The Sonoma County Planning Commission will hold a final meeting on Nov. 19 before making its final recommendations to the Board of Supervisors regarding changes to the countys vacation rental ordinance.
The public hearing will start at 5:30 p.m. in the chambers of the Board of Supervisors, 575 Administration Dr., Room 102A, in Santa Rosa.
The commission met four times in September, going over numerous possible changes and additions to the vacation rental ordinance which first went into effect in the beginning of 2011. Commissioners directed planning staff to draft a revised ordinance based on their deliberations. It is that draft that will be reviewed and voted on, and then passed along to the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting, possibly in December.
A staff report and other materials for the Nov. 19 hearing will be available online about ten days before the meeting date. Go to this site.
The topic of vacation rentals has been a hot-button issue the last few years, as the number of legal and illegal rentals has exploded in Sonoma County, especially Sonoma Valley. Along with the proliferation of rentals have come increased concerns about noise, parties, the effects of rentals on the character of residential neighborhoods, and strains on the rental housing market.
The tourism industry has been booming in Sonoma County, with visitors spending an estimated $1.6 billion annually. The countys bed tax (known as the Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT) in fiscal year 2014-15 reached $12.63 million, over $5 million of which came from vacation rentals.
The public hearing will start at 5:30 p.m. in the chambers of the Board of Supervisors, 575 Administration Dr., Room 102A, in Santa Rosa.
The commission met four times in September, going over numerous possible changes and additions to the vacation rental ordinance which first went into effect in the beginning of 2011. Commissioners directed planning staff to draft a revised ordinance based on their deliberations. It is that draft that will be reviewed and voted on, and then passed along to the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting, possibly in December.
A staff report and other materials for the Nov. 19 hearing will be available online about ten days before the meeting date. Go to this site.
The topic of vacation rentals has been a hot-button issue the last few years, as the number of legal and illegal rentals has exploded in Sonoma County, especially Sonoma Valley. Along with the proliferation of rentals have come increased concerns about noise, parties, the effects of rentals on the character of residential neighborhoods, and strains on the rental housing market.
The tourism industry has been booming in Sonoma County, with visitors spending an estimated $1.6 billion annually. The countys bed tax (known as the Transient Occupancy Tax, or TOT) in fiscal year 2014-15 reached $12.63 million, over $5 million of which came from vacation rentals.