Outraged California residents successfully petitioned to ban short term rentals in their neighborhood after reaching the breaking point with partying neighbors.
Andy Oliver, 50, formed a coalition to end un-hosted rentals in his Long Beach neighborhood when a shooting victim staying at a rental next door crawled into his home seeking shelter on January 2.
He launched the Long Beach Neighborhood Coalition and began petitioning in his census block group to restrict un-hosted short-term rentals in the College Estates section of their neighborhood.
Members of the group spoke at a city council meeting in April, where officials voted to start looking at increasing restrictions on short-term rentals.
‘Imagine that you buy your dream home and then all of a sudden, your next-door neighbor turns his house into an Airbnb. You spend over a year putting up with loud parties, marijuana smoke wafting into your vents, film shoots, hourly rentals, strangers coming in and out all the time and many other issues,’ Oliver said.
Andy Oliver (pictured), 50, formed a coalition to ended un-hosted rentals in his Long Beach neighborhood when a shooting victim staying at a rental next door crawled into his home
Outraged California residents successfully petitioned to ban short term rentals in their neighborhood
Airbnb rentals in the quaint neighborhood of College Estates range from $179 to $433 per night. Pictured: a $433 per night rental in the College Estates neighborhood
‘Then on a sunny Tuesday morning with children playing outside, a 21-year-old renter who is targeted from this Airbnb is chased by a masked gunman and shot right in your front porch.’
‘The victim jumps your fence, tries to bust in your house seeking protection, spilling his blood all over your property. Your house is turned into a crime scene, you miss work, families are forever traumatized and then new renters come in that very same night,’ said Oliver.
Melissa Rakiey said renters staying at her neighbor’s Airbnb often block her driveway and threaten residents.
‘On March 16, customers of the short term rental hosted a birthday party which escalated and resulted in the Long Beach PD breaking up a party of 52 people in a three bedroom house,’ Rakiey said.
‘The Airbnb brought into my neighborhood a large group of hoodlums, flushed them into the streets with open containers, smoking weed and racing cars.’
Melissa Rakiey (pictured) said renters staying at her neighbor’s Airbnb often block her driveway and threaten residents
On Friday, Oliver was informed his petition had passed. According to the Long Beach Community Development Department of the 735 petitions delivered, 375 came back signed, meaning it passed with 51 percent support.
‘I don’t have the final count, but there are something like 755 homes, and we just got enough signatures,’ Oliver told the Los Angeles Times.
‘I heard it was close and I don’t have confirmation of the final vote, but I was informed [last week] that we succeeded.’
‘There were two previous petition drives that failed, so I wasn’t sure if we would have success,’ he said.
Now there are eight other census tract block groups with pending petitions to ban un-hosted short-term rentals through out Long Beach.
Long Beach banned un-hosted short-term rentals in 2020, but loosened restrictions to allow people to use their second properties as Airbnbs. Pictured: College Estates Neighborhood
According to the Community Development Department there are 626 non-primary short-term rentals registered in the city. Pictured: a $350 per night rental on the border of the College Estates neighborhood
Airbnb rentals in the quaint neighborhood of College Estates range from $179 to $433 per night.
Long Beach banned un-hosted short-term rentals in 2020, but loosened restrictions to allow people to use their second properties as Airbnbs.
According to the Community Development Department there are 626 non-primary short-term rentals registered in the city.
Jean Young, 67, is one of those short-term rental owners who told the LA Times she understands the backlash from the shooting at Oliver’s home but would be sad to lose the ability to earn money from her rental.
‘I’m a part-time writer, and the income from rentals just smooths out the rough edges and has been wonderful,’ she said.
‘My son has since moved on to college and my mother passed away, so there’s all this room in my house to share. It would be sad to lose that ability.’
