PRESS RELEASE

Palm Springs, Calif.— March 2, 2021 — The We Love Palm Springs coalition, representing a diverse group of Palm Springs vacation rental owners and neighbors, is disappointed in today’s Cathedral City vote, to ban vacation rentals.

It is no surprise that when Cathedral City put its finger on the scale in opposition to rentals who never got a fair hearing and then ran a very one-sided “education campaign” in the last month. Data on enforcement on vacation rentals in Cathedral City is practically nonexistent, unlike Palm Springs which has transparently collected its enforcement data since 2017.

For instance, Palm Springs’ Vacation Rental Hotline’s most recent report (covering Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2020) shows an overwhelming majority (90%) of the registered rentals and homeshares had zero citations. In the last quarter of 2020, there was only one citation per week across all of Palm Springs vacation rental properties.

“Palms Springs has a model that got it right — we welcome visitors while also having a very effective process for managing vacation rentals and homeshares. It’s important that Palm Springs citizens and leaders stay focused on what we know works and not be confused by overblown falsehoods and a few residents making false statements there are 100’s of loud VR’s every weekend,” says Bruce Hoban, Co-Founder of Vacation Rental Owners and Neighbors of Palm Springs, which created the “We Love Palm Springs” campaign.

We Love Palm Springs highlights the following:

• Palm Springs vacation rental guests contribute over $11 million in occupancy taxes annually to the city, which support first-responders, recreation programs, the no-kill animal shelter, library, and other crucial community services
• Palm Springs vacation rentals provide over 1,000 local jobs
• There are over 150 regulations that vacation rental homeowners must follow in Palm Springs
• Palm Springs code enforcement personnel is funded by VR permit fees and not tax dollars with little to no impact on police officer resources

Hoban says supporters remain committed to not banning tourists by creating a vibrant future through neighborly values of respect, transparency, and harmony.

Mayor Christy Holstege added: “We should all be concerned about the Coachella Valley remaining hospitable to tourists who seek a range of accommodations. We’ve proven in Palm Springs that with tough enforcement we can balance neighborhood interests with welcoming tourists who want the experience of staying in a home. We’ve worked long and hard to strike a balance and our system in Palm Springs works well. We always welcome feedback from our residents if there are improvements we can make. I’d like to see the entire Valley think more about increasing rules and enforcement rather than bans in order to keep welcoming tourists who are the lifeblood of our economy.”

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