The Del Mar City Council on Monday unanimously approved the ordinance, which caps short-term rentals (STRs) at 129 units, or 5% of the city’s housing stock.
It also limits STRs per owner with a minimum three-night stay. The units must also be used as a primary residence, meaning someone is living there for at least six months of the year.
Because the city is within the coastal zone, any housing regulations still need the California Coastal Commission’s approval, which could take between 18 months to a year.
Del Mar Mayor David Druker said the city has been working with the Commission and is hopeful the ordinance will be approved.
“One of the keys that they wanted to have was that it would be a primary residence of the owner rather than just, business coming in and buying a house and renting,” he said.
Del Mar has been trying to regulate short-term rentals for the past few years. In 2017, the city passed an ordinance that never went into effect because the Coastal Commission deemed it too restrictive.
Kimberly Jackson, who owns Vacation Rentals by Kimberly and has been renting out her properties in Del Mar for the past 14 years, also thinks this ordinance is too restrictive.
"They don't understand the sharing economy and realize the need for people to take in money in order to pay their heavy mortgages and their hefty property taxes," she said. "I just think that Del Mar really wants to do away with vacation rentals.”
The City Council's goal was to balance the need for housing and visitor accommodations. Homes in Del Mar have always been expensive and the city said the short-term rental cap won’t necessarily increase the city’s housing stock, but it’s needed to comply with the state’s housing rules.
According to a city staff report, the state's Department of Housing and Community Development is considering a rule requiring cities to create one housing unit for every new STR in the next Regional Housing Needs Allocation cycle. With the ordinance requiring STRs to be primary residences, the hope is that it would buffer the city from that requirement.
According to the city, there are currently 122 registered STRs in Del Mar, though the actual number of vacation rentals in the city could be higher. But owners who registered their STRs before Dec. 31 or filed an STR permit application within 60 days of the ordinance going into effect would be grandfathered in from the cap.
Grant Douguid, who used to live in Del Mar but now lives in Cardiff, said the ordinance is a step in the right direction.
“I'm for having a cap as a minimum," he said. "Everyone moving here and buying up all the homes at low prices ... and then just (renting them out) and they don't even live there.”
But Jackson said the ordinance might have the opposite effect, reducing the available housing stock in the city.
“(People who own a second home in Del Mar), they're probably going to leave it vacant because they want to use it," she said. "I don't know many people that are going to want to put a long term tenant in there”
