Politics & Government
Short-Term Rentals: Regulations Under Review In Contra Costa Co.
Limiting number of guests, enforcing quiet hours, requiring business licenses are among plans under consideration by supervisors.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA – The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors moved one step closer Tuesday morning to regulating short-term residential rentals on unincorporated county land with an eye toward mitigating impacts on the neighbors.
A partial board, with supervisors Federal Glover and Diane Burgis absent, heard a report from staff outlining their current plans for a draft ordinance to be presented to the county's planning commission and brought
back to the board sometime in 2019.
At present, they are looking to limit the number of guests a short-term rental can accommodate to two guests per room, plus two additional guests, so that a three-bedroom rental could accommodate a total of eight
people. Those guests would have to observe quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day.
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Rental operators would need to obtain a business license and a ministerial permit from the county, although Supervisor Candace Andersen expressed an interest in looking for a way to consolidate that process. They
would also be required to pay the county a Transient Occupancy Tax, like hotels.
Renting out a unit for more than 90 days per year would be prohibited, as would renting out accessory dwelling units, more commonly known as "in-law" units, since that could negatively impact permanent housing stock available to full-time area residents.
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On-site advertising, such as vacancy signage, would also be prohibited.
Guests seeking to hold large parties such as weddings or other special events might be able to do so under the regulatory framework discussed Tuesday, but they would have to seek out short-term rentals on properties where the owner had already undertaken the lengthy and expensive process of acquiring a land-use permit.
In terms of fiscal impact, the expenses associated with staff time required to develop the potential ordinance discussed today could cost $30,000 to $50,000. Failure to do implement such an ordinance, however, will
leave the county unable to collect transient occupancy taxes.
Video of Tuesday morning's meeting, as well as the agenda and a staff report regarding short term rentals, is available online at https://contra-costa.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2.
--Bay City News/Image via Shutterstock
