PAUL WYATT, Dana Point
The Dana Point City Council insists on doubling the number of short-term rentals (STR) in the Coastal Zone.
On Nov. 16, the City of Dana Point and the California Coastal Commission reached agreement on an STR program for the Dana Point Coastal Zone. This program all but ensures that homeowner associations (HOA) in the Coastal Zone will not be able to ban STRs.
The Commission delivered three provisions. First, in recognition of Dana Point’s serious housing shortage, it recommended a maximum of 66 un-hosted STRs in the Coastal Zone.
Second, HOAs will only be able to prohibit STRs if a prohibition was in place prior to the 1976 Coastal Act, or if the HOA has a Coastal Development Permit approved by the Commission prohibiting STRs.
And thirdly, the City of Dana Point is legally responsible for this STR program. The city, represented by former Mayor Joe Muller, accepted provisions two and three, but said only the City Council could decrease the cap from 115 to 66.
At its Jan. 17 meeting, the council failed to accept the Coastal Commission’s recommendation to decrease the cap on STRs to 66.
Many HOA CC&Rs prohibit STRs based on the city’s historic prohibition of STRs in residential zones. In May of 2022, the city removed the prohibition on STRs in residential zones, not by amending the zoning codes, but by reinterpreting the meaning of the zoning codes.
This removal of city prohibitions means that STRs are now allowed in all residential zones. It also opened the door for the Coastal Commission to approve or deny HOA prohibitions.
By giving the Commission authority to approve or deny STRs in HOAs, and by insisting that 55 additional un-hosted STRs be permitted in the Coastal Zone, the city has all but ensured that new STRs will be coming to your neighborhood—including your HOA.
