After more than a year of lengthy hearings and intense debate, Marin County has landed on a compromise short-term rental policy that left few partisans satisfied but would potentially pass muster with one crucial entity: the California Coastal Commission.
The regulations approved by the Board of Supervisors last week would cap S.T.R.s in West Marin for the first time since sites like Airbnb began transforming the housing market over the last decade and a half.
The policy differed sharply in two key respects from a proposal the Planning Commission approved in November. That version would have exempted the seaside communities of Dillon Beach and Seadrift from any caps while imposing a sharp 57 percent cut elsewhere in West Marin.
The supervisors instead endorsed an alternative that would allow S.T.R.s to operate in up to half the dwellings in Dillon Beach and Seadrift—a potential increase of 79 percent over current levels—but cut the number elsewhere in West Marin by just 13 percent.
Several supervisors seemed sympathetic to the 57 percent proposed reduction but said their hands were tied by the coastal commission, which is charged with ensuring visitor access to the coast and must endorse any plan before it is goes into effect.
Last week, a commission staffer sent the county an email expressing a preference for modest reductions or maintaining the status quo. Steep cuts were unlikely to be approved, she said.
The board voted 5-0 for the planning staff’s alternative plan, which caps S.T.R.s at the levels where they stood when Marin announced a moratorium on short-term rentals in May 2022.
District 4 supervisor Dennis Rodoni, who just took over as board president, said he would have preferred the 57 percent cut, which would have capped S.T.R.s at levels from 2018, when the county passed a good-neighbor S.T.R. policy that addressed concerns such as noise and trash disposal.
But he said he would vote for the more modest proposal because the coastal commission would not approve the sharper reductions.
“I wish I could go back to some date and time that was different in West Marin, but the reality is, we’re not going to be able to do that,” Mr. Rodoni said. “We’re not going to be able to pass this ordinance tonight and get it through the coastal commission unless we take a more moderate position.”
After the meeting, some disappointed housing advocates pushing for tighter caps said the county should not have capitulated so quickly based on an email from a single staffer.
“It’s the commissioners who rule on this, not their staff,” said Don Smith of Bolinas, where many residents are concerned that S.T.R.s are fraying the community fabric. “Coastal commissioners have expressed in recent meetings an increasing concern for the negative effects of too many S.T.R.s on housing stock and emergency services.”
Nearly 70 percent of unincorporated Marin’s 923 S.T.R.s are in West Marin, where 16 percent of homes have short-term rental licences.
The county imposed the two-year moratorium to give planners time to evaluate S.T.R.s’ impact on community cohesion, homeowners’ pocketbooks and the ability of out-of-town visitors to enjoy the spectacular coastline and parks.
Underlying the effort was deep concern about the lack of affordable long-term rental housing in West Marin, where many residents can no longer afford to live and workforce housing is exceedingly scarce.
The county has been rushing to get regulations approved by the coastal commission before the moratorium on new S.T.R.s expires on May 23.
Many residents who spoke at last Thursday’s hearing said they have seen one long-term rental after another snatched up by investors more interested in enriching themselves than building community. They have watched in dismay as neighbors have moved away and school populations have dwindled because people can’t find an affordable place to live.
But a procession of S.T.R. operators said they relied on the income and could be forced to leave West Marin without it. Short-term rentals are a win-win for the homeowners and their renters, increasing access to the seashore, they maintained. Without S.T.R.s, only the wealthiest of the wealthy would be able to live here.
Both sides packed the supervisors’ chambers, with opponents of S.T.R. caps waving “access for all” signs and proponents waving “community first” placards.
“We’ve had a front-row seat to the exodus of families who’ve had their dreams of community turned upside down in a heartbeat by landlords who’ve decided to cash in on S.T.R.s,” Bruce Mitchell of Inverness told the board. “I strongly urge your support for the 2018 caps.”
But Linda Howe of San Geronimo said she couldn’t make ends meet without her Airbnb. She began renting out a room several years ago after being confronted with a series of home repairs and rising utility bills that she couldn’t cover with her monthly social security check.
“It’s saved us,” she said.
