In over three years there has not been one complaint by a neighbor due to noise, parking, garbage or any other nuisance against a resident of Napa City offering a room or two in their home as a “Hosted Accommodation” for guests who wish to stay in Napa at a lower cost or different experience than a Hotel or Bed & Breakfast Inn. In 2009 Napa City passed a "Vacation Rental" ordinance to prevent the proliferation of homes being converted into short-term (less than one month) rentals - called "Vacation Rentals". This was done for primarily for three reasons: 1) Taking housing stock out of the already stressed affordable housing in Napa City; 2) To address complaints from neighbors for an entire home being rented with little or no supervision; and 3) To collect Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from vacation rentals putting them on an even playing field as hotels and B&B Inns.

In late 2009, home owners discovered a new on-line marketplace called Airbnb.com and became able to safely rent a room in their homes. New internet systems like Aibnb.com include insurance to protect a homeowner against loss from damage or theft, and a convenient way to collect fees. Hosted Accommodations are rooms in owner-occupied homes. These rooms will never be rented on a monthly basis, nor will they have the same issues a “Vacation Rental” has because nuisances are mitigated by the owner being present with guests.

Because there is no other category for Hosted Accommodations in the City of Napa, they have been included in the “Vacation Rental” ordinance, and it is our belief that the City does not have the right to regulate guests who stay with us in our homes, whether we charge them a fee or not.

We therefore petition the City of Napa to amend the current “Vacation Rental” ordinance to EXCLUDE “Hosted Accommodations” as defined as “A room or rooms available for rent to guests in an owner-occupied home in the City of Napa”.

To address the TOT tax issue, we support the City assessing TOT tax on monies collected for Hosted Accommodations, and therefore request that a separate ordinance be created for “Hosted Accommodations” that is not as strict as “Vacation Rentals” because we are simply sharing a room in our home, and sites like Airbnb.com do an exemplary job of reporting any issues guests have with an accommodation. We propose this ordinance only include enforcement of a business license and/or special use permit from the City for annual reporting of income and payment of TOT taxes and nothing more. There should not be a limit on the number of residents who are able and desire to rent a room as a Hosted Accommodation because the nature of sites like Airbnb.com will automatically weed out any renter with undesirable reviews.

Furthermore, we petition the City to immediately cease any enforcement of complaints for a Hosted Accommodation except that of a neighbor complaining about a nuisance being generated for a legitimate infraction - until the Vacation Rental Ordinance has been amended, and business licenses and/or use permits may be issued.