San Diego School Board Urges Vacation Rental Regulations

School board unanimously passes STR resolution; Impacts on school enrollment, housing for teachers, staff cited

From Neighborhoods for Residents:

Citing impacts of short-term vacation rentals on housing that threaten the ability of communities to support their local schools, the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education last night, Feb. 27, unanimously passed a resolution urging the City of San Diego to approve “appropriate regulation” of vacation rentals.

The resolution passed 5-0 at the board’s February meeting and said resolving the vacation rental issue “is critical for the future of the communities in our city.”

The action comes after three years of failed City Council efforts to pass vacation rental regulations, a period marked by explosive growth of short-term rentals (STRs). More than 10,000 units of residential housing have been converted to vacation rentals for tourists in San Diego. Each conversion not only takes a potential residence away from a long-term renter or family seeking to buy a home, but also leads to declining school enrollment and revenues as tourists replace residents.

In the Mission Bay Cluster of Schools (Pacific Beach, Crown Point and Mission Beach) alone, 1,677 homes have been converted to STRs. That was a factor that forced the closing of Bay View Terrace Elementary in Pacific Beach in 2013 and has made housing increasingly difficult to find for teachers and school staff.

The action by SDUSD comes on the heels of a proposal by City Councilmembers Chris Cate and Barbara Bry to subsidize housing for police officers because the historically low inventory of available housing has led to dramatic price increases for housing. That, say the council members, is a factor contributing to a shortage of police officers that is significant enough to propose a housing subsidy. Economists have cited widespread conversions of homes to STRs as a significant factor in San Diego’s affordable housing crisis.

“A shortage of housing clearly affects our schools,” said SDUSD board member John Lee Evans. He was responding to a recommendation by fellow board members Mike McQuary and Richard Berrera to “adopt a resolution regarding the impact of short term vacation rentals on affordable, residential housing in our neighborhood schools.”

The text of the resolution approved by the board reads:

“Quality neighborhood schools play an essential role in the success of every community.

San Diego Unified has expressed its commitment to operate quality schools in every neighborhood across our city.

The high price of housing and low levels of affordable housing stock in San Diego are a threat to the future of many neighborhoods.

Many neighborhoods are further threatened by the increasing number of short-term rental properties operating in San Diego.

Short-term rental properties threaten the stability and sense of community necessary for neighborhoods to be able to support their local public schools.

The appropriate regulation of the short-term rental agency is critical for the future of the communities in our city.”

With its vote, San Diego Unified School District joins a growing number of community town councils, citizens groups and others urging sensible vacation rental regulations that protect communities, housing stock and the right of STR neighbors to a peaceful home environment.

Details and background about a possible compromise solution to regulate vacation rentals appear in an editorial published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on February 15.