Title
Zoning Ordinance Amendment Regarding Short Term Rental Regulation - Citywide. Public hearing to consider recommending that the City Council adopt a Zoning Ordinance Amendment to regulate the Short-Term Rental of residential properties, to implement policy H-19 of the Housing Element. CEQA Determination: The amendment is consistent with the Final Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse #2021030563) that was completed and certified pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) on November 30, 2021. On a separate and independent basis, the proposal is exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), the commonsense exemption where it can be seen with certainty that the proposed zoning text amendment has no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment.
Body
To: Honorable President and Members of the Planning Board
From: Steven Buckley, Secretary to the Board
SUMMARY
At the Planning Board meetings on February 10, 2025, and April 28, 2025, staff introduced a plan to develop regulations for short-term rentals (STRs), i.e. the rental of rooms or entire homes for short periods, usually less than 30 days, also known as home sharing or vacation rentals. The staff reports for those meetings describe the context and need for STR regulations, identify key issues that the regulations need to address, and respond to questions of the Board members and community. The Board discussed the options and provided input, as did members of the community.
Staff has taken that feedback and drafted an ordinance that would be inserted into the zoning code as a new section. The regulations would establish eligibility criteria, safety and neighborhood compatibility standards, and an application review process, and require annual renewal coincident with the City’s business license renewal process. This would occur ministerially, i.e. there would be no public notice. However, an appeal process would be provided for applicants that are denied. Enforcement would be complaint-based, i.e. operators would be assumed to be in compliance unless a complaint were received by the city, in which case an investigation would be opened. A staged enforcement process of warning, suspension and revocation by the Planning Director would be followed, with an appeal allowed to the Planning Board. The zoning regulations are meant to also coordinate with the city’s existing rent and tenant protections and hotel tax regulations for hosting platforms.
BACKGROUND
It is worth restating and clarifying the purpose of adopting regulations for STRs. The primary purpose of the STR regulations is to prevent or minimize conversion of permanent long-term housing units to transient lodging in order to maintain the supply and affordability of Alameda’s housing stock. Other purposes of the STR ordinance include reducing speculative investment for purposes other than long-term housing, while also allowing residents of Alameda (including property owners and long-term renters) the opportunity to rent their residences to guests on a short-term basis, which can provide them income, offsetting the price of owning or renting a home. It can also provide residents with flexibility for travel and remote or seasonal work and can showcase Alameda to visitors who desire alternatives to hotel accommodations. Regulation can also help ensure neighborhood compatibility and minimize potential nuisance impacts on Alameda residents living near STRs and maintain the safety of residents and visitors. Clear regulations and procedures will enable straightforward compliance with planning, building, business, rent and tax regulations.
DISCUSSION
Ordinance Structure
The framework for the regulations is as follows:
• Purpose and Intent - explains why we are adopting these regulations
• Definitions - condenses terms from a number of sources in one place
• General Provisions - lists who can host and what spaces can be rented as STR, including requiring building and fire code compliance
• Operational Standards - addresses host and visitor good neighbor practices, and basic safety measures
• Permit Requirements - sets forth how permission to operate is granted and under what conditions
• Other - includes reference to other administrative regulations that may be adopted, fees that may be charged, and enforcement.
Considerations and Feedback
When crafting regulations for STRs, the City has considered several key issues and approaches that could meet its policy goals, achieve the purposes of the STR ordinance, and be most appropriate for Alameda. The following discussion summarizes how these considerations, which were discussed at the previous Planning Board meetings, have been resolved in the draft ordinance being presented at this time.
1. Primary Residence and Other Host Requirements
The draft ordinance allows owners and tenants to participate as hosts. Owners would be allowed to rent their own home or another space on the same property as their primary residence. Renters would be able to share their unit with visitors.
2. Hosted vs. Un-hosted Rentals and Time Limits
This has been rephrased as “home sharing” and “vacation rental” in a similar manner as some other jurisdictions. The premise is that one may share a home (primary residence) when one is also living there or when one is away for a period of time but will return to the location as one’s primary residence. This prevents the use of multiple units and strictly commercial activity.
3. Types of Buildings and Spaces
As noted above, single-family and multi-family units would be eligible under the proposed ordinance drafted by staff. Homeowners would be able to host visitors in units that they do not own if they are on the same property.
