VRMA letter to Hrmos Beach

1. Washington, DC Headquarters
Chicago Office
2025 M Street NW, Suite 800 ● Washington, DC 20036 USA ● Phone (202) 367-1179
330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 2000 ● Chicago, IL 60611 USA ● Phone (312) 321-5138
DC & Chicago Fax (202) 367-2179 ● Email vrma@vrma.com ● Web www.vrma.com
April 19, 2016
To: Hermosa Beach Planning Commission
From: Mike Copps, Executive Director, Vacation Rental Managers Association
RE: Oppose banning STRs in residential zones
Dear Commissioners:
We are writing to oppose your proposal to ban short-term vacation rentals in residentially zoned areas.
The Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) is a 30-year old international trade association
representing professional property managers of vacation rentals.
The VRMA supports fair and effective regulations that are built on the foundation of professional property
managers, and the property owners they represent. These regulations achieve the highest rates of compliance
while meeting the demand of travelers who are seeking the traditional short-term rental accommodation.
The VRMA opposes regulations that will significantly restrict traditional short-term rental activity. Onerous
and burdensome regulations like these do not achieve high rates of compliance, do not meet the demand of
the travelers, and result in driving the activity underground.
Nationally we have seen that outright bans, moratoriums or misclassification of vacation rentals as
commercial properties do not solve the issues that the community is trying to fix. We agree with the United
States Conference of Mayors when they approved a policy which states; “onerous regulations of short-term
rentals can drive the industry underground, thus evading local regulations and local hotel taxes”, and, “fair
regulation of short-term rentals ensures greater compliance and greater receipt of local hotel taxes”.
The VRMA works productively with local governments across the country to address tax collection and land
use laws by educating property managers and owners on local regulations, and government regulators on best
practices.
Traditional short-term rentals, or vacation rentals, are a travel option around the world and the positive
impact of the activity affects communities everywhere. Recent economic impact studies show communities
with effective and easy-to-follow regulations achieve the greatest rate of compliance, overall financial impact
and job growth. Best practices show regulations that engage the property manager, who is working as an
agent of the property owner, have the highest rates of participation.
Economic impact studies conducted in 2014 show and overall economic impact by the traditional short-term
rental activity in Myrtle Beach, SC at $200.7 million and 2,587 jobs, and overall economic impact to St. Joseph,

2. Washington, DC Headquarters
Chicago Office
2025 M Street NW, Suite 800 ● Washington, DC 20036 USA ● Phone (202) 367-1179
330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 2000 ● Chicago, IL 60611 USA ● Phone (312) 321-5138
DC & Chicago Fax (202) 367-2179 ● Email vrma@vrma.com ● Web www.vrma.com
Michigan of $24 million and 300 jobs, and the Coachella Valley, California communities of $272 million and
2,539 jobs.
Similar economic impact studies show benefits to other communities including; Galveston, Texas $283.6
million and 3,100 impacted jobs-a-year, Monterey, California $131.8 million and 1,400 jobs-a-year, North
Carolina $4.5 billion total impact, $1.4 billion in annual real estate sales and$180 million in tax revenue, and
Florida $31.1 billion, 322,032 jobs affected annually (directly and indirectly supported by VR industry) and
labor income from jobs: $12.6 billion annually.
The VRMA stands ready to assist the Hermosa Beach with any discussions that could affect the professional
property managers or the property owners of vacation rentals in your community. Our goal is to help you to
create effective regulations that achieve compliance while recognizing the demand of the travelers.
Thank you,
Mike Copps
Executive Director
Vacation Rental Managers Association