Rick McIntire was appointed by Mayor Jesse Whipple to the Short Term Rental Committee with the charge of recommending regulatory ordinance language to help solve related problems. Elected by the committee members to serve as the Chair, Rick led the committee to its final recommendations. Among several issues, imposing “distancing” standards was highly contentious and resulted in a split vote of the committee with a majority voting to not adopt any distancing standards. Rick’s position on this topic is outlined in the public statement he offered, the context of which is shown here:
“The topic of distancing is clearly a highly contentious one, one with passionate representation on both sides of the issue, and in my considered opinion, everyone is making valid arguments. When this happens, I typically turn to settled legal and defensible standards to decide on what would be best for the City of Mesquite. In this case, those legally defensible standards have not yet been established. We have taken cogent advice from our City Attorney, I have debated with and taken council from other informed city staff members, and the conclusion reached seems logical and clear to me.
Let me pose this one question for everyone’s consideration:
Given all things being equal, if you have the legal right to use your property as a short term rental, should your neighbor have that same right?
I have posed this question to 31 different people on both sides of the issue, and after careful consideration, they all believe that if one has a legal right, so should their neighbor. It is a simple fairness or equal treatment standard rooted in our constitution, and this issue of distancing seems to run afoul of that standard.
Federal Judge Miranda M. Du of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada has already issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of key provisions of Clark County’s short-term rental ordinance (AB 363), including, among other things, distancing rules because of “serious legal concerns”.
That should give us pause.
If our committee recommends moving forward with similar distancing requirements, we risk adopting regulations that may soon be found unconstitutional or unenforceable. That creates unnecessary legal exposure for the city, uncertainty for property owners, and potential unnecessary costs for taxpayers.
Recommending no distancing standards seems to be the prudent path. It allows our City Council Members to benefit from the guidance of a final court decision, rather than guessing and possibly getting it wrong. This is not “kicking the can down the road” it is just being logical and prudent.
My position on this issue is about doing it right the first time based on settled law, not ongoing litigation. I am suggesting that we take the prudent path and wait until the courts provide clear direction before recommending the enactment of any distancing standards. When the Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association v. Clark County, federal law suit is fully resolved through all appeals, that would be the time to decide about distancing regulation”.