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Vacation rental policy: Monte Rio is not Glen Ellen

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Editor:

The November Sonoma County Planning Commission meeting on the new proposed vacation rental ordinance was interesting to witness. I felt it was clear, given the stance of what appeared to be the entire Russian River, versus the stance of the residents of Glen Ellen/Kenwood/Boyes, that the county needs two ordinances . . . or the communities need to incorporate so they don’t have to be governed by the same ordinance.

For Monte Rio, with a “Welcome to Vacationland” sign and a history of vacation rentals, to be mandated to follow the same rules as the north Sonoma Valley, which is and has been rural residential/agrarian for just as long, is absurd. Glen Ellen shouldn’t have to adopt a “Welcome to Vacationland” stance; Monte Rio should be able to accommodate the crowds. They are two economic cultures, both needing guidance and regulation.

Clearly, each community will have to lobby for whatever zone is appropriate. We need to make sure Glen Ellen/Kenwood/Boyes are in the X zone so that we don’t become Monte Rio. If the vacation rental trolls who are scamming properties in Glen Ellen/Kenwood/Boyes want Monte Rio-style vacation rental freedoms, they should look there, not here.

Until those zones are established, the county should stop granting vacation rental permits in the Valley. To continue when one department has no clue what the other is doing is just plain negligent.

And if Transcendence Theater needs housing, they should ask patrons, or be OK with renting a room in Santa Rosa or Petaluma. I love the theater; it does a lot of good, but attempting to influence county zoning rules and remold a community for a handful of shows every summer is extreme.

Tracy Salcedo-Chourre

Scott and Sarah Walker

Bill and Marsha Selhorn

Glen Ellen




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