Recent forum on short term vacation rentals at OB Woman’s Club, hosted by the OB Town Council and OB Planning Board. Sept. 21, 2015.
” . . . until I knew the facts.”
By Alison Patton / Special to the OB Rag
I can relate to the battle going on between STVRs (short term vacation rentals) and neighborhood residents in San Diego. The same debate went on in my home.
My husband John Thickstun began work as legal counsel for Save San Diego Neighborhoods (SSDN) many months ago (and since has become a Board member).
My first reaction was, “Why this issue, John?”
Everything I knew about STVRs was positive and I ticked off my list to him:
- Our friend Ann rents a room in her house through VRBO. Her neighbors have never complained.
- Our neighbor Nick rented his house last summer so he and his family could travel to Europe. It wasn’t a problem.
- We rented that house in New York through Airbnb years ago and had a great time.
“So what’s the harm? Isn’t this just the new thing and everyone’s a winner here?”
My husband proceeded to tell me that STVRs, while initially a good idea, have turned into a serious problem in San Diego. Every major city and coastal community in the United States is having the same problem, he said.
Did I believe him? Of course not. John and I are both opinionated lawyers. I love the man but we don’t always agree. And he isn’t always right. After 17 years of marriage, I know to pick my battles and so after some debate, I let it drop.
As the months passed, I started hearing more about the issue . . . because it was impossible not to, living in the same house. I started hearing about all the town and City meetings going on, about the lobbyists for Airbnb and commercial STVRs showing up to extol the benefits of STVRs . . . and I heard about the donations given by Airbnb and other STVR operators to the past campaigns of many of our local politicians, including the Mayor and City Attorney.
Something started to smell funny. Lobbyists? Donations to campaigns for many years? Our elected officials not enforcing the zoning codes and ignoring years of residents’ complaints about STVRs? Finally my curiosity was aroused enough to do my own research.
I started with SSDN’s website and then scoured the internet for national newspaper articles. And then I read everything I could on the subject, including the San Diego Municipal Code and the law.
This is what I learned:
- The problem isn’t you or I renting a room in our house, or even renting out our house every now and then for a short period. This is not what SSDN is fighting.
- The problem is the entire makeup of the STVR industry has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. The numbers of STVRs has exploded – 4800 in San Diego alone. What started as “the homeowner renting his own home to make a few bucks” is now big business dominated by commercial operators.
- The majority of STVRs – something like 65% — are mini-hotels run year round as a business. Most of them are owned by investors or companies who buy up multiple units or houses, rent them year round to tourists, for enormous profits. These are NOT residents renting out their own home. These are not owners who themselves live in the neighborhood. These are commercial businesses pure and simple, and not even ones that benefit the residents, like arguably a Starbucks or corner store would, if plopped in the middle of a neighborhood.
- STVRs have no attachment or accountability to the neighborhood. The commercial owners make big profits from them, at the expense of the neighbors. It’s also at the expense of us—the taxpayers — who pay for all the city services that are used for free by STVR owners. (In contrast, hotels pay city taxes and also pay for their own garbage service and security).
- Most STVRs are located in residential neighborhoods that were zoned for single owners and families, NOT for commercial business. The City is not enforcing the zoning laws. This is what you would call a “corporate loophole” being used by Airbnb and STVR operators to run a business (and make big profits) at the expense of homeowners who bought property in a residential zone, at a premium price, in order to be in a real neighborhood.
- Based on the pattern of growth over the past decade –and the enormous profitability of this industry —it is crystal clear that STVRs will keep spreading. For example, there are now entire blocks in Mission Beach that are entirely STRVs with no local residents. In Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach STVRs are a problem on many blocks. In the Bird Rock area of La Jolla, one block already has 3 STVRs in a row and residents are complaining, to no avail. You may not care about this issue now, but you will in a few years when a noisy, unregulated STVR ends up on your block or next door.
- This is not a partisan issue. It’s a community issue with Republicans, Democrats and Independents on the same side.
- Hearing testimony from residents dealing with a STVR on their block was eye opening. Noise, trash, parking, safety concerns for their kids, constant disruptions to their daily life . . . and the most disturbing thing is there seems to be little or no enforcement.