To the disappointment of many people on both sides of the issue, the approved regulations will cap both unhosted and hosted rentals—the latter in homes occupied by the owner or a year-round renter. Permitting unlimited hosted rentals would have allowed more people like Ms. Howe to rent a room in their home to supplement their income without creating incentives for absentee investors to snatch up properties.
Supervisor Katie Rice said such an approach could allow more people to remain rooted in their communities and suggested the board consider capping only unhosted rentals.
Many communities elsewhere in California have adopted such an approach. In San Francisco, for example, any full-time resident can operate an Airbnb in their primary residence, defined as the home they live in at least 275 days a year. But they can rent for no more than 90 days a year when they are not present in the house.
Sarah Jones, director of the Community Development Agency, said county staff had considered such an approach but decided it would be too difficult to enforce.
Before coming up with draft regulations, planners held a series of community meetings and focus groups and conducted a survey. Their initial plan called for imposing the 2022-level caps in all West Marin townships, including Dillon Beach and Seadrift.
That proposal was assailed by residents on both sides of the issue. When the Planning Commission considered the matter, it attempted to thread the needle by exempting the two seaside communities but imposing tougher caps everywhere else.
The regulations approved by the supervisors would require S.T.R. operators to pay a fee to receive a license that can be renewed every two years. Property owners would be limited to one license, a provision intended to discourage corporate ownership. Operators who commit more than two violations of standards outlined in the regulations would lose their license.
All current S.T.R. operators would be allowed to obtain a license if their rental meets updated safety and septic requirements. The number of S.T.R.s would gradually decline through attrition as current owners leave the market. New operators could only get licenses when S.T.R. numbers fall below the caps, which would vary by community.
Owners already operating multiple S.T.R.s could continue operating up to three rentals, but only if they are on a single property. Each one would require a separate license.
Due to a state law intended to boost the supply of long-term rental housing, accessory dwelling units of 800 square feet or less could not be used as S.T.R.s if they were built after Jan. 1, 2020.
The law created streamlined zoning regulations for new units of that size and required that they be rented long-term. Older ADUs could be used as S.T.R.s if they have a solid foundation and water, sewer or septic connections that meet county codes.
The rules approved by the Planning Commission would have allowed Airbnb operators to transfer their license to their spouse or children, with no limit on the number of times they might do so. But staff argued that unlimited family transfers would lock in patterns of generational wealth and keep newcomers out of the market.
The supervisors approved a single transfer per family, to either a spouse or a child.
S.T.R.s currently operating in multi-family properties—those with three or more units—would be allowed to continue for two more years but could not renew their licenses after that. The county wants to keep such units available for long-term rentals because they are typically less expensive to rent than single-family homes.
The supervisors expect the coastal commission to take up the rules in March.
Though people on both sides of the issue were unsatisfied with the outcome, some found common ground in agreeing that the options were constricted by the coastal commission.
The Point Reyes Station Village Association had supported the Planning Commission proposal, citing the diminishing workforce housing stock. But Mark Switzer, the association’s secretary, said even modest caps were an important step forward.
“It was a compromise,” he told the Light. “It was a recognition that this needs to pass muster with the coastal commission if we’re going to achieve the completion of an ordinance before the moratorium expires. I think we will be able to look back and be satisfied that there is significant regulation of short-term rentals that will control the proliferation that has occurred.”
But Rachel Dinno Taylor, who divides her time between San Francisco and Inverness, said the board should not have approved any caps without first collecting data to document that they will lead to an increase in long-term rentals. She is one of many S.T.R. operators who have said they will not rent their homes long-term because they want access to them during the year.
“Marin has spent decades making itself inaccessible to those looking to move here long-term, and the county will now make itself inaccessible even to those looking to spend the night,” said Ms. Taylor, founder of a group called the West Marin Access Coalition.
Along with West Marin’s hotels and bed and breakfasts, short-term rentals are subject to an extra county tax that helps fund affordable housing in West Marin. Capping S.T.R.s will reduce revenues generated through the tax over time—an ironic step for the county to take in its efforts to create more affordable housing, Ms. Taylor said.
“These regulations will cut our only reliable funding source for affordable housing and drive out long-term residents who rely on the additional income to keep their homes,” she said.