Petaluma council poised to tackle short-term vacation rentals

After using the website Airbnb to find places to stay while traveling in Hawaii and France, Deborah Garber and her husband decided to turn a bedroom of their west Petaluma home into a short-term vacation rental.

In three years renting out their spare room to visitors from all around the world, Garber said she has never had a problem with a guest being loud or unruly. The visitors get an intimate glimpse at the city that they may not otherwise experience staying at one of the chain hotels in town, she said.

“For the most part, it’s been a wonderful experience,” said Garber, an artist. “We act as ambassadors for Petaluma and Sonoma County.”

As Petaluma wades into regulation of short-term vacation rentals, an industry that has seen recent exponential growth thanks to websites like Airbnb and VRBO, city officials are hearing from hosts like Garber. They are also hearing stories from neighbors complaining of noise, traffic and drug use coming from these properties.

Christina Gleason said the noise from travelers coming and going at all hours of the night at a short-term rental in her neighborhood has kept her awake. She thinks these types of establishments are not appropriate for residential neighborhoods.

“They are basically bringing in people from anywhere in the world to your neighborhood,” said Gleason, who started a group, Protect Petaluma Neighborhoods, to fight short-term rentals. “You don’t know who these people are. In zoning, keeping commercial activity separate from residential is a tenet of good planning.”

The City Council on Monday will consider a package of short-term rental regulations designed to minimize the impact on neighborhoods, attract tourists and collect thousands of dollars in fees and taxes that the city currently is leaving on the table.

Cities such as Healdsburg and Calistoga have outlawed short-term rentals partly because of the noise and traffic concerns. Others, including Santa Rosa and Sonoma, have adopted regulations similar to those being proposed in Petaluma. The city’s Planning Commission in November recommended that the council adopt the measures.

About 50 homes or rooms in Petaluma are currently rented out on a short-term basis, according to a city report. If they are regulated, the city stands to collect about $85,000 from permits and taxes that are assessed on hotels and traditional bed and breakfasts.

Some of the regulations that city staff are recommending include:

*Limiting the number of people who can occupy a rental to two per bedroom plus two additional guests.

*Requiring that a property manager live within 45 minutes of the rental and be able to respond to complaints within an hour.

*Restricting nonhosted vacation rentals to 90 days per year.

*Necessitating that owners of short-term rental properties provide parking for tenants.

Some council members said the city should regulate short-term rentals rather than ban them or allow them to operate unregulated. Councilman Gabe Kearney said he has used Airbnb on his travels.

“The argument against it, that there are rowdy, crazy people renting these houses, that’s just not my observation,” he said. “My biggest concern as a city is making sure we are getting all we can in terms of revenue from tourism.”

Councilwoman Kathy Miller said that the proposed regulations seem to strike a good balance between addressing the concerns of neighbors and the proprietors, who often rely on the income from short-term rental properties.

“A lot of the hosts are doing it as an economic necessity,” she said. “A lot of them are retired and are trying to hang onto their homes.”

After holding workshops and hearings on the topic, the city received dozens of comments from short-term rental hosts, users of the online applications and concerned residents. Some worried that short-term rentals would spoil the character of their neighborhoods.

“They come on hip and cool, and imply that you aren’t if you don’t embrace them, but I don’t think these slickly-marketed apps should have the power to change the very essence of our neighborhoods,” wrote Susan Thompson. “Do we really want to open up our residential communities to tourists/strangers? We can opt out. Please say “no” to nightly rentals in Petaluma.”

Kate Glose of Petaluma, who wrote that she has been a guest and a host through Airbnb, said the system can work with the right regulations.

“I see this way of travel having benefits to our city that extend beyond the obvious financial benefits of travelers spending money here on food and entertainment,” she wrote. “I understand the city’s desire to capture the (tax) and I fully agree with that. I believe that this is an idea that is here to stay and is working in many parts of our country and overseas. I know we can make it work here to the satisfaction of all concerned.”

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MattBrownPD.