Imagine having a group of up to 15 strangers staying next door to you for a weekend or a few weeks, and then a different group coming and leaving, and so on throughout the year. Many STVR renters are college students or groups of young adults pooling their money to stay in a house. Because they are on vacation, they party late into the night with alcohol and sometimes recreational drugs, not just on weekends but during the work week. And then imagine having no way to stop it. You pay your mortgage and your property taxes year after year and you are living next to a mini-hotel, with no recourse.
This is the reality of what’s happening.
- Thousands of homeowners have filed noise complaints. Even the worst repeat-offender STVRs have not been shut down. The San Diego police cannot respond effectively to the problem, due to no fault of their own. The SSDN website has a lot of information on this topic backed up by statistics and media reports.
- You can make A LOT more money renting your condo, apartment or house to tourists than you make with a regular tenant. So the side-effect of the STVR explosion is that many homes, apartments, condos and rooms which used to be rented to local residents are now being rented only to tourists. According to the research, in every city STVRs have taken thousands of units out of the local rental market and this in turn has diminished the supply of rentals for locals and jacked up the rents.
- It has also driven up the price to buy a home, since you’re now competing with commercial STVR operators for homes that go on the market. There are dozens of articles by major newspapers throughout the U.S. about this rental and real estate shortage created by Airbnb and STVRs. This concerns me as I have kids who may want to return to San Diego to live and work when they finish college.
- Because there are so many of them now, STVRs are destroying the fabric of neighborhoods. The best way to explain this is to cite what the Supreme Court once said about the impact of transient visitors on a community: “Short-term tenants have little interest in public agencies or in the welfare of the citizenry. They do not participate in local government, coach little league, or join the hospital guild. They do not lead a scout troop, volunteer at the library, or keep an eye on an elderly neighbor. Literally, they are here today and gone tomorrow without engaging in the sort of activities that weld and strengthen a community.”
Yes, I found it a lot to digest.
And dammit, my husband was right.
Alison Patton is a San Diego attorney and mediator, a writer and mother of two.
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Is there any significant difference in STVR’s effects on units in multi-family zoned areas versus those in single-family zoned areas ? It seems that STVR’s are obviously NOT “single-family” (duh!), but I’m undecided if they are inconsistent with multi-family (like in one of those big condo’s on the cliffs) zoning. I live in a single-family area, so I don’t have experience with condos.
I believe they do. Residents of “multi-family zoned areas” have the same desire for strong, stable, secure, safe communities. Whether the zoning is RS, RT or RM, the residents have the same concerns. The San Diego Municipal Code seems to reflect this; Visitor Accomadations are not allowed in RM zones either.
My family and I lived on Coronado Ave. in OB for 8 years. We rented from a larger property management firm in the area. The last year and a half of your tenancy, our landlord had decided to turn the small unit attached to us into an AirBnB rental. At first, it wasn’t bad. But, over time, we had to constantly remind the STVRs that our parking spot, (that we paid for) wasn’t open parking. We had to tow on numerous occasions because when we’d get home, someone would be parked there. Our landlord would always “forget’ to mention that parking was assigned and that the STVR didn’t come with parking. The STVRs would party EVERY night, not just on weekends. We actually lived there and both my husband and I work and our daughter goes to school. It sucked having to remind people that just because they took off on a Wed night to party, the rest of the us were actually trying to live our day to day lives and expected the 10pm noise rule to remain in effect. We tried to be polite and we tried not to bother the landlord often, but it got to be too much. We moved out of that house this past August and I have to say, it’s been wonderful. We currently rent a condo where the HOA won’t allow short term rentals such as those on AirBnB, and we couldn’t be happier. I also found out that after we left, our landlord turned our 3 bedroom 2 full bath house into an STVR allowing up to 8 people to stay there. It had a nice big backyard that backed up into the courtyard where the other 4 tenants in the back shared. i can only imagine the nightmare that unit has been for those long term tenants back there. And the owner occupants on either side weren’t happy either. I sincerely hope that the city starts taking a long hard look at this and starts cracking down on this. I believe that people should be able to live in a neighborhood without all of this ridiculousness. These homeowners bought houses in residential neighborhoods for a reason, they paid high prices for their houses and dutifully pay their taxes on time. If they wanted to live next to a hotel, then they wouldn’t have bought a house in a residential neighborhood.
