Housing is an ever-present topic in West Marin. It became front and center back in May 2022, when the county implemented a moratorium on new short-term rental licenses. Since that date, the Community Development Agency staff, Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors assessed how the doubling of S.T.R.s in West Marin since 2018 has impacted and, in many cases, dramatically reduced the availability of permanent, full-time housing. On Jan. 11, the Board of Supervisors approved an S.T.R. ordinance that will be considered for approval by the California Coastal Commission in March.
As founding members of West Marin Residents for Housing, we joined forces with fellow community members who have worked for years to create affordable rental housing and home ownership options. The doubling of S.T.R.s in our communities has seriously compromised that work, as individual property investors saw the opportunity to subsidize a home purchase, often a second home, through S.T.R. revenue, thereby escalating purchase prices and rental costs for everyone.
From the outset, our goal was to help restore a balance between full-time housing and visitor lodging. Regulating S.T.R.s is not the only tool needed to support long-term housing, but up and down the California coast and beyond, communities have found it necessary to regulate the impacts of hosting platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. These platforms have transformed the nature of visitor-serving options in West Marin, resulting in dire housing scarcity for the people who work in our businesses, volunteer for our fire departments and serve on our nonprofit boards. We have witnessed the results.
The final S.T.R. ordinance sets a cap at about 2022 levels, locking in approximately 16 percent of residential homes for commercial purposes and virtually eliminating the possibility that they will ever become available for long-term residents. Before supervisors voted, the Planning Commission had recommended setting S.T.R. caps at 2018 levels. That year was chosen because it was the point at which S.T.R.s began to dramatically increase and ultimately double. But due to a letter from a single coastal commission staffer who raised concerns that such a cap could be rejected by coastal commissioners—and with no time to resubmit a revised ordinance prior to the expiration of the moratorium in May—supervisors chose the safe route of 2022-based caps. The primary positive outcomes of the board’s decision are that it is unlikely that more residential homes will be converted to S.T.R.s and that S.T.R. licenses will be limited to one per owner.
Unfortunately, supervisors missed numerous opportunities to create a robust program likely to achieve their goal of protecting long-term homes. The ordinance failed to follow the Planning Commission’s directive to develop a program for full-time, resident-hosted S.T.R.s, which Supervisor Katie Rice recommended. The rules fail to ban corporations from securing or transferring S.T.R. licenses, and they lack incentives for S.T.R. owners to convert their properties to full-time rentals. And they allow for self-certification of most of the health and safety provisions.
Though we are disappointed with aspects of the program, we appreciate that supervisors did not let the situation deteriorate. Most importantly, they directed county staff to review the ordinance in two years. We are grateful to the many community members who attended county meetings, sent letters and made powerful statements to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. We are grateful that Supervisor Dennis Rodoni heard you and supports 2018-level caps. The county must now follow through with directions from the supervisors to collect detailed data in administering the program. This would include data to identify how many properties were converted from primary residences or full-time rentals to S.T.R.s, which Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters suggested; developing a defensible definition and compliance procedure for full-time hosted S.T.R.s; and capturing visitation statistics to determine if there is any correlation between visitor numbers and the number of S.T.R.s.
To the community members who have struggled to find secure rentals, young families hoping to get a foothold in the local housing market and full-time homeowners facing the costs of home maintenance, please know we are not finished. Your advocacy made a difference, and we hope it will continue. We will be advocating at the coastal commission hearing in March and will continue to hold the county accountable in implementing the new S.T.R. ordinance, including administrative adaptations as needed along the way.
We have power as a community—that was made clear throughout this process. Compromise is never easy, but we are in this for the long haul. It’s critical that the county prioritize access to secure housing, both affordable and market rate, for communities in West Marin. Short of that, the vibrancy of our coastal communities will continue to decline. As we go forward, remember what is at stake for all of us.
Maureen Cornelia, a 22-year Inverness resident, and David Kimball, a 34-year Bolinas resident, are part of West Marin Residents for Housing along with Harriet Moss of Stinson Beach; Eoin McMillan, Leila Monroe and Don Smith of Bolinas; Susan Scott of Inverness and Jorge Martinez of Point Reyes Station.