Proposal would curb short-term rentals in San Diego

Short-term rentals of private residences would be sharply curbed under a proposed ordinance drafted by San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, whose district includes the La Jolla area.

Her proposal, released Monday, arrives a few months before the full council is expected to take up yet again the contentious question of how to regulate vacation rentals, which have mushroomed in popularity with the growth of the online home-sharing platform, Airbnb.

The city planning department already is at work drafting alternative measures based on three options it released earlier this year, which at the time ranged from the most permissive to one that would effectively ban such rentals.

The city is hoping to hear the matter Oct. 23, said Planning Director Jeff Murphy. It will mark the sixth hearing at City Hall in two years to consider the issue of short-term rentals.

Under Bry’s suggested regulations, homeowners would be allowed to rent out only their primary residences on a short-term basis but for no more than 90 days a year. By clamping down on such rentals, Bry says her proposal would effectively shut down the transformation of single-family homes by absentee investors into what she calls “full-time mini-hotels in residential zones.”

While Bry’s draft ordinance is certain to advance the debate among council members, it is less likely to forge consensus on an issue that has divided elected leaders for more than two years.

Councilman Chris Cate, who has consistently argued in favor of permitting vacation rentals citywide but with much stricter enforcement and escalating fines, said Monday he would not support Bry’s proposed regulations, which he thinks have come too late.

“We're getting to the point where we’re getting ready for a council hearing on this, and this should have been heard first at the committee level,” said Cate, who has previously codified his ideas in a proposed ordinance.

“I want to make sure as a city we're being able to meet expectations of our residents in terms of enforcement, and I don't believe we can effectively ban rentals in residential zones and have that ban enforced.”

San Diego's elected leaders have been debating since 2015 potential regulations that would satisfy both home-sharing hosts and homeowners who have complained that their neighborhoods have been overrun by vacationers and late-night parties.

In March, the council’s Smart Growth and Land Use Committee weighed various options but could not reach consensus on the best approach for governing short-term rentals, although it did agree on permitting home sharing, where homeowners rent out spare bedrooms to visitors.

The most lenient of three options the planning department offered up earlier this year for the rental of entire homes would allow them to operate in residential zones but would require ministerial permits, as would all the options.

The strictest proposed a minimum stay of 21 days, an option that had been proposed in the past by City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, who now says she supports Bry’s current proposal.

A third option struck a middle ground, allowing vacation rentals but requiring a special permit for larger homes that have six or more bedrooms or accommodate more than 10 guests.

Earlier this year, City Attorney Mara Elliott issued a memo concluding that San Diego’s municipal code does not permit short-term rentals in any zone, an opinion that runs counter to her predecessors.

“The council has been dealing with this issue before I got here, and the Smart Growth and Land Use Committee was deadlocked on how to deal with whole home rentals, so I think it’s just time to take this whole issue to the entire council,” Bry said. “This has been vetted in the communities for the last two years.

“What’s changed, I think, is a wider appreciation that we need to provide more housing for San Diegans and second, that this is spreading into more neighborhoods.”

Tom Coat, a co-founder of Save San Diego Neighborhoods, which has fought to ban short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods, said his group appreciates the direction of Bry’s proposal but it has not decided yet whether to back it.

“We’re talking a closer look at it, but we’re concerned that San Diego doesn’t have enough resources, because of the huge growth in the numbers of vacation rentals, to do adequate enforcement, so we’d like to see more concrete and better enforcement ideas in it,” Coat said.

“But we are ecstatic over the fact it would put a halt to the investor class of short-term rental operators. We’re really opposed to people coming in and buying up housing stock and converting it to hotels where they don’t live.”

Both Bry and Cate are proposing that permit fees be imposed for all short-term rentals. Such fees, Cate said, could go toward beefing up city enforcement of problem rentals. Bry says that it should not be that difficult to monitor short-term rental hosts who are in violation of whatever regulations are ultimately adopted.

“There is now software cities are using that scan websites and can generate letters to properties to make sure they’re complying,” Bry said. “And we will still be collecting those TOT funds. I’m always open to new input and suggestions.”

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg