San Clemente : Council Votes to Allow Bed-and-Breakfast Inns

The City Council last week voted tentatively to enact an ordinance permitting operation of bed-and-breakfast inns in San Clemente. If the ordinance is approved at its second reading June 5, it will become effective 30 days later.

The ordinance would allow residents living in high-density areas to open the inns in their homes after securing business licenses and use permits from the city Planning Division. Bed-and-breakfast inns in commercial districts would also undergo the same administrative reviews as other businesses.

Although the issue has gotten a lot of attention from the council, City Planner Steve Flint said San Clemente isn’t exactly swamped with applications from residents wanting to open the increasingly popular alternatives to hotels and motels. “There isn’t much interest, but if anyone wants to open one, we’ve got an ordinance for them,” he said.

The ordinance also creates a sub-category of bed-and-breakfast inns called “homestays.” Under the ordinance, homestays could rent rooms to occasional lodgers, and no more than 20% of the total floor space could be used for the business.