Manhattan Beach About Town
Short term rentals
The Manhattan Beach City Council will consider revisiting its ban on short-term rentals at its March 6 meeting. This will be the first time Council will discuss the issue after voting to prohibit short-term rentals in residential zones at its June 16, 2015 meeting. The City Council gave direction to revisit this policy at a strategic planning session in May 2017.
As home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO have become popular in arranging short-term rentals (defined as rentals for under 30 days), many cities have debated their impacts upon their own communities and how to appropriately draft regulations. The Manhattan Beach Municipal Code currently prohibits rentals for periods under 30 days.
City staff has researched options for possibly allowing limited short-term rentals while minimizing impacts to residential neighbors. This information will be presented at next Tuesday’s meeting, followed by a Council discussion about the regulatory challenges short-termrentals present, including permitting and enforcement. The staff report examines policies other cities have instituted in response to the widespread popularity of technology-enabled home-sharing.
For more information, contact Assistant Planner Jason Masters at 310-802-5515 or short-term-rentals@citymb.info.
Environmental Task Force
Are you in interested in becoming part of a citizen-based movement to improve the quality of our environment? The City of Manhattan Beach is now accepting applications for its Environmental Task Force. The city is seeking a diverse cross-section of the residential, business, scientific, and education communities to become members of the Environmental Task Force.
The Task Force will work together to develop long-term Sustainability Goals, share technical skills and lessons learned from previous environmental and sustainability pursuits, and contribute to the development of policies and programs related to a variety of topics, including climate action and energy, low-impact development and sustainable building, smart water management, and climate adaptation and resiliency.
Applications can be downloaded at the city’s website and should be submitted to the City’s Environmental Manager, Dana Murray, by 5 p.m. on March 14.