The volatile issue of short-term rentals will go before the Marin County Planning Commission on Monday when it considers proposed rules that would determine how many coastal properties can be rented through sites like Airbnb.
The draft rules have sharply divided West Marin residents, with some homeowners arguing that they are too restrictive and some housing advocates arguing that they would result in an increase in S.T.R.s, pushing housing further out of reach for low- and middle-income families.
County officials hope to implement new regulations before the current two-year moratorium on new short-term rentals expires next May. In devising the rules, planners hoped to give homeowners some flexibility to rent their property while ensuring that some homes remain available for long-term rentals.
After reviewing public comments on their draft, county staff proposed a few alternatives to the regulations that the Planning Commission could consider on Monday. One would broaden proposed caps on S.T.R.s to include hosted as well as unhosted rentals. Another would exempt farmstays from the rules.
The proposed regulations have disappointed people on both sides of the issue, judging from the written comments submitted to the Community Development Agency since it released its proposal last month.
Members of the West Marin Access Coalition, a group that opposes limits on S.T.R.s, accused planners of “hyper-regulating” the rental market. Their 83-page submission, which included a detailed rewrite of the proposed rules, accounted for roughly half of the pages of written public comments submitted to county staff. It was signed by Sean Callagy, an attorney and Inverness homeowner, and more than 100 other coalition members.
“The September 2023 draft regulations represent the most backward and anti-visitor proposal to be put forward in the county in decades, if not generations,” they wrote.
Many of the signees own homes in Dillon Beach and Stinson Beach, popular destinations for vacationers and weekend visitors.
But those concerned about the region’s dwindling supply of affordable, long-term housing said the rules weren’t stringent enough. “I am shocked and beyond disappointed that you have not significantly changed the S.T.R rules in West Marin,” wrote Siobhan Mora-Lopez, who left Bolinas when she lost her long-term rental and could not find another that she could afford. “Shame, shame, shame.”
County planners have proposed caps that would be imposed gradually as current S.T.R. operators decide to leave the market, and the limits would vary by community. County staff estimate the limits would eventually reduce the percentage of short-term rentals anywhere from 1 percent to 4 percent, depending on the township. Overall, they say, the percentage of West Marin properties with S.T.R.s would drop from 12 percent to 10 percent.
But the limits would not apply to hosted S.T.R.s—those where a homeowner or a long-term tenant lives on the site. They would only apply to unhosted S.T.R.s.
Before the proposed moratorium was announced in 2022, there were 551 short-term rentals in West Marin, both hosted and unhosted. By the time the moratorium was implemented just weeks later, an additional 70 homeowners had registered, bringing the total number to 621.
Under the proposal, the number of unhosted rentals would be capped where the total number of S.T.R.s stood before the moratorium was imposed. The cap would be implemented gradually, as current S.T.R. operators decide to stop renting their homes or move away.
Not capping both hosted and unhosted rentals outraged housing advocates who had been hoping for a 50 percent reduction in the total number of S.T.R.s. By their calculations, excluding hosted rentals from the caps means that the total number of unhosted S.T.R.s would rise over time, not fall.
The proposed regulations also drew objections from people who live outside West Marin but come here to vacation.
“I fear that fewer vacation homes will make it difficult for those coming from afar, or even just across the bridge, to experience the coast and parks,” wrote Margaret St. John, who lives in Oakland. “Please vote no on the draft regulations and help stop the county’s misguided effort to limit visitor access to the region’s public lands.”
As they prepared to craft the new regulations, county planners heard repeatedly from people who blamed the surge of S.T.R.s for driving up home prices and driving down the supply of long-term housing. Opponents of caps said S.T.R.s boost the economy, drawing visitors to stores and restaurants and creating house-cleaning and maintenance jobs. Many said they relied on the income.
The regulations also raised concerns from the operators of West Marin farmstays whose short-term rentals supplement their farm income. Melissa Daniels, who operates the Cow Track Ranch in Nicasio, said her farm would go under if she couldn’t host travelers, who account for most of her sales of beef, eggs, honey and other products.
“Agritourism is vital to agriculture in Marin,” Ms. Daniels said. “Agricultural income alone does not sustain our operations. We have to be diverse. We have to feed our families somehow.”
In their report, county staff suggested that the Planning Commission consider exempting farmstays from the S.T.R. regulations. “Agricultural producers typically have large properties and do not disturb neighbors,” they wrote.
The proposed regulations would limit a homeowner to only one S.T.R., and they would have to renew their license every two years. If any provision of the rules is violated more than once, the license would be suspended.
Some provisions could potentially discourage homeowners from operating S.T.R.s. The primary resident of a hosted rental would have to be on site from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. whenever their home is rented. Rental operators would have to submit a certified septic inspection to obtain a license.
But proponents of stricter limits were disappointed that the county did not require S.T.R.s to be owned by a “natural person”—not a business entity.
“When housing is owned by a natural person they can develop a caring relationship with a community and possibly change course and become part of that community,” wrote Amelia Straton, a Bolinas resident. “A corporate or investment property portfolio is simply an extractive relationship—all take.”