Letters to the Editor: There are countless problems with short-term rentals. L.A. doesn’t need more
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To the editor: There are approximately 18,000 short-term rentals currently in Los Angeles, yet Mayor Karen Bass wants more (“L.A. considers expanding Airbnb-style short-term vacation rentals,” April 29).
There are many problems with short-term rentals. First, most are located in residential-zoned areas. A short-term rental is essentially a hotel, but without following the zoning requirements. When someone from out of town stays in one of these rentals, especially if it is located in a high-risk fire zone, they are likely not aware of the potential hazards and precautions to consider. Single-family residential zoning codes must be followed to ensure that all of the people living in that zone are part of a single family who live there both for a sense of neighborhood and for safety.
Second, those 18,000 homes being used as vacation rentals would certainly help out with the housing shortage.
This is an invasion of privacy and a compromise to what was once an applied housing-only zoning ordinance. There must be another source of income to enable Los Angeles to host world parties.
Jon Frishman, Los Angeles
This writer is an architect.
