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We strongly oppose the City Council's current plan to cap unhosted rentals at 90 days per year. The majority of our $2 million in taxes and fees — plus another $8 million in tourist revenue — is generated by unhosted AirBNB listings. In fact, 80% of all Pacifica short-term hosts only have one listing. Well managed, AirBNB rentals are good for Pacifica.

For the City Council:
6 Policy Proposals for Short Term Rentals (STRs) like Airbnb and VRBO

  • Policy 1: Three Strikes and You're Out
    Instead of convoluted ordinances that can unfairly hamper every Pacifican's right to use their property in a fair and equitable way, we propose a simple rule to punish bad hosts while protecting the good ones. Moreover, it leaves the option for citizens to short-term rent their property should they need to.

    Bad hosts, however, have no place in our town. Founded complaints of nuisances like parties or code violations result in:

    1st Offense: written notice of a violation
    2nd Offense: written notice of violation and fine of $1,000
    3rd Offense: written notice of violation, fine of $1,500, and revocation of STR permit for 24 months
    These violations should be applied to the guests, the host, and the property owner. This model has a fantastic track record in places where the city and AirBnB work together to delist STRs without a valid permit.
  • Policy 2: More Stringent Noise Restrictions
    The city already has ordinances that ban noise overnight, but we further propose that hosts install decibel noise sensors on the exterior of their properties and make their readings available to the city upon its request for compliance verification.
  • Policy 3: Someone Needs to Be Accountable
    Each STR must designate someone who can answer the phone within 20 minutes and be onsite within 60 minutes, 24 hours a day, should something come up.
  • Policy 4: Disallow Hosting Too Many People
    Each STR must cap the number of guests it can host to two per bedroom plus two more, up to a maximum of just 8 people. Children under 12 do not count towards that maximum so we can preserve space for families. We should disallow loud gatherings, let alone parties.
  • Policy 5: Keep Multi-unit Buildings For Affordable Rentals
    STRs should not be allowed in buildings with four or more units outside of the grandfathering of the 10 STRs currently doing this, so long as they are in good standing, without complaints.
  • Policy 6: Smart City Planning
    STRs should continue to be capped at 150 and not be overly concentrated in any one area. City staff should prepare a study to recommend the STR distribution for our town.
  • Beyond ordinances, Pacifica needs to push for more housing to be built. Its housing stock has grown by a mere 1% over the past eight years. Developers simply do not want to build in our town, and we believe it results from its lackluster economic growth. For such a beautiful town by the sea, we find this a tragedy. A responsible injection of tourism can change this by bringing in fresh energy and stimulating local businesses. Tourists spend significantly more than permanent residents (think about how you budget for your own daily spending while on vacation versus a more routine day at home). Further, lively towns are diverse towns, with a sprinkle of visitors from other places!