OCEANSIDEOCEANSIDE — More work is needed to iron out the wrinkles with short-term vacation rentals in Oceanside, the city’s Planning Commission said Monday.
Short-term rentals push people’s buttons, especially residents who own them or live near them along the beach. More than 50 people were allowed two minutes each to address the commission on the issue Monday.
Their biggest concern was that corporate owners are buying up single-family homes in residential neighborhoods and turning them into “mini-hotels,” each with up to 10 bedrooms and as many as 22 guests per night.
“These mini-hotels and party houses … have ruined our neighborhoods,” said Bob Fink. He represented the group Neighborhoods for Neighbors. He and other wore custom-printed blue T-shirts expressing their solidarity.
“Corporations are buying up the coast and pushing out families,” Fink said. A single company called Beachfront Only Vacation Rentals owns 77 homes with more than 250 rental rooms in Oceanside, he said.
Fink and other blue-shirt wearers said the city should prohibit short-term rentals in South Oceanside’s beachfront residential neighborhoods and crack down on rules regarding noise, occupancy limits, and safety in STRs throughout the city.
The blue group’s opponents, many wearing green T-shirts, said an ordinance the city approved in 2019 provides sufficient regulations. If anything, they said, it should be better enforced to stop the relatively few violators.
“Don’t punish the good operators,” said Trevor Ardigo, who manages vacation rentals from his office on The Strand.
“Our properties are peaceful, quiet, affordable alternatives to the expensive hotels,” he said. STR guests contribute to the local economy by paying the room tax, eating in Oceanside restaurants and shopping at area businesses.
City planners proposed two somewhat detailed options for handling concerns such as noise, occupancy rates, and other complaints. Each option covers a number of elements, including whether a rental is “hosted” or “non-hosted.”
A hosted rental is generally one where the owner or manager lives on the property. Most people agree that hosted rentals are more closely supervised and have fewer problems than non-hosted properties.
The first option was for the city to cap non-hosted short-term rentals west of Coast Highway at 505, allowing a growth of about 50 from the existing number. It also would prohibit owners in residential zones from renting more than five bedrooms, and increase fines for violations.
The second option includes most of the changes in option one, but would provide no limit on bedrooms in residential zones and no cap on non-hosted permits west of the Coast Highway.
Planning commissioners indicated they were unsure about either option.
“One of the things I object to is the draconian methods in option one,” said Commissioner Michael Ogden.
Option one proposes to drop warnings and go straight to a $1,500 fine for the first violation, then $3,000 for the second and $5,000 for each additional within a year seemed excessive, Ogden said.
City Planner Sergio Madera said those amounts are only for serious health and safety code violations. A more likely offense is a noise complaint, which carries a first-time fine of $100 and $200 for the second.
Commissioner Jay Malik said the city must do more to encourage compliance.
“There is a challenge with the perception of a large house being a party house,” Malik said. “We need to figure out how to manage that better, whether it’s by enforcement or some other means.”
The commission voted 4-0 to have city planners prepare a third option with a balance between the two proposed. A draft of the new option will be presented to the commission, and then the commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council.
