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San Bernardino council weighs ban, regulation and enforcement costs for short‑term rentals; hearing continued to March
Summary
After hours of public testimony and staff presentation on enforcement options, the council directed staff to pursue a regulatory ordinance and continued the short‑term rental public hearing and ordinance work to the council's second meeting in March to refine enforcement language and costs.
San Bernardino — The City Council advanced a regulatory approach to short‑term rentals while giving staff more time to refine enforcement language and cost estimates, after a lengthy hearing Tuesday that laid out the practical trade‑offs between an outright ban, strict regulation, or taking no action.
Staff told the council that the city faces three options: "adopt an ordinance banning short term rentals, adopt an ordinance regulating short term rentals, or take no action at all," and that either choice will require amending the development code (sections 19.02050 and chapter 19.04) and a 30‑day effective period after adoption.
The presentation identified enforcement technology the city could use and associated costs. Staff said Deckard Technologies’ Rentalscape platform would monitor listings and identify addresses; the firm’s basic compliance monitoring was estimated at $7,500 a year, while a package that included registration and transient occupancy tax (TOT) collection was estimated at $16,500 a year. Staff noted a 10 percent TOT (Municipal Code section 3.55‑020a) and presented an early estimate that registration and TOT revenue could yield roughly $270,000–$324,000 annually, with net revenue dependent on enforcement costs and program design.
Members of the public and council members debated two central points: the revenue potential versus the nuisance impacts in neighborhoods, and whether the city currently has the enforcement capacity to make regulation effective. Councilmember Ortiz highlighted enforcement capacity, noting that code enforcement has "approximately 20" officers for the city and that many code teams do not work nights — the peak hours for short‑term rental disturbances. Other council members, citing resident complaints about parties and noise, argued a ban would be the clearest route to stop problem properties.
After extended questioning about how Deckard and other collection options would work, Councilmember Sanchez moved to pursue the regulatory option (introduce and read by title only the ordinance to regulate short‑term rentals). The council also voted unanimously to continue the public hearing to the second regularly scheduled meeting in March so staff can return with refined regulatory language, enforcement details, cost estimates and options for targeted zones or pilot timing.
What happens next: Staff will work with the city manager and police and code enforcement to return in March with a draft regulatory ordinance or pilot approach and recommended enforcement and fee schedules. The council’s continuation preserves the option to return later with a ban if regulation proves infeasible.
