Laguna Beach to have new short-term rental rules

After months of discussion, Laguna Beach is set to roll out new rules for short-term rentals in the city.

The California Coastal Commission unanimously approved a plan designed to prevent additional short-term lodging from being established in the city’s residential areas, but will grandfather in the existing 117 short-term rental units operating legally with a permit.

Laguna Beach city staff estimated that there were roughly 383 short-term lodging properties, including those without a permit, in 2017.

The rise of online booking websites has contributed to the growth of short-term lodging, which can present a more affordable option to tourists and vacationers in destination areas. Airbnb has more than 300 places to stay listed for Laguna Beach, one of Orange County’s smaller coastal communities by population.

The modifications state that the city would be allowed to have a total of 465 short-term rental units. From that number, 165 of the units would be classified as home shares, or rentals in which the owner or a tenant would remain on site. Home share units, which can be a single-family, duplex and triplex, would be exempt from use permit fees.

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Apart from the short-term lodging units that are not considered among those that will be grandfathered in, the city will allow short-term rentals in mixed-use commercial and coastal visitor-serving zones.

Additionally, the new rules require that no more than 20% of units within a multi-unit building be converted into short-term lodging. For buildings with five or fewer units, there would be a maximum of one short-term rental available.

“We’ve added additional protections for the long-term housing stock by placing a cap on the total number of units allowed in the commercial districts,” said Marc Wiener, the director of community development for Laguna Beach. “And we’ve also established a program that promotes home sharing by waiving the use permit fees for those units as an incentive and also allowing a certain number to operate outside of the cap.

“We feel this achieves a balance of enhancing coastal access while also protecting the character of our neighborhoods and the residential housing stock.”

The amended proposal was brought back to the California Coastal Commission after a public hearing in August.

Many matters in Laguna Beach have to go through the California Coastal Commission. Almost all of the city lies within the confines of the Coastal Zone.

The city of Laguna Beach is to report back to the California Coastal Commission in three years regarding the amended implementation plan for short-term lodging. At that time, the city is to provide an update on new housing and hotel units citywide, including whether they fall within the range of affordable or higher cost.

In addition, the city must disclose the number of units in the permitted districts and the number of short-term lodging permits that have been issued. It will also have to identify the type of housing and the location for the short-term lodging permits that have been issued.

Officials in Laguna Beach have been discussing issues related to unregulated short-term rentals since the 1990s. The city has frequently heard the concerns of residents, especially with regard to maintaining residential community character, parking, and the oft-mentioned traffic congestion for a city that only has three ways, and two roads — South Coast Highway and Laguna Canyon Road — leading in and out of it.

Public comments hit every spot on the spectrum. Some argued that short-term rentals that were not home shares would not be affordable to the working class. Others believed the new rules would protect the quality of life in the city’s residential neighborhoods and said that the city was already equipped to accommodate its overnight visitors based on the size of the city.

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