San Diego has been trying to regulate short-term rentals for years, and a new proposal will be submitted to the Planning Commission next month.
Airbnb opposes the measure and said his hosts had no say in the deal.
Airbnb and hosts oppose San Diego short-term rental deal
Hear this story from Jacob Aere.
The new proposal was negotiated in July by Board Member Jennifer Campbell, Expedia and the UNITE HERE labor union. Their plan was to reduce the number of full rental units, impose fines on rule breakers and require a minimum two-night stay.
John Choi, senior public policy manager at Airbnb, said the company was not part of the discussion and that the suggested changes would eliminate critical revenue streams for Airbnb hosts during a particularly difficult year.
“Our hosts have overwhelmingly expressed serious concern that the proposed 0.7% cap on the number of city-wide vacation rental licenses will eliminate a critical source of revenue at a time when they need it more than ever, ”Choi said.
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He also said they need to see a change in the total number of homes approved for vacation rental licenses in order to provide a fair solution.
“We asked council member Campbell to consider a 1.2% cap on the housing stock, which would still represent a 50% reduction in the number of short-term rentals in the city,” Choi said.
San Diego is still in talks with Airbnb to try to find common ground, Venus Molina, Campbell’s chief of staff, said
“I don’t know if we’ll do 1.2%, but we’ll see. We’ll see what we can find, “she said.” At the moment we think 0.75 is something doable, but we’ll see what this conversation looks like. We are still having these discussions.
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Guillermo Gonzales, an Airbnb host in San Diego, said current policies regarding Airbnb provide affordable access to the California coast.
“Limiting the number of Airbnbs in San Diego will create a supply and demand problem that will also cause the price of Airbnbs to skyrocket. It’s going to be a lot harder for the regular and standard family from another state to come to San Diego, ”Gonzales said.
The proposal will affect the communities of San Diego Second District. The draft ordinance is expected to be released next week, and the San Diego City Planning Commission is expected to discuss the proposal on October 8.
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