Changing City Ordinance to Support Short Term Rentals

[Brad30]

I am/was an Airbnb host in the Monterey, California area.  We love using home sharing for all of our travels as it has always suited our desire to feel at home while abroad.  We recently opened our home on Airbnb to other travelers and found ourselves in the middle of a dispute going on with our local, outdated, city ordinance and a short term rentals alliance group.  These disputes exist in many cities so I know this is not an uncommon thing.  Upon doing some research I stumbled upon this community and figure it would be worth a try to reach out to other Airbnb hosts in other parts of the world and see who has had success addressing/changing local city ordanances that prohibit short term rentals (STR) like Monterey City.  Monterey City has even gone as far as having there enforcement resurces create accounts on Airbnb and make fake reservation requests so they can issue citations. If you have any insight on how to address these issues (legally, through media awareness campaigns, through cummnuties that can help, etc...) I would be very interested.  Our goal is to motivate the city to change the outdated ordinance and allow for STR in Monterey, CA.  I personally have heard all of the arguments against STR due to the need to ADA regulations, impacts on parking, noise, etc... and I beleive it is ridiculous.  However, shared economies are an evolution and evolutions only happen when people with a common goal come together to invoke a change.  I am hoping this thread will be the beginning of this change allowing us to relist our property on Airbnb and continue being Superhosts 🙂

[Karin5]

@David126

The township made me apply for a variance in order to continue operating Airbnb, despite explaining how I also live on the property and there were no structural changes to the property specifically for Airbnb. My house is an ordinary single-family home.

I was told I am operating a business in a residential zone because I had an advertisement up and generated income. I asked if I could apply for a permit or license, but they insisted on a variance. I spoke to a few attorneys and they agreed on the variance, too. I was financially dependant on Airbnb so I applied for the variance.

The variance was denied because of too much neighbor opposition. As a result, I had to shut my listing down. I was going to appeal the denial but I would have needed a group of people who were supportive, which wasn't going to happen, and just me and the 1 other host wasn't enough. Those same neighbors who opposed the variance would have shown up at the appeal.

[Larisa15]

Hi. I live in Monterey and wanted to start up with hosting Air B&B and am very disapointed to find out it is not allowed. I am interested in working on a solution with the city of Monterey.

Larisa.

[David126]

@Larisa15

Please let us know how you get on.

[David126]

That makes sense, most property where I am is mixed use but if you are residential then operating a business is going to be an issue.

[Abigail-And-Devin0]

We are having the same problem in Fort Worth, TX. We have two properties in Fort Worth we have rented short term through Airbnb and because there are hundreds of others in Fort Worth and we had such a positive experience, we purchased a third... I am embarrassed to say because I was unaware of the ordinance Fort Worth has for nothing shorter than 30 day lease. I had also heard about Texas passing a bill 451 which would not allow any cities to regulate how a home owner leases their property (with restrictions such as sex trade or drug trafficking...). This did pass the senate but died in the house so it was not made a law yet here in Texas unfortunately. But our properties are within blocks of where we live and walk our daughter to school every day. We live in the neighborhood and love the neighborhood. The last thing we want to do is cause issues in our own neighborhood. And these were run down 3 bedroom places we fixed up and nicely furnished and we keep up better than our own home because of the high standards we aim to keep for our visitors. We have a cleaning service, weekly lawn service, pest service... But all it took was one grumpy neighbor... What do we do? We have literally hundreds of contacts who have stayed with us, should we get references from them? What can we do to help our city see that these are not bad? 

[Cathryn13]

Thanks for posting your experiences. I too am facing the threat of a hired company locating my husbands and my Airbnb rental to assist the cease and desist STRs in Monterey. 

We have followed the rules, spoken with neighbors, and pay quarterly taxes. We are more than willing to pay city taxes and have not been presented with this option. 

I will contact Airbnb about starting a group to support the hosts in Monterey. 

[Larisa15]

Thank you. I am very bummed I can't do an AB&B after spending thousands to make it happen. These are our own homes and since we are living there i think we should have the choice.

Please keep me informed..

LM

[Ann15]

Hi - I am very interested in hearing an update to this conversation.  What is the status of STR in Monterey County?  Are they permitted?  Do you need a permit?  What is the minimum amount of nights that you can rent?  I am curious as I enjoy hosting and traveling on Airbnb.  Recently, I have traveled to Carmel and Pebble and wondered if things have changed.  I am also interested in purchasing a second home there and would love to hosts guests from time to time, but maybe that won't be an option in the near future.  Thanks in advance for your help.

[Sandy209]

Hi Brad. I used to be a host and now, the city of Monterey has actually fined me $850 because I opened up my website for a charity for a few days. This is unfair! My space is very private and no one is bothered at all. I was told that the big hotels were behind this. 

I will help and support you and other owners to re-establish our short term rentals.

Sandy Moore

[David2313]

I recently moved from one town where I had two AirBnB's (was officially banned but due to outcry, city agreed to not inforce) to a new town where they have a ban on any STR's less than 30 days.  We want to continue renting, and love AirBnB (use it when we travel), so I have applied to start a group here in Northern New Jersey to discuss what we can do to encourage the town to rethink their policy.  (Especially using Jersey City as an example of how it can be done with a tax that benefits everyone).  If there are other NNJ folks here in the same boat, let me know, I'd love to talk to you.  Especially if there are ANY people on this board who have sucessfully overturned a towns ruiling on STR's.  Thanks!

[Lenore22]

I don't see Host Sharing Clubs listed anymore on the discussion.  Our city is reviewing their STR ordinances.  I would love to access more info on this.

[Linda108]

This is an old post and Air BNB no longer supports the Host Sharing Clubs.  You might look for a Santa Clara, if that is where your listing is located, Facebook page as many hosts have formed groups to work with municipalities.  It is not just Air BNB's that are affected for all STR platforms.  Another way to organize or communicate is through the app Next Door.  I know there is a lively discussion on Next Door in my city.