The Whittier City Council brought regulations on short-term residential rentals one step closer to local law Tuesday, as residents living near the commercial properties raised concerns about fire hazards and rental owners defended their right to make a living.

Councilmember Cathy Warner abstained, and the other four councilmembers voted to approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 3175, a process Mayor Joe Vinatieri said has taken three years’ worth of work among city staff, the council, planning commission and the public.

“Last night was a culmination of all that time trying to find the most reasonable, balanced ground we can find,” Vinatieri said.

Crafting the ordinance showed that “one size definitely does not fit all,” since locations and properties differ widely, he added.

“Undoubtedly there will be implementation concerns,” Vinatieri said. “We need to know what the rules are and we need flexibility and see how it goes.”

The issue of regulating short-term rentals, or STRs, first came before Whittier’s governing body in 2023 and six meetings have been held since then. At the most recent council meeting on STRs, on July 8, 2025, staff were directed to fine-tune the draft ordinance. Requirements included having operators obtain a business license and permit, pay a 10% transient occupancy tax, renew their STR permits every six months, require a minimum of seven days per stay, prohibit renters from holding problematic events such as parties, and requiring STR owners to live on the property or within city limits. Fees would be charged for minor and major violations

On Nov. 3, 2025, the Whittier planning commission amended these items to shorten the minimum stay to three days, include administrative and enforcement costs in STR permit fees, and direct staff to review policies and procedures in a year after the ordinance is implemented.

The proposed law as approved Tuesday sets STR stays at a two-night minimum, limits ownership of STRs to three per owner, enforces a 500-feet buffer between short-term rentals, and prohibits homes in the high and very high fire zones as designated by Cal Fire to be used as STRs. Property owners must also be able to demonstrate they meet off-street parking requirements as listed in the city’s municipal code.

Resident Fabio Soto has owned short-term rentals for seven years, with stellar reviews and no issues with neighbors. Most of his neighbors, he said, didn’t even realize he operated the STRs.

He said the ordinance as it is drafted does concede points to property owners, including shortening the minimum stay requirement and allowing residents to own up to three rentals.

But items that did not go in STR owners’ favor include the parking provision, zone restrictions owners of older homes would find impossible to comply with.

“If we can’t get a license and permit because we can’t meet the parking requirements, we’d be out of business,” Soto said.

Soto said the provision limiting short-term rentals to within 500 feet would also mean he will not be able to operate one of the rentals on his property.

“Now you’ll have a race to the counter on who gets there first to get permits,” he added. “That will put neighbors at odds with one another.”

Soto said all the STR owners he’s spoken with welcome and understand the need for regulations.

“This all came about because of a few bad apples, problem operators,” Soto said. “And it’s penalizing us non-offenders. We’re asking that those hosts with no issues, no incidents, be grandfathered in.”

Soto said he knows seniors who rely on short-term rentals to supplement their income. His aunt Rose Barnaby, who has also spoken out about the issue, rents space in the house she lives in. Barnaby lives in a high-fire zone area, which would be prohibited from operating if the ordinance passes.

“She’s completely out of business now,” Soto said. “We’re asking that people who live on the property of their rental, who only rent out a room, let’s say, be given an exception.”

The provision that the city will review the ordinance in one year could also mean “a lot of us will be out of business in that scenario.”

People who live near short-term rentals have long opposed them because of noise, congestion, and concerns about safety and fire dangers, especially in Whittier’s hillside communities. Opponents said transient guests on vacation mode most likely would not be as careful as long-term residents in heeding fire safety protocols, and that a spark is all that’s needed to start a fire like the blazes that decimated the Palisades and Altadena areas.

In prohibiting short-term rentals in the high and very high severity fire zones, the council conceded the narrow roads along the city’s hillside would make evacuating more people difficult, regardless of the cause of a fire.

Rental owners in turn said their properties boost the economy as well as Whittier’s profile in the greater Los Angeles area and provides income to residents who run them. They also said there is no data pointing to short-term rentals as posing increased fire risks.

Alex Franco said he and his wife are responsible short-term rental operators, welcoming families of Whittier College students, and even hosting people displaced by the Palisades and Eaton fires.

Ben Pongetti, director of community development, said city staff studied 31 other municipalities and examined six cities closely in drafting the ordinance.