Short Term Rentals

County Hosts Meeting Regarding Proposed Short Term Rental Ordinance
Updated October 4, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.

The Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector hosted a virtual information session for Topanga residents on Friday, September 29, 2023, to answer questions and address concerns about the proposed ordinance to regulate Short-Term Rentals (STR) in unincorporated LA County. (It is important to note that this is the first in what we anticipate will be multiple local discussions on this issue.) Roughly 50 people were in attendance, including County Counsel, Regional Planning, and Supervisor Horvath’s Senior Field Deputy, Sophia Soudani.

The session was informative and useful, though several issues remain unresolved and/or unclear, such as contradictions between various Zoning regulations and the proposed STR Ordinance. In addition to some Code and regulatory contradictions, there are concerns about whether the proposed Ordinance sufficiently balances the rights of residents to use their homes as they see fit against public safety imperatives and community/neighborhood quality of life concerns. It appears that people on both sides of the issue feel that the Ordinance needs some additional tweaking.

We plan to invite the County to participate in a follow-up discussion in November that includes input from a survey that we distribute to the community.* We want to empower residents to take an active role in helping to craft proposed suggestions and solutions to some of the issues and challenges that the Ordinance poses. 

The Department taking the lead on drafting and revising the Ordinance is the Treasurer and Tax Collector’s office, in conjunction with input from Regional Planning, County Counsel, and the Coastal Commission.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE, PLEASE READ THE COUNTY'S SHORT TERM RENTAL FAQS. 

*Please keep an eye out for a survey from the TTC that shall be sent out by mid-October. We hope to gather responses by the end of the month and then host a follow-up discussion at our November TTC meeting.