At its Aug. 29 meeting, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved an extension of the moratorium on issuing new short-term rental (STR) certificates in Idyllwild (including Pine Cove) and the Wine Country.

The new Ordinance 449.253 is effective immediately and will expire in one year or once revised Ordinance 927.2 (STRs) goes into effect, whichever is sooner.

While the final vote was unanimous, 5-0, Chair Kevin Jeffries (1st District) made it clear that he was agreeing to the extension reluctantly. Last October, when he voted for the current extension, which expires Sept. 9, he thought that would give the Planning Department sufficient time to draft, discuss and present a revised STR ordinance.

Regardless, John Hildebrand, Code Enforcement director, told the board that state law prohibits any further extensions for this purpose. And he expects to bring a proposed STR ordinance to the board for review within a few months.

“This [request for extending the moratorium] is for one year, the maximum time frame,” he told the board. “We don’t intend to take that, but we’re not sure how much time — six months or a year. But we’re moving on the project as we speak.”

The proposed revised Ordinance 927.2 was presented to the Planning Commission Aug. 23. The commission recommended the board approve it.

Public speakers

Several Idyllwild residents or owners of STRs in Idyllwild did make statements to the board during the public comment period.

Two veterans of this struggle — Joel Feingold and Jon Brown — addressed the board.

Feingold supported the extension and approval of the revised ordinance. He mentioned several issues or problems the expansion of STRs in the community has imposed on both Idyllwild and Pine Cove residents. For example, while he understands how using one’s house, whether primary or secondary, as an STR will help pay costs such as the mortgage, he lamented the occasions where the proximity of an STR requires the neighbors “… to help pay the mortgage with their serenity.”

He is concerned that housing costs are increasing due to demand for STRs, thus changing the composition of the community’s population. “We need affordable long-term rentals for the workers and for the old-timers who support our community organizations.”

Brown, another long-term resident and an STR owner, opposed the extension and wants the board to delay changing the STR ordinance for a few years. This would allow both planning staff and the board sufficient time to obtain better understanding of how last year’s changes will affect the issue, thus more effectively assessing changes.

“Governing should have its own Hippocratic oath,” he told the supervisors. “Do no harm and do not make the cure worse than the disease.”

More specifically, he asked the board to address the issue that many STR owners, especially on the Hill, were not notified last summer to renew their STR certificates before the moratorium took effect in September. Many of these people continued to pay the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), but eventually the county had them stop renting because they did not have a current certificate.

“They were never properly notified. When they discovered their permits had lapsed, they had no recourse to rectify the expiration. Give the prior permit holders an immediate path to rectify the expired permits,” he recommended.

Many of the other speakers were caught in this situation. They had STRs in Idyllwild or Pine Cove, which were listed on Airbnb, paid the TOT and had no complaints. Yet, they failed to recognize the need to renew it, their certificate expired and the county could not renew it during the moratorium.

Geraldo Morales invested in a cabin he wanted to rent but did not realize that a moratorium was pending. “I was caught by surprise and not one word from the county,” he said with disappointment and opposed extension of the moratorium.

Darica Diers, an STR owner in Idyllwild, explained to the board that STR owners contribute to the local economy. Not only did she pay more than $9,700 in TOT in 2022, but salaries and wages to her staff were nearly $23,000.

Others in similar situations included Isabelle Dubois, Nan Harrold and Amy Stahl-Gunduz. They all opposed the moratorium’s extension.

Harrold suggested that STR owners selected through the lottery be given some time, such as six weeks, to ensure their property will comply with the STR regulations before the county initiates an inspection of the facility.

Board comments

Except for Jeffries, most of the supervisors’ comments were brief or questions. Supervisor V. Manuel Perez (4th District) asked Hildebrand to have more enforcement data on the number of complaints about STRs and their disposition when he brings the proposed revisions to the board. Before the vote, Perez noted, “I’m not ready to lift the moratorium.”

Supervisor Karen Spiegel (2nd District) asked why Mountain Center was being removed from the moratorium extension. Hildebrand responded that the concentration of STRs in that neighborhood was different and “doesn’t pose the challenge as it does in Idyllwild.”

Supervisor Chuck Washington (3rd District) stressed that the moratorium was always intended to be temporary, “… never the intent to have the moratorium go on forever. Staff had to analyze the impacts of STRs, which had gone well beyond what the communities could stand.”

Jeffries agreed with the original moratorium but was disappointed that it needed to go beyond the original year.

“I do not like extending the moratorium. I understood the reason the first time. But property rights exist on both sides of the fence. Not only the owner but the neighbor. But I feel the county staff should have been able to address these issues by today,” he said.

However, Jeffries, along with his four colleagues, voted to approve the extension for up to one year or when Ordinance 927.2 becomes effective.