Long Beach Neighborhoods Crack Down on Unsupervised Airbnb Rentals Amid Crime Concerns

In response to growing concerns over drug-fueled parties and other criminal activities, several neighborhoods in Long Beach, California, have banned unsupervised Airbnb rentals. This move has sparked a nationwide debate about the impact of short-term rentals on residential communities.

Long Beach, California, has become a battleground in the ongoing debate over the regulation of short-term rentals. Following a petition filed by resident Andy Oliver, the College Estates neighborhood has successfully banned unsupervised Airbnb rentals over concerns about drug-filled parties and other criminal activities.

Oliver's petition gained traction after a shooting victim ended up outside his house, prompting him to take action. "People have to live with this knowing that your house, your safe place, has now been violated by violent crime," Oliver told CBS News.

The new restrictions require house rentals in College Estates to be supervised or risk shutting down the property. This move has been supported by over half of the approximately 800 homes in the area.

Oliver's success has inspired nine other Long Beach neighborhoods to petition for similar bans. A new advocacy group, the Long Beach Safe Neighborhood Coalition, has formed to support these efforts.

"Our group has found growing support in the past few months as people are finding out about our website and the overall cause of protecting residential neighborhoods from unhosted, unsupervised short term rentals - most run by real estate investors and LLCs (to rent on platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, Hotels.Com), etc.," the coalition told Fox News Digital.

The coalition has received inquiries from concerned homeowners in other states, indicating that this issue is not isolated to Long Beach. "This is a nationwide (really worldwide) issue that is affecting communities everywhere - and residents are standing up against the proliferation of short-term rentals that are transforming once quiet, peaceful neighborhoods into tourist districts and crime havens," the group added.

Christina Nigrelli, a resident of the South of Conant neighborhood, is currently awaiting the city's review of her petition for an unsupervised rental ban. "We are hoping to hear before June," Nigrelli told Fox News Digital. "We are cautiously optimistic. We had a lot of support throughout the neighborhood."

The Long Beach Safe Neighborhood Coalition has stated that it expects the other neighborhood petitions to be counted by June.

The City of Long Beach has acknowledged the concerns raised by residents and is reviewing the petitions. However, the city has not yet taken an official stance on the issue.

The debate over the regulation of short-term rentals is likely to continue as more communities grapple with the impact of these rentals on their neighborhoods. Long Beach's efforts to ban unsupervised Airbnb rentals could serve as a model for other cities looking to address similar concerns.