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• DNAOR Short-Term Rental Policy

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Though at least two of its members own vacation rentals, the Del Norte Association of Realtors has taken an official stance of neutrality on the issue, making a statement that their mission is to protect property rights.

The DNAOR recently outlined its position in a short-term rental policy representative Taudine Andrew said was created in consultation with legal counsel and government liaisons representing the California Association of Realtors.

Speaking before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Andrew, a realtor with Green Pacific Real Estate, said the association’s stance has no bearing on how people use their property.

“What our position is essentially, do not restrict property rights,” Andrew told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday. “If you are going to restrict property rights, including the ability to rent for any length of time, there needs to be a valid reason and it needs to be applied uniformly across all properties — not just targeting one particular kind of use.”

The association’s policy comes nearly a year after the Board of Supervisors decided against regulating vacation rentals despite people, South Bank Road residents primarily, continuing to complain about them. At that Sept. 13 meeting, Del Norte County Tax Collector Barbara Lopez told supervisors that the cache of vacation rentals grew from 131 to 196 in five years with single-family home rentals making up the largest increase.

As of June 6, 2023 there are 188 short-term rentals in the unincorporated area of Del Norte County, Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Kelli Blue told the Outpost via email Thursday. The county has collected $647,141 in transient occupancy tax between July 2022 and March 2023. For the same time period between 2021-22, the county collected $650,753 in TOT, Blue said.

Despite an argument from some residents, that operating a vacation rental is engaging in a commercial venture in a residential area, the Del Norte Association of Realtors’ opinion is renting a home “for the purpose of occupying it as a home for any length of time” is a residential, not a commercial use of the property.

“DNAOR believes that the ability to rent property for any length of time in our community promotes inclusion, diversity and equity through community interactions with neighbors, service providers, local business and government by those renting,” the association’s policy states. “DNAOR cautions that restrictions on renting can cause unintentional consequences such as depressing real estate values, diminishing usability and discriminatory effects.”

On Wednesday, Andrew said District 4 Supervisor Joey Borges had asked if the Del Norte Association of Realtors had information on the issue that could help further the debate. As a vacation rental owner herself, Andrew said she has begun collecting that data, but the association doesn’t keep track of that information.

“Our work is done. We are not pursuing this,” she said. “We have no means to collect that data. We want as few restrictions (as possible) and we will actively oppose restrictions on property rights.”

Borges said he approached the Del Norte Association of Realtors after speaking with South Bank Road residents wanting to hear both sides. Those residents started out aggressive, but wanted what Borges called “commonsense” things like not being harassed in their home.

“This is very reasonable,” he said.

Borges said he hoped the DNAOR could help create information that outlines the best practices of owning and operating a vacation rental without he and his colleagues regulating them.

“I don’t want to impose more regulations on people and I don’t want property owners to be miserable,” Borges told the Outpost. “That’s my stance at the moment. It’s been slow going, so I’m hoping they’re going to come up with something really good moving forward.”

Though the DNAOR doesn’t have the ability to collect data on the number of short-term rentals, it will provide resources to “all the stakeholders,” Andrew said. This includes providing information to short-term rental owners on how to be a good neighbor as well as holding some professional development or other courses for the public.

Those things are forthcoming, Andrew said.

“Right now it’s mostly people talking to an individual real estate agent or they have a recommendation from a real estate agent for a property manager,” she said. “We do have quite a few property managers in the county, but also individual owners who are managing their own property more than property managers.”

DNAOR President-Elect Dave Powell, of Alder Point Real Estate, owns several vacation rental properties and regularly advocates for vacation rentals at the Board of Supervisors. Tuesday was no exception.

“We have as a board been working on this for a number of months. It’s not just a throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks. This is a good thing,” he said. “The main thing, as Taudine says, we want to be a part of the solution. If there’s anything that we can be of assistance in, we want to do that and help in anyway we can. Again, vacation rentals are good.”

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