Revisions to the Riverside County’s Short-term Rental (STR) Ordinance (927.1) are likely to go before both the Planning Commission and the board of supervisors in late summer or early fall, according to Felisa Cardona, public information officer for the county’s Transportation and Land Management Agency, which includes the Planning Department.

Sept. 9, when the current moratorium on new STR certificates for the Hill and the Wine Country expires, would be a tentative deadline for approval of changes to 927.1.

In March, the Planning Department organized two groups of residents and STR owners from Idyllwild and the Wine Country to discuss their particular issues about STR regulation.

The last meeting of the Idyllwild STR working group was in May. A mid-June meeting had to be canceled and a follow-up has not been scheduled. Thus far, about seven working group meetings have occurred as well as two open Town Hall sessions specifically dedicated to STR issues and concerns. While there may be one more Idyllwild STR meeting, a date has not been set, according to Cordona.

Meanwhile, several of the members have recommended the county set a limit of 400 STRs in the Idyllwild and Pine Cove area. They estimate this would be about 12% of the housing units on the Hill.

Also, they would like to see a minimum distance of 200 feet between STRs. Mark Dean, a working group member and president of the Pine Cove Property Owners Association, is a proponent of this limitation since he shares a property line with five other houses, three of which are often STRs.

“With owner grandfathering, their [certificate] is protected until the ownership changes. This may not result in reductions [in the number of STRs] and resident quality of life improvements for years, and for some decades,” wrote Woody Henderson, a member of the working group.

According to Henderson and Dean, Oxnard has implemented very similar limitations in its city code ordinance.

“I talked to these people and they have got it all figured out. It is not a big deal,” Dean said.

“I think it is clearly working,” said Bryan MacDonald, an Oxnard Council member and mayor pro temp. “There were people not pleased with the decision. But we wanted to be respectful of privacy of property and balance the interest of both sides and we wanted to avoid lengthy litigation.”

Jon Brown, another member of the working group, feels much of the urgency and concern with STRs on the Hill has diminished with the passing of the COVID limitations. “It isn’t a current problem,” he stated. “The number of complaints has dropped.”

With respect to the cap on the number of STRs, he argues that would be unfair to future homebuyers. Anyone with a current and active STR certification will be able to keep it. Consequently, Brown believes it may be a decade or longer before a new certificate could be issued for a Hill STR.

In his opinion, this limitation will reduce house sales since anyone who may be interested in buying on the Hill and might want to use the home occasionally as an STR to help finance it, will be unable to secure an STR certificate for years.

Regardless of the outcome of potential changes to the STR Ordinance, the county is planning to establish stronger enforcement of the ordinance. The recently approved Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget provides new funds for both the Sheriff’s Department and Code Enforcement to establish dedicated staff to its enforcement.