Potter’s Office Seeks Long-Term Solution to Big Sur’s Short-Term Rental Problem

Vacation rentals take away badly needed housing from the people who work in Big Sur. Owners have kicked out long time locals who rent from them just because the grass might be greener. But it isn't greener, just a shade of brown. What do the short term renters have that the locals don't ? More money. That's all. In the meantime, Joe & Jane are living in their vehicles down the coast because .........

Good Neighbors talk to each other and work out solutions. And that's what BigSurBED.com members want. BSBED members care about their community and their neighbors. Vacation Rentals in homes have existed worldwide for decades and provide a quiet place for families to spend quality time with each other.
We believe that everyone can co-exist peacefully and are dedicated to that. All Long Term and Short Term Rental issues can be solved with partnership and open communications which the County has most recently initiated.

We want to listen to your concerns-any and all of them and work out any of the bugs. Just go to our Good Neighbors page on our website and if you have any complaints or suggestions use our form to get us working on a solution. Visit www.BigSurBed.com and click on the Good Neighbor link.

I totally get how BSBED might be viewed in the same light as developers with its economic arguments. Yet I can certainly see how vacation renters want the community to know what we bring to the party. AS "resident for quality neighborhoods" states, this approach doesn't communicate that we too are neighbors and concerned about strangers in our midst. WE don't want Big Sur to end up like carmel, with absentee owners and empty houses. Perhaps by listening to these concerns of folks who think Vacation Rentals will ruin our neighborhoods, those of us who do rent might be in a better position to address your concerns.

Big Sur Kate quoted Santana about remembering the past...There's something else to consider too: I completely agree with Santayana that “those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” I’m so old I remember Big Sur before Mid Century was a furniture style and type of architecture advertised on Craigslist. And I remember what Big Sur was like…Kudos to all who have fought the denizens of progress to keep our home as wild as it is.

But there is a second quote I’d like us to remember:

The law of unintended consequences pushes us ceaselessly through the years, permitting no pause for perspective.

A number of years ago, many Big Sur residents signed a petition to prohibit short term rentals, with the belief that such activity was undermining the fabric of our community. Much has changed since that time, but the pressure on our community has continued unabated. In those years, absentee ownership has increased dramatically. Such ownership does create more privacy, less traffic and lower fire hazard. But I’m not sure many of us would espouse Big Sur becoming like Carmel. Many folks who can afford to stay in their homes only by offering them as vacation rentals are keeping locals in Big Sur.

Short term rentals aren’t the problem…The problem is losing the integrity of our community. In fact a certain type of short-term rental actually protect and enhance our community, when their owners respect the concerns of the neighbors, are able to upgrade their properties, and can share them with quiet guests who are in awe of our region.

Before I turned my home into a vacation rental. I had neighbors whose long term tenants had totally trashed their home. My long-term tenants had let the landscaping go so the fire hazard was extreme…I didn’t want to sell my home but I couldn’t afford to simply move into my home; so I tried vacation rentals. Now I live on the property, hire local gardeners, housekeepers and repair people. I cannot afford to provide housing for local businesses, but I can employ local residents who would otherwise have to travel to town or remain unemployed.

For years residents of our neighborhood argued about road improvements, one group wanting to upgrade, the other wanting to keep it old school…Last year 5 of us who rent our homes paid $10,000 for repairs and maintenance on the road ending the years long stalemate. No long-term landlords participated, even though total trips on our road over the year is much higher with long-term renters.

If we could take a deep breath and remember that the problems we are trying to solve and complex and not easily resolved by banning something, we will be in a much better position to address them as a community, not as opponents…We all want the same basic things. Here’s hoping we can craft solutions that actually get us there.

This is a very sad situation. I understand the points of view from both sides. The current debate is already dividing the community into sides and creating distrust, fear and anger between residents who live and have lived in beautiful Big Sur for many years. Monterey County has been actively enforcing the 10.5% Transient Occupancy Tax due on the (illegal) short term rentals.
There are steps short term landlords can take to mitigate against crime and inconvenience to their neighbors. Having a well documented fire and safety awareness plan would help. Changing gate codes regularly would also help reduce any possible abuse.
There are as many arguments against long term rentals as there are against short term renters. Some long term landlords do not pay tax on their rental income of any sort. Many long term renters drive without care on our private roads. Many are under the influence of illegal substances. Many of the long term rental units are not permitted building structures.
Please Big Sur residents, be kind to each other. Stop this fighting and live and let live. Try to see both sides of the story. And as for Monterey County, either legalize the short term rental situation and continue to collect your TOT legally, or enforce the ban and stop collecting the taxes. Remember though, if you enforce the short term rental ban in Big Sur you need to do it as aggressively everywhere else in the county. Then too you must check into the long term rental situation and the legality of those rental units and taxes due on income.
Such a mess. So sad. Where will this end? Already one of the people named in this article has been stopping and questioning people on the road about who they are and where they are going. We gift our home to family and friends when we are out of town. Are our family and friends going to come under scrutiny by a little tyrant too?