Escondido is working on a short-term rental ordinance for early 2024

ESCONDIDO, Calif. – The City of Escondido is working on an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals in the city and welcomes community input.

“We want to invite people to come to the city, but we also have to respect the people who are here and that’s all we want to do,” Escondido Mayor Dane White said.

According to the city, there are an estimated 181 short-term rentals operating without any rules throughout Escondido. The city plans to have an ordinance in place by early 2024.

“First of all, we are not benefiting from the transient occupancy tax that we could be, and secondly, we have received a large number of complaints, noise complaints, nuisance complaints that we need to address and we just need a way to go about it.” That happened,” White said.

The city says it is potentially missing out on $300,000 or more in transient use tax revenue each year.

Residents were vocal about a few short-term rentals they say have become a regular nuisance at a community meeting hosted by the city Tuesday night.

Locals also don’t feel like the renters are stimulating the Escondido economy.

“Even their ad says we’re the central hub of all these other places. So basically stay here because you can travel short distances and accomplish these other things. If you don’t come to Escondido, this is where you spend all your money,” Jennifer Baehr said as she discussed regular rent in her neighborhood.

Currently, the Escondido short-term rental ordinance is only a draft, but there are some rules included, such as:

• Maximum two guests per bedroom/maximum 10 people per rental.
• A 24/7 rental contact who must respond within an hour.
• A maximum of 2% of the total living space in the city (approx. 942 units).
• A permit and Escondido business license would also be required.

City staff say the Airbnb operators they have heard from support an ordinance. The ordinance is still in the works and the next opportunity for the public to comment is the Nov. 28 Escondido Planning Commission meeting.