4. Tenant Protections and Affordable Housing
Alameda has a roughly equal number of ownership units and rental units. About 40% of the housing stock is detached single-family and about 10% is attached single-family (condominium). The rest are in multiple-unit buildings under a single ownership. While some of the single-family units are available for rent, most are owner-occupied. Conversely, some of the multi-unit buildings are owner-occupied, i.e. larger homes converted to rentals may still have an owner in residence.
Tenants are protected by state and local law. Multi-unit buildings are fully regulated under the rent control program.
A unit that had a no-fault eviction would be disqualified from being used as a STR. Properties that were subject to an Ellis Act eviction (permanently removing the unit from the rental market) would also be ineligible for a five-year period. However, if a unit is voluntarily vacated, then it could legally be established as a STR if the owner of the property also lives on site. The unit would be registered with the rent program as “exempt” while it is a short-term rental. Rent-subsidized units also would be ineligible.
5. ADU and JADU Rentals
Currently, state law prohibits State-mandated ADUs and JADUs from being used as a STR. (Government Code Sections 66323(a), 66333(g).) For other ADUs, State law authorizes (but does not require) cities to impose short term rental restrictions. To encourage ADUs to be used as more affordable housing options and to ensure they be included in the City’s Housing Element compliance, the proposed ordinance prohibits all ADUs from being used as STRs.
6. Operating and Performance Standards
STR activity can result in nuisance impacts if not properly managed. The draft ordinance includes a series of requirements that hosts would agree to abide by, including maximum occupancy, no events or parties, compliance with the noise ordinance, trash collection, and general good neighbor practices, as well as liability insurance.
7. Health and Safety Compliance
Fundamental public safety interests would be protected with requirements that the space being used as a STR is designed for residential use, meets habitability standards, complies with the housing code, and is provided with safety equipment such as detectors and extinguishers.
8. Type of Permit Required / Business Process for STR Registration
A streamlined process is proposed, whereby an applicant could obtain a business license and STR permit online through the City’s existing portal, similar to other home occupations. Written declarations would be required to place the onus on the operator to acknowledge and commit to compliance with the ordinance.
9. Appeal Process
Although the approvals would be considered at the staff level as a ministerial permit similar to a building permit, and would be accompanied by a business license, an applicant would be able to appeal to the Planning Board if they believed a STR permit was denied or suspended/revoked (see below) in error.
10. Monitoring and Enforcement
Alameda already has a combination of rent control and tenant protections, local taxes and business licenses, and building and historic preservation programs that are enforced through a number of efforts and coordinated by the Code Enforcement Division of the Planning Building and Transportation Department. These would remain available, with required corrective actions and/or penalties. No new investigative or enforcement program is recommended at this time. However, if complaints are received, there would be a progressive enforcement program with a warning, suspension and revocation occurring if there are repeated violations. Health and safety issues could result in immediate revocation.
State Legislation
Since the Board’s previous meetings, the State legislature passed SB 346 which allows cities to request each short-term rental facilitator to report the assessor parcel number of each short-term rental during the reporting period, as well as any additional information necessary to identify the property, including, but not limited to, the physical address of the host property, listing identification number, and property type. The City of Alameda recently opted in to this program, which will provide an efficient process for collecting data to assess the impacts on the long-term rental market as well as a mechanism for better collecting transient occupancy tax (TOT).
Outreach
The city has posted material related to this hearing on its social media accounts and has reached out to those who previously expressed interest. The staff recommendations are intended to accommodate the feedback we received at previous hearings.
CONCLUSION
Staff requests that the Planning Board consider the information in this report and the draft ordinance (attached to this report as Exhibit 2) in light of previous discussions and community input (summarized in Exhibit 3) and adopt the resolution provided as Exhibit
CEQA ANALYSIS
The zoning code amendment is consistent with the Final Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse #2021030563) that was completed and certified pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) on November 30, 2021, for the General Plan. On a separate and independent basis, the proposed amendments are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3), the commonsense exemption where it can be seen with certainty that the proposed zoning text amendments have no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment because these amendments would not result in physical changes to the environment but instead would regulate the use of existing residential structures.
RECOMMENDATION
Conduct a public hearing and adopt a resolution making a recommendation to Council that it adopt STR regulations as presented in the draft ordinance and find that the ordinance is exempt from CEQA.
Respectfully Submitted,
Steven Buckley, Planning Services Manager
Exhibits
1. Draft Resolution
2. Draft Ordinance
3. Summary of Feedback