Council directs staff to revise short‑term rental ordinance, plans community forum

The National City Council on first reading discussed and directed staff to revise a proposed short‑term rental (STR) ordinance that would create licensing, permit and enforcement rules for short‑term rentals in the city.

Assistant Director Martin Reeder outlined the draft ordinance’s principal elements: the STR operator must be a primary resident of the city, ADUs and deed‑restricted affordable units would be ineligible, occupancy limits (two people per bedroom plus one) and quiet hours (10 p.m. to 9 a.m.), mandatory good‑neighbor materials and a 24‑hour local contact for complaints. The ordinance would authorize administrative citations for violations ($500 for a first founded violation, $1,000 for a second within 12 months, and $1,500 for a third) and permit revocation after multiple infractions. Staff also proposed vendor‑managed compliance and data services (estimated vendor cost $10,000–$15,000 annually) to identify and register listings on platforms such as Airbnb.

Council members expressed broad agreement with the concept of regulating STRs but sought additional protections focused on housing affordability and neighborhood stability. Council member Molina asked staff to study restrictions used in other cities and proposed language to prevent evictions tied to conversion to STR use and to limit total annual nights when hosts are absent. “We need to prevent landlords who perform no‑fault evictions from immediately converting a long‑term unit into a short‑term rental,” Molina said, urging residency verification and limits on non‑hosted renting.

Council members also requested advance neighborhood notice when a host seeks a license, clearer definitions of verified complaints and evidence standards, and limits or district caps to avoid concentration of STRs in a single area. Public safety concerns, including incidents tied to unregulated rentals, were raised by several council members and residents as part of the justification for regulation.

The council voted to direct staff to revise the draft ordinance to include the changes requested by council (including examining Berkeley‑style provisions and options for license limits), prepare a public forum for community input over the summer, and return with a revised draft for introduction and subsequent adoption. Staff said they would aim to return recommended language at the next meeting where feasible and hold community outreach while balancing workload constraints.

Next steps: staff will incorporate council direction, produce a marked draft ordinance for the next staff report, conduct a public forum to solicit neighborhood input, and return to council with a revised ordinance and implementation plan that may include vendor selection and fee estimates.