Santa Cruz County Supervisors Take Aim at Vacation Rental Reform

10/2/2024

The Santa Cruz County Board has unanimously agreed to form a temporary ad hoc committee to review policies related to hosted and unhosted housing short-term rentals and consider potential revisions that would rebalance permitting numbers in terms of rental varieties and eliminate unpermitted locations. Supervisors Manu Koenig and Justin Cummings who urged the board to address housing shortages and short-term rental issues, with Koenig noting that current county ordinances seem to favor unhosted rentals, or vacation rentals where the owner does not live. He noted that ordinances limit hosted rentals, where the owner lives on site, to 250, but the number of vacation rentals are unlimited outside of three specified zones. There are caps on how many vacation rentals per block are allowed within three specific populated coastal regions, including Live Oak, Seacliff, Aptos, La Selva, Davenport, and Swanton.

Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA) (09/24/24) PK Hattis