May 5, 2021
By KAREN VELIE
With the help of the California Coastal Commission, a property owner won a victory against the City of Santa Barbara and its vacation rental ban. In his lawsuit, Theo Kracke accuses Santa Barbara of enacting a 2015 illegal ban on short-term vacation rentals.
In 2019, a superior court judge ruled that Santa Barbara must allow short-term vacation rentals in the coastal zone as it did before banning them in 2015. The city then appealed the decision to the Second Appellate District Court in Ventura.
The California Coastal Commission filed an amicus brief in support of Kracke’s case noting the ban violated the California Coastal Act, which requires the public to have access to affordable accommodations in the coastal zone.
(Image by Egor Shitikov from Pixabay via Courthouse News)
(CN) California’s novel coastal protection law the California Coastal Act protects public access along the state’s entire 840-mile coast and ensures affordable accommodations are available to visitors.
Even though the 1976 law was enacted decades before popular home sharing apps like AirBnB and Vrbo turned the vacation lodging industry on its head, a state appellate court Tuesday found it effectively protects the rights of private property owners to rent their coastal residences to vacationers.
In an 11-page order, Second Appellate District Judge Steven Perren was joined by Judges Kenneth Yegan and Martin Tangeman in upholding a trial court’s decision that enjoined Santa Barbara’s 2015 law regulating short-term vacation rentals as “hotels” under its municipal code an effective ban on the income properties in the coastal zone.
The city appealed the decision, and on Tuesday it lost again.
“This published decision has statewide implications, said Kracke’s lawyer. Travis Logue with Rogers, Sheffield & Campbell. It’s a major victory for Californians who prefer affordable vacation accommodations along the coast. Our client deserves huge credit for waging this battle. He’s taken arrows from all sides and faced ridicule by the City Attorney’s Office. Anyone who uses or operates STVRs in Santa Barbara should thank him. Given the city’s terrible financial condition and depressed tax revenue, let’s hope the city embraces reasonable regulation. Miracles do happen.