Board of Supervisors approves temporary moratorium on new vacation rental permits

The Board of Supervisors voted today to establish a 45-day temporary moratorium on new vacation rental permits. The urgency ordinance addresses a spike in vacation rental applications while Permit Sonoma works to bring a comprehensive vacation rental ordinance to the Board of Supervisors for consideration on August 2. 

The moratorium applies to new vacation rental permits submitted after March 17, except for pre-existing applications in District 2 and District 3, where there was less impact from vacation rental permit applications. The moratorium does not apply to existing vacation rentals, hosted rentals or rentals in the Coastal Zone. 

While vacation rentals play an important role in Sonoma County’s tourism economy, they also have the potential to cause detrimental impacts and pose a risk to the public safety, health and welfare of the county and its residents. After holding public meetings on December 15, 2020, and July 20, 2021, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to undertake a comprehensive Vacation Rental Program update to address these negative impacts. On March 17, 2022, the Sonoma County Planning Commission held a public hearing on these proposed revisions but voted to continue the public hearing pending additional staff work. 

However, after the March 17 Planning Commission meeting was announced, there was an approximately 500 percent increase in vacation rental permit applications received by Permit Sonoma. Issuing numerous vacation rental permits in areas that may be subject to additional regulations would undermine current planning efforts to protect the public from the negative impacts of vacation rentals that are improperly sited, over-concentrated or under-regulated. 

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Contact Information
Bradley Dunn
Policy Manager Permit Sonoma County of Sonoma
(707) 565-1900
PermitSonoma-Communications@sonoma-county.org