Planning commission approves short-term lodging permit for 31719 Coast Highway

The Laguna Beach Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit on Aug. 6 to allow short-term lodging at a single-family residence at 31719 Coast Highway.

The permit, Conditional Use Permit 25-1369, allows the applicant to operate the existing two-bedroom home as a short-term lodging unit with a maximum of two overnight occupants per bedroom (four overnight guests) and up to eight daytime guests between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., subject to the conditions in the resolution. Commissioner Sadler, Commissioner Whiting, Commissioner Dubin and Chair Kellenberg voted to approve; Chair Pro Tem Goldman voted no.

Assistant Planner Jessica Mendoza told the commission the property sits in the South Laguna Village (SLV) commercial zone and that short-term lodging is permitted in that zone only through either an administrative permit or a conditional use permit. Mendoza said staff found the proposal consistent with the municipal code and recommended adopting the resolution and the CEQA exemption.

Mendoza summarized the application and staff’s recommended conditions: use of two on-site covered garage parking spaces recognized by the city, a requirement that contact information be posted on the property for a local contact, a prohibition on amplified outdoor sound between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m., and other standard short-term lodging conditions drawn from the municipal code. She also told commissioners that Seacliff Drive (the alley providing rear access) is a private street; staff said that did not change the permit analysis because the property has legal access to on-site parking.

Applicant and owner Jason Longo addressed the commission and said the garage had been cleared since the application photos were taken, that he had scheduled a gardener to trim the hedge that partly encroaches on the Coast Highway sidewalk, and that he planned to post contact information and manage the property to avoid nuisance behavior. Longo said he intends the unit to operate as a single short-term rental (the whole house) with a minimum two-night stay as described in the application.

Several neighbors submitted written comments raising parking, privacy, trespass, noise and sidewalk-encroachment concerns; those correspondences were redacted in the staff packet. Commissioners discussed whether specific general-plan policies cited in the staff report applied to this parcel. The final motion (described below) removed two policies from the CUP analysis — Policy 6.1 and Policy 6.6 — on the motion of a commissioner and the commission’s approval.

Commissioners also debated enforcement and monitoring of nuisance conditions. Staff and commissioners described the existing enforcement path: neighbors call the police or file code-enforcement complaints; persistent violations can lead staff to refer the permit back to the commission for amendment or revocation. Staff noted that short-term lodging permits in Laguna Beach have a three-year term under the municipal code. Commissioners discussed, but did not include in the approving motion, a separate, explicit one-year administrative review; the motion that passed did not add a one-year automatic review condition.

Key conditions and clarifications mentioned at the hearing included: the city recognizes two on-site covered garage parking spaces for the property; the municipal code allows maximum daytime guests (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) in addition to overnight occupants; the applicant represented a minimum two-night stay in the application; short-term lodging is defined as stays of 30 days or less; amplified outdoor music is prohibited between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m.; contact information must be posted on the site; and the permit is subject to the city’s standard code-enforcement and revocation procedures. The applicant told the commission he would post contact information and manage the unit to reduce nuisance risk.

The commission adopted the resolution approving Conditional Use Permit 25-1369 and finding the action exempt from CEQA, with the change to strike Policy 6.1 and Policy 6.6 from the CUP findings. Vote tally: Sadler — yes; Whiting — yes; Dubin — yes; Goldman (Chair Pro Tem) — no; Kellenberg (Chair) — yes.

The commission closed the public hearing and moved on to other agenda items.