Vacation home owners fight Pacific Grove short-term rental restrictions in court

Pacific Grove vacation rental property owners took their fight against the city’s short-term rental restrictions to court on Tuesday. But after the court ruling, the current lottery restrictions still largely stand.

Rental property owners say the city is unfairly taking away their right to obtain licenses and rent out their properties. They believe there should be some criteria considered in approving licenses, such as abuse of the rental or problems the city has with license holders.

One property owner raising her voice is Sue Hobbs who owns a waterfront home she rents out to visitors. She was one of 50 applicants that lost her short-term rental license in the city’s lottery. The random drawing determined who would not be granted a license after the city established a 250 license cap.

This comes after the local government changed the city’s short-term rental program within the last year to limit the number of homes that can be used for that purpose.

“They’ve refined the regulations to balance the interests of the citizenry, their interests in preserving the residential character of the neighborhood, looking at economic viability and protection of city resources,” said Pacific Grove’s Assistant City Attorney Heidi Quinn.

The property owners and their representation were not able to change the city’s restrictions.

Voters also passed “Measure M” last year, which they were also unsuccessful at fighting in court. It prohibits short term rentals in residential areas outside of the coastal zone.

The Judge did rule, however, that the city needs to work with the Coastal Commission and obtain development permits before it can prohibit rentals inside the coastal zone.

“That preserves the rights of people to rent their homes as short term rentals in the coastal zone and it also allows visitors to come take advantage of the California Coast,” said Christina Sandefur with the Goldwater Institute who represents two property owners involved in the case.

Property owners are still able to rent out their homes to visitors for more than a month without a permit or obtain a home-sharing license.

Sandefur plans to appeal the rulings about measure m and the lottery.