Halloween Party Shooting: Orinda Passes 'Urgency Ordinance' For Short-Term Rentals
ORINDA (KPIX 5) -- Just weeks after a Halloween shooting that left five people dead in Orinda, changes are coming to short-term rental rules in the small Contra Costa County city.
By unanimous vote Tuesday night, the Orinda City Council abolished all non-hosted short-term rentals and mandated two-night minimum stays for hosted rentals through an "urgency ordinance."
Earlier versions of the ordinance had provisions that would've forced the hosts to sleep in the same building as their renters, perhaps even eating meals with them.
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The crowd was evenly split between those who wanted all short-term rentals banned and those who wanted just some regulations put into place.
The decision comes less than 24 hours after four of the five suspects in the shooting apprehended in massive raids around the Bay Area on Thursday were not formally charged by the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office. They were released from jail Monday.
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"Ethically, our prosecutors are bound by very strict standards that we will not file charges unless we can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt--so it's not fair to the public if we don't hold that high standard," said Scott Alonso, public information officer for the DA's office.
The ordinance will take effect immediately on Jan. 3, 2020 with an option to continually renew for up to two years while the city council considers more permanent legislation.