Exzzzausting

Measure Z heads to Tuesday vote in Mammoth.

While Measure Z might read like one of the top lines on an eye chart, the harder you look, the fuzzier it gets.

The wording of the initiative is clean and clear, that’s the point. The authors spent months preparing the document so there could be no room for misinterpretation of its meaning, no matter how much an opponent may pay a lawyer to try and find a crack or back door. The voter initiated Measure Z, if passed, would demand voters have a say on any changes to zoning in the Town of Mammoth Lakes dealing with nightly rentals. That’s pretty much it.

Specifically, Z is “The Initiative to Require Voter Approval to Alter Transient Rental Zoning in Residential Neighborhoods” that, if approved, would require voter approval “before changing the Town’s current limits on transient uses in residential single-family (RSF), rural residential (RR) and residential multiple Family (RFM-1) residential zones and to require voter approval of any changes to those limits.”

The measure states that RR zones may not have transient rentals but Bed and Breakfasts (BnB) would be permitted with a special use permit. BnBs would not be allowed in any RSF. RMF-1 would permit BnBs but group living quarters would require a permit. Voter approval would be needed to amend or repeal of any changes to the transient use limits, or in changing the zoning of those zoned RR, RSF or RMF-1 unless the amendment adheres to the Transient Use Limits for the zoning in question. “No use permit, modification of a permit, or other entitlement shall be granted, extended or enforced through action or inaction that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Initiative.”

Does Measure Z fix the underlying problem of policing illegal renters? No.

Mammoth Lakes Councilman John Wentworth told The Sheet, “Enforcement is critical to the success of any program.” He added the council is working on an enforcement policy, looking at other communities with similar problems and how they’re handling it.

Wentworth said the council is supportive of Senate Bill 593 – the Thriving Communities and Sharing Economy Act – introduced by Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) in March that would assist local jurisdictions collect transient occupancy tax (TOT) where it is legal and would prohibit online sales where nightly rentals are banned.

Will it change any current zoning in town? No.

The price for Tuesday’s election will be about $50,000 according to Bob Musil, Mono County Registrar of Voters. If passed, subsequent elections for zoning changes could appear on General Election ballots, every two years at a cost of $3,000-$7,000. Cost estimates are based on previous elections.

The average number of voters who show up for a special election in town is about the same as the number of people who signed the petition in favor of the measure, about 1,000.

Tom Gaunt, one of the authors of the measure, said he had never been politically active in the past but when there was news of his neighborhood possibly being opened up to nightly rentals, and with one illegal rental next door, he became motivated.

He joined the Mammoth Neighborhood Group that had continually testified before the council that there needed to be more transparency about what it intended to do and the council, he felt, continued to push the group to the side.

Gaunt explained the group wanted to be proactive and wanted some say in something that could effect his quality of life for decades. “Put the future in our hands,” he said, “Who wouldn’t want to vote on this?”

Kathy Cage, former Mayor and another co-author of Z rolling said she got involved after “an issue of incompatibility” with nightly rental neighbors. She said at the same time she saw the council was moving in a direction she did not feel comfortable with.

The first spark under Cage was how the council was interpreting Measure R to secure money for recreation. The first few years the measure was in effect, things went smoothly, she said, until the economic recession. Coffers were going empty but there always seems to be enough money to hire a lawyer the council brought in to re-interpret Measure R and make the town more money.

She said that annoyed her and she had to ask, “What will they do next?”

Next the council put the issue of nightly rentals on its list of priorities. Cage said she could tell that the council was split 3-2 on the issue and that the fate of nightly rentals in town would be decided by a narrow margin and made, undoubtedly behind closed-doors. At this point, she knew it was time to collect signatures and bring the issue to light of the voters, the people most effected by the issue.

Wentworth said the issue was put on the priority list because of its current explosion in popularity. While nightly rentals might have always been an issue, it was not until companies like AirBnB whose business it is to help private citizens rent their homes, that the issue become so prevalent.

This is why the language for the measure is very clear, Cage told The Sheet and not open to misinterpretation, no matter how much the council pays to try and unlock it. “Even the Town attorney said the language and the measure are abundantly clear,” she said.

Gaunt recently received a mailing from Vacasa, “a full-service vacation rental management firm. I am contacting you because of a high level of interest for vacation homes in your neighborhood.” Vacasa even offers a “revenue guarantee” of up to $5,000, some restrictions apply, if Gaunt were to “entrust” Vacasa with his home.

Vacasa’s bullet points explain its comprehensive marketing programs, user-friendly website, “Permit process and lodging taxes filed for you – we handle the details!” and the kicker, “there is no risk to you in any way!” The firm likes its heady punctuation. There’s nothing in the brochure about checking to see if nightly rentals are legal in Gaunt’s neighborhood, or town, just “potential” and “revenue.”

 

Not addressed by Z

Cage said in an unregulated market like the one Mammoth is currently experiencing, market demand will be whatever is available. “Are there no limits to what we feed the beast of ferocious demand!”

Demand is different from supply. “’What should we allow?’ is a totally separate question,” she added. Its also a question of values of what kind of community people want.

For Cage, it wasn’t the loud parties from her nightly rental neighbors that were keeping her up at night, but the nightly renters that would sit on the back porch all night long talking about their kid’s college or prostate exams. The renters weren’t obnoxious but the whole scene was irritating and and not something regular neighbors would do.

At the Z forum last week, “Yes” proponent Sandy Hogan was asked what’s worse, a horrible neighbor who is only there for a weekend, or a horrible neighbor that stays all winter, or longer. Hogan said that with a long-term neighbor there’s at least an opportunity to talk to them and try and reason or come to a compromise. It seems futile to try and ask someone who’s just staying the night to keep the noise down.

If the nightly renters were open to reason, they probably wouldn’t be up all night making noise to begin with. And, there would be nothing stopping an unreasonable nightly renter from causing even more trouble if confronted.

If Yes passes, Kathy Cage says, “The first thing the council should do if the measure passes is to start scribing a policing and enforcement policy,” Cage said. If the council has been listening to what the people have been saying, a good enforcement policy is what is so badly needed and something where the council can come to the rescue.

Greg Newbry, also a former Councilmember, said that as clear and concise as it may appear, Z is poorly written.

Z may well prevent good planning in the future, he said, on parcels [such as the Shady Rest Tract] which may have nothing to do with nightly rentals, because any zoning change requires a vote, and realisticvally, nothing will ever go to a ballot again. “Who’s going to bother?” he asked rhetorically. “This is about forevermore.”

Sheet: If you were a worker bee, how would you vote?

Newbry: A ‘No’ vote would mean I’d be voting to create maximum economic capacity and development, giving me the best odds to protect my job.

But if, on the other hand, you want Mammoth Lakes to be a two-star outdoor hotel and keep rentals out of the neighborhoods, vote yes.

The “No on Z” crowd’s website has proven entertaining, just because they’ve outlined their electoral strategy in posts available to all.

From Sept. 28: “We need to first explain that no one has ever said we should open up town wide. We are talking about a limited pilot program (I think the number of 150 licenses needs to move up if we are going to include room sharing). Second, we need to explain how and exactly why a vote for Z has the de facto effect of locking in the unworkable status quo for the next several years due to the time, focus, and cost it would take to get something passed. This leads to another false and misleading statement of theirs: A yes vote for Z will stop expansion – By doing nothing it has morphed into 100-150 right now which will continue to increase by default and make it even harder to collect taxes, regulate, etc. This point needs to be driven home.”

Gaunt said its probably too late to persuade anyone at this point, just days before the election, but he said he wasn’t going to miss the “No” crowd’s free beer and brats.