UPDATE - Status report on New City Ordinance for Safety Enhancement During Holiday Weekends
At last night’s Newport Beach City Council meeting, the proposed “Safety Enhancement” ordinance affecting high-intensity periods (adding Spring Break to the existing “Safety Enhancement Period” that current includes 4th of July, Memorial Day Weekend, and Labor Day Weekend) appeared on the Consent Calendar.
(The Consent Calendar is normally a set of routine or non-controversial agenda items that the Council typically approves all at once with a single vote, without individual discussion. Any Council Member can “pull” an item off consent so it can be discussed and voted on separately.?
That’s exactly what happened here.
What happened at the meeting
During public comment, our lobbyist spoke on behalf of NBSTRA and made our position clear:
We support enhanced safety and strong enforcement during high-impact holiday periods in Newport Beach.
But as drafted, the proposed ordinance appears to require mandatory revocation of a short-term lodging permit – with no discretion – and could potentially apply even when a violation is minor.
We asked whether a simple change from “shall” to “may” (making revocation discretionary rather than mandatory) could solve the problem.
Following that testimony, a Council Member pulled the item from consent for further discussion. Several Council Members asked staff whether our concern was valid. The City Attorney responded that the mandatory revocation provision is intended to apply only to serious violations, not minor issues.
Where things stand now
After the meeting, our lobbyist had follow-up conversations with Council Members and reiterated that we do not read the ordinance as narrowly as it was described by the City Attorney. Council Members expressed that their intent is not to punish good operators, but to target egregious violations and chronic bad actors.
Council Members indicated they would ask the City Attorney to speak directly with our lobbyist to work through the language. That call has now been scheduled.
As we have continued to review the draft ordinance and discuss it with the City, we can now see that the City is indeed attempting to limit the mandatory revocation to more serious offenses, but we still have concerns with the process and cases in which an owner or manager acted in good faith in every step of the process, but ended up with a guest who breaks the hosts’ rules or local laws. Our dialog with the City on how to address these concerns continues. This includes a discussion of how such gray areas are resolved when the ordinance says “shall” be revoked.
Next steps – and what NBSTRA members should watch for
The ordinance is on a fast track. The City wants to have the new ordinance in effect before this year’s Spring Break weeks. Any clarifying edits would need to be resolved before the February 24 City Council meeting, when the ordinance is expected to return for further action.
NBSTRA is actively engaging with the City to see if these concerns can be addressed through simple, targeted edits that preserve the City’s goal while protecting responsible owners and local managers.
Member action (not yet – but be ready)
At this moment, we are not asking members to contact Council Members. We want to see whether this can be resolved through direct dialogue and clean edits first.
We will keep members informed quickly. If it becomes necessary for members to email Council Members and/or attend the February 24 meeting, we will send a clear call to action with guidance.
