After more than five hours of public testimony, and an impasse among its nine members, who split between two competing proposals to regulate short-term vacation rentals, San Diego City Council on Dec. 12 failed to approve new regulations to regulate the burgeoning industry.
\nThe two proposals presented, which the council failed to merge, included a more-restrictive version (Option 1) authored by council members Barbara Bry and Lorie Zapf from Districts 1 and 2, and another less-restrictive proposal (Option 2) by inland council members Scott Sherman, Chris Ward Chris Cate and Mark Kersey. Swing votes consisted of City Council president Myrtle Cole of District 4, along with council members David Alvarez of District 8 and Georgette Gomez of District 9.
\nAfter multiple votes failed to gain a majority, Cole opted to end the hearing more than 10 hours after it began. Council members haggled over, and were unable to reach a compromise, on several issues regarding STVRs. Those stalemated issues included proposed ordinance language that could have raised legal issues, whether to limit issuance of permits to San Diego residents with primary residency in the city only, and other details including the length of minimum stays and the number of total days a year a residence could be shared as an STVR.
\nNeighbors citywide have been complaining for years about the alarming proliferation of unregulated STVRs, and about noise, trash and other complaints associated with them. Residents have also become increasingly concerned about outside interests coming in and buying up properties specifically to turn them into STVRs, which some contend removes units from the market worsening the existing housing crisis.
\nAppealing to the other side, in introducing she and Zapf\u2019s proposal, Bry pointed out the similarities between the two presented STVR ordinance proposals on the table.
\n“We both have unlimited home sharing and both agree on the importance of enforcement,” said Bry. “In the end, politics is the art of the possible. We cannot punt this football down the road.”
\nBry said STVRs are a land-use issue, noting, “I can\u2019t build a gas station or raise cattle in my backyard.”
\n“Our job is to make tough decisions,” said Zapf, noting her coastal district “is the most impacted by STVRs.”\u00a0
\nLargely due to the tourist industry, STVRs are disproportionately located along the coast. Not surprisingly, a large number of the approximately 200 people who testified before the City Council were beachfront residents.
\nBrian Curry, immediate past president of Pacific Beach Planning Group, said PB began asking the city to take action to curb the unchecked proliferation of STVRs as far back as 2007.
\n“The beaches \u2014 we\u2019re the most impacted,” said Curry, noting he favored hosted home sharing, but not whole-house rentals of less than 30 days, which he characterized as “visitor accommodations.”
\n“Visitor accommodations aren\u2019t allowed in residential zones,” Curry said. “They\u2019re illegal. What [the council] is promoting here is a change to the law to make an illegal use into a legal use.”
\nPB activist Marcie Becket testified about San Diego\u2019s diminishing housing supply, blaming STVRs as one culprit for the shortage.
\n“There are more than 10,000 whole-home STVRs in San Diego as of October, with a housing shortage (regionwide) of 40,000 to 50,000 units, 25 percent of our housing shortage,” Becket said, arguing Option 2, the inland council members\u2019 proposal, “would open the flood gates [potentially] opening up every property in San Diego to [the possibility of] becoming an STVR.”
\n“Option 1 is the lesser of these two evils,” Becket testified.
\n“Today, the San Diego City Council failed to pass any of the motions put before them,” said an exasperated Rachel Laing, a consultant on behalf of the Airbnb industry in San Diego. “The meeting adjourned with no resolution.”
\nAnn Kerr Bache, president of La Jolla Town Council, said the Ward proposal (Option 2) “would fundamentally and irrevocably change the character of San Diego neighborhoods, favoring commercial interests over San Diegans, violates [California Environmental Quality Act] and is also a violation of California state law on housing elements.”
\nGary Wonacott, president of Mission Beach Town Council, implored the City Council to “come up with a sensible plan to help people supplement their incomes” via home sharing STVRs. Noting STVRs are a “complex problem,” Wonacott pointed out Mission Beach is unique in that it has the highest share of STVRs of any beach community, in excess of 40 percent of the total housing stock, a fact he said needs to be addressed with any new ordinance changing the status of the STVR industry.
\nPacific Beach activist Tom Coat argued that passage of Option 2 would lead to “an army of investors transforming our neighborhoods.
\n“We are your voters? Not investors,” Coat told the council. “We vote because we care about our neighborhoods and our homes. Don\u2019t be on the wrong side of this issue. Please find a compromise that protects our neighborhoods.”
\nJonah Mechanic, representing the local vacation-rental industry, labeled arguments presented by proponent of much-tighter STVR regulations as “propaganda, rumors, myths, lies and legends.”
\n“I\u2019ve yet to see a reliable source [of evidence],” said Mechanic, adding, “Throwing a bunch of red dots on a map doesn\u2019t make for reliable data.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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