The Northern California town of Tiburon has joined several cities in the state which ban Airbnb rentals. The ban extends to all short-term rentals, including those arranged through VRBO.
The Tiburon Town Council voted 3-2 on Wednesday to amend the zoning ordinance to ban rentals fewer than 31 days. The city will determine penalties for infractions before the amendment becomes effective on Oct. 2.
For years, the council has received complaints from residents about noise and other disturbances, as well as parking shortages allegedly caused by short-term renters. The council has been reviewing these and other issues surrounding short-term rentals since March.
Supporters of short-term rentals in the town point to their growing popularity, claim that they bring a lot of money into the community and contend that only a few of the renters have caused problems.
The city of Belvedere, adjacent to Tiburon, has never permitted vacation rentals. Sausalito, directly across Richardson Bay, also bans Airbnb rentals and its City Council recently approved $50,000 in funding for an enforcement officer to field complaints and monitor listings to find rogue rentals. Thirty-day cease-and-desist notices will be issued to violators and a 12 percent transient occupancy tax will be collected retroactively on rentals. Violators will face fines ranging from $100 to $500.
Another nearby city, Mill Valley, introduced short-term rental regulations in August 2015 that include a $50 registration fee, $16 business license and 10 percent transient occupancy tax.
Several Southern California cities—including Hermosa Beach, Laguna Beach, Manhattan Beach and Santa Monica—ban Airbnb rentals.
Websites such as Airbnb and VRBO have given rise to a sharing economy in which people rent their places while away or provide an extra room to a stranger. Critics complain that some listings on these websites fall foul of local housing laws and regulations. They also contend that property owners are exploiting the sudden popularity of the sharing economy to turn their properties into mini-hotels that are rented out only on a short-term basis, with rentals as brief as two days.
