Brought to you by MaryBeth McLaughlin & MJ Stearns, Realtors with Room Real Estate
A Hosted Rental is a short-term rental (less than 30 days) of one or two bedrooms in a home, where the property owner will stay on site during the rental. A Hosted Rental is different from a “Vacation Rental” which is a short-term rental of an entire house. A Hosted Rental is also different from a “Bed and Breakfast” which is a hosted short-term rental of three to five rooms. Property owners must obtain a permit in order to operate a Hosted Rental in Santa Cruz County. Permits are valid for five years.
Hosts may apply for permits on a first-come, First-served basis, and there will be a cap of 250 total permits as well as limits on permits for specific beach neighborhoods. This cap on rentals has been established because although Hosted Rentals have clear benefits to our community, such as lodging tourists and supplemental income for property owners, there can be negative impacts, especially in beach neighborhoods that are particularly popular tourist destinations. Residents may experience parking, traffic, safety, noise, and community character impacts related to a large number of rentals in their neighborhood.
After the initial 90-day permit application period, the following permit limits will apply to specific beach neighborhoods. In the beachfront Live Oak and Seacliff/Aptos Designated Areas, 15% of total parcels in each of these areas may have permits for short-term rentals. In the Davenport/ Swanton Designated Area, 10% of total parcels may have permits for short-term rentals. Short-term rental permits in these three areas are limited 20% of residential use parcels per block, with exceptions detailed in the County Code.
“Existing hosted rental” means a dwelling unit that was used as a hosted rental prior to December 5, 2017, and for which Transient Occupancy Tax was paid for any hosted rental activity that took place during the three tears preceding December 5, 2017.
“New hosted rental” means a dwelling unit that was not used as a hosted rental prior to December 5, 2017, or for which Transient Occupancy Tax payment was not made for activity in the three years preceding December, 2017.
Number of People Allowed. The maximum number of guests allowed in a hosted rental shall not exceed three people per hosted bedroom. Children under eight (8) are not counted toward maximum occupancy. Rental to unaccompanied minors under the age of eighteen (18) is prohibited.
Habitability. The hosted rental shall provide facilities for sleeping, bathing, and toileting inside of a permanent dwelling that is suitable for human occupancy. Rental of sleeping space in or on balconies, porches, tents, sheds, vehicles, RVs, or outdoor areas is prohibited as a hosted rental.
Parking. Neighborhood parking impact shall be mitigated by limiting guests of hosted rentals to bringing only one car per hosted bedroom to the hosted rental property. These cars may be parked on site or in legal street parking close to the host property.
For more information or for the full text of this ordinance visit: https://www.sccoplanning.com