From: City Clerk"s Office
To: Mulvey, Jennifer
Subject: FW: Public Comment for July 14, 2026 City Council Meeting – Resident Concerns on Neighboring STR Smoke, Community Safety, and City Services
Date: July 06, 2026 7:02:54 AM
From: JuliAna B <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 6, 2026 7:02:22 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: City Clerk's Office <[email protected]>; Dept - City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment for July 14, 2026 City Council Meeting – Resident Concerns on Neighboring STR Smoke, Community Safety, and City Services
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Dear Mayor Kleiman, Members of the City Council, and City Clerk, My name is JuliAna Boses and I am a long-time resident, homeowner, and taxpayer here in Newport Beach. This upcoming meeting will be my first time participating in the council process, and I am submitting this comment because I love our community and want to ensure its safety and quality of life remain a top priority.
I respectfully request that the Council review and prioritize action on the following critical issues impacting our neighborhoods:
1. Daily Drifting Smoke from Short-Term Rentals:
The close proximity of our homes
significantly worsens the impact of short-term rentals. My property shares a fence line and sits only two feet away from a neighboring Airbnb. Guests smoke outside constantly—at least 2 to 3 times every single day. This heavy, drifting secondhand smoke directly enters my home on a daily basis. It is a horrible, constant nuisance that I am incredibly exhausted by, and it severely affects my health. The City must implement strict regulations or bans on smoking at short-term rental properties to protect the health and rights of permanent residents.
2. Short-Term Rental (Airbnb) Caps:
Beyond the smoking issue, the sheer volume of
short-term rentals is bringing a disruptive influx of people into residential zones, compromising our community's safety and neighborhood character. I ask the Council to place stricter limits on the number of Airbnb permits allowed.
3. 4th of July Crowd Mitigation:
While Newport Beach is a premier holiday destination,
the massive, overwhelming influx of people this past 4th of July created significant safety concerns for residents. Why did the City allow crowding to reach this scale, and what steps will be taken to better control and limit these crowds in the future to protect local neighborhoods?
4. Increased Street Cleaning:
With increased tourism and foot traffic comes a heavy
burden on our infrastructure. The city streets must be cleaned much more frequently to maintain the cleanliness and standards that Newport Beach homeowners expect and pay for.
As a dedicated member of this community, I ask that these items be given immediate consideration and priority. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your commitment to July 14, 2026
Study Session Item
keeping Newport Beach safe and livable for its permanent residents.
Sincerely,
JuliAna Boses
119 24th Street Newport Beach Ca 92663
From: Garrett, Errica
Sent: July 13, 2026 8:13 AM
To: Dept - City Clerk
Subject: FW: To Michelle Clark and City of NB Code Enforcement - Request for Follow Up Regarding Alleged Unruly STL Unit on July 4th
Errica Garrett
Administrative Assistant to
the Mayor and City Council
City Manager’s Office
Office: 949-644-3004
100 Civic Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
From: Carmen Rawson <[email protected]>
Sent: July 10, 2026 9:13 AM
To: Murray, John <[email protected]>; Code Enforcement <[email protected]>
Cc: Miner, David <[email protected]>; Jurjis, Seimone <[email protected]>; Stapleton, Joe <[email protected]>; Dept - City Council <[email protected]>; Ken & Carmen Rawson <[email protected]>
Subject: To Michelle Clark and City of NB Code Enforcement - Request for Follow Up Regarding Alleged Unruly STL Unit on July 4th
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Hello John, et al,
I saw a (Sunday 05Jul26) post on Nextdoor, by Michelle Clark who is addressed also on this email, stating that the chaos experienced on July 4th was mainly caused by guests staying at short-term lodging units in the Peninsula. Michelle specifically refers to a house on "her street" that, when the police arrived to handle the situation "hundreds of kids came out flying" from said house. Down on the comments to her post Michelle also posted the house in question is "A two story rental managed by Avantstay".
Among the comments to Michelle's post was the following one:
• Avantstay advertises on TikTok. I doubt our local rental companies (many of which have been around for decades) advertise there. Avantstay is global and renters are not vetted.
The purpose of this email to Code Enforcement is:
a) I am requesting for Code Enforcement to contact Michelle Clark to get the specific address of the house in question for Code Enforcement to open a case and investigate that property.
b) I am requesting for Code Enforcement to investigate Avantstay and TikTok for their advertising/marketing of short-term lodging (STL) units in Newport Beach to ensure they are complying with all the requirements/restrictions already imposed on Newport Beach STL units through the various related City Ordinances already in place.
