Encinitas Vacation Rental Limits Rejected
Encinitas Vacation Rental Limits Rejected
By Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 16, 2006
ENCINITAS – The city's attempt to ban new vacation rentals leased for 30 days or less has been trounced by the California Coastal Commission.
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The commission decided Tuesday to reject a city proposal to ban new vacation rentals, reasoning that the private homes provide lodging for visitors and encourage access to the coast.
The commission even turned down a staff recommendation to allow a partial ban that would have prohibited short-term vacation rentals west of Coast Highway 101 and allowing them to the east.
It also rejected a request from the city to postpone the vote until a compromise could be worked out between Encinitas and the commission's staff.
Yesterday, city officials reacted with predictable disappointment, although they acknowledged the regulation was a long shot.
The city proposed the ban after persistent complaints from neighbors that vacationers made excessive noise, brought too much traffic and left too much trash.
“These rentals will proliferate and impact the quality of life,” said Mayor Christy Guerin, who did not attend the commission meeting in Huntington Beach. “It's a money-making deal. I think it will get worse.
“My big frustration is that the Coastal Commission is way off base here,” she said. “This is a land use issue and should be left to the city. I don't think the Coastal Commission should have anything to do with it.”
Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan, who represented the city at the hearing, said the commission erred when it considered vacation rentals accommodations for middle-income families.
“I don't agree. If you look at the rent, it is not affordable,” she said.
Houlihan said she wants to make the most of an unsatisfactory situation and will ask the council to hold a public referendum on whether to collect hotel taxes from the rentals. Currently, vacation rentals are exempted from the tax.
“They are given unfair advantage over bed and breakfasts, and hotels and motels,” Houlihan said. “I still believe they are a commercial venture.”
She will broach the issue at the council's goal-setting session in January, Houlihan said.
Yesterday, ban supporter Irwin Rubenstein said the commission's decision was terrible.
“When the city loses control over its zoning, it really loses all control,” he said.
However, ban opponent Chris Carrico, who manages 50 vacation rentals at Sea Bluffe on Leucadia's coast, said the commission made the right decision.
She said her clients rent their houses in one-week blocks. “They are not flophouses,” she said.
Vacation rentals have been a thorny issue for homeowners and neighbors that the city tried to address earlier this year.
In February, the council proposed a ban on future vacation rentals, but it never made it to a Coastal Commission hearing because the commission's staff planners objected to it. On hearing that, the city withdrew its application to refine elements of the proposal.
In August, the council decided to try again and, on Tuesday, suffered a resounding defeat.
By Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 16, 2006
ENCINITAS – The city's attempt to ban new vacation rentals leased for 30 days or less has been trounced by the California Coastal Commission.
Advertisement
The commission decided Tuesday to reject a city proposal to ban new vacation rentals, reasoning that the private homes provide lodging for visitors and encourage access to the coast.
The commission even turned down a staff recommendation to allow a partial ban that would have prohibited short-term vacation rentals west of Coast Highway 101 and allowing them to the east.
It also rejected a request from the city to postpone the vote until a compromise could be worked out between Encinitas and the commission's staff.
Yesterday, city officials reacted with predictable disappointment, although they acknowledged the regulation was a long shot.
The city proposed the ban after persistent complaints from neighbors that vacationers made excessive noise, brought too much traffic and left too much trash.
“These rentals will proliferate and impact the quality of life,” said Mayor Christy Guerin, who did not attend the commission meeting in Huntington Beach. “It's a money-making deal. I think it will get worse.
“My big frustration is that the Coastal Commission is way off base here,” she said. “This is a land use issue and should be left to the city. I don't think the Coastal Commission should have anything to do with it.”
Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan, who represented the city at the hearing, said the commission erred when it considered vacation rentals accommodations for middle-income families.
“I don't agree. If you look at the rent, it is not affordable,” she said.
Houlihan said she wants to make the most of an unsatisfactory situation and will ask the council to hold a public referendum on whether to collect hotel taxes from the rentals. Currently, vacation rentals are exempted from the tax.
“They are given unfair advantage over bed and breakfasts, and hotels and motels,” Houlihan said. “I still believe they are a commercial venture.”
She will broach the issue at the council's goal-setting session in January, Houlihan said.
Yesterday, ban supporter Irwin Rubenstein said the commission's decision was terrible.
“When the city loses control over its zoning, it really loses all control,” he said.
However, ban opponent Chris Carrico, who manages 50 vacation rentals at Sea Bluffe on Leucadia's coast, said the commission made the right decision.
She said her clients rent their houses in one-week blocks. “They are not flophouses,” she said.
Vacation rentals have been a thorny issue for homeowners and neighbors that the city tried to address earlier this year.
In February, the council proposed a ban on future vacation rentals, but it never made it to a Coastal Commission hearing because the commission's staff planners objected to it. On hearing that, the city withdrew its application to refine elements of the proposal.
In August, the council decided to try again and, on Tuesday, suffered a resounding defeat.
Labels: Encinitas, Vacation Rentals
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