MARIN COUNTY (BCN) — Marin County on Tuesday temporarily suspended its approval of new short-term vacation rental permits in West Marin in an effort to protect the area’s already limited housing supply.
The moratorium, which the Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Tuesday as an emergency ordinance, will take effect immediately and last for at least 45 days.
The council will have the option to extend its term for up to two years while county officials draft comprehensive regulations for vacation rentals, which are booked through platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
County Community Development Agency officials said about 550 of West Marin’s roughly 50,250 residential properties are registered as short-term vacation rentals, representing about 10% of the area’s housing stock.
CDA deputy director Sarah Jones told the council that county officials have heard from those who live and work in West Marin, particularly law enforcement officers and school employees, that they fear they will not be able to hire and retain employees due to a lack of housing in unincorporated communities like Point Reyes Station, Bolinas and Inverness.
“We are concerned that the situation in West Marin communities will continue to deteriorate as we move forward in the process of developing our regulations across the county,” Jones said.
“We want to maintain the status quo of visitor opportunities which are really important and valued there, but are trying to defray the continued conversion of the housing stock to this commercial use while we develop our regulations,” he said. she declared.
Although the moratorium could be extended for up to two years, county officials stressed that it was not a total ban on short-term vacation rentals and that existing rentals could continue to operate as normal.
Jones said the county can’t commit to developing regulations in less than two years, but that’s the county’s goal.
“We’re hoping it’ll take less than two years, but we also want to be really sure there’s enough time for audience engagement and thoughtful conversation,” she said.
Marin County’s moratorium on new permits comes two weeks after the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a similar moratorium while local planning officials craft their own regulations for vacation rentals.
Sonoma County officials have held public meetings about potential vacation rental regulations for about two years and plan to present a regulatory order to council in early August.
Board Chair Katie Rice said the county will need to tailor its vacation rental regulations specifically to West Marin, and argued that different communities may require different solutions to protect both the industry vacation rentals and the local housing stock.
“The hollowing out of our communities is not just a factor of short-term rentals and the existence of short-term rentals, there are many other factors at play,” Rice said. “But it’s definitely one of the variables that we potentially have some control over.”
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