City releases short-term rental study; staff proposes definitions, data improvements and limits on non‑hosted rentals

The City Council reviewed a consultant study and staff recommendations on short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) and so-called underused housing stock driven by housing-element obligations.

Anne Wells, the city’s advanced planning manager, introduced the study by BAE Urban Economics and said staff asked the consultant to evaluate how STVRs affect the City of Goleta’s housing supply and to propose regulatory options. Erin Barker of BAE summarized the analysis: at the time of the study the city had between 51 and 69 STVR listings identified through permit records and third-party listing scrapes; most permitted listings were smaller units (one-bedroom units were the largest share) and many listings showed limited annual availability rather than year‑round commercialization.

BAE’s key finding was that Goleta’s permitted STVRs and census-classified second homes are a small share of the city’s housing stock: permitting data represented about 0.4 percent of the city’s roughly 12,584 housing units at the time of analysis. The report concluded that while current impacts on long‑term housing supply were limited, future growth in non-hosted (owner-absent) STVRs could reduce available long‑term housing, and staff recommended options to prevent that outcome.

Staff recommendations included updating the municipal code definitions to distinguish hosted versus non-hosted STVRs, improved licensing data collection (including an STVR property search tool), requiring enhanced enforcement penalties for noncompliance, and considering measures that would limit non-hosted STVR nights per year. Staff also asked councils whether they wanted staff to pursue a “more robust regulatory approach” and requested direction on those policy options.

BAE and staff discussed an additional concern: mid-term rentals (31–90 days). Staff said those rentals can be marketed on the same platforms as short-term listings and currently fall outside STVR licensing; staff recommended studying a registry or business-license requirement for 31-to-90-day rentals to improve oversight.

A member of the public who manages a Goleta permitted STVR argued that short-term rentals contribute to local jobs and transient-occupancy-tax revenue and that restricting STVRs would not meaningfully alleviate the housing shortage. "Short term rentals aren't the villain here," Michael Vecchio said during public comment, asking council to target rules that will have measurable impacts.

Council members generally supported moving forward with targeted administrative and definitional changes and asked staff to return with more detail on implementation costs, staffing implications and the specific threshold for any night caps or other limits. Staff said many proposals would require further drafting and that some options would need more staff resources to administer.

Ending: Council asked staff to prepare revised code language and implementation details for committee or council review, including the recommended definitions, improved data collection and enforcement tools, and to return with options to address mid-term rentals and any proposed limits on non-hosted STVR nights.