Orinda Mayor Inga Miller said in an interview with KQED Sunday that she thinks Airbnb’s efforts are a good step, but she’s not sure if it’s enough for the community.
“In Orinda we had already been banning party houses – only a few people could be at a short term rental,” she said. “What we’ve seen is that parties still can occur in violation of our ordinance.”
Orinda currently requires short-term rental hosts to register with the city annually and pay an occupancy tax. The maximum occupancy is 13 people.
Miller said the Orinda City Council plans to discuss a potential ban on short term rentals on Tuesday evening.
“If Airbnb is going to have rapid response to these parties, we can only welcome that,” she said. “However, whether or not that would be enough for our residents at this point will really be part of a city discussion that will begin Tuesday night.”
The shooting on Thursday sent some 100 terrified partygoers running for their lives.
The four-bedroom home had been rented on Airbnb by a woman who told the owner her dozen family members had asthma and needed to escape smoke from a wildfire, the person with knowledge of the transaction told The Associated Press. The Kincade Fire burning in Sonoma County north of Orinda fouled the air over a wide area earlier in the week.
The owner was suspicious of a one-night rental on Halloween and before agreeing reminded the renter that no parties were allowed, said the person with knowledge of the transaction, who was not authorized to publicly disclose the information and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
