San Diego Smart Growth & Land Use Committee on Short-Term Rentals - April 5, 2017
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San Diego Smart Growth & Land Use Committee Meeting on Short-Term Vacation Rentals and Home Sharing
On April 5, 2017, the Smart Growth and Land Use Committee held a public hearing to discuss proposed regulatory options for short-term vacation rentals and home sharing in San Diego. The meeting featured extensive public testimony from residents, property owners, hospitality workers, and small business operators, followed by a council debate and votes on three regulatory options. The committee ultimately voted to recommend Option 3 (owner-occupied home sharing) to the full City Council with specific additions, and to forward all three options for whole-home rentals without a recommendation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Bridget Browning (President, Hotel Workers Union) expressed support for home sharing but opposed investor-owned whole-house rentals, arguing they threaten jobs and housing availability.
- Dennis Richardson defended short-term rentals as a vital income source and expressed concern that new regulations would ban his long-standing vacation rental business.
- Greg Ross (Crown Point property owner and manager) supported Option 3 (Chris Cate's proposal), advocating for enforceable regulations with teeth.
- Molly Harstad (co-founder of Dwellwell) proposed a safety certification program as a proactive incentive for permit compliance and to attract desirable guests.
- Manuel Andrade (Bankers Hill duplex owner) used rental income to care for his elderly father and pleaded for sensible regulation that does not harm small owners like him.
- Beth Galdieri (District 9 property owner) argued that the city had previously interpreted the municipal code to allow short-term rentals as legal rentals, and urged against a retroactive change.
- Brian Pease (attorney and City Council candidate) distinguished between owner-occupied sharing and investor-driven whole-home rentals, calling the latter a factor in the housing crisis.
- Craig Klein (Ocean Beach resident and planning board member) proposed a cap of 2% of housing units (about 250 in Ocean Beach) with a $1,000 permit fee to fund dedicated code enforcement.
- Amanda (single mother and student) shared that Airbnb income allowed her to stay in school and support her special-needs daughter, urging compassion for those using home sharing to make ends meet.
- Matt Thompson (North Park resident) supported Option 1 (full ban on whole-home rentals) and called for stricter enforcement against noise and party houses.
- John Leppard (Carmel Valley resident) argued that short-term rentals in RS zones are incompatible with residential use and recommended restricting rentals to 21 days or more.
- Carolyn Marsden (Ocean Beach neighbor to a vacation rental) described noise and lack of enforcement, and criticized the regulatory options for ignoring enforcement.
- Andrew Schuster (Ocean Beach resident) credited Airbnb with enabling him to buy a home; he supported reasonable rules but opposed corporate ownership.
Discussion Items
- Councilmember Chris Cate (District 6) questioned staff on enforcement costs, permit timelines, and the city attorney's recent memo on zoning. He proposed a motion to adopt Option 3 (owner-occupied home sharing and whole-home rentals) with additions: requirement to pay all applicable taxes (TOT, business tax), escalating fines, a revocable permit system with a three-strike rule, and direction to bring back a 24/7 enforcement proposal funded by permit fees.
- Councilmember Lori Zapf (District 2) seconded the motion, emphasizing enforcement over bans and defending property rights.
- Councilmember Georgette Gomez (District 9) supported owner-occupied home sharing (Option 3) but opposed whole-home Option 3, arguing that investor-owned whole-house rentals require more discussion and separate treatment. She requested splitting the motion.
- After a failed vote (2-1) on the combined motion, Councilmember Cate amended: first motion only for home sharing Option 3, which passed unanimously. Then a motion to forward all three whole-home options to the City Council without recommendation also passed unanimously.
- Staff indicated draft code language for all options and enforcement strategy would be ready by late summer/fall.
Key Outcomes
- Motion 1 (Option 3 for both home sharing and whole-home rentals, with additions) failed (2-1).
- Motion 2 (Option 3 for home sharing only, with additions from Motion 1) passed unanimously. The committee recommended home sharing (owner-occupied) to the full City Council with direction to draft code amendments and include tax requirements, escalating fines, revocable permits, and a future enforcement proposal.
- Motion 3 (forward all three whole-home rental options — Option 1: ban whole-home; Option 2: 21-day minimum; Option 3: owner-occupied — to City Council without a recommendation) passed unanimously.
- The committee expects the full City Council to consider the matter in late summer or fall 2017.
Meeting Transcript
Again. These are all single speaker slips, so you each get one minute. Is Bridget Browning's available? Bridget. Hi, good afternoon. I'm Bridget Browning. I'm the president of the Hotel Workers Union. We represent about 6,000 hospitality workers. This might be the only time I'm in agreement with something the Hotel Motel Association says. So you might want to record this in history. We absolutely have no problem with home sharing. I think home sharing is fine. I don't think it impacts our members, but we do have a real issue with investor owned whole house rentals. I actually think that the best thing to do is to allow the districts most impacted by this, and I would actually include district three where I live. Joe Locava just said one and two. I think a lot of these folks in the room, we could come up with something that works for both of us. I mean, it's not a hundred percent, you never can get to a hundred percent agreement. But I I really I have faith in those council people, and I think if we could all sit down and get together, we could work out something that works for everybody and that protects my employees' jobs because they're a big economic factor for the city. And and to say that it doesn't affect rentals, I just find a disingenuous uh proposition. Thank you. Thank you. Um try again, Julia Pouts. Dennis Richardson. And I have a feeling we're gonna have a little bit of drop-off on some of these after the lunch break. Uh Rob Brown. Chris Larson. Watch that first step. Not much to say it, not much to say at the very end here that's new. Um, I do have sympathy for the neighborhoods that are suffering from abuses by corporate short-term rentals. I think all of us do have sympathy for that. But my experience is that they do not destroy the fabric of the community, as was earlier suggested. My husband and I share our duplex in University Heights with many young families, visiting grandparents, and returnee tourists who used to use hotels who tell us that they never knew San Diego had such wonderful neighborhoods. Our neighbors enjoy our visitors, who in turn like becoming temporary neighbors, walking in our neighborhood, visiting the farmers market, uh going to summer concerts in Trolley Barn Park, using buses to visit local attractions. But for me, aside from the personal enjoyment that I get, most importantly, these visitors are walking, I repeat, walking to local businesses. I repeat, local businesses. They're not polluting the air down in Mission Valley. Thank you. All right, I'm gonna start. I'm looking at the number of slips and the number of people, so I have a feeling that several aren't here, so I'm gonna start rolling through some names. If you hear your name, come on and sit up front if you would. Larry Fulton. Troy Arena. Claudia Alvarado. Greg Ross. Molly Harstad. We got two in a row. How about that? All right. Mr. Ross, you have a minute, sir.
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