Dana Point council authorizes limited new short‑term rental permits, approves Deckard monitoring contract

The Dana Point City Council on May 6 authorized staff to issue 15 short‑term rental permits outside the coastal zone and directed the city manager to enter a contract with Deckard Technologies to improve monitoring of online advertisements and transient‑occupancy‑tax (TOT) reporting.

The action follows a staff update on the city’s short‑term rental (STR) program and a lengthy public comment period in which residents of the Ritz Point gated community urged the city to enforce master‑association rules that they say prohibit rentals of less than 30 days.

City planning manager John Ciampa and code‑enforcement staff told the council the city has phased the STR program since 2023, with separate caps for inside and outside the coastal zone. Staff reported 96 active permits inside the coastal zone and 59 outside, for a total of 155 active permits against a program cap of 130 inside the zone and a phased cap system overall. Staff recommended issuing 15 permits from the wait list outside the coastal zone (a mix of homestay, primary and multifamily homestay permits), maintaining the…