On Dec. 14, Chula Vista City Council unanimously voted approving an ordinance for short-term rentals in Consent Items. The first reading of the resolution was at the Dec. 7 City Council Meeting. Council members Jill Galvez and John McCann recused themselves from the vote. Galvez owns a short-term rental property and McCann has a property that he might use as a short-term rental in the future.
This ordinance will be evaluated in one year to see the impact that it has on the City and its possible effects on the current housing crisis.
Another resolution was unanimously passed later in the meeting amending Chapter 4 (Business Fees) of the City’s Master Fee Schedule to add Short-term Rental permitting fees and adding a 1.0 Conde Enforcement Officer II to the Development Services Department and appropriating funds for the new hire.
On March 16, the City’s Director of Development Services Tiffany Allen presented a general regulatory framework and a series of decision points for the council to consider in looking at regulating short-term rentals. Allen said according to Airbnb, there are around 380 short term rentals in the city but comparing to other cities with comparable size and characteristics, believes there is somewhere between 500 and 1,000. Allen’s department was directed to reach out to the community and present an ordinance that minimizes obstacles for “good actors” and still provides significant penalties for “bad actors” in the short-term rental businesses.
On Dec. 7, Allen presented Council with an updated ordinance, with penalties for those who do not follow regulations but gives current and future short-term business owners much more leeway on how long they can rent.
“With the rapid growth of the sharing economy in recent years, many cities are experiencing a significant increase in short-term rentals. Chula Vista is no different,” said Allen.
A short-term rental is usually a furnished dwelling unit, or a furnished bedroom in a dwelling unit. Rentals must be less than 30 days.
At the first reading of the ordinance on Dec.7, Allen said as short-term rentals become more popular there has been complaints to the city regarding the use of rentals for residential rentals used for commercial purposes, the loss of long-term housing stock, failure of operators to pay Transient Occupancy Tax, lack of property oversight and management, complaints about nuisance behaviors of guests related to noise, parking, trash, late hours and disorderly behavior.
Allen said the benefits of short-term rentals are participation in the sharing economy, an extra source of income for homeowners and long-term tenants, a meaningful and human reaction where guests and hosts often become long-term friends, provides temporary housing options, generates economic opportunity, and increases TOT to the city.
The proposal consists of six components: Annual short-term permit, special permits for large-scale events, good neighbor regulations, guests’ safety regulations, host platform rules, and enforcement tools.
Council was presented with two ordinances, the first ordinance submitted in November and a second alternative ordinance based on community input received since the November meeting.
In the alternative ordinance allows each Chula Vista resident to operate two short-term rentals, a primary residence and one non-primary residence. Hosts must reside in Chula Vista for at least 275 days to obtain a permit.
“For the primary residence, the 90 maximum whole home rental restriction remains in place,” said Allen. “For the non-primary residence property there will be no limit on the number of days per year that the unit could be operated as a whole home short-term rental with a minimum requirement of two day rentals.”
Allen said that there is no cap on permits at this time, but it will be evaluated and if it affects housing availability or neighborhood character it would come back to Council to determine if a cap is necessary.
Staff recommended a phasing in of the ordinance with all provisions relating to permits and hosting platforms are deferred to July 1, 2022. All other sections will be effective Feb. 1, 2022, including operational requirements and the violations and penalties provisions.
There were 19 public speakers at the Dec. 7 meeting, all in favor of adopting the alternative ordinance that does not limit the number of days per year for non-resident whole home rentals. Mostly short-term rentals, most said they are happy to comply with violation rules, good neighborhood policies, and TOT. A couple of Third Avenue business owners supported the alternative ordinance telling Council how short-term rentals have helped their businesses with patrons, especially during the pandemic. There were more than 180 e-comments, a small majority supporting adoption of the alternative ordinance.
Mayor Mary Casillas Salas said that right now it is not a problem because there are a limited number of houses in the city being taken off the market, but she is concerned about the local housing market.
“As we have seen here in Chula Vista, many of you are renting a room in your household due to the high cost of housing,” she said. “The pressures are real in the housing market. We do not have that problem now, but the bayfront is coming, and as we see the popularity of this happening, there is going to have to be a time when we have to examine and look at caps on this.”
Council member Andrea Cardenas said with Chula Vista already impacted when it comes to housing the possibility of gentrification is real.
“That is something that concerns me,” she said. “We are going to have people purchasing a second property near the bayfront just for an availability to rent it out. That would take out people that have been living in the community for years.”
There must be a good balance and that is where my challenge comes with this. We have to strike that balance to make sure that we are not inadvertently affecting our housing crises even more.”
