STR dangers to community
Dear Editor:
A horrible fire tragedy is unfolding in Maui with hundreds of people still unaccounted for as of this writing. The Maui fire is the new deadliest fire in a century, surpassing the Paradise Fire.
Paradise is a mountain town much like ours where 85 people died. Similarities include high winds, people trapped in their cars trying to evacuate, and both had multiple roads or lanes on which to evacuate.
Idyllwild has one road, a single lane in each direction. Neither had our extreme fire danger ratings (PUC Tier 3 and 4.81 out of five Wildfire Hazard Potential), a full point higher than Paradise had before its deadly fire.
Our fire agencies have plans in place but we still have concerns. Idyllwild is an area that experiences strong wind events. The concern is that a strong wind event will overlap a fire event. Hawaii’s governor said Maui experienced fire movement that reached about a mile a minute. That is more than a football field every 4 seconds.
One of the things we can do to aid evacuation is to reduce visitor saturation in residential areas. As reported here last week, we are expecting the county to pass a new version of our short-term rental (STR) ordinance.
At Supervisor Washington’s last town hall, residents and off-Hill owners voted on a list of solutions. The winner by almost double was a 10% cap (the lowest number offered). A 10% cap is 357 certifications, using county numbers. The next highest vote getter was zone limits, a residential zone phase down, for example. In third place was density limits. The winner there was 300 feet between STRs.
Keep in mind that many small California towns with tourism like ours have full residential bans or single-digit caps. In the recent county working group meetings, we pushed for a fair compromise on cap and density. We did not get it. Weaker limits the industry specifically asked for prevailed. With county lifetime grandfathering of existing certifications, residents surrounded by STRs may not get relief for years or decades.
Our solution groups include STR owners. Since we have started pushing for cap and density, we have been fielding some fascinating input from STR owners. Three of their points stand out: 1) Legal STR owners are in favor of a cap, the lower the better. More certifications means more competition. 2) Legal STR owners are in favor of a density limit. An STR up against another STR can receive bad reviews when there is a party next door. 3) Quality of product. Too much commercial saturation in residential areas lowers the quality of the product STR owners are selling. The product being our wonderful and unique forest village. We agree on all points.
Two county meetings are coming up. You can attend, call in or email. Our supervisor is district4@rivco.org. The other supes can be emailed at district1, 2, 3 and 5.
As our work with the county winds down, your solution groups are pursuing other ways to achieve peace and safety for our town.
Quick shout out to the amazing residents who worked with a more amenable county in the 1970s. They achieved a reduction in commercial zoning and stopped things like the Fort from being three stories with a parking structure. You all are the reason our still quaint village is such a cherished place to both live and visit.
Woody Henderson
Local business owner, volunteer, co-owner of an STR property
Idyllwild lacks the carrying capacity
Dear Editor:
Mike Allen’s letter to the TC last week rang lots of bells with me. I’ve lived up here since the early ’70s. I remember when going to town on a weekend was not a problem. Then, over time, as the town got more and more crowded on weekends, locals decided to stock up on Friday, and avoid town until the following Monday, unless Monday was a holiday. Now, I stock up on Thursday, and don’t go back until Tuesday.
Gone are the days of running into town to pick up mail, and forget going to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription because there won’t be any place to park anywhere near either of those places. Some visitors think town is a carnival or a fair, and the streets are meant for people to walk here and there, not for cars.
A while back, I voiced my concerns about the carrying-capacity of this area. I started thinking about that because of the advent of so many STRs and the increase of people staying here. I also wondered how STRs could be allowed in residential areas because they are a for-profit business. They should only be allowed in commercial-designated areas.
It has been estimated that as many as 4,000 people may be up here on a busy weekend or holiday. That includes STR renters, people staying at hotels/motels, campers, hikers, day trippers and the residents who live here. Imagine if we all had to evacuate the area and there was only one road off the Hill.
That has happened in the past. (In 2018, over 80 people died trying to evacuate during the Camp Fire here in California). Or, imagine if roads are impassable like they were in 2019 when an atmospheric river washed out sections of highways 243 and 74. For a while, Highway 74 was washed out in both directions, so there was no easy way to drive off this mountain. Imagine thousands of people stuck up here with no way off the Hill.
I agree with Mike. It is the charm of the brick and mortar businesses that attracts people up here, as well as the peace and serenity. If we are constantly overrun with people, no one will want to come here. I also fear that more people will make it necessary to have traffic lights. That would seriously hurt the ambience of our special town.
It’s time for the people of Idyllwild, business owners and residents alike to take control over what happens here. My ex and I had an art gallery up here for 18 years so I can relate to the issues that come up relative to commerce, and what is best for our unique town.
We need a Chamber of Commerce, and to incorporate so that decisions that directly effect us are not made by people who rarely come up here, and so don’t understand the special qualities, and special issues, that we have here.
Kristy Frazier
Idyllwild
