How many Airbnbs are in the neighborhood, and who is operating them? With a one-year pilot program that the Board of Supervisors will likely approve next month, all operators of short-term rentals would have to post a sign outside their properties. 

The signs, which must be placed in front of a rental at a height of three to five feet, would include the name of the property owner, the name and phone number of a local contact person, the street address and the business license number and transient occupancy tax certificate.

The ordinance—which would be implemented on a pilot basis for one year—would also require a local contact person to physically respond to any complaint “regarding the condition, operation, or conduct of the occupants” of the rental, and to take any necessary action to resolve the complaint in a timely manner.

“This is a good first step that gives some more responsibility to property owners,” Supervisor Dennis Rodoni said on Tuesday during the first reading of the ordinance. “Part of the intention of the sign is that it proves to the neighbors that someone is paying the [transient occupancy tax] and that they have a business license. It could give neighbors an opportunity to address some of the issues that come around the rentals, giving communities a chance to communicate and to do some self-regulation.”

The board unanimously voted to usher the ordinance forward to a March 13 merit hearing. If approved, the new regulation would go into effect in mid-April.

Property owners who fail to comply with the sign posting requirements would be subject to an administrative citation, with a $100 penalty for a first violation, a $200 fine for a second violation within a year’s time and a $500 fine for each additional violation within that same year. If an operator receives four or more violations within a year, he or she will be subject to nuisance abatement procedures, including civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation per day in addition to other costs incurred by the county.

Though the turnout was slim on Tuesday, those who spoke expressed a range of opinions.

“We’ve never had one complaint,” said a Mill Valley woman who has operated a short-term rental out of her home for the past three years. She urged the board to consider other options, since, she said, “I’m afraid with signage we are destroying a kind of privacy for the people that we are opening our homes for. It also creates an awareness in the whole neighborhood that there’s a hotel or a commercial space that I don’t think our neighbors want.”

An Indian Valley man said that, due to the short-term rental down the street, he and his wife, now retired, “never know if we will get to sleep or not, or if the road will be blocked.” He said he felt the rental “had destroyed the character of our neighborhood” and that the proposed ordinance would not do much to address his concerns.

In her comments, Katie Beacock, the longtime owner of Seadrift Realty, argued that signage posed a potential threat to security. For example, she said the majority of homes on Calle del Sierra in Stinson Beach were rentals. At the same time, the street sees a lot of foot and car traffic.

“My concern with the signs is that we are pointing out that these homes might be vacant,” she said. “We are anxious to cooperate with the county, we want to see the T.O.T. be enforced, we are here to be helpful, even though we don’t love signs.”

Ms. Beacock’s colleague at Seadrift Realty, Inverness resident William Barrett, put forward an alternative to the ordinance that sparked some interest among the supervisors. Instead of signs, why doesn’t the county mail out notices to residents with the necessary information about their neighbor’s short-term rental businesses, he asked.

County planning manager Jeremy Tejirian said the county could explore the idea of a mail distribution list, but he also raised a host of concerns, including that doing so would become a large administrative task.

The signage ordinance is one of a suite of regulations the board is considering to regulate short-term rentals and address the affordable housing crisis in the county, especially in unincorporated areas. 

The posting of signs outside short-term rentals—which Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo Counties also require—was first presented in a white paper, released in May, written Lisa Wise Consulting, which broke down key considerations for future regulations into issues of housing supply and affordability, quality of life and the enforcement of requirements. Among the recommendations were maximum occupancy limitations, rental rules posted inside units, limitations on the number of vehicles that can park on-site, permits that include an initial fee and annual fees based on maximum unit occupancy, and more.

 

The merit hearing on the short-term rental sign ordinance is scheduled for March 13 at the Civic Center.