Board approves short-term rental permit for June Lake unit tied to multi-parcel workforce-housing project

The Mono County Board of Supervisors on April 14 approved Short-Term Rental Activity Permit (STRAP) 26001 for 189 Hillside Road in June Lake, a unit owned by developer John DeCoster that is tied to a separate use permit authorizing construction of 2–4 workforce housing apartments and a new parking lot on an adjacent parcel on State Route 158.

Erin, community development staff, told the board the STR application must be evaluated under County Code chapter 5.65 and is being reviewed under the regulations in place when the application was submitted. She said the Planning Commission approved the underlying use permit in December but imposed a condition limiting rentals to the April–November season because Hillside Road is a private, substandard and often unmaintained one-way dirt road that can be hazardous in winter.

Planning staff told the board two features tied the projects together: a parking lot required by the apartment project on the highway parcel and a covenant that will reserve four spaces in that lot for the two dwellings on Hillside Road. Staff recommended conditions including (1) recording covenants for required off-site parking before STR operation, (2) standard STR permit requirements (business license, TOT certificate, inspection fees) and (3) optional language the board could adopt requiring a third-party inspection at the time the STR is ready to begin operation and a disclosure in advertising describing road conditions and the potential need for chains in winter.

Applicant John DeCoster said the project is the product of years of work and argued the STR would help finance construction of workforce housing above his retail property on SR-158. "My intent is to have the tiny cabin behind my house be a place where family and friends can stay for most of the year. And then when they're not using it, I can rent it out as a short term rental to help cover costs," DeCoster said, adding the apartment construction, EV charging and snow storage improvements would benefit the village.

Residents who testified at the hearing raised concerns about emergency access, road maintenance and the prospect that adding visitor traffic and a parking lot could increase maintenance burdens on the private Hillside Road. Larry, a Hillside Road property owner, said he had not been contacted about easement rights and warned of deterioration and extra costs if the development increases traffic. June Lake Fire Protection District Chief Julie Baldwin, who said the department received this meeting's materials that morning, described the narrow, rocky road, lack of a turnaround, and hazards with unguarded stairs and called for strict inspection requirements and assurance that off-site parking be in place before any rentals commence.

Planning staff and the board emphasized the separation of land-use review (the use permit decided by the Planning Commission) from the STR operational permit that the board was deciding. Staff explained some land-use concerns (the larger apartment parking and roadway impacts) had been evaluated by the Planning Commission and that the board's STR decision focuses on articulable impacts and mitigation tied to the STR operation.

After deliberation and discussion of conditions, the board approved STRAP 26001 subject to the staff-recommended findings and conditions, including the requirement that the parking area authorized by the apartment use permit be constructed and two parking spaces be signed and reserved for 189 Hillside Road before the STR may commence. The motion passed 4–1.

Next steps: if the applicant intends to operate the STR he must secure the other ministerial requirements listed by staff — business license, transient occupancy tax registration, inspection checklists if adopted — and comply with the recorded covenants and any third-party inspection requirement before operation begins.