Regards,
Carmen Rawson
949-2178-2447 Cell
FOR QUICK REFERENCE - TEXT OF MICHELLE CLARK's 05JUL26 NEXTDOOR POST:
I sent this email to City Council this morning. Michelle Clark From:
[email protected] To: [email protected] Sun, Jul 5 at 4:07 PM I am a bit perplexed at how the Newport Beach City Council and the newly appointed Newport Beach City Manager were not able to predict the unspeakable and outrageous incidents that occurred last night in our city. I have been telling the council for months that the new breed of teenager is without moral, value, common sense and dignity. I have been spit at, harassed, taunted, cussed at, blocked and followed home on many occasions and the only response I get from city council is to ride down the alleys. Well, I did ride down the alleys and there was no break from these thugs that have (once again) invaded our city. I have seen all of the videos from last night and our police department had no where near the support and resources that should have been in place last night. I was in Pavilions Friday night and their plan of mayhem and destruction was already being put into place. Do any of you ever visit the peninsula or shop in our stores? I was extremely taken aback that the presence of these thugs was not taken more seriously. Perhaps if one or two or three of you ventured into the may lay (during the afternoon and early evening), you may have been better able to gauge the pre-planning of these events by these thugs. Our police force was left vulnerable; they were intentionally targeted and this is unacceptable. Why are all of these STR management companies allowed to get their leads from Airbnb's? They are not vetted - they are simply referred and approved sight unseen. There was a fight on my street Friday night and when the police arrived to manage the situation, hundreds of kids came flying out of that house. Most of them underage. This should not be allowed and the sheer number of these STR's is insane. The events of last night could have been avoided if city council and the city manager would have assisted our police force with planning, staffing, police presence, got serious about enforcing the illegal motorized usage on our streets and boardwalks, begin impounding these illegal vehicles, implementing tougher criteria for these STRs and continuously letting these punk-thugs know that illegal behavior will not be tolerated. On my way home this morning, these punk thugs were laughing at all of the videos that have been posted and congratulating each other for a job well done. Our police force deserves better and so do the residents. Michelle A. Clark
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Balboa Peninsula Trending Posts <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 06:24:08 PM PDT
Subject: I sent this email to City Council this morning.
Mic hell e Clark From : michk 364@sbcgl obal .net To: cityc ouncil @newportbeac hc a.g ov Sun, Jul 5 at 4:07 PM I am a bit perplexed at.. .͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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From: Garrett, Errica
Sent: July 13, 2026 8:05 AM
To: Dept - City Clerk
Subject: FW: Suggested Solutions / July 4th, 2026
Errica Garrett
Administrative Assistant to
the Mayor and City Council
City Manager’s Office
Office: 949-644-3004
100 Civic Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
From: Brian Fagan <[email protected]>
Sent: July 12, 2026 2:57 PM
To: Dept - City Council <[email protected]> Subject: Suggested Solutions / July 4th, 2026
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Dear Mayor and City Council Members, my family has enjoyed living at 1905 East Bay Ave., towards the end of Peninsula Point for over 10 years. Our parents also have lived and still own a home closer to the Wedge for the past 40 years. I earned an engineering and MBA from UCI in the 80s. We love Newport and the surrounding communities.
As a result of the civil unrest, 20 of our guests on July 4th were unable to get off the Peninsula and stuck at our house until about 2:00 am, over 4 hours after they had planned to leave. Luckily, they are good friends.
Our adult children witnessed live fireworks being tossed towards spectators and police…what if someone would have been injured as a result? What if an ambulance could not get through?
As a possible solution to avoid another “out of towner” disruption of our community, I suggest homeowners and guests of homeowners be provided a QR code access system for the Peninsula. Newport Beach Police, in coordination with the City staff, should generate a very simple Newport Beach Access APP to allow residents to have and send to guests a QR code permitting access to the areas south of 36th street (when coming along W. Balboa Blvd. from Huntington Beach). Access along Newport Blvd. can be provided past or
blocked at 32nd street (before Pavilions when coming down Newport Blvd) such that those with QR codes are permitted to continue past checkpoints. Checkpoints can be set up by Police to turn those around that do not have access code.
