Poll: Residents Unaware of Measure B Consequences

Poll Shows Cathedral City Voters are Not Aware of Measure B Consequences

New polling conducted by Change Research, a polling firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and paid for by those opposed to Measure B, shows that the majority of Cathedral City registered voters are unaware of existing city regulations on short-term vacation rentals and are also unaware of Measure B consequences.

Uken Report could not independently verify the validity of the poll.

Measure B would completely ban the ability for homeowners outside of HOAs to rent out their private property as STVRs, opponents to Measure B claim.

But is that true? Cathedral City Communications Manager told Uken Report, “That cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.  If Measure B passes, it follows the guidelines in Ordinance 842 unanimously approved by the city council.  It allows current STVR property owners to rent out their entire property as an STVR until December 31, 2022.  Those who live in a HOA community and the HOA community permits STVRs, then they can continue to rent out as STVRs beyond December 31, 2022.  If they do not live in an HOA community after December 31, 2022, then the owner can “Home Share” their property as an STVR rental.  That means they can rent out a casita or room if they property owners stays in the main house during the STVR rental or the owner can rent out the main house and stay in the casita during the entire rental.

Another item to consider, Parman said, is renting to snow birds who typically rent 30 days or more.  Those rentals can continue because they are not considered STVRs, even though they are in the Valley for portions of the “season” or year.  “Again, the city council received input from residents for more than a year and half about all the pros and cons of this important topic, and they concluded this was the best policy to move forward with in order to maintain the character of neighborhoods, enhance public safety, and still allow property owners various options to make additional income in a responsible and respectful manner to surrounding neighbors.”

Opponents of Measure B claim that proponents of Measure B’s materials do not list out the full text of Measure B, and fail to mention that the Measure will phase out and effectively ban the majority of short-term rentals in Cathedral City, according to Anca Matica, campaign manager for No on Measure B.

The sample size of the poll was “representative of the population of registered voters in Cathedral City,” Matica said. She declined to say specifically how many people were polled. The survey was conducted throughout the second week of January. The survey was paid for by Share Cathedral City, No on Measure B, a committee of responsible homeowners from Cathedral City.

Matica declined to say how much the survey cost. She also did not provide a margin of error.

There are already regulations and penalties in place, including permit suspension, to weed out bad actors. Renters pay a 12% transient occupancy tax on their short-term rentals, providing more than half a million dollars in revenue for Cathedral City services.

Short-term vacation rentals provide a boost to Cathedral’s City economy by providing the city with a stable revenue source and increased tourism to local businesses, according to Matica.

“Voting No on Measure B will save jobs and local businesses,” claims Alan Carvalho, a  Cathedral City resident and failed candidate for the City Council in November 2020. “The loss of revenue from a ban on STVRs will permanently damage Cathedral’s City economy — a dangerous decision to make in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

 

 

 

 

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