Mendocino County Municipal Code Ch. 20.748 Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals

The purpose of this Chapter is to assist in the preservation of the Town's designation as a special community and the restoration of its residential character while allowing for certain limited commercial visitor oriented uses outside the Commercial District. In order to maintain a balance between the long-term housing needs of the community and visitor oriented uses consistent with the requirements of the Coastal Act, it is necessary to regulate the location, conduct, operation and number of single unit rentals and vacation home rentals as defined by this [section].

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995.)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to the establishment of Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals in all Zoning Districts within the Town of Mendocino. New Vacation Home Rentals shall be restricted to the MU and MC Zoning Districts. Existing licensed Vacation Home Rentals in excess of the number of allowed establishments, and Vacation Home Rentals located in residential zoning districts, shall be phased out as business licenses are abandoned or expire.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995.)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals are subject to the licensing requirements of Chapter 6.04 (Business License Tax) of the Mendocino County Code. In some cases the creation or use of a Single Unit Rental or Vacation Home Rental is a form of development as defined in Section 30106 of the Coastal Act and Section 20.608.023(E) of the Mendocino Town Zoning Code and requires a coastal development permit pursuant to Section 30600 of the Coastal Act.

Prior to the issuance of any new license for a Single Unit Rental or Vacation Home Rental, the Applicant must first apply to the Department of Planning and Building Services for certification that the Single Unit Rental or Vacation Home Rental is authorized by any required coastal development permit and is in conformity with all applicable planning and building standards, including, but not limited to, the location and number of such licenses allowed pursuant to this Chapter and the Mendocino Town Policies GM-3(b)(1) and (2), GM-3(c), and GM 14.1. Certification by the Department of Planning and Building Services shall be deemed to satisfy the minor use permitting requirements of this Chapter for licensed Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals in the Town.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995.)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017 amended § 20.748.015 to read as set out herein. Previously § 20.748.015 was titled "Permit."

Single Unit Rentals and vacation home rentals shall meet all of the following requirements:

(A) Number of Units.

(1) To preserve Town character and maintain the Town as a residential community with limited commercial services, the County shall maintain no more than ten (10) Vacation Home Rentals and twenty (20) Single Unit Rentals subsequent to the effective date of this Section. The County shall not require any reduction in the number of licensed Vacation Home Rentals or Single Unit Rentals in existence on the date of certification by the Coastal Commission of this Section.

(2) No application for a new Single Unit Rental or new Vacation Home Rental shall be granted unless there are fewer than twenty (20) licensed Single Unit Rentals, or ten (10) licensed Vacation Home Rentals, respectively.

(B) Taxes. Licensed Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals shall be subject to Chapter 520 (Uniform Transient Occupancy Tax).

(C) Primary Use.

(1) Licenses and any required coastal development permit for a new Single Unit Rental may be granted only in conjunction with an existing residential dwelling unit or commercial use on the same site.

(2) Licenses and any required coastal development permit for a new Vacation Home Rental may be granted only when there is no other use on the property except an existing single family dwelling unit, and where the Vacation Home Rental is not located in any residential Zoning District.

(D) Term. A license for a Single Unit Rental shall run with the ownership of the land, subject to all other applicable license requirements, but is not otherwise transferable.

(E) Transferal. Vacation Home Rental licenses shall not be transferable to another location, person, or entity, except that the property owner may transfer the license to a spouse/domestic partner, child, parent, or, for estate planning purposes, to a trust in which the property owner serves as a trustee, which shall not be deemed a change in ownership for purposes of Section 6.04.070(g) of the County Code.

(F) Priority. Applications for Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals shall be considered and acted upon in chronological order from the date the application is received, except that licenses for a Vacation Home Rental shall be granted only after all pending applications for Single Unit Rental have been considered.

(G) A second residential dwelling unit may not be converted to a Single Unit Rental.

(H) Noise Limitations. Vacation Home Rental and/or Single Unit Rental uses shall not create noise impacts to surrounding properties and uses that exceed noise standards set out in the County's General Plan Development Element, Table 3-J, Exterior Noise Level Standards (Levels not to be Exceeded More than 30 Minutes in an Hour) and Table 3-L, Maximum Acceptable Interior Noise Levels Created by Exterior Noise Sources.

(I) The Department of Planning and Building Services shall maintain a status log of all licensed Single Unit Rentals and Vacation Home Rentals in the Town. If there are more applicants for Single Unit Rental and Vacation Home Rental licenses than the number allowed pursuant to the Town LCP, the Department of Planning and Building Services shall also maintain a waiting list from which future vacancies shall be filled. The Department of Planning and Building Services shall receive notification if a licensee fails to remit payment of Transient Occupancy Tax or fails to renew said license. At such point as the license expires without renewal, or is revoked for failure to pay the required tax, or in the case of a Vacation Home Rental, a change in the ownership of the licensed property to other than a trust in which the licensee is a trustee occurs, application for that license shall become available to the waiting list in the order received.

(Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995.)

(Ord. No. 4395, § 2, 11-17-2017)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 4395, § 2, adopted November 17, 2017, repealed § 20.748.025 in its entirety. Former § 20.748.025 pertained to "Exemption," and was derived from Ord. No. 3915 (part), adopted 1995.