As of April 8, the city has issued 393 short-term rental permits
PASO ROBLES — The short-term rental ordinance was up for discussion during a public hearing at the Paso Robles Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday night, April 26.
City staff proposed an amendment to the current ordinance, which is scheduled to expire on Aug. 6, unless the City Council adopts an amendment to extend the ordinance.
As of April 8, the city has issued 393 short-term rental permits. There are currently 66 people on a waitlist to receive a permit once one becomes available.
There are two types short term permits:
Homeshare permit
Short-term rental permit may be issued for the following:
•Primary dwelling
•Second units
•Guest houses
•Multi-family residential apartments
•Residential portions of mixed use structures
Interpretations:
- A maximum of two homeshare short-term rental permits will be issued per legal parcel in the R-1 zoning district.
Bed & breakfast — food service:
- Conditional use permit/county health permit
Non-hosted accommodation permit
Short-term rental permit may be issued for the following:
•Primary dwelling
•Second unit
•Residential portions of mixed-use structures consistent with interpretation (2).
Interpretations:
- Multi-family residential apartment units (four or more dwellings per lot) may not be used as non-hosted short-term rentals.
- No more than two non-hosted short-term rental permits will be issued per legal parcel.
Bed & breakfast — food service:
- Not permitted
On March 25, city staff conducted a public workshop, where staff presented potential amendments to the short-term rental ordinance and received comments from the community. Additionally, between March 18 and April 7, the city hosted an informal/non-scientific online short-term rental survey.
Staff’s takeaway from the public at the workshop was “although the ordinance is not perfect, it is working” and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Based on the staff’s experience and public input, they have recommended minor amendments to the ordinance, including:
- Removal of the 3-year sunset clause
- Reduce the home share owner’s absence from the property from 30 days to 10 days annually.
- Clarify that accessory dwelling units cannot be used as short-term rentals per state law.
- Increase neighborhood noticing for new permits from 50 feet to 100 feet.
- Update Paso Robles Municipal Code section reference numbers.
- Clarify all T-zoning districts.
- Provide time and duration restrictions for swimming pools and hot tubs.
The commission listened to about one hour of general public comments — all discussing a wide variety of issues or concerns related to short-term rentals.
In the end, the commission motioned to approve, with a 5-0 vote, Resolution A and will be recommending the City Council to adopt their amendments to Table 21.16.200 and Chapter 21.34 of the Zoning Ordinance.
Chapter 21.34, the current short term rental ordinance can be found here with suggested changes: prcity.com/DocumentCenter/View/33727/April-26-2022-Planning-Commission-Item-3-PDF
Their amendments are the following:
A. Adding notice distance to 300 feet
B. Limiting pool use for hours only from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
C. Allowing transferability of permits in TC1 and TC2 zones only, all other T zones not transferable
D. Retain the sunset clause date of three years
Additionally, they added the following recommendations for City Council consideration:
- Provide neighborhood notice at renewal or, more often
- Have PRPD track rental complaints and look into other hotline options
- Make sure permit numbers are posted online
- Consider density population changes in the city
- Implement a “use it or lose it” policy for permits
- Total number of permits in any category of short term rentals not be increased
The short-term rental ordinance amendments and recommendations will be brought in front of the City Council for final decisions at a future meeting.
