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The Vacation Rental Blues

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Sonoma Valley Sun

After 14 months of public participation and a set of recommendations by its own Planning Commission, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors elected to disregard all that and go its own way on regulating vacation rentals. The 4-1 vote, Susan Gorin dissenting, now sets the stage for yet another cycle of hand-wringing and confusion surrounding this very contentious issue. Will a “three strikes you’re out” complaint policy solve the problem? Not likely.

The so-called “sharing economy” looks a lot like ordinary commercial business to us, and we’ve gone on record before to say that such commercial activity has no place within residential neighborhoods. The whole intent of zoning is to restrict and limit uses so that issues of incompatibility are forestalled. By allowing the continued issuance of permits for vacation rentals in residential R1 zones, such incompatibility is inevitable, as is the conflict it engenders. Once permitted, revocation of such permits is no simple matter, even under the so-called “three-strikes complaint” approach which the supervisors have now directed county staff to develop. We must ask: what will constitute a valid complaint verified by whom? A whole new can of worms has, we’re afraid, been opened.

It seems to us that if bias has any place in this matter, it should be in favor of preserving residential integrity, not commercial uses in R1 zones. We live a rural valley, one that enjoys natural peace and quiet, which if broken is broken by the whinny of a horse or a barking dog. The disruption of a “party house” rented for the weekend is exactly that, an unwelcome disruption that changes the character of country life. And even if noise is not an issue, neighborhood integrity is. We prize the neighborly, small-town feeling of our valley. Only our first district supervisor appears to share those values.

Commercial uses should be restricted to commercial zones or zones appropriate to such use. Scarce law enforcement resources are better spent than chasing down noise and parking complaints by harried residents. If vacation rentals are ok in R1 zones, what about commercial auto repair, hair-cutting salons and garage grocery stores?

The supervisors have, unwittingly perhaps, undermined the entire concept of zoning, and we suggest they revisit this issue immediately and do the right thing, namely prohibit accepting applications for new vacation rentals in R1 zones.



2 thoughts on “The Vacation Rental Blues

  1. Residential Integrity? What a Joke, since we bought our new home in 2006 we have had to deal with the over zealous drivers who use Verano for everything from Kovac’s Test Track at high Speeds to, local Residents seeing how fast they can get from 5th Street to Highway 12.
    Let’s not forget the High School Drivers, Teenagers with no respect for posted speed limits, adults testing their tires in the Rain or the Fairmont Divers blowing throw stop signs to pickup their clients who literally have been allowed to pull over and use our bushes for feces and Barf.
    Then there are the Drunks, thieves and residents who think because they live close to another’s home it doesn’t matter if you can hear their party’s and fireworks at 2:00am.
    Vacation Rentals are an additional source of income for those who grew up here and want to remain here. I think the county would welcome the additional taxes and the neighbors should get a grip on reality, since we live in a Vacation Community.

  2. Michael points out the same observations I have made over the last 13 years living here. Locals drive at breakneck speeds with no concern for children playing, people walking or small animals wild or domestic. Leaf blowers and power tools go day and night for hours at a time. How is this peaceful residential living? Because it is “us” and not “them” it is OK. I have come to the conclusion that many of us are hypocrites. As to our neighborhoods being totally residential, they are not. Many of us run other small businesses out of our homes and the county allows it by law. The Sun may make light of the so called sharing economy, but sadly it is here to stay. Big business is out for itself and those of us who do not want to end up on the street or in the poor house will make money by running small owner operated businesses. I had a problem with the way this whole vacation rental issue has been presented to date and that is well known by anyone who reads what I write. My husband and I have the one vacation rental and two other small businesses we run out of our home. I have made a living this way for over 20 years. I wish the Sun would realize there are a lot of us out here. It was an “us” vs. “them” item in the proposed vacation rental ordinance that got me involved in the first place. The idea that it should be illegal for vacation renters to be outdoors after 10:00 PM, while residents could be struck me as unequal and unfair. It struck me that other small home based businesses would be attacked in the same unfair way in the future, if I did not make a stand now. As to permits stopping in RI, that is going to happen for District 1. The exclusion zone will be put in place and no more permits will be issued after a certain date.

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