From: Ananda Sweet
To: _CityCouncilListPublic; City Council Public Comments Subject: [EXTERNAL] Short-term Rentals Item 16.1
Date: Monday, June 5, 2023 8:49:38 PM
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Short Term Rentals 2023.pdf
Good evening Mayor Rogers and Council Members,
Please see the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber’s letter, attached, regarding short-term rentals for tomorrow’s public hearing, item 16.1.
Thank you,
Ananda Sweet
ANANDA SWEET | VP of Public Policy & Workforce Development
SANTA ROSA METRO CHAMBER
50 Old Courthouse Square, Suite 110, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 DIRECT 707-636-3662 | P 707-545-1414 | F 707-545-6914
SANTAROSAMETROCHAMBER.COM
From: [email protected]
To: CityCouncilListPublic
Subject: [EXTERNAL] City Council vote taking place at 5pm on June 6th, 2023 agenda item 16.1 Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 7:31:55 AM
Short term rental owners need more time to consider whether mounting an appeal is worth their time and resources. Their ability to research their grounds for appeal and discuss with relevant professionals is greatly curtailed.
Is it legal to to request an inspection of a home (hosted and non-hosted) at any time. Please do not set Santa Rosa up for law suits to defend illegal laws.
The city should have a requirement for sending out renewal notice reminders, given that permit holders have already paid fees that are meant to cover the administration of this program.
We oppose the CAP of 198 permits citywide. We believe that all homeowners (and renters if their landlord allows) should be able to engage in this economic activity if they do so within the current noise and nuisance standards.
We believe that it is a dangerous precedent to set for the city of Santa Rosa to take away rights previously granted to people to operate their short-term rentals if homeowners who
have received their permits, have operated responsibly, and paid their taxes will be required to relinquish non-hosted permits if they have more than one inside of city limits A spouse, legal domestic partner or common law partner, should be able to assume a hosted or non hosted rental permit in the event that the primary permit holder becomes incapacitated or dies. A legal guardian should be able to assume a hosted or non hosted rental permit in the event the primary permit holder becomes incapacitated.
To require no outdoor barbecues of any kind can be used at a short-term rental even if barbecues and outdoor kitchens meet current safety standards at any home in Santa Rosa, then there should be no discrimination as to which families may operate them. They should be allowed for cooking, pleasure, religious, ceremonial, warmth or similar purposes. To deny a few hundred homes from cooking a meal, when more than 65,000 homes in Santa Rosa are able to engage in that very activity. If it is unsafe for visitors to operate a barbecue, then it is unsafe for all residents.
We oppose the 1000 ft limit between non-hosted STR's. This arbitrarily allows one neighbor to take away the rights of homeowners near them to engage in this economic activity.
Thank you for reading this in full.
Mary & Jo
From: Jackie Guilford
To: CityCouncilListPublic
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Public Comment for City Council Meeting June 6, 2023 Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 8:04:25 AM
I am IN FAVOR of keeping the current STR Rules the way that they are.
I am a single working mom with one hosted and one non-hosted short term rental. I live in Santa Rosa with my two daughters. I am not wealthy and I am not a corporation. The extra income provided by listing these homes on Airbnb is critical for paying my family's bills.
I am friendly and in constant communication with my neighbors and I have stricter house rules than the ordinance
requires. I have a noise monitor and I am available 24/7 in case an incident comes up. I have been compliant with all rules and have been paying TOT/BIA since 2017.
I appreciate that rules are being developed around short term rentals and I think that the ones in place are fair and should remain. If anything were to change, I would like to see limitations on short term rental operators that live out of the county or are corporate entities.
One other concern that I have is the use of noise monitors. The one that I have notifies me of sounds outside louder than 65 decibels, which I think is quite strict. I would appreciate more guidance on what decibel level constitutes a noise violation as it seems to be quite arbitrary right now. I want to be sure I am in compliance but there is presently not guidance in this area.
