In November, Paso Robles residents can call (805) 227-7224 to voice complaints regarding short-term rentals in their area.
This transition comes after five years of challenges with the former hotline.
Assistant Planner for the City of Paso Robles, Lori Wilson, explained that the former hotline contributed to unresolved complaints.
“We had quite a few kind of glitches with the old number,” Wilson said. “The operators would have trouble getting the spelling of the street names right and so they couldn’t find the permits.”
Beth Burk oversees short-term rental properties at Paso Robles Vacation Rentals and has responded to complaints from locals, but felt the original hotline was insufficient to field them.
“We work really closely with the city and appreciated the efforts they made to get something very professional in place. Unfortunately, the people answering the phone were who knows where and weren’t familiar with our community at all. They didn’t understand what kind of neighborhood a report was coming in. They didn’t notice if there was an accumulation of reports about a particular property and they were very corporate in that when we would call back within the 30-minute mark to close the loop, they didn’t know why we were calling.” Burk said.
The City of Paso Robles opted for a local company to oversee the short-term rental hotline.
“We’re pretty excited to make the switch. We’ll have people directly here from Paso Robles, live people answering the phone and live people calling out and reporting the issue as opposed to automated,” Wilson said.
The new hotline will cost $2,800 - approximately $1,900 less than the original line. It is paid for with permit fees that property owners pay to operate their short-term rentals.
