Housing held the focus this week on Santa Barbara City Council, with a ban on short term vacation rentals and the rent stabilization ordinance both making progress.
Continued support on banning STRs
Short term rentals (STRs) like Airbnbs dominate neighborhoods like the Mesa by the hundreds, isolating locals who are pushing for stronger regulation of disruptive vacationers in their neighborhoods. For the city, money is lost through unregulated vacation rentals without the collection of transient occupancy taxes. Against the broader backdrop of Santa Barbara’s housing crisis, many argue that any available units should be offered to local residents instead of tourists.
“I don’t think these situations are borrowing from neighborhoods, they’re stealing from neighborhoods,” said Councilmember Mike Jordan. His colleagues on the council unanimously approve of regulating STRs.
Santa Barbara’s housing element also requires the city to create a game plan for regulating vacation rentals in order to prioritize long term housing stock. The city’s response? Two separate ordinances—one for inland neighborhoods and one for coastal—that create a $3,334 permit that STR operators must apply for. Additionally, the ordinance bans STRs altogether from most residential neighborhoods and high-fire zones.
In the past, STRs have been loosely regulated as hotels, with a few property owners registering their home as a business and paying the respective taxes. But this spotty regulation has allowed STRs to overpopulate. In addition to the permit process, the ordinance brings a new set of rules that were solidified Tuesday night.
In the inland zone, STRs will be permitted in zones that double as residential and commercially purposed, but will be banned from purely residential areas. They are also banned completely from high-fire zones, which the new maps outlined. In the coastal zone, STRs are banned in all single and two-family residential zones as well as high fire.
Residents of high-fire risk neighborhoods have been especially vocal on STR regulation, emphasizing that visitors could start fires and be unfamiliar with evacuation routes.
“During a fire, residents, visitors, emergency vehicles, and firefighters all share that same constrained road system,” said Joe Zender, a public commenter. “Adding people unfamiliar with the routes and risks only makes it worse”
STRs are not allowed in accessory dwelling units, garages, RVs or storage areas. Units restricted to affordable housing and employee housing are strictly prohibited as well.
The City Council also pushed for specific regulations that put tenants first. For one, STRs cannot host a new visitor if they have been occupied by a long-term tenant within the last 24 months. Large real estate corporations are also banned from operating STRs.
“We wanted to try to make these managed by real people, not faceless entities,” said Laura Bridley, project planner for the ordinance.
City council members also supported a two-night minimum stay requirement for STR guests, and a rule that limits each operator to one STR license.
The inland ordinance would begin operating Jan. 11, 2027. Operators will have a 6-month period to obtain their license. As for the coastal ordinance, it needs to be approved by the California Coastal Commission first, with review expected to be complete in early 2027 as well.
In Other Housing News…
After one last twist, Santa Barbara’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance was officially adopted Tuesday night, set to go into effect on Jan. 1.
The ordinance would cap rent increases at 3%, or 60% of consumer price index. Tenants who struggle to meet Santa Barbara’s high costs of rent advocate for the ordinance, while landlords who see their properties as small businesses are usually against it.
Tuesday night, councilmember Sneddon suggested one last significant alteration, threatening to push the ordinance further back down the agenda once again: capping rent increases at 3% only for the first year. While Sneddon has been for the ordinance in the past, securing a mayoral endorsement from the Santa Barbara Tenant’s Union, the change would have favored property owners.
Sneddon ended up retracting the motion, clearing the way of any more road blocks to the finish line for the ordinance.
Statewide Action
Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed several new bills to promote housing throughout the state.
AB 2074 aims to revitalize downtowns in seven major California cities. High-rise housing projects will see streamlined approval processes if they meet certain standards, like proximity to public transit.
Though Santa Barbara isn’t included in the bill’s list, the bill reflects some of the ideas in the State Street Master Plan, like pairing downtown revitalization with increased housing density.
