Fair Regulation for Short-Term Rentals

We are on 20 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley. Our short-term rental has been managed by Paradise Retreats for the past three years. Paradise has paid transient occupancy tax (TOT) on all rentals within its system of 90-plus homes, including ours.

The principal owner of Paradise Retreats has sent an email to all our neighbors, making it clear that “their rights” trump those of Paradise or the owners of the homes it manages. He gave his personal phone number and said to call anytime, and he would immediately address any situation. In three years of rentals, to my knowledge, no neighbor has complained about noise or nuisance.

In our opinion short-term rentals provide a large increase in visitor rental inventory that complement hotels by providing for affordable family gatherings. We provide considerable employment for the local independent service persons who support our successful rental program.

We rent on a short-term basis because we are retired second-home Canadian owners who are allowed by the U.S. government to reside four months per year in the U.S.A. Long-term rentals are not an option for us because we would lose year-round access to our property. Very few potential customers exist for the 30-day category, and this is a non-starter for us.

Controlling and regulating short-term rentals is the only way Santa Barbara County should go! This will provide a much needed revenue surge which can be used to benefit the communities in many ways and will provide much needed long-term service employment.

Prohibition will not provide the type of rental housing needed in our community as most short-term rentals are luxury housing and will be too expensive for the target rental market.