Sonoma County eyes tighter rules for growing number of vacation rentals

Sonoma County’s effort to overhaul its nearly 5-year-old vacation rental ordinance received a full-throated response Thursday from residents calling for tighter regulations on Web-based renters and investment property owners concerned about perceived threats to their livelihoods.

More than 100 people packed a Planning Commission meeting to hear about proposed changes that include an 180-day cap per unit on annual occupancy, a ban on new rentals in certain residential zones, limits on daytime guests and fines for vacationers who violate noise, parking and curfew regulations.

The county rules, along with any revisions, apply to areas outside city boundaries but exempt rentals inside the county’s coastal zone. Local cities have their own rules, with most allowing the short-term rentals and several banning them outside commercial areas.

County planning officials say the amendments are needed to deal with a rapidly increasing number of vacation rentals coming on the market each year. Since the ordinance went into effect in January 2011, officials issued 912 vacation rental permits, mostly in the Sonoma Valley and Russian River areas.

Together, they generated more than $5 million of the $12.6 million in hotel bed taxes collected in the unincorporated areas last fiscal year.

But the fast growth of the vacation rental market has raised concerns. Residents complain about out-of-towners flooding their neighborhoods on weekends, hosting raucous parties and creating parking and traffic problems.

Others worry about the depletion of the already-tight rental housing stock. County consultant Walter Kieser said the rise of vacation rentals contributed to the loss of 2,000 housing units from 2005 to 2013.

Kieser recommended the county use a portion of hotel bed taxes it collects from vacation rentals to build affordable housing for full-time residents.

“Indeed there is an impact on the housing supply traditionally used by our workforce,” Kieser told the commission.

More than 70 people lined up to comment on the proposal, including vacation rental owners and residents alike. Some made impassioned pleas to keep the current regulations while others argued for even tighter restrictions.

Joe Lieber, a resident of the Valley of the Moon’s Diamond A neighborhood, said his family is now surrounded by vacation rentals. He said the county’s proposed changes are inadequate and sought the removal of a clause allowing existing rentals to remain in operation.

“The vacation rental experiment has been a failure and it should be ended as soon as possible,” Lieber told the commission.

Others, like vacation rental owner Howard Rosenfield, said the problem is not the current set of regulations but the lack of enforcement. People who follow the rules should not be penalized because of scofflaws, he said.

Rosenfield said he put his Bennett Valley property on the vacation rental market because of chronic problems from regular tenants who cultivated marijuana illegally and damaged his property.

Now, he said, he can rent to responsible vacationers who provide security deposits and create few problems.

“I use the income to pay my mortgage,” Rosenfield said. “I’m not getting rich off them. And my neighbors are happy.”

Planning commissioners listened and took notes. They will hold a second hearing Oct. 8 before making a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors could vote on the changes as soon as Nov. 3.

“This is a very emotional issue,” Commission Chairwoman Paula Cook said. “It affects people’s pocketbooks.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@ppayne.