Correspondence - Item 21 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Flores, Dora From: Angie Weeks < Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 3:21 PM To: eComment Subject: Item 21, emergency prohibiting Short term rentals Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links. Hi, My name is Angie Weeks, thank you for taking the time to hold this meeting to discuss the various perspectives on Short Term Rentals in Santa Ana. I've been a resident of Santa Ana since 2016, when we bought a'flipped' Craftsman home in Henninger Park. At the time of purchase, it was one of the only detached homes in OC that we could afford. The fence was falling down, but we knew it was a yard for the dog once we fixed it, and no HOA dues. I accidentally happened upon Short Term Rentals when that same year, I had to go back to my home state of MI for an extended amount of time. Having just moved my life's belongings to Santa Ana, I decided to see if AirBnB could help pay the mortgage while I was away. I was shocked to find out it certainly did. This allowed me a new level of freedom to travel that I had never before experienced. Short term rentals don't just benefit the homeowner. They benefit our city in the following ways: 1. Awareness. People from other states know about'The Beach Cities', not SA. 2. Less parking issues, many of these people are taking public transport, or supporting your local resident Lyft & Uber drivers. 3. Think about the downtown restaurants & businesses who just had to deal with a dip in business while the trolley construction was going on. STR's are boosting their revenue, not taking from it. I enjoy sending AirBnB guests to local restaurants and offering a robust guidebook that brings tax dollars into our city. I love the services that Santa Ana offers. The app for graffiti removal is like literal magic, and we have some of the best water around. Since we are mostly made up of water, I care about that and other good decisions by this council as a homeowner and a consumer. As a closet artist, I also believe that art is therapy, & have my Therapeutic Art Life Coach certification. Our property is themed around art & wellness, and we love our murals and arts in the city that support the theme of our property. A truth that all Santa Ana residents seem to embrace is that we tend to be a city of 'anything goes'... where you will find chickens roaming, cars parked in front yards, various vendors on the streets, random unofficial firework displays, & celebrations with mariachi music until the wee hours of the morning. This is a city of hard workers, who have their fun on days off. We have NEVER been a city of NIMBY's, and we shouldn't start now. Just because some hotels bought land in an opportunity zone to build up and want more exclusivity doesn't mean that you should close out a normal homeowner's right to short term rent their home for the lifestyle they want. Right now it is about lifestyle. I can say with my real estate background that at some point in the future