Short-term vacation rentals may soon be legal \u2013 and regulated \u2013 in San Diego.
\nCity staffers released a memo on Aug. 12 that lays out a potential framework for traditional vacation rentals and for those that have proliferated through sites like Airbnb and VRBO, which connect hosts and visitors.
\nA proposed ordinance drafted by the city’s Development Services Department would allow up to two paying visitors to stay in a room within a home and full-home rental stays of fewer than 30 days. Hosts who book more than two visitors or multiple rooms at a time would be considered bed and breakfast operators, which would come with more requirements. Renting entire space
\nThe draft proposes these be generally allowed for less than a month in most residential areas. Hosts would be required to share and enforce a rental agreement with visitors and designate a local contact to respond within an hour of any complaints about bad behavior at the property. City leaders will have to hash out how many guests and visits are allowed per month. Home sharing
\nThe property owner is required to remain in the home while the visitor stays for fewer than 30 days. No more than two lodgers are allowed, and an arrangement is allowed for only one room or with one party. At least one parking space must be provided. City leaders will decide how often visits are allowed. Bed and breakfasts
\nHomeowners who host more than two visitors or coordinate more than two stays at once would be classified as bed and breakfast operators. This label wouldn\u2019t necessarily mean meals are provided but would require that the property owner to stick around during the visit. Depending on where the home is located, operators could need to get a neighborhood use permit or a conditional use permit, which can take more than a year to obtain. These hosts would also need to have a parking space for the operator and additional spaces for the guest rooms. There are additional regulations and parking requirements depending on the zone the home is in.
\nStill, the rules probably don\u2019t quell some bitter disagreements over the issues that have flared during months of public hearings, heated debates and even legal threats.
\nBob Vacchi, the city\u2019s Development Services director, said the tension put pressure on the city. “It\u2019s been extremely difficult for us to put (the draft rules) together because there\u2019s really no consensus,” Vacchi added.
\nEven with the draft ordinance, the city remains a house divided on short-term rentals. While the city\u2019s collecting bed taxes from short-term rentals, a Burlingame woman last week was saddled with a nearly $25,000 fine for operating what city staffers referred to as a bed and breakfast out of her historic craftsman home. The 70-year-old says she simply hosted visitors through Airbnb and didn\u2019t operate a commercial enterprise.
\nThe citation followed months of confusion about the rules \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 for vacation rental hosts to follow and city demands that they pay bed taxes long imposed on hoteliers.
\nThose disagreements also contributed to foot-dragging by the city.
\nCity Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, who represents beach communities, called an April City Council subcommittee hearing on short-term rental issues. The gathering was so packed the committee held a second meeting on May 29. That day, members of the smart growth and land use committee \u2013 which Zapf chairs \u2013 asked city staffers to work on an ordinance.
\nThe initial draft was finished by early July and shared with City Council members, according to emails obtained by Voice of San Diego. But the emails indicate the mayor\u2019s office delayed the release when it discovered continued infighting over some of the specifics.
\nBrian Pepin, Mayor Kevin Faulconer\u2019s director of council affairs, wrote in a July 10 email that the mayor\u2019s office had met with some City Council members to get their take on the measure and found continued disagreement over the number of rentals allowed per month or year.
\n“Unfortunately, the councilmembers were unable to reach consensus on the appropriate frequency to move forward with,” Pepin wrote in an email to a Development Services staffer who worked on the draft ordinance. “The result of the meeting was to request that you return to the smart growth committee at its next possible meeting in order to get clear direction on frequency.”
\nThe next subcommittee meeting isn\u2019t until Sept. 23.
\nThere were other issues, too. At the May 29 meeting and in other settings, City Council members have disagreed on the number of visitors that should be allowed in a full-home vacation rental. They also haven\u2019t given clear consensus on whether hosts should be allowed to rent granny flats, or other spaces on residential lots, on a short-term basis.
\nOfficials say conflicts delayed at least one other discussion on the issue.
\nJoe LaCava chairs the citywide Community Planners Committee, a group that had been set to review the draft short-term rental ordinance at its July meeting. He said he was told the draft rules would be released June 30 and cleared his group\u2019s July agenda to allow for a heated debate. That didn\u2019t happen.
\n“I heard those regulations were being held back by the mayor\u2019s office,” LaCava said.
\nHe was surprised when the proposed regulations weren\u2019t released in the weeks afterward, either.
\n“Everybody knows there\u2019s draft language just sitting out there. Everybody\u2019s just waiting for that draft language to drop and then start the conversation,” LaCava said Aug. 12, before the memo was released. “I think everybody\u2019s just sort of in a waiting period right now.”
\nVacchi said the delays were a result of a lack of consensus among councilmembers, not any intention by the mayor\u2019s office to delay the discussion.
\nA mayor\u2019s office spokesman couldn\u2019t immediately comment.
\nThat debate appears likely to pick up again soon, shortly after an administrative law judge decided the Burlingame Airbnb host should be sanctioned.
\nAmanda Lee, the Development Services manager who drafted the proposed rules, said Zapf\u2019s office will decide next steps for the ordinance. Lisa Halverstadt is a reporter at Voice of San Diego. Know of something she should check out? You can contact her directly at lisa@vosd.org or (619) 325-0528.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Short-term vacation rentals may soon be legal \u2013 and regulated \u2013 in San Diego. City staffers released a memo on Aug. 12 that lays out a potential framework for traditional vacation rentals and for those that have proliferated through sites like Airbnb and VRBO, which connect hosts and visitors. A proposed ordinance drafted by the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":274562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"City releases initial new regulations for short-term vacation rentals","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duplicate","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}