Planning Commission approves vacation-rental permit for ADU at 7605 B Avenue

The Sebastopol Planning Commission voted Oct. 8 to approve a conditional use permit allowing an accessory dwelling unit at 7605 B Avenue to operate as a hosted vacation rental.

The decision came after a staff report explaining that the homeowner lives in the main house, the ADU is occupied by the homeowner’s parents roughly half the year, and the application must follow Table 17260 D1 of the Sebastopol municipal code. “Each conditional use permit issued per this section shall be subject to an annual permit review,” staff member John told the commission, and he recommended adding the ordinance’s annual-review requirement to the permit.

The applicant, identified in the meeting as Seth, said he had recently been laid off and that a hosted rental would provide interim income. “We are here, our kids go to Parkside, we are well inserted in our community ... we have no intention to ... turn something into party town,” he said.

Commissioners pressed staff on monitoring and the hosted/non-hosted distinction. Staff explained that a hosted rental is defined by the owner living on site and that registration, tax reporting and the required annual review will give staff a record of rental dates. John also described fee and process differences, saying the permit for an ADU vacation rental built after July 1, 2017 involves a $3,000 use-permit fee rather than a lower administrative fee: “it’s a deposit $3,000 use permit fee as opposed to an administrative fee that’s roughly about $500,” he said.

Several commissioners expressed concern about the precedent of allowing ADUs to be used as rentals and the difficulty of policing varying occupancy schedules, but most supported considering “one-off” family situations under the current code while staff works on ordinance updates. “I actually am not for ADUs being used for rentals because I feel like it’s taking it out of the housing market,” Commissioner Debbie said, while other commissioners said the one-year, staff-reviewed permit provides a measured approach.

A motion to approve the application as submitted passed with four ayes and one abstention; the commission noted there is a seven-day appeal period to Oct. 15 and reminded the applicant to submit a business license application. If no appeal is filed and staff’s year-one review shows compliance, the permit will continue; staff told the commission it will return the permit to the commission if staff determines later that the owner has not complied.

What happens next: The permit is subject to the city’s appeal window, staff review at the one-year renewal, and any ordinance changes the commission or council adopt in the coming year that would affect ADU use as vacation rentals.