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HOWARD <br />AT T O RN E Y S <br />JOHN W. HOWARD* <br />SCOTT J. STREET <br />ANDREW G.NAGURNEY <br />MICHELLE D. VOLK <br />KRISTIN J. WRIGHT <br />Chief Operating Officer <br />Also Admitted: <br />Colorado* <br />Nevada** <br />October 20, 2023 <br />Sergio Verino <br />Code Enforcement Principal <br />City of Santa Ana <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92702 <br />Sverino@santa-ana.org <br />Re: Administrative citation for 2108 North Alona Street <br />Dear Mr. Verino: <br />MAIN OFFICE: <br />ONE AMERICA PLAZA <br />600 WEST BROADWAY, SUITE 1400 <br />SAN DIEGO, CA 92101 <br />TEL (619) 234-2842 <br />LOS ANGELES OFFICE: <br />201 S. LAKE AVENUE, SUITE 303 <br />PASADENA, CA 91101 <br />TEL (213) 205-2800 <br />OF COUNSEL: <br />ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. <br />FREDERIC L. GORDON <br />MITCHELL B. STEIN <br />BY ELECTRONIC MAIL <br />As you know, our firm represents Thu Tran, the owner of the real property located at <br />2108 North Alona Street in Santa Ana (the "Property"). The City issued a citation to Ms. Tran, <br />accusing her of violating the Santa Ana Municipal Code by renting the Property to short-term <br />renters. <br />According to its citation letter of May 18, 2023, the City contends that "short-term rentals <br />are not allowed in the City of Santa Ana." Exhibit A. The City's sole legal support for this <br />argument is that its zoning code "is permissive, meaning uses that are not explicitly enumerated <br />as permitted are prohibited." Id. The City contends that, because "[s]hort-term rentals are not <br />identified in the City's zoning code as a permitted use" they are "therefore prohibited." (Id.) <br />This position is wrong as a matter of law. In fact, the Court of Appeal addressed the same <br />argument in People v. Venice Suites, LLC, 71 Cal. App. 5th 715, 732-34 (2021) ("Venice <br />Suites"). Like here, the City of Los Angeles argued that, because its municipal code did not <br />expressly authorize short-term rentals, they must be prohibited. The court rejected that argument, <br />in part because "no length of occupancy requirement is expressed" in the city's code. Thus, <br />applying the "permissive zoning" argument to ban rentals of some length (short-term) would <br />1 <br />