One of California coast's most spectacular destinations could see vacation rental ban
On Wednesday, the California Coastal Commission approved Monterey County's plan to remove unhosted vacation rentals – when the guest rents out the entire home without a host present – from Big Sur and the Carmel Highlands, and to limit such rentals along other parts of the coast to 4% of the number of single family homes in the area.
The plan includes an exception for homeowners that rent out their houses no more than three times a year, and it does not apply to hosted stays, such as when someone rents out a room or guest house. The plan will next go to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, which approved an earlier version of the proposal last year.
There are currently 37 unhosted vacation rentals in Big Sur. None would able to operate under the regulations. In the Del Monte Forest area of the coast, which includes Pebble Beach, 26 of the current 83 unhosted vacation rentals would have to be phased out, and in Carmel, 100 out of the current 218 unhosted vacation rentals would no longer be allowed, according to a staff report by the Coastal Commission.
The proposed ban and limit on vacation rentals comes at a time when Big Sur businesses have been struggling due to multiple closures of Highway 1 following massive landslides. But it also is part of a larger effort to curtail overcrowding on the mostly undeveloped, and spectacular, stretch of California's coast. Last year the conservation group Keep Big Sur Wild last year even called for a halt on all types of new lodging in the area.
Monterey County does not currently have regulations for vacation rentals along its coast, and the new rules primarily focus on unhosted rentals because those have the biggest impact on housing and are the most controversial among residents, said Craig Spencer, director of housing and community development for the county.
'Many of the complaints we receive as the local government have to do with these types of vacation rentals,' Spencer said at the meeting, such as about noise, trash and parking.
Spencer said planning for the new rules has been going on for at least 15 years, ever since the rise of Airbnb and other vacation rental services, and the county has hosted multiple community meetings over the years.
'Our constituents have been mixed, there's no doubt about it,' he said, as many residents say they rely on vacation rentals for income.
The new rules are a proposed amendment to Monterey County's local coastal program, which California requires all municipalities on the coast to have to regulate development.
Frank Angel, an attorney representing the Monterey County Vacation Rental Alliance, said at the Coastal Commission meeting that the limits would go against the the commission's mandate to maximise public access to the coast. (In November, the Alliance sued the county and board of supervisors over the proposed limits.)
Angel said limiting availability to hosted vacation rentals won't work for many guests.
'Families and larger groups are less likely to stay at hosted (short term rentals),' Angel said. 'The conclusion is clear. The housed requirement is a de facto ban.'
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