SANTA CRUZ — Officials are looking to dam the flood of Santa Cruz County homes being scooped up for use as vacation rentals under a plan that comes in response to the area’s housing crisis and neighbors’ complaints.
The number of permits issued for three popular destinations — coastal swathes of Live Oak, Davenport and Aptos — could soon be frozen under a loose framework moved forward by county supervisors Tuesday.
As of Dec. 17, 740 vacation rentals and 250 hosted rentals were permitted in unincorporated Santa Cruz County. Most fall within the three popular coastal areas.
If enacted, the freeze would cap the number of vacation- and hosted-rental permits issued in each area to current levels. To receive a new permit, homeowners would need to register on a waiting list and would be entered into a lottery as existing permits expire or are revoked.
Up to 15% of eligible parcels in coastal Live Oak and Aptos can be issued vacation rental permits under current county code, enacted in 2011 and 2015. Davenport has a lower 10% cap. The potential permit freeze would lock in each area’s cap to current levels, ranging from 3% in Davenport to 12% in Live Oak.
Vacation rentals may also be subject to a higher level of scrutiny under the plan. Permit applications and renewals may be denied for repeated code violations or the property owner’s history of failing to pay transient-occupancy taxes. Even smaller rentals — with three bedrooms or fewer — could find their permit applications subject to a higher level of review from county planners and subject to public hearings if issues are raised. Stricter on-site parking requirements are also under consideration.
The plan was given a unanimous greenlight by county supervisors Tuesday, setting up an expected formal proposal that would be weighed by the county Planning Commission before returning to supervisors for consideration. Any resulting ordinance would also be subject to approval from the California Coastal Commission.
No timeline was attached to the plan, however, and it was unclear how soon those next steps may be taken.
Behind the push to tighten vacation rental rules is continuing concern from neighbors about noise, parking and other issues — as well as the fact that, in some areas at least, officials say more single-family homes are being converted to vacation rentals than are being built.
County Supervisor Zach Friend, whose 2nd District includes coastal Seacliff and Aptos, said the coastal areas of his district have seen more homes converted to vacation rentals in the past seven years than have been built in decades.
“You can pass as many measures as you want to help with the construction of homes, but if you’re just allowing homes to arbitrarily convert out of the housing stock into vacation rentals then you’ll never meet the goals you need for affordable housing — or even just market-rate single family housing,” Friend said.
Other business
In other business, the county Board of Supervisors at the Tuesday meeting unanimously approved $60,000 in funding to hire an advocate to organize opposition to UC Santa Cruz enrollment growth. The position is a joint endeavor of the county and city of Santa Cruz, and matching funds from the city were expected to be considered by the Santa Cruz City Council.
Supervisor Greg Caput, who represents the county’s 4th District, was unanimously appointed board chair for the next year, replacing outgoing chair Ryan Coonerty.
Supervisor Bruce McPherson, who represents the county’s 5th District, was unanimously appointed vice chair.
“I’m honored by the trust placed in me by my colleagues on the Board,” Caput said in a prepared release. “As Chair, I remain and will continue to be a strong advocate for the people of Santa Cruz County.”
