Board votes to cap shortterm rentals
On Tuesday, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance regulating short-term rentals by imposing a cap, establishing a good neighbor guide and opening up a path to permits.
As of April, short-term rentals in unincorporated Humboldt County will be subject to a cap and must seek a permit from the county. The Humboldt Bay region — which stretches from Trinidad to Carlotta, with everything in between — caps the number of rentals such as Airbnbs and Vrbos to 2% of the total housing stock. The inland portions of the county are capped at 5%.
“It has been well documented that STRs have a negative effect on affordability of housing, which is one of the primary drivers behind this ordinance was to try and get us into a position where we're not continuing to lose affordable housing,” 5th District Supervisor Steve Madrone said.
Shelter Cove was the only part of Humboldt County where shortterm rentals were formally allowed to operate, and the area is not subject to the 5% cap.
The final version of the ordinance also included the Big Lagoon subdivision near Trinidad under its jurisdiction, an amendment to the previous form brought before the board. Willow Creek was discussed as a possible inclusion as well, but the board opted not to pursue it for the moment.
On a county-wide cap, 3rd District Supervisor Mike Wilson and 2nd District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell were at odds: Wilson expressed concern that lacking a cap in some areas sent the wrong message for prospective operators and Bushnell said areas undergoing widespread financial hardship, like her district, do not lack housing.
“What the planning commission heard was that sometimes those areas outside are barely hanging on by a thread right now and this is allowing for people to
even keep the homes that they're in or to make their mortgage payments,” Bushnell said.
Wilson said he felt the board was essentially telling the areas without a cap that “we don't care” if they continue to have available affordable housing.
The board decided to accept the Humboldt County Planning Commission's recommendation to keep the permits non-transferable, although Madrone noted that residents could write a family trust if they want their next of kin to continue operating their short-term rental.
“I absolutely see that STRs are an important part of our tourism economy, and there's a place for that,” Madrone said.
“But I find it really kind of disappointing and perplexing that a lot of the comments seem to come from a position that there's entitlements in these STRS, that they've made these investments, and they're entitled these things and don't take any of that away from us. And yet, they were all illegal. Every one of them except for in Shelter Cove, they were all illegal.”