It turns out there are already laws in place that outlaw STVRs, the city is choosing not to enforce them
That’s exactly right, Jeff. The legal analysis has been done by more than one legal specialist and the existing San Diego municipal code prohibits visitor accommodations in residential areas. The code isn’t being enforced by the City.
Wonder if the general passivity of San Diegans has been keenly identified by the STVR proponents. I may be wrong but some folks have mentioned that quite a few homes in the area have been sold to all-cash buyers.
Now, who can those people be? Not likely the average San Diego service economy employee. If not the typical $45k/year employee, then who pays all cash for a $950K single family home situated in the middle of a potentially losing battle with the FAA, whose flights over the Peninsula may be increasing 2 – 3 times by next year this time, reducing the $950k to a thrifty $760k over the next few years.
Most cash buyers are flippers.
Having to rent or use properties for STVR represents failure…. to sell and go on to the next flip. A 20% reduction in home values next year due to the FAA is crazy talk.
RB, you could be very correct.
Do you know what is the average flip-time, from cash purchase to sell? Are these flips going to other flippers , to experienced buyers, or first time buyers?
Do you believe an increase in low, loud flights over the Peninsula affects property values (and possibly quality of life) in any way?
Most flips here are significant remodels ($50-200K)) and are sold to both experienced and first time buyers, looking to live in the home long term. Here the flips or re-sale are made in 6-12 months. A year ago my full price offer on my current home competed with four cash offers investors. About 25% of the houses I toured were flipped or sold a second time during the last year. Most flips involve purchases by local realtors and local construction companies and are quick remodels and flips.
The airport does negatively affect property values and the new FAA flight rules will have a small negative impact here. Noise on take offs has already increased. I assume the proposed quick turn will require more air speed and noise during take off. I assume the second pass over PL will impact Ft Rosecrans and the lighthouse and tide pools the most. I assume the FAA is trying to increase the number of flights and will increase the noise events significantly in OB.
RB, thank you.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. There ARE people who rent their primary (or only) residence out when they are gone for an extended period (a month or so). We are senior citizens who are on a fixed income. We would rather have someone in our house than have it vacant, possibly attracting burglars. It is possible to heavily screen potential short term tenants so that they are quiet and don’t have parties or even smoke. We come back to the home we love and value. We don’t want people to trash our home any more than you do!
Jeanie – We have several friends –retired and younger — who rent their home every year for a month to travel, and do so considerately like you. Technically, I think it is against the San Diego residential zoning code to do this, but when done in a manner that does not disrupt the neighborhood, it has never been an issue with the neighbors or the City, and I predict it never will be. Likewise with homeshares (i.e., renting a room in your home while you live on the premises). The police rarely get complaints from residents about home shares or the occasional rental by a homeowner to travel for a month. And so no one bothers with these “code violations.” And that’s the way we expect it will remain.
Truly, this battle is about shutting down the thousands of commercial STVRs. Save San Diego Neighborhoods is asking the city to enforce the existing zoning codes for commercial STVRs, since these mini-hotels are a whole new thing (because of the internet and websites like Airbnb and Homeaway). While arguably a good thing when it started, the sheer numbers of commercial STVRs are ruining certain neighborhoods and creating a slew of other problems as discussed in the post… and it’s a fact, statistically, that they will continue to spread if no code enforcement occurs. No one is asking the City to create new laws. The laws are already on the books but aren’t being enforced in ANY situation, not even with a STVR that has received consistent complaints for many years.
Not supporting this issue because you rent your house out occasionally is, to be frank, rather shortsighted because as a considerate homeowner who has equity and a nice neighborhood, you have everything to lose if a commercial STVR ends up moving onto your block or next door to you and the City continues not to enforce the zoning laws. San Diego residents have to get beyond the “what’s in it for me” kind of thinking and see the bigger picture here of what’s at stake for all our neighborhoods without any code enforcement. Every major city and coastal town in American is facing the same problem and this is not unique to San Diego by any means. And by asking the City to shut down commercial STVRs, you aren’t making a statement about home sharing and you aren’t going after people who do what you do.
