A federal appeals court on Thursday unanimously upheld a Santa Monica ordinance banning most short-term vacation rentals.against the city, which passed the law in 2015 on the grounds that visitors who rent through Airbnb Inc. or other companies “sometimes disrupt the quietude and residential character of the neighborhoods.”
Santa Monica resident Arlene Rosenblatt had been renting out her home for $350 a night when she and her husband traveled. She charged in a lawsuit that the ordinance hindered commerce in violation of the federal Constitution.Online short-term rental companies allowed tourists access to affordable lodging over “the ultra-luxurious, highly occupied and pricey hotels in the city,” the lawsuit argued.
The lawsuit alleged that the ordinance illegally denied travelers from out of state access to Santa Monica’s residential neighborhoods. The 9th Circuit rejected that contention, concluding the city offered reasonable alternatives to the vacation rentals. Santa Monica is considered to have one of the strictest bans on short-term rentals in the country. A report by Conde Nast Traveler last year identified cities around the world that regulate Airbnb in varying degrees. They include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Charleston, Amsterdam, New York, Mallorca, Paris and Barcelona.