Clearly, due to the number of people there will be traffic backed up on the roads and may even impact Newport Blvd all the way back to near Hoag. To solve this, I suggest the QR code be printed out by guests and homeowners and placed in the car windshield (like the Fast Pass for the HOV lanes on the freeway). The printed small paper inside the windshield (on a temporary basis) can be displayed such that Police can quickly scan and allow through cars with pre-posted QR codes. Those without a pre-printed code, would need to stop and roll down the window and show their QR code on their phone or turn around.
We all look forward to America’s 251st birthday celebration in Newport being a safe celebration and less stressful day for all !
Brian Fagan
Managing Partner
Selective Real Estate Investments
16830 Ventura Blvd., Suite 320
Encino, CA 91436
Office 818-995-4900 x 224
Fax 818-995-4911
[email protected]
www.SelectiveRE.com
From: Garrett, Errica
Sent: July 13, 2026 8:05 AM
To: Dept - City Clerk
Subject: FW: Newport Beach 4th 2026
Errica Garrett
Administrative Assistant to
the Mayor and City Council
City Manager’s Office
Office: 949-644-3004
100 Civic Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
From: Jeanette Towne <[email protected]>
Sent: July 12, 2026 1:03 PM
To: Dept - City Council <[email protected]> Cc: Sam Towne <[email protected]>
Subject: Newport Beach 4th 2026
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Hello,
As a resident living on the 100 Block of 26th Street, I would like to make a few comment/suggestions in preparation for the 7/14/26 4pm Meeting.
1. I want to commend the city for the stellar effort, planned action and deployment of the Newport’s Finest Officers on the 4th. Well done!
2. 3 years ago - there was a stabbing on the pier and revelry late into the night. From our 3rd floor deck we witnessed two large groups coming onto 26th from the beach. One aggressive male sucker-punched and knocked out an suspecting male in the other group. We called the police. (Always so responsive - thank you!!!). People were seen running down the streets screaming as other offenders were firing bottle rockets into the crowd.
2. Last year it was worse. We decided to attend a private event in CDM. Upon driving home - the peninsula was mobbed with young drunk people- pouring out from the sidewalks and
walking onto Balboa Blvd - everywhere. It was frightening and unsafe! Same behaviors from the year before but triple the number of people.
3. This year - we left our beautiful city and took a 2-week holiday to avoid being in our favorite place! Our neighbors sent us videos and multiple friends reached out to see if we were ok. I have those videos and AGAIN we thank Newport Beach PD they had multiple patrol cars on our 100 Block of 26th!!
4. Suggestions;
- From information about the last few years and the explosion this year - assign a social media expert(s) to monitor activity on Instagram, Snap Chat and Mainly TicToc. This is how the information was spread and what contributed to the rioting, looting and massive arrests.
-Create a blanket notice for all Newport AirBNB, and Local rental agencies to MONITOR who is renting over the 4th and to verify IF there are reasonable adults OVER the age of 25 renting!
- Communicate with HB and Costa Mesa rental agencies as above.
- Last year I spoke with many of the young people who walked by our home - Curious where they were from….90% + said Scottsdale (mainly) or other AZ cities (called themselves ‘Zonies’). Many were underage and when I asked them where they were staying - most said Costa Mesa - where they had dozens of friends flopping in a rental for 4 people! Parents ‘rented’ the place! They all took Uber to the beach. This story was repeated as I spoke with groups of young people.
I am a long-term citizen, surfing as a teen at Blackie’s Beach and growing up in OC. We love our city and hope and pray it can be kept safe for our young adult children and young baby grandchildren to enjoy all year long and especially on the 4th of July- to celebrate our country in the best city in America!
If there is anything I can do to help, please communicate with me.
Respectfully,
Jeanette M. Towne
CEO
Stone Impact Media
[email protected]
(916) 240-6600
These Stones -Season 1
Streaming NOW ON YouTube
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NfIqGhqluhI&pp=0gcJCR4Bo7VqN5tD
From: City Clerk's Office
Sent: July 12, 2026 12:40 PM
To: Mulvey, Jennifer
Subject: FW: City Council meeting. July 14.: request for public comments on law enforcement matters, especially.
From: Philip Bettencourt <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2026 12:37:19 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: City Clerk's Office <[email protected]>
Cc: Stapleton, Joe <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: City Council meeting. July 14.: request for public comments on law enforcement matters, especially.
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Madam City Clerk, mayor and City Council members and distinguished public officials, I would like permission to offer public comments on the.
Agenda item concerning. The. July 4th weekend - Outrageous behavior.
