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TOP NEWS DANA POINT SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

Dana Point 5th Marine Regiment Support Group Wins 2021 ‘Spirit of Hope’ Award

BY LILLIAN BOYD, DANA POINT TIMES

The Dana Point 5th Marine Regiment Support Group (DPSG) was presented with the “Spirit of Hope” Award for its support of the Marines, Navy Corpsmen, and families of the 5th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Camp Pendleton.

The Spirit of Hope Award was established in 1997. It was first granted to entertainer Bob Hope by the United States Congress and is awarded annually in his honor. The basis for the award was to recognize Hope’s commitment to entertaining military servicemembers over many decades, both within and outside of combat zones. The Department of Defense now presents the award to winning recipients.

“We are truly honored to be chosen for the ‘Spirit of Hope’ Award from among so many other patriots and generous Americans who were nominated,” DPSG President Mike Lipscombe said. “We will continue our mission of caring for the ‘Fighting Fifth’ and their families for many years to come.”

Lipscombe accepted the Spirit of Hope medal at a ceremony held on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at the Memorial Garden in the San Mateo area of Camp Pendleton—the same day that the U.S. Marine Corps celebrated its 246th birthday.

While the Spirit of Hope Award is traditionally presented to recipients at the Pentagon, the location was moved to Camp Pendleton due to COVID concerns. Lipscombe said that being able to accept the award at the garden that the support group has helped develop and care for was just as meaningful.

The DPSG aided in spearheading the effort to bring the 5th Marines Vietnam War Memorial for Camp Pendleton—an effort that took about a decade.

“The Memorial Garden is a special place, because it gives people who have served in the 5th Marines in the past a place to come back to and reflect on those who were lost,” said Capt. DJ Sargenti.

Lipscombe got involved with DPSG in 2013. While his military service during the Vietnam War brings a unique perspective on what members of the “Fighting Fifth” may need from the community, Lipscombe says those needs are constantly changing.

“We’ve expanded some programs; we’ve extended scholarships for summer camps for kids. So, any Marine family that has a child who wants to go to a class yearround can do that,” Lipscome added. “We find ways to serve the Marines, and we find ways to serve their families.”

Lipscombe has been president for the support group for three years. He says the DPSG’s achievements could not have been done without the efforts of each volunteer and a rallying community.

“I’ve been in a couple other Marine Corps units before here. There’s never been anything like this,” Sargenti said of the support group. “This is very unique. Everything that the Dana Point 5th Marine Support Group provides is unmatched.”

For the Spirit of Hope Award, each division of the Armed Forces and the Department of Defense is invited to nominate an individual or organization who epitomizes the values such as duty, honor, courage, loyalty, commitment, integrity, and selfless dedication, and who significantly enhances the quality of life of servicemembers and their families serving around the world, and contributes an extraordinary amount of time, talent, or resources to benefit servicemembers.

DPSG joins a list of previous Spirit of Hope winners, including Gary Sinise, American Idol finalist and country music star Kelly Pickler and her husband, Kyle Jacobs, and singer-songwriter Toby Keith. Other organizations recognized have been The Fisher House Foundation, The Soldiers’ Angels, Camp Hope, and The Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund.

The DPSG is a nonprofit organization that supports U.S. servicemembers and their families from the 5th Marine Regiment and the Wounded Warriors Battalion West at Camp Pendleton. It currently has more than 350 volunteers from all walks of life. For more information, visit danapoint5thmarines.com.

The “Spirit of Hope” Award is given to recipients who have demonstrated a commitment to significantly enhancing the quality of life of servicemembers and their families serving around the world. Photo: Lillian Boyd

Workshop Shows Mixed Views on Short-Term Rentals

BY BREEANA GREENBERG, DANA POINT TIMES

When Phil Webb and his siblings inherited their family home on Beach Road in Dana Point, the family didn’t know what to do with it. The home was in the family since the 1960s, passed down from generation to generation, landing now with Webb and his siblings. The family no longer uses the home as much as they would like, so Webb, a resident of San Marino, says he is interested in turning the home into a short-term rental (STR).

But for people like Webb, obtaining a permit for STRs in Dana Point is currently an obstacle in limbo.

Short-term rentals are defined as entire residential houses or apartments, or rooms within, that are rented out to visitors for a fee between one and 29 consecutive days. They are often arranged on websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway or Vrbo.

No new STR permits have been issued since 2016. After residents submitted a referendum petition to rescind the STR program approved in 2013, which went into effect in 2016, the Dana Point City Council repealed the ordinance. The roughly 200 permits issued when the program began were effectively grandfathered-in and were allowed to continue operating. As of October 1, there are 129 permits still operating throughout the city.

Since the original ordinance was appealed, the city’s STR Subcommittee has worked to develop a policy to regulate STRs. The subcommittee requested input from residents on the city’s STR program at a public workshop on Monday, Nov. 8.

The STR Subcommittee evaluated three types of short-term rentals: homestays, primary residence, and non-primary residence. Homestays are when the homeowner rents out a portion of their home for between one and 29 consecutive days and the homeowner continues to live there at all times while visitors are renting; a primary residence is when a homeowner rents out their own primary residence to visitors for between one and 29 consecutive days while the homeowner is traveling or living elsewhere; and a non-primary residence is when a property owner rents out homes other than their primary residence to visitors for between one and 29 consecutive days.

Chair of the Dana Point Planning Commission and STR Subcommittee member Eric Nelson added that the Planning Commission is focused on protecting existing residents from nuisances that may occur when neighboring an STR. In creating new regulations, the STR Subcommittee is determined to “balance everybody’s rights and make sure that, from a property rights perspective, that we’re listening to that side, but we’re also listening to those that are residents in the community, as well as HOAs and homeowners.”

The ideal STR policy would have broad support from residents and homeowners in Dana Point, Nelson explained.

“What we want to make sure is that as a community, this is what the community wants and it’s not tailored for outside interests,” Nelson said. “Not to say that there couldn’t be any, but the goal would be that it’s not encouraging that.”

In June of this year, city council updated existing STR regulations to include a minimum renter age of 25, a maximum daytime occupancy of 2.5 times the night occupancy with a maximum of 20, and no outdoor noise after 10 p.m. If there are complaints, STR owners are given a 30-minute response time to resolve them. City staff will also let next-door neighbors of STRs know that the property is operating as a shortterm rental annually.

The STR Subcommittee requested input from residents on zoning, permit caps, transferability of permits, maximum stay length, and regulating multi-family unit STRs.

The STR Subcommittee asked speakers to comment on whether the city should restrict STRs to only specific zones, and whether some zones should only allow for specific types of STRs. Resident Toni Nelson spoke at the workshop in favor of Laguna Beach’s program, which no longer allows short-term lodging in residential zones.

“People in general want the residential areas to stay residential,” Toni Nelson said. “We all like staying in Airbnbs when we travel places, but nobody really, when push comes to shove, wants to have a full-time hotel next door to them.”

Toni Nelson also added that “most people don’t want a constant barrage of people coming in and out every couple of days. It’s just not conducive to residential living. We want neighbors, not tourists.”

Paul Wyatt, a former STR Subcommittee member and former Dana Point Councilmember, commented in favor of restricting STRs to only the primary residence kind.

“I really think that if you use primary residence and say ‘OK, short-term rentals can only exist where somebody lives there as their primary home—their kids go to school there, their driver’s licenses are issued from there, and their taxes (Cont. on page 4)