Orinda Halloween shooting: City leaders ban unhosted short-term rentals

ORINDA — Calling the city’s Halloween mass shooting a “terrible tragedy,” the Orinda City Council passed a 45-day emergency ordinance Tuesday night, banning non-hosted short-term rentals in the city.

In addition, the council, at the urging of Vice Mayor Darlene Gee, is also requiring a two-day minimum stay with the owner on the property. The so-called urgency ordinance, which required four-fifths approval, passed unanimously by a 5-0 vote.

“I think I care very strongly that we do everything that we can not to create a situation where anyone in Orinda can come in and throw a party in our community and set the stage for the kind of tragedy that happened on Halloween,” Gee said. “We know that terrible things can happen in all kinds of circumstances, but it’s a basic sort of risk management.”

The emergency ordinance goes into effect immediately and expires on Jan. 3, 2020. It will be up for consideration for an extension at the council’s Dec. 17 meeting. The ordinance can be extended up to two years, while staff comes up with a permanent plan.

At its last meeting on Nov. 5, the Orinda City Council had voiced support for a ban on unhosted short-term rentals for 45 days, but couldn’t take any formal action. An overflow crowd of more than 200 residents turned out for that meeting, with more than 50 speakers taking the podium for three hours.

In contrast to that meeting, a crowd estimated at 40 people attended the Tuesday meeting, with 18 speakers.

The Orinda council’s action was in reaction to the Halloween shooting in an Airbnb-rented Orinda mansion at 114 Lucille Way that left five people dead and several more injured.

On Monday, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office declined to charge any of the five suspects arrested last week after authorities served warrants in Marin City, Vallejo, Antioch and San Mateo, using armored vehicles and officers from multiple agencies.

A sheriff spokesman said Monday that the district attorney “wants more investigation done,” without elaboration. In a statement to the media Monday afternoon, a district attorney spokesman did not explain the decision.

Scott Alonso, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, would not comment on whether the defendants had been cleared of criminal wrongdoing and implied the case may come back for filing at a later date. There is no statute of limitations on murder charges. Jimmy Lee, a spokesman for the sheriff, said in a written statement that the investigation is far from over.

The victims have been identified as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Raymon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco/Oakland; Javlin County, 29, of Sausalito/Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo/Hercules.

Staff writer Nate Gartrell contributed to this article.