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:
- Objections to all forms of regulation
- A limit of two occupants per bedroom (#6)
- A requirement that all rentals provide adequate off-street parking (#4)
Save South O 
2 thoughts on “Short-term rental update in South O”