Rosita Avenue residents are looking to the city of Los Altos for answers after an April 11 party raged out of control at a home rented through Airbnb.
In what was described by neighbors as a “mob scene,” an estimated 200-250 partygoers – primarily teens – parked cars on Rosita and beyond, cranked up the music, smashed beer bottles, threw eggs and hopped over fences into neighboring properties.
Despite the reported chaos, police reported no arrests and no injuries.
Rosita neighbors said the homeowner – who lives off-site – has rented the unfurnished house on a regular basis. The incident marked the third straight weekend the house had been used for a party. Prices for Los Altos homes on Airbnb run $295 to $800 per night.
Out of hand
Although the crowd scattered when police arrived, the party aftermath left some residents furious and seeking ways to prevent it from happening again.
“The most alarming thing was how quickly the group expanded,” said Rosita resident Mary Feliz, who first called police at 8:45 p.m. “There were ‘only’ about 100 kids at that point, and the stream of kids walking wasn’t enormous. … By the time the police arrived (9:35 p.m.), there was a steady stream of attendees … and cars were parked on all the side streets and at least as far away as Campbell (Avenue).”
Feliz said the party escalated from “an unusually loud but fairly normal Los Altos party to mob scene very quickly. … My big concern was that someone would get hurt because there was so much foot and vehicular traffic, and I didn’t expect that there would be too much thinking going on as soon as the kids heard sirens. … Because alcohol was being served, and the kids were all new drivers, many neighbors phoned the police in hopes of defusing the situation before it got out of hand.”
Some residents complained about the 30-45 minute wait for officers to respond.
Police Chief Tuck Younis said three officers were on duty at the time, two engaging with a DUI suspect also being investigated for burglary and stolen property. Younis said police had responded quickly to two previous calls about parties at the Rosita house in the two weeks prior. Given the perceived lack of urgency in the April 11 calls, police determined that a quick response or a call to outside agencies for help was not required.
“The calls from the residents indicated no risk to life,” Younis said. “Our primary objective is making sure everyone leaves in an orderly fashion.”
Airbnb restrictions
Rosita resident Pilar Parducci said the owner of the house met with angry neighbors the following day and told them he would not use Airbnb anymore.
That, however, only solves the issue for this particular house, Parducci said. She thinks the city should impose restrictions on such rentals.
“The police presently have no tools to address the underlying circumstances (of a vacant house being rented on a daily basis),” she wrote in an email. “Imposition of legal restrictions on this activity is a matter for the city council through its administration of zoning restrictions generally and the municipal code in particular. The police can only enforce laws that exist.”
Parducci added that she has little doubt this will happen again – somewhere – and thus should be addressed on a larger scale,.
“There may not be any easy answers, but that doesn’t mean we don’t address it,” she said.
Rosita resident Amy Jermyn concurred.
“I believe as a responsible community, Los Altos should be able to minimize blatant opportunity for putting neighborhoods at risks and creating bad situations for our young people,” she wrote in a letter to the Town Crier.
Jermyn said party organizers, who returned early Sunday for cleanup, claimed that they invited only 30 friends. Social media apparently accounted for all of the uninvited guests, most of who were not from Los Altos.
Council alerted
Parducci’s husband, Tony Richmond, alerted Los Altos City Councilmembers to the problem at their April 14 meeting. He urged the council and staff to research ways to regulate Airbnb properties.
“Through the power of modern commerce, it became identified as a suitable location to throw a party,” he said of the Rosita house. “I would respectfully submit that R1 land-use is inconsistent with daily rental. … It’s a problem that’s bubbling up.”
Mayor Jan Pepper said she requested that staff review Airbnb activity in town for a future council discussion.
“I was really surprised to hear the comments from the resident,” she said Thursday. “We don’t want it to be a nuisance like the neighbor is dealing with.”
Pepper agreed that daily rentals are incompatible with single-family residential zones. She said she hopes a discussion could address enforcement rules or possible taxation.
“It’d be interesting to see if there are other cities like ours that are encountering this as well,” she added. “Maybe this is something we can talk about together and figure out the best way for small residential communities like us to deal with this.”
Available options
Other communities have addressed the issue, Parducci said. She cited the city of Coronado’s Municipal Code (CMC 86.78.060), which prohibits transient rentals or leases for periods of 25 days or less.
“The use of property in this fashion is new to us in Los Altos,” Younis said. “The concern we have is the welfare of our residents. If something is put in place that balances the owners’ rights with the safety of the residents, we’re open to it.”
However, Younis noted that police could address the issue without a law on the books. “We have the ability to do a civil process – we can go after the property owner,” he said. “That would have been the next step.”
Founded in 2008, the San Francisco-based Airbnb is a “community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world,” according to its website. A search of Airbnb last week revealed approximately 60 rooms or houses for rent in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
“I do not see the need to prohibit Los Altos residents from renting out their homes using Airbnb,” Jermyn said. “But leaving this completely unregulated opens the doors to unstable neighborhoods and by default gives permission to homeowners to allow irresponsible behavior on their property.”
Staff writer Alicia Castro contributed to this article.
