Newport Beach shuts down 78 unpermitted vacation homes; more are under scrutiny
Newport Beach’s new short-term rental monitor has helped close the door on nearly 80 unpermitted vacation rental homes in the last month, with dozens more under review, according to the city.
Based on about five weeks of data from Host Compliance, a company that combs 22 online platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway to see who’s advertising their homes for vacation rental without proper local clearance, Newport has shut down 78 rentals and has about 50 more to review, Kim Brandt, Newport Beach’s community development director, told the City Council on Tuesday.
Residential properties offering short-term rentals — defined as less than 30 days — have long been part of the local culture, with zoning, lodging permits and business licenses to regulate them. But the recent popularity of online short-term rental platforms has made it difficult for Newport Beach to regulate such rentals, Brandt said.
Newport Beach has about 1,300 active short-term lodging permits. The city doesn’t keep track of how the properties are advertised, such as through online platforms or a traditional property management firm, but it does collect a 10% occupancy tax, also called a bed tax, as it would for a hotel room. Short-term rentals generated about $2.7 million in revenue last year, accounting for 10% of the bed tax total.
Most of the permitted short-term rentals are at the Balboa Peninsula, Balboa Island and Corona del Mar. The vast majority are in neighborhoods zoned to allow multifamily housing. In 2004, the city banned vacation rentals in areas zoned only for single-family homes.
Much of the recent crackdown has been in single-family-only neighborhoods, where only 120 properties operating before the ban were grandfathered in. All of the 78 homes that have ceased offering vacation rentals are located in such neighborhoods.
Property owners who have been offering short-term lodging without authorization will have to pay the city back taxes and get a permit if they intend to continue, Brandt said.
HomeAway sent Newport Beach a letter this week agreeing to share its listing information and require its hosts to put their permit numbers in their listings, Brandt said, adding that the city would follow up with Airbnb.
Davis writes for Times Community News
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