Street Vendor Ordinance
Overall the city’s enforcement action has succeeded in removing the vast majority of street vendors from Mission Beach and other areas of the city. We are definitely in much better shape than we were a year ago. Thank you to all who have helped hold the city's feet to the fire to keep them moving forward on enforcement.
The main issue still remaining is the loop hole around the 1st amendment that some vendors are exploiting. Recent letters from the Coastal Coalition and the MBTC (and your emails) to city leaders have kept the issue on the front burner. Recent communications I’ve had with several city departments make me cautiously optimistic that the city does want to and will close the loopholes in the vendor ordinance. The 1st amendment issue is a problem city wide and much more prevalent in Balboa Park than it is in the beach areas. I’ve been led to believe that changes will be coming but it won’t be overnight.
In the meantime, it’s important that everyone continue to file Get It Done Reports on suspected illegal vending. The number of reports is important to keep the issue on the front burner so even if you are reporting the same vendors over and over again, please keep filing reports, they are important. The MBTC and the Coastal Coalition will continue to monitor progress on this.
Short Term Rental Ordinance
Update - map of licensed STR's https://sandiego.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=95c57169391d4f1c92aa57448807e2a9
Enforcement of the ordinance finally begins on May 1st. Like the Street Vendor Ordinance it promises to be a work in progress and like the vendor ordinance things should be much improved from when there was no regulation but it will once again require our community to hold the city's feet to the fire to provide the enforcement our community requires and deserves. This is the beginning, not the end.
At this time I think the city has been more focused on licensing hosts and working with the various platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo to have them remove listings that are not licensed on May 1st than they have been on our community issues like noise, trash and parking.
Removing un-licensed listings who are the most likely candidates to be “bad actor hosts” should in itself help to alleviate some of the noise, trash and parking problems we have experienced in our community and threat of license loss should help eliminate some of the so called “bad actors” as well but there remains work to do to insure the city takes steps to adequately address our community concerns and makes the reporting of these issues as easy as possible for our community members.
The city Development Services Department, Building and Land Use Enforcement (BLUE) held a meeting on April 27th which was attended by members of the Coastal Coalition and stake holders from other communities.
During this meeting community concerns were brought to the forefront and I think city staff now realizes there is work needed in this area. A follow up meeting will be held in approximately 90 days to discuss the progress.
How to report violations:
(this information is the best understanding I have at this point)
The city will have a dedicated category for reporting STRO complaints/violations on the Get It Done App. This is the preferred method of filing complaints/violations. Very importantly, you will have the ability to upload pictures, video and audio to substantiate your compliant, so if at all possible document your complaint with pictures, video or audio. You can also report complaints by phone 619-533-6489 or email dsdstrocomplaint@sandiego.gov
A key thing to remember is the first step in reporting any violation for noise, trash or parking must be to contact the local contact first (see below for how to find that contact and number). If the local contact does not respond to the situation with 1 hour then a complaint can be submitted via the Get It Done App or other methods.
The GID protocol will be available 24/7/365 for the public to submit complaints. A web based map showing all the licenses and local contact information including phone numbers is available here https://sandiego.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/sidebar/index.html?appid=95c57169391d4f1c92aa57448807e2a9. The map allows you to search by a specific address or to see all STR'S in your neighborhood, street etc... The web page containing the map also has a direct link to file a Get It Done Report.
Each property is required to have sign with the information as well (the signs are not very big, the city is counting on the map to best way to find the information). You can reach out to local contacts 24/7/365 and if you get no response within 1 hour from the local contact a complaint can be submitted via GID to BLUE for investigation.
I would recommend that you then separately report issues like noise, parking and trash. You can file noise/nuisance complaints, parking complaints for cars blocking sidewalks, driveways, garages by calling SDPD non-emergency line at (619) 531‑2000 or (858) 484-3154. For trash use the GID app. Noise complaints can be filed any time of day, you do not have to wait until after 10:00 pm.
I realize that reporting issues on the SDPD non-emergency line can take some time, hopefully there may be some changes coming to make that easier. By filing reports on noise, parking and trash separately as well as reporting the issue on the GID app it will further document your complaint and this will help BLUE in their investigation and enforcement of violations of the STRO.
Issues like noise, parking and trash are not violations of the Short Term Rental Ordinance (STRO).
These are issues that are violations of other city ordinances however if the local contact fails to address such complaints within 1 hour, the failure to respond to the issues are a violation of the STRO if substantiated.
If a third violation of any provision of Municipal Code section 510.0107 (operating requirements contained in the STRO ordinance) is alleged to have occurred within the previous 12 months at the dwelling unit or by a host, a hearing officer may revoke the license upon a determination that the third violation has occurred.
If you suspect that any property is not licensed under the STRO ordinance you may check on the STRO license map that will be available in the City’s website indicating the location of the licenses by tier and it will include local contact information. Additionally, this information is provided in the City’s Open Data portal. Non-licensing and any other possible violations of the STRO should be reported through the GID app.
For more information on the STRO ordinance go to https://www.sandiego.gov/treasurer/short-term-residential-occupancy
The information provided above is my best understanding of how to report violations as of now. If you have to report violations please keep the MBTC apprised of how the system worked or didn't work for you. We will use this information to follow up with city staff and work to make the system work as smoothly as possible for community members.
For Hosts - In addition to the license requirements, hosts must follow the operating requirements listed in the Host Requirements Checklist; failure to do so may result in a penalty of $300 per day, per violation. If you have not done so you should review the checklist here:
https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/trs_host_requirements_april_2
023_final_0.pdf