And we’re supposed to suffer because you didn’t properly plan for your retirement ? You want to run a hotel, go buy one.
Nice reply. You don’t know me or anything about me. Sometimes shit happens.
Kind of a biased article, I know plenty of people who rent their homes short term and the majority of their guests are multiple families with older generational members… Definitely not just “college kids who come to party”
Jake – “College kids” was one common example because a large number of noise complaints related to STVR rentals involve younger guests who pool their money and pack 10-20 people in a single-family house (such as over spring break, summer or a school holiday). Indeed, the renters of STVRs run the gamet and some guests are multiple families with people of all ages. That’s the point—a different group of multiple families/ multiple people, packed into a single family residence, when the neighbors who live there didn’t buy a house expecting to live next to a motel. Another recent example: in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla, one of three STVRs on the same block was recently rented by 10+ businessmen who arrived in two van shuttles. The house is being used for a conference, essentially. Do you want to live next to a motel with 10-20 different guests coming and going every weekend? Is this fair to homeowners who bought in a residential zone that specifically prohibits commercial businesses and motels?
There was an air bnb down the street that had somebody that lived in it that just rented out the rest of it and somebody wrote a bad review and like complained that it look lived in will hello somebody lived there, it was somebody’s house . in retrospect I think that guest and review was a set up . a set up of either the next new hotel to be on the block and or to get the homeowner to sell the home which is now a full time rental btw . Don’t know what happened to the old man who lived there . So sad. I mean I’ve been in my neighborhood since before it was completely developed. I’m one of the rare lucky few to stay. Now that I know what and who is behind the crooked fake estate b’s I am claiming this my hill to die on.
no way am I giving in to a drug dealing meth fueled wanna be monsters to ruin the lives of good people and losing good kids to drugs and the good community to a bunch of partying drunks making some asshole rich because they choose to party instead of working hard and saving enough money to buy their own house and then have a party . they don’t even realize how ripped off they are getting.
In regard to the statement that “The majority of STVRs – something like 65% — are mini-hotels run year round as a business. ” I have seen this figure noted a number of times and would appreciate knowing the source – I believe it is from the Save Our San Diego Neighborhoods website.
The National University study notes that whole home rentals are rented an average of 80.7 nights per year. This would seem to directly refute the idea that the majority of properties on Airbnb and VRBO are year-round mini-hotels and support the idea that most are residents utilizing their homes while out of town.
I also know of no source that shows what type of person – company, individual, etc. – owns the properties that are let on Airbnb or VRBO. If this information is available I would like to read it.
80 nights per year could also mean they are rented 3 weekends out of every month.
Definitely could. Or there could be a sizable portion of whole home short-term rentals that are 24/7 and a bunch that are once or twice a year. I haven’t seen any information breaking it down and found the National University study to be the most thorough I’ve seen.
I have concerns about the cost of housing in San Diego and potential downsides from short-term rentals here. In my experience though, it has been a measurable good and the concerns seem limited and/or potential in future and not the current situation. (I am a host and frequent traveler on Airbnb.) If there is substantive data to back the claims of harm I would enjoy reading them but have not seen such to date.
John Anderson — The National University study you mention was funded by Airbnb, and their findings don’t match informal surveys done by outside sources.
The National University study is the only one I know of specific to San Diego, is there another? It was paid for by Airbnb and the San Diego Vacation Rental Managers Alliance but I believe National University has a vested interest in producing unbiased information to maintain reputation.
If there are other studies can you share them? I’m not trying to be difficult, but I follow this issue closely and have tried to read everything available on the topic. I’ve read a number of studies from other places (SF, NYC, LA, among others) but unaware of other SD ones.
VRBO lists about 177 Rentals in Ocean Beach (It varies with the criteria you enter ).
115 were Owner Managed
62 were Property Managed
Based on availability via their calendars- pretty much every one is a full time rental.
