As some residents have tested the waters on a growing service that allows them to rent out their private pools by the hour, city officials in La Quinta have started to crack down, fining one resident $3,100 for what the city calls an unlicensed short-term vacation rental.
Now, that resident is suing the city, saying he did nothing illegal by listing his property on Swimply, an online service known as an “Airbnb for pools,” because the city’s STVR laws do not clearly apply to pools.
La Quinta is not the first city in the Coachella Valley to disallow rentals on Swimply based on local laws. The rentals drew pushback last summer from Palm Springs officials, who said they violated the city’s zoning code for areas with single-family homes and thus were prohibited.
What is Swimply?
Swimply, which featured on the TV show “Shark Tank” (without any takers) in 2020, has spread to more than 100 markets across the United States, Canada and Australia since forming about five years ago.
The service allows people to rent out their pools by creating a listing and setting hourly rates, of which the company takes 15%. Typical rates range from $45 to $75 per hour, a Swimply spokesperson told The Desert Sun last year, though prices can vary depending on the setup and location.
While Swimply has continued to develop — the L.A.-based company recently added private tennis and pickleball courts to its listing options — its presence in the Coachella Valley still appears nascent, with about 20 listings valley-wide as of early July.
Still, the service has drawn the attention of valley officials. La Quinta City Manager Jon McMillen said city code officials have received a handful of complaints regarding residential rental pools, “specifically on the Swimply platform.”
The city has received five complaints regarding pool rentals this year, of which only one — the case now in court — resulted in an administrative citation, McMillen said. He added the others either complied after being notified or already had a short-term rental permit.
What’s in the lawsuit?
The complaint was filed in Riverside County Superior Court in late June by La Quinta resident Lee Reese, saying the city wrongly cited him after he listed his pool for rent on Swimply’s website earlier this year.
The administrative citation, with $3,100 in fines, said Reese was operating an unpermitted short-term vacation rental by listing the pool in February. (In an interview, Reese said he uses the broader property as a long-term rental, but not for short-term stays.)
City code defines a short-term vacation rental unit as “a privately owned residential dwelling … or any portion of such dwellings and/or property and/or yard features appurtenant thereto, rented for occupancy and/or occupied for dwelling, lodging, or any transient use, including but not limited to sleeping overnight purposes for a period of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days or less.”
Reese’s complaint says the Swimply advertisement was not for a short-term rental, “but merely offered the use of a swimming pool located on the property.” The citation against Reese also references the pool as a “yard feature,” according to the suit.
“A swimming pool does not constitute part of the ‘dwelling’ as required by (city code) for a property to be considered a ‘short term rental unit,’ and the term ‘yard feature’ is unconstitutionally vague, rendering the municipal statute in question void for vagueness,” the complaint states.
The complaint also alleges the city violated Reese’s constitutional rights to due process, saying he “was not given proper notice of the alleged violation, and an opportunity to remedy the alleged illegal action prior to issuance of the said citation, as is required by (city code).”
McMillen, the city manager, declined to comment on details of the ongoing case, but added: “The city’s definition of a STVR includes the transient use of all yard features. This includes swimming pools.”
Reese, who noted he didn’t even rent out the pool after listing it earlier this year, said he understands the city doesn’t want the pools leading to large parties, but that there needs to be “a lot more clarity” on what city code allows residents to do with their properties.
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.