On June 19th, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors considered a request from 5th District Supervisor May Adams to respond to a Planning Commission letter asking for policy direction concerning short term rentals (STRs) in unincorporated areas, including Carmel Valley.

Resource Management Agency (RMA) has been developing ordinances for regulation of STRs. At the Planning Commission's direction, over the past few months, staff has been attending meetings with all 12 of the Land Use Advisory Committees. When draft ordinances are prepared, staff will present options for enforcement.

Current practice of RMA is reactive enforcement based on complaints received, which are then prioritized based on health and safety conditions. STR complaints are currently classified as priority three which means that when a compliant is received, a courtesy letter is sent to the property owner advising how to remedy the code violation. Follow-up is done as time allows.

RMA permit records show only twenty permitted STRs in the unincorporated area of the County. The Treasurer-Tax Collector has provided the RMA with information on the property owners registered to pay Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) that includes approximately 400 potential STRs. In addition, the Treasurer-Tax Collector has contracted with a third party, Host Compliance, and has received a list of 644 additional properties in unincorporated Monterey County advertising STR properties that are not registered to pay the TOT.

RMA asked the board to consider the following options:

1) No change. STRs would continue to be processed as priority three and no resources would be allocated to increase service levels. 

2) Increase funding. Additional inspector(s) and/or support staff dedicated to STRs. The level of staffing would depend on the level of enforcement desired. 

3) Hire a third-party vendor. RMA could investigate professional services to act as enforcement official for initial steps in process (e.g. send courtesy letters, issue Notices of Violation, etc.).

4) Make STRs higher priority (e.g. Priority 1). Staff estimates addressing unpermitted STRs would increase RMA code compliance caseload by over 1,000 new cases. 

5) Enact a moratorium (temporary ban on new STRs). 

6) A combination of the above.

 

RMA staff recommended option 1 (no change).

CVA has sent the Board of Supervisors a memorandum detailing less expensive third party enforcement options, such as those used by the cities of Monterey and Carmel.

On June 19th, the Board voted to explore the use of a third party service, as CVA recommended, and required staff to present a draft ordinance for approval within 30 days.

CVA continues to recommend that STRs be limited to home-stays, where the resident owner is present. Here is a LINK to our recommendation.

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Sincerely,  

   

Pris Walton, President

Carmel Valley Association