Over 1,700 sign petition in support of short-term rentals
‘Save Paso Robles’ petition aims to support short-term rentals
–A group of hundreds of local people have formed a group, “Save Paso Robles”, and started a petition to stop the regulations for the number of short term rentals allowed within the city.
“Paso Robles is built on tourism,” they say. “Now, the city is talking about restricting the number of short term rentals available to those tourists. This would have devastating effects on our economy and would hurt every small business in town.”
As of May 21 at 8:20 a.m., the petition has gained 1,775 signatures. View and sign the petition here.
Details from the ‘Save Paso Robles’ petition:
Paso Robles is an amazing town with an award-winning wine industry. Over the past few years, our growth has been exponential, and it’s all fueled by tourists coming to visit, all of them in need of accommodation.
Paso Robles has a great short term vacation rental industry, helping supplement the large hotel chains and providing an alternative for families and small groups of friends. Many residents and homeowners have gladly provided this accommodation to people visiting Paso Robles, helping ensure that some of the money tourists would otherwise spend on hotels end up back in the local economy.
The tourists also visit local restaurants, shops, wineries, and many other small businesses. Local property management companies are a business unto themselves, employing managers, administration, housekeeping services, pool cleaners, gardeners and generally contributing to the local economy.
The city also collects tax on all short term rentals, well over half a million dollars last year, with more to come.
Short term rentals are an essential part of the economy.
If the city were to limit short term rentals, essentially forbidding homeowners from doing what they feel appropriate with their own homes, there will be an instant lack of housing, pushing prices up and driving tourists away. This means fewer jobs, less outside money coming in, less taxes collected, less businesses remaining profitable…
All the homeowners who operate occasional short term rentals will also be dealt a devastating blow. Many have purchased a second home and rely on the short term rental income to help offset their mortgage. To forbid them from doing this would have a devastating effect on many homeowners, forcing families into financial danger, causing a sell-off and a property slump.
The counter-arguments, and why they are wrong:
Those arguing to ban short term rentals claim they create extra neighborhood nuisances, such as excessive noise and parking problems, but there’s no evidence to back this up. In fact, a research study conducted by The California Economic Forecast, analyzing nuisance reports across the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo, said:
“We found no statistically significant difference between the nuisance complaint rate for short term rentals and all other homes.”
The report also concludes:
“The negative allegations aimed at short term rentals could not be substantiated by the statistical evidence.”
The nay-sayers also claim that short term vacation rentals affect long term housing supplies, but this is also false. Another research study, analyzing short term rentals across Santa Barbara county, said:
“We did not find that the supply of housing was significantly affected by the incidence of short-term rentals.”
And:
“Very few homes are used as short term rentals full-time and would not be converted to long-term housing under any short term rental ban.”
In summary:
Paso Robles needs to support our tourism. The choice is clear: If you support Paso Robles, please help us. We must come together to protect our economy. Short term rentals need to be regulated, not banned. We should base our policymaking on data, not fiction.
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