Limits on Airbnb nixed by San Francisco voters
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco voters have rejected a proposal to restrict Airbnb and a second ballot measure prompted by the city's housing crisis.
Tuesday's vote went against limits on Airbnb and a ballot measure to freeze construction of luxury housing in the Mission District.
Airbnb, by far the world's largest home-share platform, spent more than $8 million to defeat the measure.
Proposition F would have limited home-shares to 75 nights and required Airbnb and other hosting platforms to pull listings that exceed the limit.
With more than 90,000 votes counted, 58 percent of the voters had rejected the measure.
A proposal to freeze development of luxury housing in the city's trendy Mission District also lost with 60 percent of the votes against it.
Proponents of the Airbnb proposal said the proliferation of short-term rentals is squeezing the city's already tight housing market.
Airbnb issued a statement Tuesday saying the measure's loss was a win for residents who rely on the extra income from vacation stays to make ends meet.
"Voters in liberal San Francisco are in the midst of a meltdown over Airbnb, with opponents pointing fingers at the company for adding fuel to the city's already sky-high rents," writes CBS MoneyWatch's Aimee Picchi. "Tensions over fairness, rents, livability and the city's growing income and generation gaps are being tested as residents vote today on Proposition F, also known as the Airbnb initiative."
Mayor Ed Lee, who swept to re-election victory, had opposed both measures as not doing anything to make housing more affordable.