Background:
Currently, short-term rentals are not permitted in the unincorporated area of Shasta County; however, they do exist and the County has been collecting transient occupancy taxes from many short-term rental operators for years, leading to confusion as to the status of short-term rentals as a legitimate land use. While tourism plays a large part in the local economy of Shasta County, valid concerns exist regarding the impacts of short-term rentals on the character of neighborhoods and the quality of life of nearby residents. Based on direction from the Board of Supervisors on April 18, 2017, the Planning Division has drafted an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals.
To facilitate the process of drafting the ordinance, the County contracted with Host Compliance LLC (Host Compliance) in 2017. Work began on the development of the ordinance by completing a marketing analysis of the existing short-term rental market and providing opportunities for public outreach. Data was collected from multiple online listing sites such as Airbnb.com, Tripping.com, and Vrbo.com. Findings of the data collection are summarized in Attachment 3 to the 12/12/19 Planning Commission staff report.
Public input was a key component of the ordinance development. Public outreach included well-attended public workshops in Lakehead (October 3, 2017) and Shingletown (October 4, 2017), an online survey made available Countywide (summaries of the workshops and the survey are found in Attachment 4 to the 12/12/19 Planning Commission staff report), and a Planning Commission workshop held on November 9, 2017 (meeting minutes are found in Attachment 5 to the 12/12/19 Planning Commission staff report). The first draft ordinance was considered by the Planning Commission on June 14, 2018, at which time staff recommended a continuance due to potential concerns that the draft ordinance may conflict with standing case law. Subsequently, staff worked closely with County Counsel to revise the draft ordinance; the revised draft ordinance was considered by the Commission on December 12, 2019. Staff revised the draft ordinance based upon the Commission’s input and on January 9, 2020, the Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors enact the attached draft ordinance (see attached Planning Commission resolution and meeting minutes).
According to Host Compliance, there were approximately 175 known short-term rental properties within the unincorporated area of Shasta County as of September 2017. As of December 2019, this number had increased to approximately 300, an increase of approximately 70 percent. In September 2017, Host Compliance monitored 16 short-term rental websites; currently, they monitor more than 50, which reflects the rapid growth in the short-term rental industry in just the past two years. In 2019, approximately $250,000 in transient occupancy taxes were collected by the Shasta County Tax Collector from the approximately 200 registered short-term rental operators, representing approximately 25 percent of all transient occupancy taxes collected in 2019. Assuming Host Compliance’s statistics are accurate, if the County is able to identify the approximately 100 unregistered short-term rentals then it is expected that transient occupancy taxes collected from short-term rental operators will increase. One way to identify unregistered short-term rentals would be to retain the services of Host Compliance or a similar firm.
Issues:
Concerns regarding short-term rentals include the following: noise, parking not being contained on the rental property, responsible garbage collection/disposal, overcrowding of rentals, commercialization of residential neighborhoods, and general lack of consideration to the neighboring residents by renters.
Benefits of short-term rentals include the following: greater occupancy of vacation homes which can deter crime and increase patronage of local businesses, increased accommodation options for tourists, increased transient occupancy tax revenue, and providing an additional source of income for vacation home owners which can facilitate better property maintenance, renovations, and enable owners to retain their vacation home properties for longer periods of time.
There are a variety of approaches employed by jurisdictions to lessen the impacts of short-term rentals on the neighborhoods and communities in which they are located, including limiting the number of guests, limiting the number of days of operation per year, limiting the total number and/or concentration of short-term rentals, prohibiting vacation homes and investment properties from being operated as short-term rentals, and requiring owners or their representatives to respond to complaints within a specified amount of time. Some short-term rental regulations can be difficult and/or costly to monitor and enforce. In preparing the draft ordinance, it was staff’s goal to address the concerns raised to the greatest extent possible while also ensuring that the proposed regulations would be enforceable and would not overburden the Department of Resource Management’s limited staff and budget resources. The primary regulations which are proposed to address the concerns raised by Shasta County residents regarding short-term rentals consist of allowing a maximum of two overnight guests per bedroom rented (excluding children under three years of age), requiring renters’ vehicles and trailers to be parked on the rental property or at an appropriate commercial facility, observance of quiet hours, requiring the owner or local contact person to accept telephone calls 24/7 and respond physically to the property within 60 minutes of being notified of an issue, trash and recycling receptacle storage requirements, annual fire inspections, and annual reporting.