Piedmont council again delays decision on short-term rentals in city
By Linda Davis
PIEDMONT — The issue of short-term, Airbnb-type rentals in the city once again came before the Piedmont City Council — after two years — but the council decided not to take any action and said it needed more time to examine it.
“My mind is not made up on this,” Councilman Tim Rood said. “There is a whole raft of issues. I don’t see the urgency to adopt anything tonight.”
Councilwoman Teddy King said: “We don’t have evidence this issue has caused problems. People want to do this.”
The staff had recommended the council adopt an ordinance prohibiting all short-term rentals based upon recommendations by the Planning Commission. The city maintains these rentals disrupt the quiet residential character of neighborhoods and diminish the availability of second units to conform to the city’s housing element mandates.
Planning Director Kevin Jackson said Wednesday that while short-term rentals are already prohibited, they have never been enforced.
“We need clarity in the code what is allowed and what is not — what kinds of parameters and limits,” Jackson said. “It’s unfinished business. The council never finally weighed in on it.”
Council members will discuss their ideas with the staff and the issue will come back to the council. About a dozen people spoke in support and against short-term rentals.
Alicia Kalamas said “you are naive if you think short-term rentals don’t detract from a neighborhood.”
Venus French allows short-term rentals in her Oakland home, saying: “It’s fine. We have rules about noise, parties. Neighbors can call me if there is a problem.”
Other speakers noted that there is a sharing economy with ride services like Uber and Lyft, and Piedmont isn’t overrun with short-term rentals. Few complaints about the short-term rentals have been reported to police. Others said that it’s a bad practice and urged the council to ban the rentals.
Short-term rentals are defined as rentals of private property for 30 or fewer days.
In other business, the council unanimously approved the new waste hauler contract with Richmond Sanitary that will go into effect July 1, 2018. Because of the challenging topography of Piedmont, the rates are more than doubled for backyard service.
The rate for a 20-gallon cart with backyard service will rise from $55.41 per month to $122.17 per month. The rate for 35-gallon cart backyard service will rise from $61.08 per month to $126.93.
Monthly rates for curbside service will be $79.84 and $84.60, respectively, for 20- and 35-gallon carts. Larger green and recycle carts will remain permissible. Those who provide disabled documentation to the city can have backyard service at the curbside rate.
Union representative Don Garcia said there has to be more training for workers to ensure their health and safety. Emptying trash carts manually for backyard service has caused some injuries to workers, and some of the workers had to be reassigned to a route with no hills and no backyard service.
The council also approved designating heritage trees on city property. Residents will be able to nominate up to five trees for designation. Plaques will be affixed to the trees and they will be recognized at the annual Arbor Day celebration. Park Commissioner Jim Horner, who has extensive background in landscape architecture and horticulture, suggested the program.
“There are more trees than people in Piedmont,” Horner said. “There are 13,000 city trees in Piedmont, with about 80 different species. People can learn more about our urban forest and embrace the tree’s value to the community.”
“This is a great idea with broad support,” Mayor Bob McBain said. “We sometimes take beauty for granted. (“It’s) what makes Piedmont so special.”