The San Diego City Council has passed legislation that effectively bans short-term vacation rentals throughout the city including probably 90% of the rentals in Mission Beach. According to a 2015 report on short-term rentals in San Diego $86 Million dollars was brought in to local businesses from short-term renters. $285 million dollars and 1,842 jobs were brought in by short-term rentals in 2015. See more about the support for short-term rentals in the NUSInstitute Report. 

What this means for visitors like you who have come to Mission Beach for family vacations is that to visit the beach in the future you will have to stay in a hotel and eat out at restaurants. While beach vacation rentals aren’t cheap, they are much more in-expensive than hotel stays. 

This will deprive most families the opportunity to enjoy the beach. Many families have been coming to Mission Beach for decades and will have their family traditions ruined.

We have owned a home on Ocean Front Walk since 1992. The upstairs is our family home where we raised our four children. We never planned on renting the upstairs but economics dictated that we do so, and we made the decision to start renting the upstairs as a vacation rental several years ago. Even though we rent it, our family still considers it home and cherishes the time we can use it as a family.

If this legislation stands as written, effective July 1, 2019 our ability to offer the building as a vacation rental will be severely restricted and we may have to sell the building to fund our future retirement.

The best hope for changing this legislation is probably going to come from the California Coastal Commission which regulates all coastal development in California. The Coastal Commission has a history of favoring vacation rentals at the beach to make beach access more affordable for all.

I’m urging you to send the letter I’ve attached to all members of the California Coastal Commission, the members of the San Diego City Council and the members of the Mission Beach Town Council and Mission Beach Precise Planning board. I’ve attached their email address. The letter asks them to consider the continued use of vacation rentals in the Mission Beach area. If you can personalize it with your families experiences at the beach and the impact that this ban would have on your family, that would be even better.

Our family has also created a Facebook page and a Change.org petition. Please like the Facebook page, sign our online petition, and share this e-mail with your friends and families as well. While I believe that companies like AIRBNB and VRBO will mount campaigns to modify the law, I believe that the biggest impact can be made with a strong grassroots movement from families like yours and mine.

Larry Webb and family

PS:  email the city council members first, The city council has to pass this legislation again at a second reading on AUGUST 1, 2018

Dear Coastal Commission Member,

Vacation rentals have long been a part of San Diego’s tourism economy and way of life especially in Mission Beach. San Diego residents, residents of California and out of state residents have all utilized vacation rentals as an affordable way to enjoy San Diego’s beaches. Families cannot afford and would not consider hotels. Vacation rentals are the only option and this ban is not consistent with the mission of the Coastal Commission.

I am urging the California Coastal Commission to reject the San Diego City Council’s plan on vacation rentals in the Mission Beach area.

Rules such as the following would allow all to continue to enjoy the beach in an affordable way while also protecting the community as well:

1.     Allow homeowners to host up to two whole-home licensed vacation rental properties in Mission Beach with no limits on number of nights rented per year.

2.     A host cannot be a company or an LLC, It has to be a single, individual person.

3.     Require a three-night minimum stays.

4.     Maximum occupancy would be no more than two people per bedroom. The maximum would also apply to the number of people allowed on the property at any time. This would help eliminate large parties.

5.     Homeowners would be required to continue paying transient occupancy taxes, and they would pay an additional $2.76 per rental night towards an affordable housing fund.

6.     Those who offer whole-home rentals when the owner isn't present would also pay a $947.00 annual fee. License and fees would be expected to cover the cost of new compliance personnel and police officers.

7.     A complaint hotline or mobile application would be created to report violations, which would be addressed by compliance and police officers working nights and weekends.

8.     Officers would issue warnings and citations from $500 to $1,000, or more for repeated, egregious violations.

9.     Signs with owner contact information would be posted outside of each rental property in case of a complaint; the contact would be required to respond to an incident within one hour.

Sincerely

 

 

 

San Diego City Council Members

barbarabry@sandiego.gov   loriezapf@sandiego.gov

christopherward@sandiego.gov   myrtlecole@sandiego.gov

markkersey@sandiego.gov   chriscate@sandiego.gov

davidalvarez@sandiego.gov   georgettegomez@sandiego.gov

kevinfaulconer@sandiego.gov   scottsherman@sandiego.gov

Coastal Commission Members:

Deborah.Lee@coastal.ca.gov

Linda.Locklin@coastal.ca.gov

Effie.Turnbull-Sanders@ coastal.ca.gov

Donne.Brownsey@coastal.ca.gov

Sara.Aminzadeh@coastal.ca.gov

Mark.Vargas@coastal.ca.gov

Ryan.Sundberg@coastal.ca.gov

Aaron.Peskin@coastal.ca.gov

Carole.Groom@coastal.ca.gov

Erik.Howell@coastal.ca.gov

Roberto.Uranga@coastal.ca.gov

Stephen.Padilla@coastal.ca.gov

Belinda.Faustinos@coastal.ca. gov

Brian.Pendleton@coastal.ca.gov

Bryan.Urias@coastal.ca.gov

Nidia.GarciaErceg@coastal.ca. gov

Linda.Escalante@coastal.ca.gov

Christopher.Ward@coastal.ca. gov

 

Mission Beach Town Council Members

gwonacott@hotmail.com    kluasm@aol.com

matt@cheap-rentals.com    scott@morrisonattorney.com

achotiner@san.rr.com   fredday.tc@gmail.com

skova martyz1@mac.com    lcheck@gmail.com

anainsmb@san.rr.com   bob@beachhomesrealestate.com

wash1331@gmail.com   andrewkaperonis@yahoo.com

jason@cheap-rentals.com   sarahm986@yahoo.com

Wiseone92109@gmail.com  

Mission Beach Precise Planning Board

Dkwatkns@aol.com