John Anderson — no problem with your questions, and I don’t think you’re being difficult. I appreciate the dialogue. Here’s an article that gives a good overview of this issue of how many STVR rentals are year-round and/or commercial in nature. Note that no one has an exact statistic because Airbnb won’t release the data. Airbnb paid National University to do a “study” but Airbnb won’t release any data to any independent media or other organizations who have asked for it. In other words, no one can do an impartial unpaid assessment because Airbnb is hiding their data and flat out refuses to release it. The informal assessments in various cities (which is all anyone can do, based on this situation) have come up with findings that commercial STVRs are anywhere from 40% to 89% of Airbnb’s listings. (89% was the Los Angeles assessment, as you’ll see in that article). It depends on the time of year of the informal assessment and what you define as “commercial.”
Oops. I forgot to include the link in my prior comment. Here it is:
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2015/10/31/the-two-faces-of-airbnb/
and one last clarification: I define “commercial” as a year-round (or almost year-round) vacation rental that is whole house (or whole unit).
I am not counting home sharing (where the owner lives there too, with the vacation renters). Home shares aren’t the problem and the City receives very few complaints about those. No one at Save San Diego Neighborhoods cares about the home sharing or the homeowner who occasionally rents his house for a few weeks a year to travel.
The problem are the houses (or condos or multi-unit buildings) that are only used for vacation rentals, pure and simple. It is not the property owners’ principle place of residence. It’s a business enterprise that exists only to make money for the owners. It may be owned by one person or by investors or by a corporation. Regardless, the fact is it’s a business— a motel, in essence– being set up in a residential zone even though the zoning codes forbid this. And from informal assessments in cities throughout the United States, “commercial STVRs” are the majority of what is listed on Airbnb and other STVR sites.
Commercial Real Estate (CRE) is simply defined as any property owned to produce income.
I am so thankful that I have a cool landlord that provides fair rent so I can raise my kids in the community where their great grandpa lived. He used to jump from the pier and swim to the SD river and back ever day in his speedos! Without my super cool-awesome landlord, we’d be pushed out of OB too.
STVR IS on the OBPB’s agenda tomorrow but I am undecided whether or not I’m going to the meeting. Political awareness and activism USED to be the fiber of Ocean Beach. But I’m disheartened by the lack of activism these days. STVR is a big deal in San Francisco today. Its Election Day. Look up San Francisco’s Prop F.
I don’t know about you but I miss the daze when OB was the last affordable beach community along the coast.
I’m sick of hearing selfish homeowners brag, “how good OB has been to them”. ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COMMUNITY CAN DO FOR YOU BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COMMUNITY!
I know in my heart they are exploiting the land I love so much… removing the natives for their capital gain. Sound familiar?
I hope to see y’all there tomorrow night at the OB REC Center. The meeting starts at 6. STVR is scheduled for 7:05
Prop F and restrictions on STVR was defeated in San Francisco.
Prop F was defeated with 55% voting no.
Backers of Prop F spent $1 Million.
Opponents (Air BnB) spent $8 Million.
Prop F is a testimony to Airbnb’s lobbyists and their $8 million campaign to defeat it. And the fact that many voters are just starting to understand the issue. I too believed for about a decade that whole house vacation rentals are a really cool thing… and if I hadn’t been forced to REALLY learn about this issue through my husband (who is also my law partner), I would still be someone who is saying “what’s the big deal? Isn’t this just the new economy?” Do the research. Read about what’s happening all over the United States in cities and coastal communities. And talk to a friend who lives next to a STVR. And then make up your mind.
Hoping Airbnb stays. Great way to travel without breaking the bank.
At the expense of entire communities.
But self-absorbed people don’t consider that.
Cristo,
It is unnecessary for you to name call because you don’t agree with someone else. Is that how you live your life and the example that you put out there? I can only imagine how sad and small you must be as an individual when a forum would cause you have such a nasty reply. It seems like you are on here to just argue with the others. You should follow the examples of the others that are stating their opinions in professional manner.
I care about our community.
