Letter: Vacation rentals driving up rental costs in Paso Robles
To the editor,
Over and over, I see new apartments being built with rental prices I can’t even imagine.
Let me point out 1 major issue affecting the soaring price of rentals in this town.
We have hundreds of homes that are off the market as monthly rentals because they have been turned into Short Term Vacation Rentals. Many, many, many are now owned by people who don’t live here. They live out of town, even out of state. But they’ve jumped on the “Vacation Destination” bandwagon and turned some once quiet, peaceful neighborhoods into “party-city” by the coming and going of wine drinking vacationers who have no vested interest in our town.
Your current Mayor Steve Martin and the Director of Community Development, Warren Frace, have failed over and over again to take action on getting these STR’s in check. The city lied back in September when they told the public that they have a Task Force working on it. They did have in 2016-17, but not currently, because per Warren Frace, they do not have a “mission.”
So they continue to issue licenses to allow what is effectively a commercial business, to a home in a residential neighborhood. How that is allowed to continue is beyond my comprehension.
It is this practice that has taken homes off the market that would normally be available to people who are here to work and raise a family. People who now have to live in an apartment where prices have skyrocketed due to lack of inventory of homes as long-term rentals.
And the cost of a home that is available for rent is exorbitant because of the low available inventory. It is basic economics; the law of supply and demand.
Businesses can’t locate here if there are no homes for their employees to live in, or if the cost of rent is so high their employees can’t afford to live here.
We’re on a Merry-Go-Round that we can’t get off of until we the people say “Stop!”
Stop issuing licenses: Place a moratorium on new licenses until you get a handle on this and develop some clear guidelines with regulations and an oversight committee.
Stop taking care of the visitors and start taking care of those who have, or want to have, a long-term investment in the enrichment of this town we call home.
Stop the relentless promotion of our town as a vacation destination and start promoting it as a city to live in, work in and retire in. This current City Council has lost its focus and its purpose.
A very concerned resident
Jan Albin
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