Short Term Rental Owners Urge City Council to Ease Fines

Big Bear News – Big Bear Lake – Short-term rentals are back in the spotlight, but this time it’s the rental owners that have lodged complaints to the Big Bear Lake City Council about excessive fines with no warnings or pathways to remedy the violations before being cited and required to pay up to $7,500 depending on the citations. An emergency ordinance regulating short-term rentals was passed at the height of COVID when the number of rentals skyrocketed to meet the demand of travelers coming to the Big Bear Valley. The council anticipated re-evaluating the ordinance when post-COVID visitor numbers leveled out and approved a $24,000 contract with a consultant to hold public workshops with stakeholders in the short-term rental space and will bring findings back to the council to amend the ordinance as needed.