Monday’s (Nov. 20) Planning Commission meeting has three items on its agenda, all of direct interest to South O:
- Tightening Short Term Rental regulations (#4)
- Approval of a 34′, two-story single family resident just outside St. Malo (#5)
- Approval of the development plan for the Loma Alta Creek restoration (#6)
The agenda is here, and staff reports for all three items can be found here. The hearing begins at 6pm in the City Council chambers, 300 N. Coast Highway.
Save South O strongly recommends community support for #4 and #6, and has no position on #5.
4. Short Term Rentals
According to the staff report, “there are approximately 1,112 registered SIRs in the city of Oceanside, with approximately 749 STRs located in the City’s Coastal Zone and approximately 263 STRs outside of the City’s Coastal Zone.”
To increase the supply of housing, in August the city directed the staff to prepare a ban on future STRs outside the coastal zone. Since the very first STR discussions, Save South O advocated reducing (or banning) STRs to make sure new construction resulted in new residential housing. As we wrote in April 2019:
Conversion of a owner-occupied or long-term rental into a STR reduces the housing stock. (Renting part of a home or renting an empty vacation home does not have this impact, unless a home is bought for this purpose). … The more housing gets converted from residential to STR, the more likely the state is to override local control here to force new housing units over neighborhood objections.
The proposed ordinance would add one additional category of prohibited use in Section 24.6 of the city code:
- (a) Short-term rentals are prohibited in a manufactured home park, as defined in chapter 16.B.2(c) of the Oceanside City Code.
- (b) Short-term rentals served by a panhandle access that does not meet city standards set forth in Oceanside Zoning Ordinance 1050(Y) or other applicable city ordinances are prohibited.
- (c) Short-term rentals located in any zoning district outside of the Coastal Zone.
This month’s proposed policy change is the same as the one adopted by Carlsbad in 2015. Like Carlsbad, Oceanside is not proposing to ban STRs inside the Coastal Zone, based on previous CCC actions that prevented STR bans. However, in 2022 the CCC did allow San Diego to reduce the number of STRs in its Coastal Zone.
The policy new policy is still less restrictive than that approved by the Planning Commission in 2019, which would have banned non-hosted rentals in any residential zone (other than R-T). But this policy was supported by only one council member (Sanchez).
5. S. Myers Home
The proposed project is located on S. Myers, at the corner of Myers and Eaton. The project property is on a 9,054 sq ft lot, equivalent to three standard residential lots. The project is on the front half of the lot (bordering Myers) with a separate lot behind the project fronting on the alley (Pacific Terrace).
The project is described as
The proposed residence would include two stories with a total of 4,076 square-feet of living area, 900 square-foot three-car garage space, and a 374 square-foot roof deck. The main floor of the residence consists of a kitchen, dining area, great room, half bathroom, laundry room, guest room with full bathroom, and a three-car garage. The dining area would have sliding doors leading out to a patio area located in the front yard below the proposed roof deck. The second story would include a family room, three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a master bedroom, a gym, and roof deck accessed from the family room.
The project meets the city’s height, lot coverage and setback requirements for the R-1 zone. Although outside St. Malo, it conforms to the St. Malo architectural standards and the proposed design was approved by its architectural review committee.
6. Loma Alta Creek Restoration
This is a city approval of the city’s planned restoration of the 5.8 acres of the Loma Alta Creek, and also enhancements of the access to the site. This includes a pedestrian trail along the north side of the creek, connecting Coast Highway to a pedestrian overlook. The city has received state funding for the project, and in June 2023 the project was approved by Coastal Commission.
Save South O has consistently backed this project as part of the overall improvements to Buccaneer Park and surrounding areas.
Save South O 