| City pondering vacation rentals Posted: 22 May 2010 12:22 AM PDT Message from Five Filters: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. The city of St. Helena is following the county's lead by reconsidering its regulations pertaining to vacation rentals.
According to City Attorney John Truxaw, the city's municipal code contains no clear prohibitions of vacation rentals — defined as residential rentals for a period of less than 30 days without a use permit — but the reading of several code sections together makes it clear they are illegal.
Property owners who rent their property for less than 30 days must obtain a use permit and pay the city a 12-percent transient occupancy tax. But as the county has discovered, violations are widespread and enforcement is difficult.
On Tuesday city staff asked the planning commission to consider revising the municipal code to more clearly address vacation rentals. "This has been an issue in the past," Planning Director Carol Poole told the commission. "People have gone online and looked at our code and haven't gone away with the conclusion that they can't rent their houses out (for less than 30 days)."
City staff periodically troll the Internet for illegal vacation rentals.
In 2004 the city filed an enforcement action against Peter and Paulette Story to abate illegal vacation rentals at a house on Pratt Avenue. The city won and got a lien on the property for collection.
Another enforcement action on South Crane Avenue ended in a settlement out of court.
Commissioner Alan Galbraith suggested that the city farm out enforcement duties to an attorney from the private sector. Violators could be forced to cover the legal fees for enforcement, which would give the attorney a financial incentive to ferret out violators.
Meanwhile, the city could make special permits available to property owners who wish to offer short-term rentals but don't fit the rubric of a traditional bed-and-breakfast, Galbraith said.
Planning Commissioner Sandy Ericson proposed that people who have a primary residence in St. Helena could rent out their rooms short-term to help people who can't afford a hotel.
Poole will discuss the commission's ideas with the city attorney and report back at a future meeting. Five Filters featured article: Into the Abyss. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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