Sonoma County launches complaint hotline for vacation rentals

Sonoma County has launched a new phone hotline dedicated to vacation rental complaints.

“The line is intended to ensure vacation rental operators’ compliance with county regulations,” said Tennis Wick, director of Permit Sonoma, the county’s planning and permitting department. “It will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

The announcement Wednesday comes as county leaders grapple with calls for increased oversight of vacation rentals, which have boomed in the region over the past decade, and especially over the past two years amid pandemic-era shifts in worklife and an influx of wealthy buyers seeking property in Wine Country.

There are over 2,000 permitted vacation rentals in Sonoma County, according to county data.

Many residents say increasing numbers of vacation rentals coupled with lax management has had an adverse affect on neighborhoods, while some vacation rental operators push back saying stricter measures will hurt business.

In August, the Board of Supervisors approved a series of changes to local regulations that included widening areas where rentals are prohibited outside city limits, establishing caps on rentals in other unincorporated areas and amending policies governing rentals on the coast.

The board caps limit rentals to 5% to 10% of existing housing stock in certain low density residential zones.

The board also approved a new vacation rental license program to standardize the requirements for all vacation rental permit holders outside cities.

Those requirements include quiet hours from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. — a one-hour increase from the current 10 p.m. start time — a guest limit determined by the number of bedrooms, parking standards and limits on the size of fire pits.

Funding for the complaint hotline comes from fees paid by vacation rental operators. The county hired Granicus, a third-party contractor, to manage the hotline, said Stuart Tiffen, a county spokesperson.

Property managers are expected to resolve any concerns about violations, like amplified sound during quiet hours and fire pit sizes, within one hour or 30 minutes, the county said in a new release.

The county’s website directs anyone with a concern about a violation to first contact the property manager, by looking up their contact information through the county’s permit database online.

If the property manager does not respond after an hour to 30 minutes, neighbors should call the hotline to file a complaint, the website said.

Neighbors can call the hotline with concerns about regulation violations, the county said in its announcement. The hotline number is 707-875-6619.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.