That endangered public safety and certainly, gave our city a black eye.
Like you folks, I salute all of our first responders for their professionalism and conduct dealing with a convulsive public safety dilemma..
(Meredith and I are. City of La Quinta residents now and had the good fortune to spend our 4th of July holiday with her family in the great city of Savannah. But the 4th of July news about Newport Beach traveled quickly.)
I should say by way of explanation that our roots in Newport Beach run. deeply. We have had an office in. Namport Center for more than 30 years.
I was a two-term president of the Newport Coast Community Association. And was honored to serve as interim City Manager back in the day.
(In fact. I was the project manager for the current police building that was built. After. A bond issue for a proposed Newport Center civic center site had cratered badly.)
I know you have a well-staffed. Site selection facility processes now underway. And I will leave it to those good folks do the right thing. I wish them God-Speed.
Law Enforcement Issues. I'm a public administration graduate of Cal State University Long Beach with a police science minor so I have some sense of the law enforcement issues that your folks faced over this weekend.
I have three modest proposals to make.
1. The pre deployment. of SWAT teams from cooperating police agencies on the peninsula.. In advance. In full riot gear. You simply had to know that an Unlawful Assembly Order. Was going to emerge as the most effective way to deal with unruly crowds.
The challenges of getting on to the peninsula from off site to Ground Zero Are legendary. You need to fast moving Well equipped. Experienced.
Officers in place in advance in proper gear to move immediately to enforce an unlawful assembly order.
Secondly. You should have had. High-powered. Area Lighting In place.
Before sundown. Drunken hooligans are like cockroaches, and they do not like bright lights.
Lighting of trouble zones in advance would have enabled officers to move more confidently and to take down hooligans and law breakers and fragment the crowds. Of course, forensic photography would help as would remote booking area buses. To get these troublemakers out of the area.
Finally. There's been a good deal of talk about the number of people who were here from. Out of the city. I'm presuming over the two-day holiday.
They had to sleep somewhere.
I would hope. That you were. Conducting third party forensic audits of short-term rentals. And if any of these hooligans came from those rentals you would deal with the Hosts and/o hostesses promptly and sternly.
.
I support the city manager’s sober assessment. And join him and you and also saluting all our first responders and Our General Services personnel for the often-thankless job they do of cleaning our city streets and ……. beaches.
Philip F. & Meredith Bettencourt
Real Estate Development Planning | Stewardship
Newport Beach | La Quinta | RivCo
[email protected]
949-874-4443
From: City Clerk's Office
Sent: July 13, 2026 1:31 PM
To: Mulvey, Jennifer
Subject: FW: Subject- summary comments for july 14 city council study session re. July 4th
From: Denys Oberman <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2026 1:30:36 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: Dept - City Council <[email protected]>; City Clerk's Office <[email protected]>; Denys Oberman <[email protected]>; fred levine <[email protected]>
Subject: Subject- summary comments for july 14 city council study session re. July 4th [EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button above.
Mayor,council members and senior staff:
I am travelling and unable to attend this important meeting.these comments summarize highlights of my individual and community perspective.they also provide a placemark for related comments and standing, to be provided shortly.
- we appreciate the efforts of nbpd and other enforcement personnel. It is unfortunate that the city was unwilling and/or unable to establish a meaningful proactive approach . Residents,businesses and vacation visitors were unnecessarily put in harms way.
-multiple residents and stakeholders requested city action in this and prior years .however,the City largely turned a blind eye to obseevations,evidence,and requests for assistance. One example running for at least this and prior several years: we pleaded with the City to have regular,nightly beach patrol. Several years of multiple people lighting illegal fireworks,which caused fires.these were in close proximity to residences, Balboa peninsula and cdm. Practices began week or two prior to each 4th of July. Residents feared for safety and contacted nbpd for service. It was consistently not forthcoming. - commentaries on social media and physical group/gang presence increased significantly with accompanying interactions and messages. I advise city representatives of concerns for civil stride.they blew off our comments.bottom line: there was evidence of growing civil disruptions coming to the city. ( more to follow shortly).rhe city has not listened to our concerns,evidence or guidance. This is not the first year we have berm put at risk.
A fundamental change in outlook and leadership is essential to protect and preserve..safety, property,integrity
Solution at minimum needs plan and im0lementation of the following:
1. Management and control of ingress onto Balboa penni sula and potentially other coastal areas.elements to include rexidentband permit based visitors only on july 4th after10 am.also on the weekends evening. We need capacity metrics as well.