I care about the neighbors 2 doors up who were displaced so a mini hotel could be run on the block. I purchased my home, lovingly renovated it with my own 2 hands and am raising my children here. That is not small and self absorbed.
For you- it’s about saving yourself money. No mention of how your actions affect others. That is self absorbed.
Not sure what that has to do with the name calling. But at the end of the day hope you feel better.
I would agree with Christo. Your comment appears to have given all of about zero thought to the issues this article and other commenters have been discussing and therefore seems rather self absorbed. Airbnb is adept at perpetuating the notion that this is all about “regular people” having the ability to rent a room in their house. That’s not what any of the critics have a problem with. This is all about de facto hotels run by professional property managers gutting out neighborhoods by breaking the law.
Using the proper adjective to describe your actions/attitude isn’t name calling.
The non-owner occupied short-term rental is a huge problem here in Austin, Texas. Citizens plus City Council have spent hours and hours of our lives on this issue trying to get these de facto hotels out of our neighborhoods. Properties that are empty or full of people we don’t know are not something we want in our residential zones.
Please visit our website, http://www.saveaustinneighborhoods.com, our Facebook page, Neighbors for Short Term Rental Reform or follow us on Twitter @STRReform.
We wish you luck in your fight to protect your property values and maintain the integrity of the communities that you built. Community Not Commodity #homesnothotels
For years there have been vacation rentals in Mission Beach. Most of the vacation rentals have signs on the outside on who to contact to rent them out. Have these been against the city code or is MB zoned for something other than R-1
This article just came out today on Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-10/how-airbnb-makes-property-investors-rich-despite-the-neighbors
A short article in a business blog that presents the entire honest picture of the STVR industry. Really worth reading, particularly if you are a homeowner.
PB Living, I will defer your question to John Thickstun since he has more legal expertise regarding the code.
PBLiving, here’s the short answer. Short term vacation rentals are not permitted in any residential zones, including the residential zones in Mission Beach. To the extent STVR operate in Mission Beach, they do so unlawfully – and stand as an example of the city’s failure to enforce the code.
Progress is happening on the short-term vacation rental issue in San Diego, but we need your help. Please plan to attend a critical Planning Commission meeting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 3 on the 12th floor of the City Administration Building. The City’s draft ordinance – which would allow STVR mini-hotels in ALL residential zones in San Diego – will be the topic. A public comment period is scheduled, but attendance will be heavy by STVR supporters, which is why we need your support.
Council Staff Docket Briefings allow staff from City and independent departments to brief Council offices on certain items anticipated to appear on upcoming agendas of the San Diego City Council and/or the Housing Authority. Docket Briefing agendas for those entities are not yet final at the time this notice is published. Council staff may question department staff about any item listed on the agenda. This is an information-gathering meeting only. The meeting is open to the public. Anyone know how to find out WHEN this meeting takes place??
When is the Council Staff Docket meeting for Dec 3, 2015?
Thanks for posting the notice, Celeste. We’re looking into the Council Staff Docket meeting. Hopefully have an answer tomorrow.
I got an answer to my own question! The Dec 3 meeting is to the Planning Commission not the City Council (my bad). The Council meeting will be in January and the Docket Briefing will be on the Thursday before STVR issue is officially on the agenda.
Celeste Abbott
Save San Diego Neighborhoods srnt this email to me today, please pass it along… if you know anyone …
“Hello,
My name is Jehoan Espinoza and I am the Social Media Intern with Save San Diego Neighborhoods. I am currently working on a video series to further humanize the negative effects of Short Term Vacation Rentals and blast it out on social media to get the Council member’s attention. I would like actual residents who have personally been affected by STVR in any capacity to be involved. It would be a short interview at a public place or your home. If you’re interested, please email me back with your interest and availability.
Warm Regards
—
Jehoan Espinoza
International Studies: B.A. Political Science Candidate
Minor: Urban Studies & Planning
(818) 571-5785
j4espino@ucsd.edu
Vacation rentals are gaining popularity on tropical countries like Asia. Many tourist prefer vacation rentals because its cheaper than hotels and you can have more privacy and can enjoy the feeling of being at home.