At times it seemed that an Old West saloon fist-fight might break out at Town Hall Wednesday, Nov. 10, but Riverside County (RC) Sheriff’s Sgt. Bryan DeLoss remained calm, most of the time leaning back in his metal chair on stage with his fingers resting calmly on his chest.

A night Neighbor4Neighbor (N4N) billed as an informational meeting about an upcoming RC Ordinance 927 revision regarding short-term rentals (STRs) instead became a passion-filled scene pitting neighbor against neighbor where the original estimated number of 300 attendees in a standing-room only audience shrank exceedingly throughout the two-and-a-half hours as angry people walked out.

At first, the meeting began civilly. Terry Shirley of N4N explained the format of the evening. He would introduce several people on stage and said they would try to keep their comments brief. Then, the group would open it up for public comments.

Though RC representatives were invited, none attended because, they told the Town Crier, the ordinance still entails many processes and nothing is final.

Noise, parking, fire safety and enforcement are the main issues of concern regarding revising Ord. 927, said Shirley, who is on the RC’s ad hoc committee for STRs.

Mountain Community Patrol Vice President Joel Feingold said many people are wondering why they no longer have peace and quiet in their neighborhoods. He said the purpose of N4N is not to get rid of STRs but there is a lack of enforcement of Ord. 927. However, some STR owners have “gone out of their way to blend into the neighborhood,” he said.

DeLoss told the audience that “it’s hard to respond to calls if we don’t get a call.” He said he lives on the Hill and is assigned full-time with a partner to cover Anza, Pinyon, Aguanga, Poppet Flats, Twin Pines, Garner Valley, as well as Idyllwild, Pine Cove and Mountain Center. He did warn, however, that “an assault will outweigh that noise complaint.” He said for noise complaints, call dispatch and ask for a sergeant.

Idyllwild Fire Chief Mark LaMont said his biggest concern is “our ability to serve you.” He said an emergency medical service response should take only three minutes and a fire response four minutes. But he said if STRs start to limit the response times, the department will be extremely concerned.

Tying Idyllwild Fire’s Resolution 513 with Ord. 927.1 (the revised version) is something LaMont said he has discussed with county Supervisor Chuck Washington since November 2020. He said 513 doesn’t allow for private campfires or bonfires at residences and he’s asked for it, along with 18 other points, to be included in the revised ordinance.

Peter Szabadi also was on stage but did not speak.

N4N member Brian Tracy then spoke, saying he had done a great deal of research on STRs, and it was during his possibly half-an-hour talk that audience members wearing red began reacting, some yelling “liar,” after he said the Hill had 600 STRs, and some storming out of the room.

When asked later why an STR representative wasn’t on stage, Shirley said in hindsight, it might have been better.

Some STR owners/managers, but not all, wore red to identify each other, the Idyllwild Vacation Rental Owners group. “IdyVRO is a local group,” organizer Jon Brown said later. “I started it a year ago for owners to share tips/info about managing STRs locally. Mostly because I got tired of owners getting pounced on every time they asked a question in the [Facebook] Idyllwild Community group, and none were getting helpful answers.”

During the meeting, audience members learned they would get two minutes to comment. As Tracy kept speaking, the people in red grew more restless and Alexandra DeCarlo, owner of the website VRON-Riverside County, stood up and walked toward the stage interrupting him.

By then, the meeting had broken down. Public comments then opened up with Tracy trying to control who spoke next, requiring people to submit index cards with names and comments.

The comments, that lasted most of the evening, ranged from no STRs to fewer restrictions on STRs.

A no-STRs woman made a claim about a neighbor’s property, and the neighbor yelled and denied the allegation. A property owner who is tired of the problems an STR is creating for him ran toward a man who disagreed with him as if they were going to fight but backed off.

The comments continued until after 9 p.m. when Town Hall needed to close up. That was when Shirley thanked everyone again for coming and many of them stood up from their seats, folded the chairs and together stored them away.