By Dakota Smith
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a new law that will require hosts of short-term rentals, including Airbnbs, and hotels to obtain a police permit.
City Council President Paul Krekorian and other backers of the proposal said the permit requirement will help the city crack down on party houses and properties that draw illicit behavior.
More broadly, it will create a new regulatory hurdle for short-term rental and hotel operators, allowing the City Council and neighborhoods to challenge the issuance of the permits.
The proposal is part of a compromise negotiated by Council President Paul Krekorian to get a controversial initiative off the March ballot. That measure was sponsored by the politically powerful hotel workers’ union, Unite Here Local 11, and it would have required that hotels rent vacant rooms to homeless people.
Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson on Tuesday asked the city to look at potential alternatives to the police permit for short-term rental hosts. Dawson’s request gave hope to some in the short-term rental industry that the city will eventually drop the permit requirement.
There are more than 9,000 short-term rentals and about 400 hotels in Los Angeles, according to the LAPD. Processing permits for all of those properties will nearly triple the department’s workload and require hiring five sworn officers and five civilians.