It is unsafe to allow volume which impairs emergency,ada,parking,access and response.
2. Immediately implement consistent evening boots the ground, patrol of beaches and adjacent boardwalk. Presence and enforcement of beach and related operating hours.
Suggest year round,at least nightly .
3.change in leadership direction and commitment.. these are serious issues.we need experienced experts who know how to make the balance happen.
Thank you
Denys oberman
Oceanfront resident and community stakeholder
..
( please disregard
Notice below
)
Regards,
Denys H. Oberman, CEO
OBERMAN Strategy and Financial Advisors
19200 Von Karman Ave, 6th Floor
Irvine, CA 92612
Tel (949) 476-0790
Cell (949) 230-5868
Email: [email protected]
www.obermanassociates.com
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The documents accompanying this transmission contain confidential information belonging to the sender which is legally privileged. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this telecopied information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, ple ase notify us immediately at 949/476-0790 or the electronic address above, to arrange for the return of the document(s) to us.
From: Garrett, Errica
Sent: July 13, 2026 3:20 PM
To: Dept - City Clerk
Subject: FW: Written Comments: Year-Round STR Reduction, Peninsula Capacity and Public Safety
Errica Garrett
Administrative Assistant to
the Mayor and City Council
City Manager’s Office
Office: 949-644-3004
100 Civic Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
From: Scott McFetters <[email protected]>
Sent: July 13, 2026 3:19 PM
To: Dept - City Council <[email protected]> Subject: Written Comments: Year-Round STR Reduction, Peninsula Capacity and Public Safety
[EXTERNAL EMAIL] DO NOT CLICK links or attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button above.
Mayor and Members of the Newport Beach City Council:
Thank you for considering the City’s response to the serious conditions that occurred on the Balboa Peninsula on July 4.
I am a Newport Island resident and intend to speak briefly at the City Council meeting. I am submitting these written comments because the issues cannot be adequately addressed within a two-minute public-comment period.
Short-term rentals are no longer simply a three-month summer issue.
Many now operate as year-round businesses, available nearly every day of the year. The owners may never stay at the property, while professional management companies handle a constant rotation of temporary occupants.
These are not occasional rentals of family beach homes. Many are commercial lodging businesses operating inside or close to residential neighborhoods.
Residents experience the effects throughout the year through constant occupant turnover, additional vehicles, parking pressure, noise, trash, dogs, parties, enforcement challenges and the loss of residential housing.
During the summer, those year-round impacts are added to already severe beach traffic, parking demand and public-safety pressures.
July 4 did not create the underlying problem. It exposed how serious the consequences can become when year-round STR activity, STRs operating without permits, professionally managed 30-day residential rentals and a sudden crowd surge occur at the same time.
July 4 was the emergency. STRs are the year-round problem.
A similar social-media event could be organized on almost any summer weekend with little warning. The City therefore needs both:
1. A year-round STR reduction, enforcement and
accountability plan; and
2. A summer traffic, parking, capacity and emergency-
response plan that can be activated whenever conditions become unsafe.
MY EXPERIENCE ON JULY 4
At around 3:30 p.m., I was at the beach near 34th Street with friends and other families when we were told to leave.
Later that evening, at around 9:00 p.m., my wife and I were returning from Niguel Shores to our home on Newport Island.
Once we reached the Peninsula area, it took us nearly two hours to travel approximately one mile.
There were no officers visibly directing traffic at PCH and Superior or at the Balboa Boulevard entrance, and there was no apparent functioning traffic-flow plan.
This was more than an inconvenience. It raised a serious public- safety question: if residents could not move through the area, how would an ambulance, fire engine or police vehicle have gotten through?
The City must have a traffic and emergency-access plan in place before roads become impassable—not after the Peninsula has already been overwhelmed.
A YEAR-ROUND STR BUSINESS MODEL
Many short-term rentals are no longer family beach homes rented occasionally during the summer.
They operate throughout the year as commercial lodging
businesses. Some owners never occupy the homes, own
multiple properties or lease their properties to professional management companies that attempt to rent them nearly
every available night.
This business model creates a constant rotation of temporary occupants in residential neighborhoods.
Residents experience:
• Constant occupant turnover;
• Additional vehicles and parking pressure;
• Noise and parties;
• Trash and sanitation problems;
• Dogs and other disturbances;
• Fireworks and unsafe behavior;
• Loss of quiet enjoyment;
• Reduced housing availability; and
• Repeated reliance on neighbors to report violations.
