Short-term lodging in Laguna Beach remains in limbo
The Airbnb logo is displayed on a computer screen on Aug. 3, 2016.
New short-term rental lodging options remain on hold in Laguna Beach, even though the moratorium on new permits for such housing ended Oct. 1.
About eight property owners have applied to rent out their units for 30 consecutive days or less — a period Laguna defines at short term — but cannot because city officials are waiting on California Coastal Commission staff to weigh in on the city’s amended short-term lodging ordinance, Community Development Director Greg Pfost said.
The revised ordinance, passed in August, banned any additional short-term lodging in Laguna’s residential areas in an effort to both limit and increase the lodging type to commercial areas. The decision came after more than a year of heated debate on an issue affecting vacation-destination communities nationwide, where rooms or entire units are listed online on platforms like Airbnb.
Pfost sent a letter to the commission last month arguing that the ordinance would not reduce the number of low-cost overnight accommodations or impede people’s access to the coast — two key tenets of the state Coastal Act.
Pfost said he hopes Coastal Commission staff agrees and considers Laguna’s changes de minimis, meaning that they have no impact, individually or cumulatively, on coastal resources.
A commission spokeswoman said the agency received Pfost’s letter, but no decision has been made.
Under the Coastal Act, if commission staff determines a project — or, in Laguna’s case, an ordinance change — is de minimis, the opinion would be noted on the agenda of a future commission meeting, said Teresa Henry, the commission’s South Coast district manager.
If a member of the public or three or more commissioners object to the de minimus opinion, commission staff would schedule the matter for future consideration at a public hearing, Henry added.
Laguna first enacted its moratorium on new short-term lodging permits in May 2015 to allow staff time to research and gather input on a possible ordinance change. It came after residents claimed renters held loud parties, littered sidewalks and yards, and used up coveted parking spaces.
Proponents objected to the notion that all renters are obnoxious and claimed they offer a different kind of experience for visitors other than a hotel.
Of the 36 currently approved permits, 10 are located in commercial zones, according to Pfost’s letter. Under the amended ordinance, those property owners, even if they lived in residential areas, could keep their permits.
About 2,816 units — located within 789 properties — in commercial zones could house short-term lodging under the proposed rules, the letter says.
Pfost also claimed short-term lodging “is not necessarily a more affordable option” than staying in a hotel.
The average nightly rate of 1,305 hotel/motel units in Laguna from Sundays through Thursdays is $292, while the rate from Fridays through Saturdays is $350, he wrote.
The average nightly rate, across all seasons, for Laguna’s 36 approved short-term lodging permit holders was $403, according to data city staff gathered in September from each unit’s online hosting platform.
Visit Laguna Beach, a nonprofit that markets Laguna Beach and operates the city’s visitor center, supplied hotel data to Pfost. The data included hotel room rates from August 2015 through July 2016.
In Newport Beach, where short-term rentals have long been part of the tourism industry, city staff proposed this year to make the rentals’ regulations more stringent by limiting how many adult guests can stay in a home and requiring adequate parking, among other measures.
The proposals, however, did not gain traction with City Council members during a study session in September.
Nevertheless, Newport officials said they plan to continue their efforts to negotiate with online rental platforms so the properties comply with existing city regulations.
Daily Pilot staff writer Hannah Fry contributed to this report.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
