would look at some kind of framework for those limitations on STRs, and coming up with a density or a limitation of some kind and a mechanism for allowing new [STRs] when the threshold goes below that,” he said.

He also stated that the planning staff would continue to have community meetings that could include industry representatives. Within six months, he promised a report back to the board.

After slightly more than an hour of public comment, the board discussion lasted about 10 minutes before the vote.

3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington began with an appeal to his colleagues to approve the extension. He also stressed that the planning staff needs more time to address the problems some STRs have created in these two 3rd District communities.

“This is not a permanent moratorium,” he emphasized.

He also encouraged the staff to establish stakeholder groups including industry so that “folk could talk about how we arrive at something we can all live with.”

“These communities need some special attention,” Washington told his colleagues. “How do we carve out some additional framework within 927, so 927 which we already passed can be most effective to achieve what we want?” he added.

With Washington’s motion to approve the extension, the board voted unanimously to approve it.

Public comment

During the public comment period, 10 speakers were from Idyllwild. Actually nine spoke; the 10th could not unmute their phone.

Joel Feingold was the first and he asked the board, “When is ‘enough’ enough!” Then he offered the answer, “Enough has already happened …

“While Idyllwild is a vacation destination, it does not make the entire town eligible to be taken over by vacation rentals,” he said, imploring the board to enact the moratorium. He also hopes that during this time the community, including both sides, can come together and find a solution giving both sides something.

“Please give us time to come together as a community to find solutions that will take time, that are reasonable and giving both sides something,” Feingold said ending his comment.

One of several new attendees at the board meeting, Marsha Kennedy also spoke in support of the moratorium. In her view, “STRs are crippling Idyllwild businesses. Employees can’t find housing and that means businesses can’t find employees.”

While she believes residents are also suffering from the number of STRs, she did advocate an alternative solution, “Long-term rentals are what Idyllwild needs!”

Molly Cozens, who with her husband moved to the Hill several years ago from Seattle, was another fervent supporter. Because of the number of STRs on her Idyllwild street, she said, “There was more of a community feeling in the city of Seattle.”

Several other speakers, some experienced and several speaking out for the first time, encouraged the board to extend the moratorium.

However, Alex De Cordoba was less enthusiastic about the moratorium and tightening regulations for STR operation. He and his family have recently purchased a second home in Idyllwild. He said he hopes to become more involved in the community.

However, he stressed that they could not have afforded the purchase if they were not allowed to offer it as an STR occasionally. And he added, fortunately he did obtain a STR certificate before the moratorium was implemented.

“Please respect the rights of all property owners,” he stressed. “If getting more [long-term] rental properties is the goal, let’s have public housing.”