Even when there is no large party, the continual turnover of unrelated occupants changes the character of a residential neighborhood.
The City should consider reducing both the total number and concentration of STR permits, particularly where multiple STRs affect the same block or neighborhood.
The City should not evaluate STRs only by the transient occupancy tax collected. It should also consider Code
Enforcement, police and fire response, sanitation, trash collection, administration, housing loss and neighborhood impacts.
HOTELS ARE NOT THE ISSUE
My concern is not Newport Beach hotels and resorts.
Hotels operate with established room-occupancy limits, on-site management, fire and life-safety requirements, security and employees who can respond immediately when a problem
develops.
A short-term rental outside of a commercial area is different.
A property may have a limited number of registered overnight guests but still attract dozens of additional visitors. The owner may be absent, entry may occur through a keypad and the management company may never personally see the
occupants.
Unless a neighbor reports the activity and City personnel arrive while the violation is occurring, an excessive gathering may continue without intervention.
The City should therefore enforce both overnight occupancy and the total number of people permitted at an STR property at any time, including visitors, parties and daytime gatherings.
A SUMMER CAPACITY AND EMERGENCY-ACCESS PROBLEM
The Peninsula has limited roads, limited parking and limited ways to enter and leave.
During the summer, year-round STR activity is combined with heavy beach traffic, large crowds and severe parking demand.
The City should determine how many vehicles, visitors and residential-rental occupants the Peninsula can safely
accommodate while maintaining:
• Emergency access;
• Functional traffic flow;
• Access for residents and employees;
• Lawful parking;
• Police and fire response;
• Sanitation and trash service; and
• Meaningful public coastal access.
The City should establish measurable capacity thresholds involving roadway movement, lawful parking, emergency
access, crowd size and public-safety conditions.
Once those thresholds are reached, the City should stop additional vehicles from entering the affected area and stop encouraging or facilitating additional arrivals.
The objective should not be to find additional ways to bring more people into an area that has already reached an unsafe capacity.
That plan should apply throughout the summer and during any social-media event, large gathering or unexpected visitor surge—not only on July 4.
NEWPORT HEIGHTS AND SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS
The July 4 traffic and parking impacts were not limited to the Balboa Peninsula.
Newport Heights and other nearby residential neighborhoods are regularly used as parking and staging areas by people heading to the Peninsula. Visitors park there and then walk, bicycle, use electric bicycles or take rideshare vehicles toward the beach.
On July 4, that existing pattern became substantially more intense and added traffic, parking demand and disruption to surrounding residential streets.
Those neighborhoods should not be expected to function as unrestricted satellite parking and staging areas during major holidays or extraordinary crowd events.
The City should evaluate narrowly tailored, temporary parking protections for Newport Heights and other heavily affected neighborhoods on July 4 and during similarly high-risk events.
Options could include:
• Temporary resident parking permits;
• Guest passes for residents;
• Temporary time limits or restrictions on selected residential streets;
• Exceptions for caregivers and essential visitors;
• Immediate enforcement against vehicles blocking driveways, sidewalks, red zones or emergency routes; and
• Advance notice explaining the temporary restrictions.
The purpose should be to preserve access for residents, emergency vehicles and essential services—not to create additional parking or staging capacity for larger crowds.
Public coastal access does not require the City to continue adding vehicles and people after the affected area has reached an unsafe capacity.
COASTAL COMMISSION AUTHORITY
Residents are frequently told that the California Coastal Commission prevents Newport Beach from modifying STR
regulations or managing access to the Peninsula.
That statement is too broad and should be supported by
specific written legal authority.
I am not proposing a permanent beach closure or the general exclusion of the public from the coast.
I am asking the City to manage vehicle volume, residential- rental occupancy and emergency capacity during high-risk periods.
Coastal access should not mean:
• Unlimited vehicles entering without regard to roadway capacity;
• Unlimited gatherings at residential rental properties; • Streets becoming impassable;
• Surrounding neighborhoods becoming unmanaged parking
and staging areas; or
• Emergency vehicles being unable to respond.
If a proposed measure requires Coastal Commission approval, the City should prepare and submit the proposal.
