October 27, 2023 On Friday, September 29, 2023, during an online information session for Topanga residents, the Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector answered questions and addressed concerns about a proposed ordinance to regulate the use of Short-Term Rentals (STR) in unincorporated LA County. While the session was informative, some issues remain unresolved and the ordinance is swiftly making its way through the County Board of Supervisors (BOS). At its monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 11, the Topanga Town Council (TTC) hosted a packed Topanga Library meeting room of concerned residents. The meeting was an opportunity for local residents, landowners, and business owners to come together and brainstorm suggestions for potentially modifying the ordinance so that it better addresses Topanga’s needs and concerns. Break-out groups focused on particular aspects of the ordinance where short-term rentals have already had or will have a significant impact on the Topanga community. TTC created a Working Group that held two follow-up meetings and created a survey for property owners in the 90290 ZIP code only The Survey The County has committed to reviewing all input received by Topangans in whatever format, not just those generated by the TTC STR Working Group. The TTC is making a concerted effort to ensure that a wide array of Topanga voices are heard as the county addresses STRs. Our goal is simply to empower Topangans to take an active role in helping craft community-oriented suggestions and to help mitigate some of the issues and challenges that the Ordinance and STRs pose. Through the survey, TTC seeks to learn how residents, property owners, and businesses feel about the ordinance and how it might be improved, so that we can share this information with the BOS. To keep the survey as short as possible, we elected to address the most prominent issues that Topangans have brought to our attention. Question #17 is an opportunity for you to bring up any additional observations and comments you may have. TTC strongly suggests that you learn more about the ordinance by reading the current ordinance draft (STRental@ttc.lacounty.gov), as well as the County’s FAQs and a short PowerPoint presentation before taking the survey: publiccomment.bos.lacounty.gov. For more information: contact@topangatowncouncil.org. Your privacy is very important to us. The TTC will not share any personal identifying information collected through this survey. That said, be mindful of any sensitive or identifying information that you may share in your free-form responses. If you have any questions about the survey, email us at contact@topangatowncouncil.org. Thank you for participating in this survey. Requested deadline is November 6, 2023. About TTC: As a nonprofit organization, the Topanga Town Council has no authority over the drafting of this ordinance. The TTC is not a legislative body nor a County department and does not take official positions on any issues. As a liaison from the community to the County, our mission is solely to gather input and provide it to the County to enable decision-makers to consider multiple perspectives from a diverse cross-section of the community.