The city of Fountain Valley, Calif., voted 3-2 on Dec. 21 to draft a motion to support short-term rentals with a moderate amount of restrictions, instead of fully prohibiting them. Short-term rentals are defined by the city as renting a living space for less than 30 days. Available options are commonly listed by homeowners on websites such as Airbnb and Vrbo. Given that short term-rentals are not explicitly addressed in Fountain Valley’s municipal code, the city previously took the stance that they were prohibited. Due to the lack of an explicit prohibition, it was challenging to hold violators accountable. The city estimates that there are approximately 175 short-term rental operators in the city. At recent August and November council meetings, the city council reduced approaches on how to deal with short term rentals to just two choices: either prohibit them completely or allow them with a “moderately restrictive level of …