by Kevin Cody
The City of Hermosa Beach has refunded a $5,500 fine issued to the owner of the 28 unit Vurpillat residential building on The Strand cited for violating the city’s ban on short term vacation rentals (STVRs) in residential zones.
The refund was issue after administrative hearing officer Steve Napolitano ruled the “City’s prohibition of STVRs in the Coastal Zone is invalid….” The Coastal Zone is property west of The Greenbelt, representing about half of the 1.4 square mile city.
Napolitano based his ruling on the city’s failure to obtain approval for the ban from the Coastal Commission.
Napolitano is an attorney retained by the City to preside over administrative citation appeals. He is also a Manhattan Beach City Councilmember and a judicial candidate on the November general election ballot for Los Angeles County Superior Court, seat 39.
Attorney Frank Angel, who represented Vurpillat owner Jay Mitchell, described the ruling as “far reaching.”
Angel noted that last week another Strand resident who appealed a STVR fine was issued a refund.
Hermosa Beach Community Development Director Carrie Tai disagreed.
In response to a request for an interview about the ruling, she sent an email, which stated, in part, “The City will comply with the hearing officer’s decision to overturn the citation. The City will also refund in full the administrative fine of $5,500 assessed to the Vurpillat’s owners.”
Fines for STVRs that violate the city’s ban range from $5000 to $20,000 per day
But Tai added, “The City will continue to enforce the short-term rental ban as currently constituted, as the hearing officer’s decision applies solely to the appealed citation.”
Tai disputed the basis of Napolitano’s ruling, stating in her email, “The City is under no obligation to apply for a coastal development permit for generally applicable zoning ordinances.”
“The City’s short-term vacation rental [ordinance] has already been challenged in court – and upheld,” Tai wrote.
Angel said in an interview, the case Tai cites in support of Hermosa’s STVR ordinance is six years old, and in the interim three published cases have upheld the Coastal Commission’s jurisdiction over short term vacation rentals.
Like Hermosa, Manhattan Beach banned STVRs in the coastal zone in 2016. But in 2022, in Keene v. City of Manhattan Beach, an appellate court ruled Manhattan’s ban was illegal. Angel represented the plaintiff.
Angel also cited Kracke v. City of Santa Barbara, a 2021 Appellate Court ruling, which states, “The Coastal Act required the Commission’s approval of a CDP (Coastal Development Permit), LCP (Local Coastal Program) amendment, or amendment waiver before the ban could be imposed.”
Absent Coastal Commission approval, Angel contended, “The City of Hermosa and their officials incur significant liabilities under the Coastal Act and the Bill of Rights by collecting fines from property owners in the Hermosa Beach coastal zone under STVR regulations they know have no legal effect.”
Hermosa Beach currently has approximately 200 Short Term Vacation Rental ads on sites such as Vrbo and Airbnb, according to the STVR analysis site AirDNA.
Hermosa has issued only 14 STVR permits, all in commercial districts, where STVRs are legal. ER
