Malibu Gives Initial Approval To Short-Term Rental Ordinance

MALIBU, CA — The Malibu City Council gave initial approval to a temporary short-term rental enforcement ordinance Monday night. If approved at a later meeting, the enforcement ordinance will take effect Jan. 15, 2021.

While the short-term enforcement ordinance was approved 4-1, the council unanimously voted to bring back a longer-term hosted ordinance at a later meeting due to changes made. These include allowing a designated operator to be on the property rather than in the dwelling, and a new rule that only one rental unit per property can be designated as a short-term rental. This is a key difference from Santa Monica's home-sharing ordinance, which requires a host to live within the dwelling unit.

Other changes include requirements that a designated operator be onsite at the short-term rental between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., and that a duplex unit can be rented with the owner/operator staying in another unit, and that either 40 percent of units or two units in a multi-family can be listed as short-term rentals.

The approved hosted ordinance requires all short-term rentals to register annually for a permit, which can be denied or revoked due to non-compliance. Hosts must also prove that their primary residence is in Malibu. "It's giving us enforcement tools, and the most important enforcement tool that it gives us is the ability to shut down a bad actor, and we intend to use it aggressively as soon as we can starting Jan. 15," said City Attorney Christi Hogan.

If passed, the hosted ordinance will still need to be certified by the California Coastal Commission, a process that can take years. Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, the only dissenting vote, said that the two amendments may negate each other, and advocated "tak[ing] control of our community for a long-term effect."

Mayor Mikke Pierson said that residents need some sort of regulation while the California Coastal Commission approves the long-term ordinance.