Short-term rentals in Santa Cruz County

Habitable and non-habitable accessory structures, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), legally restricted affordable housing units, balconies, porches, and sheds shall not be used for short-term rental.

Recreational vehicles shall only be used for short-term commercial lodging on parcels appropriately zoned and permitted for such uses and are not allowable for short-term rental use.

(7) Hosted Rentals. (a) The purpose of this section is to establish regulations specifically applicable to bedrooms in a dwelling unit that are rented as hosted rentals for periods of no more than 30 days at a time. These regulations are in addition to all other provisions of this title. (b) New or renewal hosted rental permits shall require a Minor Use Permit as defined in SCCC, Chapter 18.10. (i) Applications for new hosted rental permits for properties containing a permitted JADU shall require an Administrative Use Permit as defined in SCCC Chapter 18.10. (c) Hosted rentals are allowed in any legal dwelling unit with no more than three bedrooms in any zone district where a residential use is allowed unless otherwise specified in the Use Charts contained in this chapter. (i) Properties containing a permitted JADU may be used as a hosted rental provided that the property owner or immediate family member resides on the property.

Short-term rentals are prohibited within the Mobile Home Park (MH) Combining District, multifamily dwellings of four units or more, units approved pursuant to SCCC § 13.10.327, and parcels that have been subject to an urban lot split pursuant to SCCC § 13.10.328.

Where there is more than one dwelling on a property as part of a legal dwelling group, not more than one dwelling part of the dwelling group can be permitted as a non-hosted rental and the owner/operator/contact person/agent may live in a dwelling that is not used as a non-hosted rental.

(5) "Hosted rental" means a legal dwelling unit with two or more bedrooms, where a long-term resident acting as host occupies one or more bedrooms in a dwelling unit, while no more than three legal bedrooms are rented for the purpose of overnight lodging for a period of no more than 30 days. | For the purposes of these regulations the following are not considered to be hosted rentals: (1) ongoing month-to-month tenancy granted to the same tenant for the same space, (2) permitted non-hosted rentals in which the entire home is rented while no host is present, and (3) short-term rentals within a home, which meet the requirements of bed and breakfast inns per SCCC § 13.10.691 and are permitted as such. | | --- |