Like two boxers squaring off before a long-anticipated fight, those for and against a proposed city ordinance to restrict proliferating short term vacation rentals were ready to brawl before the Dec. 3 public hearing on the hot-button issue before the city Planning Commission.
A recently proposed city ordinance to regulate rentals creates a new use category and amends an existing one. It establishes a separately regulated — and new — use category for whole home rentals: “Short-Term Vacation Rentals.”
The new proposed ordinance includes Home Sharing (owner-occupied rentals) in the same use category as the current Boarding and Lodging category. It proposes limits on visitor frequency, occupancy and eligible housing types in both Home Sharing and Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs).
The intent of the proposed ordinance is to minimize the impact of STVRs and Home Sharing on quality of life, especially relating to noise, occupancy, parking and trash. It allows for the STVR and Home Sharing uses while maintaining the purpose of a Single-Family Residential Zone, which, according to the San Diego Municipal Code, is “to promote neighborhood quality, character and livability.”
Both sides were continuing to issue statements supporting their positions in the days and weeks building up to the Dec. 3 Planning Commission hearing.
Following are a few excerpts from comments made recently by beach residents on STVRs in Next Door social media: • “Some people need to understand there are limits on what an owner can do with his property. No one wants a garage to open up in the house next to where they live, or a strip club, or a motel. There are regulations to prevent abuses of this kind. San Diego already has regulations to prevent this. They need to enforce them.” — Joe Tanzarello, P.B. Plaza
• “I’m all for letting homeowners have the freedom to use their property as they please. They paid dearly for that privilege here in San Diego. Why should any municipality, or anyone else, for that matter, reach into a sacred core right of self determination? In these turbulent economic times, if using your property for extra income might keep you from losing your home, I would be all for it.” — Rebecca Bennion, La Jolla Colony
• “I will be there to voice my support of individual property rights and liberty. I will be there to voice my support for STVRs.” — James Hemmick, P.B. South East Central
• “As a long-term renter, good neighbor and single household who cannot afford to buy on a single income, I believe airbnb’s have eliminated affordable housing options by decreasing the supply of long- term rental options, which means if I ever want to live in anything larger than my current studio (I do), I will need to move out of San Diego altogether or live with a roommate (after living alone for 15 years! I think not!). It’s a problem, and I hope they put a limit on the number of airbnb’s in each zip code.” — Miss Smith, P.B. South East Central
• “A significant distinction can be drawn between an individual who in the past, or the present, buys a home or a condo and then uses is it as a rental property on a long-term basis, versus those who would purchase such and use as a hotel or for transient occupancy. I do not see this as being a slippery slope issue. Herein, the right to rent a home on a revolving door basis in the same manner as a hotel, without any supervision on site, is a novel, new use, which prior to Airbnb, never really existed.” — Jeffrey Rosan, P.B. North Save San Diego Neighborhoods (SSDN), a grass-roots group that has emerged to support stricter regulation of STVRs, made the following statement prior to the Dec. 3 Planning Commission hearing: “We believe in the sanctity of residential neighborhoods. And we believe that when it comes to property rights, the most fundamental right is the ability of residents to enjoy a peaceful, suitable environment in which to raise their children and live their lives. That is why cities have zoning. … Short-term tenants have little interest in public agencies or in the welfare of the citizenry. They do not participate in local government, coach Little League or join the hospital guild. … Fundamentally, the STVR issue in San Diego comes down to one fact: The City has failed to enforce its existing Municipal Code. … “What we are asking the City of San Diego and its Planning Commission on Dec. 3 to do is straightforward: Enforce the existing Municipal Code, which makes STVRs unlawful in all San Diego residential zones, to rid our communities of absentee-owner commercial mini-hotels.” Noah Mechanic, an STVR industry spokesman with SeaBreeze Vacation Rentals LLC, in a widely circulated op-ed piece, said, “Short-term rentals bring many tangible benefits to homeowners, residents, travelers, neighborhoods and local businesses as well as the economic health of cities in which they are allowed to thrive. … Short-term rentals allow for flexibility in travel, increased local spending and engagement with parts of the City otherwise bypassed by visitors relegated to traditional tourist neighborhoods. “Recent studies have shown that visitors who stay in short-term rental accommodations spend more on local businesses and are more likely to be return guests to the market as a result of their experience. … Community members who rent on a short-term basis often rely on it to supplement their income. This supplemental income allows them to meet mortgage obligations, make repairs or upgrades to their homes or pay for regular household expenses. … “San Diego is a top-10 tourist destination, and tourism has been identified by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation as one of our three pillars of economic development in the region. … The San Diego Vacation Rental Management Alliance and the Short Term Rental Alliance of San Diego have joined together to support neighborhood-friendly and responsible rental practices.”