Living In A Rental Paradise?
The debate over a county vacation rental ordinance continues
The debate over a county vacation rental ordinance continues
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a Public Hearing on Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. or thereafter, in the Board Chambers at 701 Ocean Street, Room 525, Santa Cruz, CA, to consider adding an ordinance relating to vacation rentals.
SANTA CRUZ — Owners of vacation rental homes will likely face a tiered system of regulation in which properties will be subject to new restrictions based on their location.
Public hearing to consider an ordinance adding sections to Chapter 13.10 of the Santa Cruz County Code and adding a definition in subdivision 13.10.700-V of the Santa Cruz County Code relating to vacation rentals. Chapter 13.10 is a coastal implementing ordinance. (Continued from November 10, 2010.)
As more homes in our coastal area become vacation rentals, it impacts the quality of life for people who live here, creating concerns about neighborhood integrity, loss of rental housing for local residents, and increased rents.
Plain and simple — vacation rentals are businesses in residential neighborhoods. Before the Internet, people rarely rented out their houses other than weekly or monthly and certainly not by the day. Now the Internet has transformed what were formerly homes into unmanaged mini-motels.
Public hearing to consider an ordinance adding sections to Chapter 13.10 of the Santa Cruz County Code and adding a definition in subdivision 13.10.700-V of the Santa Cruz County Code relating to vacation rentals.
After the public testimony and a great deal of deliberation by the commission members, the HAC finally voted for a much simplified version of the ordinance, compared with the original version brought to the commission by Planning Department staff.
The economy of Santa Cruz County is in dire straits with an unemployment rate over 10 percent, a county budget millions of dollars in the red, and foreclosures among the highest in the state. Tourism, our largest source of jobs, continues to struggle. Why then would supervisors propose an ill-conceived ordinance that will have devastating effects on our local economy?
The Scotts Valley City Council voted to draft a letter to the Board of Supervisors Wednesday, asking the county to study the economic impact a proposed vacation housing ordinance would have on Scotts Valley.