From: Donald Wetherell
To: Public Comment
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Comments to Council
Date: Monday, November 20, 2023 3:12:09 PM
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Dear Town Council,
I sent an email on November 6th and spoke the following day in front of the council. I presented my concerns regarding the Residential Rental Registration Ordinance. I have not heard from anyone on the City Council. I would like to meet with the council at a future date.
Is this possible?
Don Wetherell
On Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 10:38 PM Donald Wetherell <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Town Council,
I am writing to the mayor, council and town manager to publicly disagree with the mandatory fee placed on homeowners who are renting their home in the Town of Yountville. I received a letter this week notifying me I was in violation of the “Residential Rental Registration Ordinance”.
I am writing to express my deep concern and disagreement with the city ordinance that imposes a fee for renting out my home. As a homeowner and a resident of Yountville, I believe this ordinance is unjust and burdensome for several reasons.
First and foremost, this fee seems to unfairly target responsible homeowners who choose to rent out their property. As responsible owners, we have been diligent in renting for 12-month lease agreements and not using Airbnb or short-term rentals. Many of us have invested significant time and resources into maintaining and improving our homes, and the ability to rent them out helps offset the costs of ownership.
Imposing additional fees feels like a disincentive for responsible homeownership.
Moreover, this ordinance is negatively affecting the local economy. By discouraging residents from offering their homes as long-term rentals, it reduces full-time residents and the revenue generated from those residents at local grocery stores and restaurants. Yountville has many homes that are 2nd and 3rd homes from Bay area families. These folks do not live in Yountville as full-time residents thus they are not contributing to the businesses in Yountville like a full-time resident (full-time renter) would.
From what I understand the $90 yearly fee is to help curtail residents from using Airbnb and short-term rentals. How does this thought process work? It’s just another way to penalize the responsible owners renting their homes for long-term rentals and letting the owners who are doing VRBOstyle rentals get away with illegal renting. We currently rent our condo for $3400. It would be 100% advantageous for me to illegally rent to tourists. If I were to just offer weekend rentals I could double that $3400 and make a minimum of $6000 per month. Instead, I follow the laws and only rent to full-time residents and I am rewarded with a ridiculous $90 fee. Classic California politics, reward bad behavior and make the responsible citizens suffer.
I kindly request that you and the rest of the City Council reconsider this ordinance and its impact on homeowners like myself. I believe that a more balanced approach, such as fair regulations could achieve the city's objectives without unfairly burdening responsible residents.
I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this matter further or provide additional information to support my argument.
Thank you for your attention to this issue, and I hope that you will take the concerns of homeowners into consideration when reviewing this ordinance.
Don Wetherell
139 Vineyard Circle
Yountville, Ca