We’ve all thrown that one party at some point, right? The one that got a little out of hand, where maybe people got a little too drunk, perhaps an unpermitted elephant and lion showed up, or the whole thing ended in $86,379 in damage to a stranger’s mansion.
Now, motivated by a rash of complaints and lawsuits about ‘egregious party houses,’ the L.A. City Council has voted this week to approve a motion that would crack down on just those types of rowdy shindigs.
The tipping point appears to have been a case in Councilmember David Ryu’s district, which includes the posh Hollywood Hills. The Real Deal, a real estate industry publication, reported back in March on a lawsuit between Danny Fitzgerald, the owner of a house in Ryu’s district known as a venue available for rent for lavish parties, and the host of one such affair, a young Saudi prince who rented the home to celebrate his college graduation. That incident was among the evidence Ryu presented in his advocacy for stricter punishments for partiers and, in particular, owners who rent party houses on Airbnb and other platforms.
Under the proposed regulations, currently being worked out by the city attorney’s office, the fines that a homeowner gets for noise violations would now escalate with each subsequent citation. The ordinance would also create a ‘public shaming’ mechanism in the form of a notice of violation that would have to be publicly displayed on the house for a period of time after getting in trouble. During that time, it would be illegal to rent the place on any short-term rental site and fines would spike for a repeat party.
While Councilmember Ryu focuses primarily on concerns about public safety—in particular, that the windy, narrow streets of the Hollywood Hills are not the best place for drunken crowds to be coming and going at all hours of the night—the new fine structure would likely have implications for DIY music and arts venues, private events and others across the city, and while those who make a business out of high-end party rentals might be able to absorb the costs, it could have a chilling effect on revelers from other walks of life.
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