Thank you for considering community voices on this ordinance. -Jackie Guilford
STR operator and resident, Montgomery Village Neighborhood From: City Council Public Comments
To: City Council Public Comments
Subject: FW: [EXTERNAL] proposed STR Ordinance problems Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2023 11:51:47 AM
Attachments: Rebuttal to STR Consistency Determinations 230606.pdf From: David Long < >
Sent: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 9:23 AM
To: Rogers, Natalie <[email protected]>; MacDonald, Dianna <[email protected]>; Stapp, Mark <[email protected]>; Okrepkie, Jeff <[email protected]>; Rogers, Chris <[email protected]>; Fleming, Victoria <[email protected]>; Alvarez, Eddie <[email protected]>; Smith, Maraskeshia <[email protected]>; Dunston, Daryel <[email protected]>; Hartman, Clare <[email protected]>; Jones, Jessica <[email protected]>; Meads, Shari <[email protected]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] proposed STR Ordinance problems
Please review the attached document that presents reasons why the proposed STR Ordinance must be modified further and take action to do that at tonight's Council meeting.
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Thanks!
David Long
707.322.8823
To: Santa Rosa City Council, City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, Asst. City Manager Daryel Dunston, Clare Hartman, Jessica Jones, Shari Meads From: David Long, Save Our Santa Rosa
Subject: Rebuttal to Consistency Determinations in the proposed Ordinance Amendment Date: June 6, 2023
The new consistency claims in Section 1, Paragraphs A and C of the proposed Ordinance Amendment are weak and, in most cases, unsubstantiated. Some of these claims appear to be direct rebuttals to the evidence of inconsistency that were provided to staff and Council in the essay entitled “The Short- Term Rental Ordinance is Failing – Here are the Reasons Why” by David Long, Save Our Santa Rosa dated May 25, 2023 (SOSR Essay).
Rebuttals to these new claims are presented below. A Conclusion follows on Page 2 at the end of this document.
Staff Claim #1: In Paragraph A., staff cites that the seven residential land use classifications in the General Plan have been established to “provide for a full range of housing types with a goal to maintain a diversity of neighborhoods and varied housing stock to satisfy a wide range of needs.” Rebuttal: Although this statement is true, it does not provide any support for the determination of General Plan consistency. Non-Hosted Short-Term Rentals are not a housing type, but rather are a use of primarily one housing type – single family dwellings - in a manner that is not consistent with the intent of the quoted statement. This statement in the Land and Livability Element is clearly intended to allow City planners to permit development of varied types of housing units so that neighborhood residents of all ages, backgrounds and financial resources can coexist and thrive in a traditional residential setting. Non-Hosted Rentals do not support the stated goal, in fact they are a hinderance.
Staff Claim #2: In Paragraph A., staff claims that the Short-Term rental Ordinance “does not permanently remove those (housing) units as residential” and that they will continue to count toward the City’s overall housing stock and not impact the ability of the City to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Additionally, staff claims that “the (short-term rental) units will not be altered such that they cannot be immediately returned to longer term residential use at the end of the one-year term of a Short-Term Rental Permit.”
Rebuttal: This claim is weak, intentionally misleading, and merely a statistical aberration used to satisfy a bureaucratical program goal. It has little or nothing to do with General Plan consistency. Just because a unit can be returned to long-term residential at the end of a one-year permit term, does not mean that it will. In fact, the vast majority of Non-Hosted Short-Term Rental permits will continue indefinitely as long as the City supports their existence and fails to adequately enforce the Ordinance’s terms of operation. Achieving consistency is a matter of various allowed uses being compatible with one another at all times, not just when a property reverts to a conforming use.
Staff Claim #3: In Paragraph A., staff states that the 1,000-foot separation for Non-Hosted Rentals further limits their (negative) impact on housing stock.
Rebuttal: The degree to which this concentration requirement limits the housing stock impacts is dubious and insufficient. In a housing shortage situation, every residential unit that is removed from the stock has a negative impact.
Limiting a negative impact is not sufficient reason for such action to be considered successful or even adequate towards achieving a stated goal when eliminating the impact is within reach.
Staff Claim #4: In Paragraph C., staff cites from Zoning Code Chapter 20-22, Residential Zoning Dis
tricts, the purposes of those Districts and the land uses allowed therein. Staff goes on to state that while residential uses are the primary use allowed, “compatible accessory uses” are also allowed and then cites a list of those allowed accessory uses.