If City staff believes the Coastal Commission prevents further action, I respectfully request that the City publicly provide:
1. The specific Coastal Act provision supporting that position;
2. Any written opinion received from Coastal Commission staff;
3. Any prior Commission decision involving the same
proposed measures; and
4. The City’s written legal analysis.
There is an important difference between an action being prohibited, requiring approval and simply never having been formally proposed.
STRS OPERATING WITHOUT PERMITS
The City should increase efforts to identify short-term rentals operating without required permits.
Enforcement should not depend entirely on a neighbor
discovering an online listing or reporting a gathering.
The City should use available advertising, booking and property information to proactively identify homes being offered for short stays without permits.
The City should publicly report:
• The number of unpermitted rentals identified;
• Investigations opened;
• Citations and penalties issued;
• Repeat violations; and
• Whether platforms or management companies continued
advertising cited properties.
PROFESSIONALLY MANAGED 30-DAY RENTALS
Management companies are increasingly operating homes
through consecutive or repeated 30-day rental agreements when an STR permit is unavailable.
Although an agreement may state that it is for 30 days, some properties function in practice as professionally managed temporary accommodations.
The owner may never occupy the property, and the home may be occupied by a continuing succession of temporary guests throughout the year.
These properties can create many of the same neighborhood and traffic impacts as STRs while avoiding STR permitting requirements, enforcement standards and transient occupancy tax.
The City should examine how these properties actually operate rather than relying exclusively on the stated term of a rental agreement.
ENFORCEMENT AND ADVANCE NOTICE
Current STR enforcement appears to depend heavily on
residents reporting violations.
Residents may experience long waits when calling the STR hotline. Based on our experience with the current process, the hotline or Code Enforcement contacts the property owner or designated manager to advise them of the complaint and that a response is being made.
That advance warning gives the owner, manager or occupants an opportunity to reduce the noise, disperse visitors, move vehicles or temporarily correct the condition before City personnel arrive.
Code Enforcement may then need to personally witness the violation, while photographs or videos submitted by neighbors may not be accepted as sufficient evidence.
This creates a system in which the suspected violator may receive advance notice while the resident who complained still bears the burden of proving the violation.
The City should publicly explain whether advance notification is required by law, City policy or contract, and whether
unannounced responses can be made when there is an active complaint involving overcrowding, noise, unsafe occupancy or another public-safety concern.
The City should publish a regular STR accountability report showing:
• Active permits;
• Complaints and response times;
• Citations issued by property;
• Repeat-violation properties;
• Appeals;
• Citations affirmed, reduced or dismissed;
• Reasons for dismissal;
• Permit suspensions and revocations;
• Permit transfers following property sales;
• STRs operating without permits;
• The method used to verify rental activity and TOT payments; and
• The full cost of enforcement, policing, fire response, sanitation and administration.
REVOKED PERMITS SHOULD NOT SIMPLY BE RELOCATED
The City should also examine what happens after an STR permit is revoked.
If a permit is revoked because of serious or repeated violations and the City then issues a replacement permit to a property that has never operated as an STR, the total number of STRs is not reduced. The neighborhood impact is simply moved from one block to another.
The residents surrounding the newly permitted property may suddenly face year-round guest turnover, additional vehicles, parking pressure, noise, trash, dogs, parties and repeated reliance on City enforcement. Their street may be changed permanently even though they had no connection to the
violations that caused the original permit to be revoked.
Revocation should produce an actual consequence for the STR system—not merely change the address where the commercial lodging activity occurs.
The City should evaluate retiring revoked permits through attrition rather than automatically returning them to the available permit pool.
The Council should also consider retiring permits that are surrendered, abandoned, not renewed or terminated following a property sale so the total number and concentration of STRs decline gradually over time.
At a minimum, the City should provide advance public notice and conduct a neighborhood-impact and concentration review before issuing an STR permit to a property that has not previously operated as one.
MEANINGFUL PENALTIES
Parking, occupancy and other public-safety violations must carry penalties that actually deter the conduct.
If a citation is low enough to be divided among a large group of renters or visitors, it may simply be treated as part of the cost of the day.
If twenty people can split the fine, it is not a deterrent. It is simply part of the price of the party.
Where legally permitted, penalties should:
• Be substantial enough to deter violations;
• Increase sharply for repeat offenses;
• Apply to occupants, owners or operators when appropriate; • Include escalating consequences for managers who
repeatedly fail to control properties;
• Allow permit suspension or revocation for serious or repeated violations; and
• Include towing or immediate enforcement when vehicles block sidewalks, driveways, red zones, emergency routes or traffic flow.
