by Kevin Hastings
Yesterday, March 10, the California Coastal Commission voted in favor of Councilmember Jen Campbell’s short-term vacation rental (STVR) ordinance. This is a key approval before it can go into effect in the “Coastal Zone” which generally covers everything west of the I-5 freeway.
This was largely a foregone conclusion, because the Commission’s mission statement is to protect public access to the coast, which generally places the interests of tourists over residents. Coastal access is a noble endeavor and can mean many things, but increasingly over the past 10 years they’ve interpreted it to mean that existing residential neighborhoods should accommodate tourist lodging.
Jen Campbell’s ordinance in a nutshell (if you’ve been living under a rock), officially legalizes short-term vacation rentals in residential zones. It creates 4 Tiers of licenses to and accommodate everything from part time home shares to full-time vacation rentals.
It allows unlimited home-shares and full time STVRs with host on site. For full-time STVRs without host on site, there is a license allotment of up to 30% of housing units in Mission Beach, and up to 1% of total housing units outside of Mission Beach. More details on the ordinance can be found here
Two years ago, Campbell ironed out this ordinance behind closed doors with VRBO and a prominent labor union lobbyist who is also the spouse of her campaign consultant.
The framework, called a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), was signed and kept concealed while Campbell’s team engaged in a token public outreach effort with community representatives. We were told our feedback was being taken seriously and that there was nothing on paper yet. But the already signed MOU was made public a few days later. Little has changed since.
Campbell sold it as a great compromise that would cut the number of vacation rentals by 50% or more using a lottery system, and restore long-term housing.
An in-depth review of available booking data and TOT revenue indicates her claims are without merit, and that the ordinance could provide enough licenses for all the existing STVRs and more.
When confronted with this glaring discrepancy, Campbell’s chief of staff Venus Molina admitted, “we don’t have the data… we have to pass the ordinance to find out how many there are.”
Their claimed reductions in STVRs were also disputed by the city’s own Independent Budget Analyst.
But back to yesterday’s Coastal Commission meeting… The docket included a staff report and documentation on the number of existing STVR listings in the city and in Mission Beach. The material was very sparse compared to the research done by other cities with a far smaller footprint in the STVR industry.
It also didn’t address how many of these are full time STVRs and likely subject to the license caps. Coastal Commission staff recommended supporting the ordinance as long as the lottery ensured licenses in any given community were proportional to the number of applicants.
Staff also dismissed the concerns that coastal STVRs displace long-term housing, saying that coastal housing is generally not affordable to begin with. (OBceans pre-Airbnb might take exception to this statement.)
Most of the public comments were from STVR hosts in Mission Beach (several of who were on their Town Council). The hosts, some of which rely on property managers, professed that they are responsible and that their STVRs fit in with the surrounding neighborhood.
Questions arose about the licenses and ways to get around any caps. At one point, a Coastal staffer advocated for building an ADU to move into, then listing the main residence on Airbnb. This would allow for a full-time STVR and be exempt from any license cap.
I was alarmed they would promote taking advantage of ADU housing subsidies without actually creating any new housing. San Diego city staff also advised hosts on how to dodge the 1-license-per-host limitation and obtain licenses for a multi-unit STVR using a “proxy host” for each unit. (Myself and other community members tried early on to get Campbell to close these loopholes but were ignored.)
A long-time community advocate and former OB Town Council president, Gretchen Newsom, changed the tone with a passionate plea to consider the interests of long-term residents, and her personal struggle to find affordable rental housing in Ocean Beach.
I tried to appeal to the Commission’s mission statement by asking for STVRs to be brought into compliance with current parking requirements. Most coastal homes, particularly in Mission Beach, were built when 1 or even zero parking spots were required.
When enough of these are converted to mini-hotels allowing 10 or more guests, it’s clear the impact it has on others who rely on street parking, including day-visitors who can’t afford the average STVR, which is $700 per night after fees for a summer weekend in Mission Beach. These comments did elicit some discussion among the Commissioners, but ultimately did not sway their decision to approve the ordinance.
At least the Coastal Commission’s vote will force the city to finally quantify how many STVRs exist on a per-community basis.
While Jen Campbell is likely preparing her victory lap and doubling down on her baseless claims of preserving long-term housing inventory — some formalities are in order before you’ll see those STVRs on your block made official. City Council still needs to sign off on the Coastal Commission’s minor amendment, and licenses will be issued around the end of the year.
Kevin Hastings is an OB resident of 8 years and current Vice-Chair of the Ocean Beach Planning Board.