Rebuttal: Staff fails to make clear that Chapter 20-22.020 identifies “compatible accessory uses” as applicable only to the purpose of Rural Residential (RR) districts. The Zoning Code makes no mention of “compatible accessory uses” being part of the purpose for any other residential zoning district. Here staff appears to confuse “compatible accessory uses” with Residential Uses and Service Uses listed in Table 2-2 for which standards are further specified in Chapter 20-42, Standards for Specific Land Uses.
For instance, in Chapter 20-42.070 the Home Occupation use is allowed only when it constitutes “limited business activity in a residence that is clearly incidental to the primary residential use.” Non-Hosted Rentals are clearly not that type of use. The SOSR Essay, evidences that the Non-Hosted Rental use is not at all similar to any of the other Residential Uses listed by staff. The SOSR Essay also evidences that Non-Hosted Rentals are mostly not similar to the staff-listed Service Uses from Table 2-2.
Staff Claim #5: In the later part of Paragraph C, staff reasons that the Short-Term Rental Ordinance does not enable a transient occupancy use of residential units that permanently removes the units from residential use.
Rebuttal: The rebuttal made to Staff Claim #2 also applies here – just because a non-compatible use is potentially temporary in nature and does not alter unit’s physical residential characteristics, does not make a case that the non- compatible use is consistent with the Zoning Code.
Conclusion
Staff appears resolved with making determinations of consistency for the Short-Term Rental Ordinance by using sweeping claims that are either unsubstantiated or poorly substantiated. Even in the face of three comprehensive and well-reasoned challenges to those determinations, one from Planning Commissioner Peterson on April 27, 2023 and two from Save Our Santa Rosa, staff continues to perform marginally when researching and applying the Zoning Code and General Plan to the Short- Term Rental Ordinance. The issue of Non-Hosted Short-Term Rentals in residential neighborhoods has been controversial from the outset and staff has provided members of the City Council and Planning Commission with unreliable guidance on this issue for over three years running. This is wrong and it’s time to follow a different course.
Limiting ownership of Non-Hosted Short-Term Rentals to one per person does nothing to lessen the problems that Non-Hosted Rentals are causing, it simply perpetuates having 198 in operation, allows new owners and locations to create more problems and does nothing to improve the ordinance’s consistency with the Zoning Code and General Plan.
Ordinance modifications must either eliminate or more stringently restrict Non-Hosted Rentals in all residential zoning districts.
Save Our Santa Rosa has put forth several specific proposed Short-Term Rental Ordinance revisions that offer reasonable solutions to the current dilemma of Code consistency. In doing so, these changes will also restore safety and traditional character to residential neighborhoods, while also providing more opportunities for Hosted and Seasonal Short-Term Rentals to operate. One of those solutions must be pursued and adopted.
From: Eric Fraser
To: CityCouncilListPublic; Rogers, Chris; Rogers, Natalie; Alvarez, Eddie; Fleming, Victoria; MacDonald, Dianna; Stapp, Mark; Okrepkie, Jeff
Cc: Carter, Charles; Holton, Jeffrey; Weeks, Karen; Cisco, Patti; Sanders, Terrence; Duggan, Vicki Subject: [EXTERNAL] 6/6 City Council: Agenda Item 16.1: Timeline for STR Regulations Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 12:25:42 PM
Dear Mayor, City Council, and Planning Commission;
In the linked google sheet, please find a timeline for the history of STR regulations. It includes dates, both major and trifling, from the staff report prepared for this agenda item. It also includes dates for contacts our research group has had with other government agencies, as well as dates from source documents provided by the city.
It is significant because it shows the touchpoints STRs have had with City's administration, TOT/BIA, PED and more, from different facets. Included will be the datelines regarding 2017 disaster response by STRs, accounting inquiries regarding SRTBIA, Arthouse, and more. It shows how the Urgency Ordinance was a backroom deal and how PEDs mismanagement of the STR opportunities have brought us to this juncture.
