The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 109, No. 6 - February 6, 2020
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................10
Classifieds............................9
Crossword/Sudoku.............9
Film Review..........................4
Legals.................................8,9
Neighborhood Therapist.....3
Obituaries.............................3
Pets......................................11
Police Reports.....................3
A Sneak Peak at Washington
Park’s New Playground
An awesome new playground coming soon to Washington Park. Photo courtesy of El Segundo Recreation & Parks.
Real Estate.......................5-7 Protections Added for Neighbors
Weekend
Forecast
Worried About Short-Term Rentals
By Rob McCarthy
The El Segundo City Council went back
to work Tuesday on a short-term rental
program, making more changes to protect
neighborhoods from party houses while
warning would-be homebuyers not to bank
on that rental income yet.
For anyone hoping the council has a
change of heart about introducing the popular
short-term homestays in El Segundo’s
idyllic neighborhoods, the door appears to
be closed. Discussion at Tuesday’s night
meeting centered on how to safeguard the
community from noise and nuisances, while
giving responsible owner-occupants a chance
to earn some extra money.
Mayor Drew Boyles said the council on
Tuesday was “struggling to make this practical
for code enforcement and police officers.”
The draft before the council is the product of
nearly four years of study, public hearings,
and now the drafting of an ordinance. The
first reading this week generated questions
and plenty of what if’s.
The mayor thanked residents, even those
who oppose short-term rentals in El Segundo,
for participating in the evolving process to
create a pilot. The city is open to exploring
alternative lodging for visitors, it says, due to
the city’s location near beaches and Southern
California attractions. Also, the presence of
Fortune 500 companies creates a demand for
this type of lodging.
The short-term rental ordinance would
start on July 1 and end on Dec. 31, 2021.
The council could halt the program at any
time. After the pilot, council can choose to
continue it, change it, or stop it altogether.
For that reason, hosts who sign up for
the trial expecting a continuous stream of
income to pay their mortgages and leases
should think twice. There is no guarantee
the council will continue the program past
the sunset date in 2021.
Information about the pilot program will
include buyer-beware language, it was decided.
Several details remained to be worked out,
and the short-term rental ordinance will be
Friday See City Council, page 4
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revisited by the council at its next meeting
when the council could approve it.
Councilman Chris Pimentel thought the
ordinance and informational materials being
prepared to introduce it need to explain in
detail how the pilot program will be evaluated.
Mayor Boyles agreed about the need for
“clear success criteria.” The mayor’s goal for
the trial program is to keep the rules simple
for participants and for people who’ll oversee
their compliance.
Herald’s Candidate Q & A
evaluate solutions for adding housing in our
residentially zoned areas, while maintaining
the charm, sense of community and integrity
of our neighborhoods. Council will be studying
the constraints to adding housing, while
analyzing strategies to spur more housing,
including some affordable units. While
recent state legislation (SB50) has been
defeated, there will be more housing mandates
coming from the capital. Also, we, along
with our neighboring coastal communities,
have received daunting housing requirements
through the RHNA process allocations.
Furthermore, the Accessory Dwelling
Unit laws enacted over recent years have
restricted our ability to limit housing
expansion in R1 zones, including garage
conversions. I continue to advocate for local
For the 2020 El Segundo Election for
City Council, there were three seats open
and three qualified candidates Incumbent
Drew Boyles, Incumbent Carol Pirsztuk
and Business Executive Lance Giroux. The
El Segundo Herald has collected questions
from local business owners and prominent
members of the community to post to the
candidates. Here are our questions and
their answers:
1. Rezoning on the east side of PCH
could be a way to create more housing
within the city. Would you, as a
council member, be open to allowing
residential zoning across PCH to the
east side of the city?
Drew Boyles: The prudent approach is to
See Candidate Q & A, back page