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Riverside County supervisors OK moratorium on short-term rentals in Thousand Palms
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Ohmio self-driving shuttles to be unveiled in Riverside By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
By City News Service
E
lectric autonomous shuttle manufacturer Ohmio Inc. will officially open its headquarters this week in Riverside with a demonstration of one of the electric shuttles that will be deployed throughout the city. The grand opening is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at 6868 Airport Drive. Expected attendees include Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, Riverside City Council members, Riverside Transit Agency Board members, representatives from the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and government officials from the New Zealand, where Ohmio is based. "We are excited to establish our new headquarters in Riverside, a city that shares our commitment to innovation and sustainability," Dean Zabrieszach, president and CEO of Ohmio, said in a statement. "This facility will not
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he Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a 45-day moratorium on the issuance of short-term rental certificates in Thousand Palms and the nearby Coachella Valley community known as B Bar H Ranch to give Riverside County Transportation & Land Management Agency staff time to draft regulations that address problems stemming from house parties and other activities in the locations. "Community members wanted to see more work done, specific to shortterm rentals," said board Chairman Manuel Perez, whose Fourth District encompasses the Coachella Valley. "The moratorium is to, really, help give us time to think this through. ... I expect some good work will be done from this." The moratorium on operating certificates takes effect immediately and is slated to sunset on April 25. However, the board has discretion to extend the moratorium repeatedly going forward, utilizing urgency ordinances that require four-fifths approval. "This is necessary for all of us in Thousand Palms and B Bar H Ranch, in order
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The historic B Bar H Ranch area and Thousand Palms are now under a 45-day moratorium for short
See Ohmio Page 31
term rentals. | Photo courtesy of 301man/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
to have our quality of life, peace and quiet and security restored and protected," Janice Charney told the board prior to its vote. Perez surmised that the upsurge in boisterous parties at vacation rental properties in Thousand Palms and the ranch area resulted from the "very firm" short-term rental restrictions in place throughout Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert and Palm Springs, all of which border the communities where the moratorium has been applied. The chair said the municipalities' no-tolerance regulations were driving celebrants into
the unincorporated areas. "I don't want it to get to the point where it's like the Burning Man," Perez said, referencing the annual desert festival that draws thousands, who are invited to shelve inhibitions in favor of "self-expression." "I don't want something like that in my district," he said. TLMA officials said there are 68 legally sanctioned short-term rental, or STR, operators in Thousand Palms and B Bar H Ranch, which is a 240-acre space in the Seven Palms Valley See Rentals Page 16
northeast of Interstate 10 and southeast of North Palm Springs. Thousand Palms is a few miles farther south, also in close proximity to I-10. Since 2022, 35 properties in Thousand Palms have been "flagged" for hosting short-term guests without an STR permit, while 27 properties have been flagged in B Bar H Ranch. The latter has 37 legal STRs, while Thousand Palms has 31, officials said. Department of Code Enforcement personnel have issued a total of 38
Riverside County supervisors approve Uber rides for stranded inmates By City News Service
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he Board of Supervisors approved a $2.16 million contract Tuesday with Uber Technologies Inc. to provide subsidized rides for Riverside County inmates who can't arrange or afford to pay for their own transportation after they're released from any of the county's four main detention facilities. In a 5-0 vote without comment, the supervisors authorized the Riverside County Sheriff's Department to select Uber as the principal after-hours ride service for released inmates, utilizing its Uber for Business, or "U4B," online dashboard under an agreement that expires in February See Inmates Page 32
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