Palm Springs passes rules in attempt to save city from becoming nothing but Airbnb rentals

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After a five hour meeting Wednesday night, the Palm Springs City Council voted to put some restrictions on vacation rentals in the city in order to save it from becoming a town where no one actually lives, but is instead just a collection of homes rented out to tourists and L.A. hipsters.

The meeting was attended by many who were against any restrictions on vacation rentals, who were easily identifiable by their pink attire:

They were also easily identifiable by the one thing they all have in common:

Eventually the new ordinances were passed by the Council – which, according to KESQ, caps the amount of times a property can be rented a year to 32 times, which still seems like an awful lot considering 12-20 weeks a year the desert is hotter than shit.

The limit would not apply to a property owner’s family members. So you should probably get ready for a lot of “cousins” renting homes in Palm Springs next year.

There might also be a hike in rental permit fees from $234 a year to $900, which would go towards enforcing the rules – and enforcement and oversight is something the city is clearly good at. There would also be stiffer penalties if someone was caught breaking the rules.

Perhaps the biggest change would be that people or businesses would only be allowed one permitted vacation rental property in the city – with couples being grandfathered in and allowed two.

During the meeting, City Manager David Ready said it might be four months before the new rules would go into place.