Newport council considers new rules for short-term lodging

Newport Beach is prepared to further regulate its short-term rentals.

The City Council will consider on Tuesday a package of new rules to limit occupancy, require off-street parking and cap the number of permitted rentals in the city.

Short-term lodging is part of Newport’s heritage as a seaside tourism magnet. Traditional property management firms with local brick-and-mortar offices still oversee many homes, along with popular online platforms like AirBnB.

The city has regulated its vacation rentals for decades. If adopted, the new regulations would be the city’s first updates to its short-term lodging code since 2013.

The most substantive proposed changes include:

• Permit cap: 1,600 at any given time. Additional interested homeowners would go on a waiting list. Currently, the city has about 1,465 active permits, almost entirely on Balboa Peninsula, Balboa Island and in Corona del Mar.
• Locations: The city would phase out permits for homes not within the “coastal zone,” which is approximately up to the seaward side of Coast Highway. This would affect about 60 of the 1,465 homes. These non-coastal homes would get to keep their permits for up to 10 more years.
• Parking: All homes would need at least one off-street space per unit. Those that don’t have a driveway, garage or carport for parking would lose their permit, although most homes on the registry offer parking, staff says.
• Maximum occupancy: Like hotel rooms, short-term lodges would be held to two guests per bedroom, plus two floaters. This would mean, for example, no more than eight people overnight in a three-bedroom house. Property owners would be required to state the number of bedrooms on their permit applications.

The city also is considering increasing the cost of a short-term lodging permit from $103. The increase would cover the potential cost of additional staffing dedicated to vacation rentals and to contract with an answering service, which could act as a go-between for complainants and property owners when code enforcement or police officers can’t respond promptly to calls about noise, crowds and other concerns.

Tuesday’s council meeting starts at 5 p.m. with a study session. The regular session begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive.

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