In its first public action, the recently formed Santa Fe Neighborhood Law Center has proposed a new city ordinance to prohibit short-term rentals in residential districts.

Because of the city's past policy of nonenforcement of the 2002 code's ban on such rentals, and in fairness to agents and lessors who relied on the city's toleration and acceptance of their taxes, the law center is further recommending a five-year phase-out period for existing short-term rentals, along with an overlay zoning option to allow future unlimited short-term rentals in districts that might want or need them.

The compromise short-term rental bill sponsored by Mayor David Coss and Councilors Miguel Chávez and Rebecca Wurzburger, which will be considered at a Dec. 12 public hearing, tracks with the law center's basic recommendations.

This compromise bill is preferable to belated city enforcement of the 2002 Code ban on short-term rentals in residential areas, which risks lengthy and costly litigation that the city might not win in court.

Because of the city's history of laxity, "policy" of nonenforcement, and collection of lodgers taxes from short-term rentals, courts might rule against the city on equitable grounds — as short-term rentals proliferate throughout Santa Fe during interim years of legal uncertainty.

The Santa Fe Neighborhood Law Center was formed to preserve, protect, and enhance the role of neighborhood associations in legal and policy matters.

Our guiding rationale is that Santa Fe's regulatory process inherently tilts toward developers with resources for hiring lawyers and experts, who can roll over resistance by neighbors who lack professional skills or representation.

Because of this imbalance, neighborhoods suffer from denser developments, taller buildings, shorter rentals and faster dollars.

Patterned on the public interest law firms of the 1960s, the Neighborhood Law Center seeks to balance the scale by providing professional resources in support of neighborhood associations on law and policy matters of citywide concern.

Fred Rowe is president of the Santa Fe Neighborhood Law Center.