Quick Take
The Santa Cruz City Council is bringing local regulations for accessory dwelling units into compliance with the latest updates to state law. However, the council did not include an additional planning commission recommendation to adjust short-term rental permitting on site with ADUs, and requested that staff return with a deeper analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of this idea at a future meeting.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Santa Cruz City Council updated the city’s rules for permitting accessory dwelling units to comply with the latest state laws. The regulations apply to ADUs and junior ADUs, which are similar but smaller and within an existing home or attached garage.
ADUs and JADUs will now be measured by interior livable space instead of floor area to exterior building walls. JADUs are now eligible for the same fire sprinkler and fee exceptions as ADUs. JADUs must be rented for more than 30 days and owner occupancy is no longer required on site if a JADU has its own bathroom facilities.
Additionally, the city will have to provide a notice of completion for permit applications for both types of units and provide an appeals process. Coastal permits for ADUs are also no longer able to be appealed to the California Coastal Commission.
The updates were approved unanimously, except for Councilmember Gabriela Trigueiro, who was absent from the meeting.
City of Santa Cruz Senior Planner Clara Stanger singled out an additional recommendation from the planning commission that would allow property owners with ADUs to use their places as short-term rentals, which currently is not allowed.
The planning commission recommended a tweak that would allow short-term rentals in a primary dwelling for no more than 90 days per year and no more than seven consecutive days when the primary dwelling is also the property owner’s main residence. This change could give homeowners with ADUs more flexibility if they want to rent their properties for short periods, Stanger said. However, staff does not know whether the time limits are acceptable and how the policy would be enforced.
Councilmember Susie O’Hara said she was apprehensive about whether those time limits are appropriate.
“It seems like no more than seven consecutive days and up to 90 days a year is a lot of different people potentially coming in and out of the short-term rental,” she said.
Despite that, Councilmember Renee Golder said she hopes the city can allow short-term rentals at properties with ADUs once again.
“When we made the change where we took properties with ADUs out of the mix, it was a missed opportunity from my perspective,” she said. “I think we are missing out on potential [transient occupancy tax] income during high tourist seasons.”
The amendments are due for a second and final reading at the council’s Feb. 24 meeting, and staff will return to the council with a more in-depth analysis of short-term rentals for ADU owners. Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson requested that it come before the next annual ADU update.
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