Newport Targets ‘Party Houses’

As summer nears, city officials are moving quickly to make strict new rules to govern “party houses.”

City officials say a proposed ordinance, scheduled for discussion Monday, would help control the often-rambunctious renters of beachfront apartments, but landlords object that it would make them further responsible for tenant behavior.

Kenneth J. Delino, a deputy city manager who drafted the proposed ordinance, said it’s “about as good as we can do without closing down short-term rentals completely.”

Summer rentals have a long tradition in Newport Beach, where many visitors come for a week, weekend or month.

But an equally established tradition--in West Newport Beach particularly--has been for renters to invite a crowd of guests for a weeklong beachside party--a practice that has irked neighbors and pained police and city officials.

Under the ordinance, landlords who rent homes for 30 days or less would take on a role similar to innkeepers. They would be required to hold permits, which the city could revoke if guests were unruly, but they would also have more authority to evict troublesome renters. Evictions would be immediate under the ordinance, rather than requiring 30 days’ notice.

The annual business permits would cost approved landlords $40 to $75, and a special use permit for each rental unit would cost about $5 each. That permit would be posted in the unit, as a hotel posts its rules, and would help police by detailing the names of tenants, the number of approved occupants and the phone number for the rental agent.

The teeth of the plan is the city’s ability to revoke permits, essentially putting landlords out of business, if they show a pattern of renting to those who disrupt the neighborhood with loud, crowded parties.

Landlords oppose that clause because they say that it is difficult to judge applicants and that the seemingly responsible tenants often turn out to be the worst offenders.

“If I could have (applicants) go through a metal detector to tell if they’re going to be good tenants or bad tenants, that’d be fantastic,” said Gilbert G. Foerester, president of Waterfront Homes Inc., which rents city properties.

Many also pointed out that police, not landlords, are responsible for enforcing the city’s noise and disturbance rules.

But city officials argued that the large number of police calls to hundreds of summer party houses strains resources.

Also, under the plan, the use permit could be revoked if landlords failed to pay their annual transient occupancy tax, an approach that many landlords support for catching delinquent fellow landlords who now dodge the tax.

Most of the homes used for party houses are from McFadden Square northwest to the city limits. However, all summer rentals--including those on Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island--would be covered by the ordinance.

The city is also drafting new zoning regulations that might limit where the short-term rentals can operate. The City Council will discuss that plan in coming weeks.