Corte Madera staff recommends banning short‑term rentals after low participation and high administration costs; council asks for more options

Town staff recommended that the Corte Madera Town Council rescind the short‑term rental (STR) ordinance adopted in November 2023 and prohibit new short‑term rentals, after reporting low participation, program costs that exceeded revenues, and persistent enforcement challenges.

Staff framed the item as an update and a request for direction. Planning and code enforcement staff presented program results from 2024, described enforcement difficulties using third‑party monitoring software, and outlined two primary policy options: amend the ordinance to be more permissive to encourage licensing, or rescind the ordinance and adopt a prohibition. Staff’s written recommendation favored rescission.

Planning staff Tracy Haggerty described the program trajectory: the ordinance went into effect Jan. 1, 2024; staff mailed an outreach packet to roughly 75 previously listed properties and issued six short‑term rental licenses in total (five in 2024 and one in 2025). “Fewer than 20% of the individuals that received that letter, reached out to inquire about how they could get a short term rental license,” Haggerty said. She reported that only four licenses remain active at the time of the March 4 meeting.

The town…