Save San Diego Neighborhoods: Our Position

Our position is clear.

1. Short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) are Visitor Accommodations and are prohibited in residential zones.
2. Short-term vacation rental is not a listed use in the San Diego Municipal Code and therefore is not permitted.
3. The City is not “estopped” from enforcing the ordinance prohibiting STVRs In San Diego residential zones.
4. The former City Attorney’s opinion that the definition of “Visitor Accommodations” is vague and therefore unenforceable is incorrect.

Read our detailed Position Paper, outlining the position of Save San Diego Neighborhoods, to gain an in-depth understanding on each of these points.

This quote summarizes the issue well:

Whether or not transient rentals have the other “unmitigatable, adverse impacts” cited by the council, such rentals undoubtedly affect the essential character of a neighborhood and the stability of a community. Short-term tenants have little interest in public agencies or in the welfare of the citizenry. They do not participate in local government, coach little league, or join the hospital guild. They do not lead a scout troop, volunteer at the library, or keep an eye on an elderly neighbor. Literally, they are here today and gone tomorrow without engaging in the sort of activities that weld and strengthen a community.

From the California Supreme Court in the case, Miller v Board of Public Works (1925), 195 Cal. 477 cited in Ewing v City of Carmel-by-the-Sea (1991), 234 Cal.App.3d1579.