The long-running, difficult saga that is county short-term rentals takes steps toward regulation.

Colette Cuccia knows how to plan big events and projects. She’s planned hundreds of weddings as a wedding planner. Now retired, she’s faced with one of the most complicated projects yet, getting a vacation rental permit for her tiny cabin on the same property as her Carmel Valley home through the Monterey County Housing and Community Development Department.

“The process is very time-consuming and some of it is difficult to know what I need,” Cuccia says. The county planner assigned to her case has been helpful, she says, but it’s still a daunting task to understand and meet dozens of requirements. Should she succeed, she would join only 22 other permitted vacation rentals in unincorporated areas of the county.

Time-consuming and difficult describes the county’s journey in finally codifying rules governing short-term rentals. After almost a decade of numerous fits and starts while non-permitted rentals sprang up like mushrooms – largely due to the complicated, confusing process that led to people choosing to fly under the radar – HCD is proposing new code changes. This time they’ve gone a step further with plans for an environmental impact report to detail possible impacts on residential and rural neighborhoods.

There are three draft ordinances proposed by HCD to create the new vacation home regulations for coastal and inland areas. HCD is dividing rentals into two categories: commercial and limited. Limited rentals are for renting out homes up to three times per year, basically for major events like Car Week. Commercial rentals are for those units that get rented out on a regular basis.

As proposed, a cap would be placed on the number of commercial vacation rentals in each county planning area, no more than 6 percent of the total single-family dwelling units. In Carmel Valley, one of the areas with the largest number of rentals, 302 units would be allowed out of 5,033 homes. According to the notice of preparation for the EIR, there are currently 129 advertised vacation rentals in the valley. No rentals would be allowed in Big Sur or Carmel Highlands. The total number of allowable vacation units throughout all of unincorporated Monterey County would be 2,018.

At a public meeting on Sept. 6, Carmel Valley residents argued the proposed number of vacation rentals was too high. “The neighborhoods will be irreparably harmed over time,” said Jeff Wood, who serves on the Carmel Valley Association board.

Lynda Marin, of the Monterey County Vacation Rental Alliance, warned the California Coastal Commission will not support banning vacation rentals in the coastal zone. (The Coastal Commission tends to favor such rentals for enabling broader coastal access for the public.)

In a July 28 letter, the commission’s Central Coast District Director Dan Carl wrote to HCD Director Erik Lundquist that the county’s “position and messaging appears to be anti-STR,” with a “chilling effect on STRs and STR operators.”

A second public virtual meeting is scheduled for 1pm on Monday, Sept. 19. For information on how to participate, see the notice of preparation at bit.ly/MoCostrEIR. Written comments are being accepted through Oct. 6, and can be emailed to CEQAcomments@co.monterey.ca.us.