Rohnert Park City Council Votes on Short Term Rentals

August 1, 2017

Congratulations to

Nava grew up in Rohnert Park, attending our local schools and graduating from Technology High. She received a certificate of recognition from the city council due her outstanding award of the Cooke Foundation Scholarship. Speaking with her at out meeting it is easy to tell Vanessa is a bright, motivated humble person who will go quite far in her endeavors. Her desire is to work in the medical field. The scholarship is worth up to $40,000 a year and goes toward her bachelor’s degree at a four-year college or university of her choice.

Rohnert Park City Council recently voted on short term rental regulations. The council approved rentals of single rooms only, not whole house or accessory dwelling units. Part of the reason has to do with keeping much-needed housing stock available. As more whole homes are used as vacation rentals this can put a strain on available housing stock and increased housing costs. Rohnert Park has seen a 100% increase in the number of homes listed on Airbnb in less than 18 months. According to the American Community Survey short term rentals make up approximately 44% of the total unoccupied units in the county.

According to the staff report, part of the conditions of the Rohnert Park Administrative Use Permit process delineates the following:

1. Only single room rentals would be permitted.

2. The short-term rental could be rented for 14 or less, consecutive days.

3. A business license is required.

4. TOT (transit occupancy tax) regulations would apply.

Per the staff report “the limitation on consecutive days is also intended to clearly distinguish between a short-term rental and long-term rentals (30 days or longer) which are regulated quite differently”.

The Planning Commission recently met regarding the following projects:

1. 100-Room Fairfield Inn & Suites located at 405 Martin Ave.

2. 135-unit apartment complex Rohnert Park Park Vista located at Labath Ave and Dowell Ave.

Unfortunately, the final report was not available at this time.