Submitted by Andrew Gade
One of the most pressing challenges facing our community is the cost and availability of housing. Today it is nearly 5 times more expensive (relative to income) to purchase a home than it was just a generation ago. For many hard-working residents, renting is the only option, but finding a decent place is nearly impossible; and when you finally find a place that looks nice, it’s often only available as a vacation rental. On top of that, we have a city with a growing number of properties that sit empty most of the year and will never be available to rent or purchase.
Full-time residents are the lifeblood of Coronado. They volunteer in our community, support our local businesses year-round, and create the sense of community and character that makes this city so special.
Revisiting our short-term rental ban, it is my understanding that we don’t allow short-term vacation rentals for under 28 days. It should come as no surprise to many that this ban has not been enforced and is being blatantly disregarded.
First, I recommend that we start enforcement immediately with fines that are high enough to discourage anyone from violating the law.
Second, I would like the city attorney to contact vacation rental platforms like Airbnb and VRBO and any others that would apply and request records for everyone that’s rented their property in Coronado illegally. And based on the statute of limitations, I would encourage the city to hold these individuals responsible along with imposing fines.
Also relating to (legal) vacation rentals, for some reason Coronado has been leaving millions of dollars on the table by not charging TOT taxes on vacation rentals. Many cities, including San Diego have been doing it for years and already have a framework that we could replicate and implement very quickly.
Currently, the city of Coronado doesn’t even know who owns the homes and businesses in our city. We need to have a comprehensive list of the all the owners of residential and commercial property in the city of Coronado.
We have a long way to go here in Coronado to address the cost of living and our housing situation. These two recommendations are just the beginning, but I don’t want to overwhelm everyone, so [let’s] start with baby steps.
Andrew Gade
