by Kevin Cody
A preliminary injunction prohibiting Hermosa Beach from enforcing its ban on Short Term Rentals against resident Todd Koerner was issued by Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant last Wednesday, July 2.
The judge denied a request from attorney Gregg Kettles, who represented the City, that the injunction enforcement be delayed.
(Preliminary injunctions are commonly granted to a party with a “likelihood of prevailing at trial,” according to the Cornell Law School Legal Institute website.)
The injunction applies only to Koerner, and not to other Hermosa residents.
Hermosa retained Host Compliance last year to help identify illegal short term rentals. Since then, the City has been issuing 10 to 12 citations a month, according to Koerner’s suit. Citation fines range up to $20,000.
Hermosa currently has 346 Short Term Rentals, according to AirDNA.com, which collates short term rental data from sites such as Airbnb and Vrbo. Fewer than two dozen Short Term Rental permits have been issued by the city. The permits cost $1,500 annually, and are subject to the City’s 14% TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax).
Hermosa banned short term rentals (under 30 days) including advertising them, in 2016. (Non conforming residences in commercial zones are exempt from the ban.)
Koerner sued the city in March after a city hearing officer denied his appeal of a $2,500 citation issued for advertising a short term rental for a room in his Manhattan Avenue home last October.
Koerner is represented by attorney Frank Angel. In 2019, Angel filed a similar suit against the City of Manhattan Beach, on behalf of client Darby Keen, who rented out a short term rental in Manhattan’s residential coastal zone. Manhattan’s Council banned short term rentals in 2015. Angel prevailed against Manhattan in the lower courts on the basis that a Coastal Commission permit is required to regulate short term rentals in the coastal zone. In 2022, the California Supreme Court declined to hear Manhattan’s appeal of the case. Angel’s client was awarded approximately $150,000 in attorney fees.
Koerner’s suit asks the court to order his fine refunded, and to prohibit the city from enforcing its short term rental ban in the coastal zone. The suit contends the city lacks authority to ban short term rentals in the coastal zone without Coastal Commission approval.
Hermosa’s coastal zone extends along the ocean, from the north to the south ends of town, and east to the Greenbelt.
The Koerner suit also asks the court to exempt from the ban, short term rentals anywhere in the city that were rented prior to adoption of the 2016 ban.
Requests for comments about the injunction to interim City Manager Steve Napolitano and interim City Attorney Todd Leishman were referred to city Public Information Officer Ryan Walker.
Walker responded with an email that stated, “The City is disappointed with the initial ruling at this early stage of the case but will abide by the preliminary injunction while the case proceeds. The full merits of this case have yet to be adjudicated, and we trust that the Court will recognize the merit of the City’s position after the issues are fully briefed and heard. The City remains committed to defending its long-standing restrictions on short term rental use of the City’s important housing stock.”
The next court date in the case is August 5. ER