We are adding more information to this link, so it's worthwhile checking back. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r4sSgCApd4SXmEc5YJxpX5c0uSg53m8wAr2ARy- fHGI/edit?usp=sharing
Looking forward to being of service,
Eric Fraser
TRUTH IN TOURISM
[email protected]
From: t
To: CityCouncilListPublic; Meads, Shari; Kirk, Lou
Cc: Hartman, Suzanne; CMOffice; [email protected]; Jones, Jessica; Oswald, Jesse; Hartman, Clare Subject: [EXTERNAL] STR-Permit Renewal
Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 1:13:52 PM
Dear Council,
We are asking for your help to become compliant with all our permits. We submitted all 4 for renewal in May 2023. We have always been good operators and have always paid our taxes.
The process for the STR ordinance has been exceedingly difficult for both owners and planning staff.
Planning staff struggled with staffing shortages and inconsistent personal in charge of permits. We valiantly endeavored to fulfill the ever-changing requirements and information. We applied for our 3 properties- which are all in the station area- and had to deal with several different temporary and regular staff planners. We were even told, after many months that our 3 properties needed 4 permits. We eventually received the permits in July. I was very busy with work and did not look at the permit details and assumed they were issued in July of 2022.
This May, we re-applied for our permits and were told that the permits we received in July were actually due in March.
We are exactly the type of operators that Santa Rosa wants to have. Lea and I live in the West End Neighborhood where we have owned and operated rentals since 1998. We have a deep love for the area and have worked hard to improve our properties and working with the City of Santa Rosa to enhance our part of Downtown Santa Rosa.
We turned our first long-term rental into at short term rental in 2013 only after one of our tenants bought a home here in the West End. We carefully asked what Santa Rosa required- were told that the only requirement was to pay our TOT taxes- so we did and have done so every quarter. After other long-term tenants left, we started renting two more properties for short- term. We have been able to house Santa Rosa families that lost their homes in October 2017. We have housed residents of West County when they had to leave their homes due to the threat of fire. We have always been responsible landlords – taking responsibility for our properties and expecting other landlords to do the same.
We are asking for your help to become compliant with all our permits. We submitted all four for renewal in May. We have always been good operators and have always paid our taxes.
Thank You for your service,
Allen Barron-Thomas
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95401
From: City Council Public Comments
To: City Council Public Comments
Subject: FW: [EXTERNAL] For City Council: STR Permits Expiration Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2023 11:58:07 AM
From: Laura Holliday < >
Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 3:07 PM
To: Short Term Rentals <[email protected]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] For City Council: STR Permits Expiration
My name is Laura Holliday, and I am a proud Santa Rosa native whose family still live here. I now live abroad with my husband and three children, but hope to return to Santa Rosa sometime in the next 5 years. With the price of property going up and up in the area, my husband and I decided to buy a house in 2021 with the plan of making it a short term rental until we could move back one day.
The house needed a lot of updating - think carpeted bathrooms, no water pressure, and ungrounded sockets everywhere! But once we got our short term rental permit in 2022, we knew we could afford to renovate it, since it would be bringing in income. We've spent the past 1.5 years and most of our savings painstakingly making it into what we think will be an ideal short term rental.
We would not have been able to afford the level of improvements we made, except that we were confident that this was an investment in our family's future and we would be able to recover most of our expenses.
Living so far away, the process of obtaining our permit from the City and doing the renovations was difficult and confusing.
Somehow, we missed the email that told us we needed to renew our permit. From what we can tell, around 10% of the permit holders were similarly unaware and had their permits expire. As soon as we realized this, just two weeks later, we promptly made an appointment and met with the Planning department. We've been told there is nothing we can do to renew our permit, and that the city isn't accepting applications for new permits.
Rebuilding this house has become a huge part of our lives, and renting it out is a critical part of our financial future.
We missed the renewal date by less than a month, but losing the permit will have vast implications for our lives. We very much hope that, for the first year of this confusing and often changing process, the city will do the right thing and extend a grace period to the previous permit holders to allow us to continue the businesses that we've worked so hard to build.
Best,
Laura & Tim Holliday
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laura wales holliday
From:
To: CityCouncilListPublic
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Short term rental permit
Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 9:49:40 PM
Hello,
I am reaching out to see if you are aware that the planning dept sent APPROVED permit to homes and then WEEKS later, revoked them due to THEIR mistake??
