Short-term rental update in South O

Last week, city representatives came to Beach Break Cafe to update South O on plans to investigate regulation of short-term rentals. The presentation by city planner Jeff Hunt was held July 24 before the South Oceanside Community and Merchants Association biweekly meeting organized by Richard Fox. The audience included concerned community members, as well as at least two owners of STRs and local agents of AirBNB.

Hunt said the city has about 800 STR rentals with proper city permits (and an unknown number of unlicensed properties). Of these, about 75% are in the coastal zone (roughly Coast Highway west). He listed the pros and cons of short-term rentals

• Pros: income for owners, tax revenues
• Cons: impact on the nature of the community, parking, presence of strangers

As Hunt (and some STR property owners noted), Oceanside is “fairly loose” on STR regulations — it would appear the most lax regulation of any coastal city of San Diego County.

The city appointed a subcommittee of the planning commission to develop recommendations for the full PC. The first hearing will be Aug 21 (from 3-6pm), while Hunt expects the remaining hearings to be held in October and January (and thus a PC and city council recommendation in the first half of 2019).

The Planning Department had proposed a relatively mild set of “Good Neighbor” regulations in 2016, but were abandoned by the department in the face of owners of STR properties. When asked what about the 2016 proposal was controversial, Hunt listed three objections:

1. Objections to all forms of regulation
2. A limit of two occupants per bedroom (#6)
3. A requirement that all rentals provide adequate off-street parking (#4)

 

City Planner Jeff Hunt, July 24.

Regulating Short-Term Rentals

The South Oceanside Community and Merchants Association bimonthly meeting is this Tuesday, 6-7:30pm.  As always, it is graciously hosted by Beach Break Cafe.

The question of regulating short term rentals in the city of Oceanside is one of this week’s topics. The specific focus is the appointment June 25 of an ad hoc committee of the Planning Commission to study the issue. The PC appointed Colleen Balch, Curtis Busk and Tom Rosales to the ad hoc committee; Balch and City Planner Jeff Hunt will be present at the July 24 SOCMA meeting to discuss the issue.

Concerns About Short Term Rentals

Oceanside is one of a number of California cities where residents have concerns about short term rentals in residential neighborhoods. In general, the concerns have been about the impact of these temporary hotels upon the character of neighborhoods, in terms of traffic, parking, noise, density of use and bringing strangers into the neighborhood.

The decisive vote July 16 by the San Diego city council to regulate short term rentals brought a lot of attention by the San Diego newspaper and TV stations.

However, action has also been taken by Carlsbad, Del Mar and other coastal cities in Northern and Southern California, including Santa Monica and Santa Cruz. The California Coastal Commission has asserted the right to approve or rejection regulation in the coastal zone, approving that of Santa Cruz in April while seeking changes to Del Mar’s in June.

Those that rent out their properties tend to be in three groups: those that rent out part of their house, those that rent out all of their house, and commercial landlords that own properties solely for short-term rentals. Some cities have drawn a distinction between supplemental income by owner-occupants and commercial landlords.

Possible Forms of Regulation

Looking at other cities, the possible forms of regulation have included:

• What properties can be rented
  • Some say only owner-occupied
  • Some say only if the owner (or agent) is onsite during rental
• Limit on how may units in a city or neighborhood. Some grandfather in existing rentals
• Limits based on zoning, or conformance to existing zoning/building code
• Limits on
  • how many total residents, or residents per bedroom
  • requiring adequate offstreet parking
• How long is the rental
  • Minimum stay length
  • Maximum days/year
• Registration: most require, permits, access to representative for complaints, maintaining list of renters

Oceanside’s Process

In 2016, the city developed a “Good Neighbor” policy for short term rentals:

1). Owner or owner’s authorized agent shall be available 24-hours a day, seven days a week to respond to complaints concerning condition, operation or conduct of short-term rental occupants
2). Owner/owner’s agent must post in a conspicuous place on the exterior of the unit a copy of the Short-Term Vacation Rental Permit and owner/agent’s phone number (local emergency contact), reachable at all times.
3). If Good Neighbor Policy is violated, owner/owner’s agent must respond to remedy the issue within 60 minutes of receipt of complaint.
4). Parking for all vehicles must be on-site in the driveway, garage, or carport.
5). Refuse containers shall be stored out of public view.
6). The number of occupants shall be limited to two people per bedroom plus one person per unit.
7). Amplified sound is prohibited from 10:00 p.m. to 10 a.m.
8). Owner/owner’s agent must share this Short-Term Vacation Rental Information & Good Neighbor Policy with all renters.
9). Require renters to execute a formal acknowledgement that renter is legally responsible for compliance with all requirements contained herein.
10). Obtain names, addresses & phone numbers of renters.
11). Agree to provide information from items 8-10 above to the City when requested and maintain this information for three years.

Although this policy was never put into law, it is expected to provide a starting point for discussion of future Oceanside regulations.

The ad hoc committee will be holding a series of public meetings on Tuesday afternoons in the fall. The first meeting will be held Tuesday August 21, from 3:00-6:00 p.m at Oceanside City Hall council chambers, 300 North Coast Highway, Oceanside, Calif, 92054. Other meetings are expected to be held in September and October.

After the committee makes its recommendation, it will be considered by the entire Planning Commission in a public hearing. From there, the recommendation will go to the city council for consideration.

As the process develops, Save South O will be sharing future updates and recommendations regarding this topic. Stay tuned.