REQUESTED ACTIONS
I respectfully ask the City Council to direct staff to develop and publicly evaluate:
1. A year-round STR reduction, enforcement and
accountability plan;
2. Reduction of the total number and concentration of STR permits in residential neighborhoods;
3. Retirement of revoked STR permits rather than
automatically returning them to the available permit pool;
4. An attrition policy for permits that are revoked,
surrendered, abandoned, not renewed or terminated
following a property sale;
5. Advance public notice and a neighborhood-impact and
concentration review before issuing a permit to a property that has not previously operated as an STR;
6. A summer Peninsula capacity and emergency-response
plan for holidays, social-media events and unexpected
crowd surges;
7. Enforceable capacity thresholds based on roadway
movement, lawful parking, crowd size and emergency
access;
8. Stopping additional vehicles from entering affected areas once safe capacity has been reached;
9. Avoiding additional parking or transportation measures that would facilitate larger crowds during an active
capacity emergency;
10. Restrictions on STR check-ins during designated high- risk periods;
11. Strict enforcement of overnight occupancy and total gathering limits at each STR property;
12. Personal verification of occupancy, parking and house rules by professional managers during high-risk periods;
13. Advance inspections of repeat-problem and high-
occupancy properties;
14. Temporary July 4 parking protections in Newport
Heights and other affected residential neighborhoods;
15. Protected emergency routes and a reliable resident, employee and property-owner reentry procedure;
16. Trained traffic-control officers at PCH and Superior and principal Balboa Boulevard access points;
17. Proactive enforcement against STRs operating
without permits;
18. Registration and a responsible local contact for
professionally managed 30-day residential rentals;
19. Independent auditing of STR rental activity and TOT compliance;
20. Review of whether STR permits should transfer
following a property sale;
21. Revision of any policy requiring advance warning
before responding to an active STR complaint, including unannounced responses where legally permissible;
22. Increased and escalating penalties for parking,
overcrowding and other high-risk violations;
23. Immediate towing and enforcement when vehicles
block sidewalks, driveways, red zones, emergency routes or traffic flow;
24. Suspension or revocation of permits when serious or repeated violations demonstrate that a property is not
responsibly managed; and
25. A determination of the true net financial benefit of STRs after accounting for enforcement, policing, fire
response, cleanup, administration, housing loss and
neighborhood impacts.
RESIDENT PARTICIPATION
I would like to volunteer to serve on any resident advisory committee, task force or working group formed to address these issues and any other quality-of-life concerns affecting residents of the Peninsula.
Residents who directly experience these conditions should have a meaningful role in developing the solution.
CONCLUSION
This is not about closing the beach, preventing lawful coastal access or targeting hotels.
It is about addressing year-round commercial lodging activity in residential neighborhoods and recognizing that the Peninsula and surrounding neighborhoods have finite public-safety, traffic and parking capacity.
July 4 was the emergency. STRs are the year-round problem.
Another social-media event could create similar conditions on a different summer weekend with very little warning.
The goal should not be to find more ways to bring people in after the Peninsula has reached capacity. The goal should be to prevent unsafe conditions before they develop.
Please create a plan that reduces STR impacts, strengthens year-round enforcement and manages traffic, parking, access and residential-rental occupancy before conditions become dangerous.
Thank you for your consideration. I would welcome the
opportunity to assist the City in this work.
Sincerely,
Scott McFetters
Newport Island Resident
From: Garrett, Errica
Sent: July 13, 2026 3:34 PM
To: Dept - City Clerk
Subject: FW: Short term rentals are part of the problem.
Errica Garrett
Administrative Assistant to the Mayor and City Council City Manager’s Office Office: 949-644-3004
100 Civic Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Woodall <[email protected]>
Sent: July 13, 2026 3:33 PM
To: Dept - City Council <[email protected]> Subject: Short term rentals are part of the problem.
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Hi City Council,
Short Term Rentals are certainly part of the social problem. I actually lived next door to a short term rental unit on the peninsula for more than 3 years. Every issue on our street came from that house. Not every short term renter was an issue- certainly good people came through. But often they weren’t good people. The often had no regard for neighbors and community. Other than money for the owners of these short term rentals- what do the people coming in to rent offer the community? Not enough to offset be issues.
Short term rentals should be banned entirely in our city.
Tim Woodall
949-280-8617
Sent from my iPhone