One of our homes was granted a renewal permit. This home is in perfect standings with the city. Zero complaints in the last 3 years.
The planning dept. granted a renewal permit for this home. Then 3 weeks later, revoked it. Due to miscommunication the owner didn’t realize he missed the renewal application by 2 days.
However, because it was granted we opened the calendar for the year, only to receive an email weeks later stating they made a mistake and they were taking the permit away.
We had several bookings already. All of which were supposed to cancel because of their mistakes??? We get
horrendous penalties for canceling. This is ridiculous.
Please be realistic and take ownership for their mistake by granting the home it’s intended permit.
Best,
Kristy Dominquez
From: Carl Jaeger
To: _CityCouncilListPublic
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fwd: STR Permit Renewal Quarterly Reminder Date: Tuesday, June 6, 2023 10:19:08 PM
Here is where it says you get the reminder once per quarter. ---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Carl Jaeger >
Date: Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 10:14 PM
Subject: Fwd: STR Permit Renewal Quarterly Reminder
To: <[email protected]
>, Rogers, Chris <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> Please share with your council members.
ONCE PER QUARTER it says
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Carl Jaeger < >
Date: Tue, Jun 6, 2023 at 9:20 PM
Subject: Fwd: STR Permit Renewal Quarterly Reminder
To: Leo Chyi < >
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: The City of Santa Rosa <[email protected] >
Date: December 16, 2022 at 9:15:54 AM PST
To:
Subject: STR Permit Renewal Quarterly Reminder
Reply-To: [email protected]
Hello,
Once per quarter, the City of Santa Rosa will send a reminder to all Short-Term Rental (STR) Permit holders that STR Permits expire one (1) year after the date of issuance. Calendar year quarters are January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December. This email is that quarterly reminder to you, a STR Permit holder, to check the expiration date of your STR permit, and start the required annual renewal process if necessary.
Permit renewal is the responsibility of the operator. Please review your permit and check the date of issuance. Your permit must be renewed prior to one year from this date. If you have lost or do not have access to your STR Permit, you can use the City’s Permit Search Tool (Tool) to find this information. The
Tool will automatically default to displaying non-hosted short-term rentals. If your STR is hosted, select the “Go to Hosted Only” option. Once the correct layer is displayed, find your location via the address search bar or by moving the map as needed. Click on the dot representing your location and select the appropriate
SVR Permit from the pop-up window. The resulting Parcel Report document will include a Permit Progress Timeline that shows the issuance date.
If your STR Permit is not due for renewal this quarter, you can ignore and delete this email; however, you may wish to set a calendar reminder allowing adequate time to prepare for permit renewal. Note that new requirements have been added to the STR Permit application . Be sure to review the application to allow
adequate time to gather all required documents and information.
A complete STR Permit application accompanied by the renewal fee and required documents (complete renewal package) must be submitted before the permit expiration date. The current STR Permit renewal application fee is $256. This amount is subject to change after January 1, 2023, when a new City of Santa Rosa Fee Schedule
will be published.
If a complete renewal package is submitted prior to the permit expiration date, the permit will remain active until a decision on the renewal request has been made. If a complete renewal package is not submitted prior to the permit end date, the permit shall automatically expire and be void. Upon expiration of any STR Permit, a new STR Permit is required, and the applicant will be considered a new operator subject to all regulations in place at the time the new application is filed. Note: the City is currently not accepting STR Permit applications for non-hosted STRs. To start the renewal process, please follow the Step Two and Three instructions provided here. Your renewal permit will be valid for one year from the date it is issued.
If you have questions about submitting your permit, please send them to [email protected].
Thank you again for your punctuality and for staying in compliance with the STR Ordinance.
This email notification is provided to you at no charge by The City of Santa Rosa, CA. Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery com.
This email was sent to c using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: The City of Santa Rosa 100 Santa Rosa Ave Santa Rosa, CA 95404 707-543-3000
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Carl Rashad Jaeger
ScottStreetFilms.com - Light+Sound+Big Ideas
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Carl Rashad Jaeger
ScottStreetFilms.com - Light+Sound+Big Ideas