Some San Diego ADUs being used illegally for short-term rentals, investigation shows

This story was originally published by inewsource as part of Masses Matters Learn more about the reporting initiative here Sign up for inewsource newsletters here A single-family homeowner in Pacific Beach in recent days transformed their garage into a one-bedroom beach house Four blocks down the road another property owner built a new unit on top of their garage complete with a rooftop deck and private hot tub Both new homes known officially as accessory dwelling units are glowing with five-star praise from out-of-town guests for cleanliness quiet neighborhood charm and responsive hosts On the other hand neighbors tell a different story one of frequent summertime parties with beer pong loud music screaming and shouting late into the wee hours of the morning In June San Diego police had to break up what sounded like a rooftop bachelorette party after midnight city records show Please do something one neighbor wrote in a string of code enforcement complaints tied to both short-term vacation rentals San Diego authorities have for years grappled with two competing realities a worsening housing and affordability dilemma coupled with the business interests of property owners in a world-class destination city The battle over short-term rentals continues even after the city conclusively decided to regulate the industry with a tiered licensing system two years ago a decade after short-term platforms like Airbnb exploded in communities across the country There s just one glaring concern These two homes in Pacific Beach and dozens of others just like them across San Diego aren t supposed to be rented to anyone for fewer than days The City Council made it illegal in to turn new accessory dwelling units or ADUs into short-term vacation rentals The goal was to increase the city s housing stock and help improve affordability for San Diegans But an inewsource KPBS analysis located city administrators have been approving short-term rental licenses on properties that aren t eligible Records show as countless as other properties have both a short-term rental license and an ADU Of those about in have received complaints of short-term rental violations either through code enforcement or the city s Get it Done app several of those complaints mention the city s prohibition on renting ADUs short-term Inewsource first exposed gaps in enforcement in Then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer revealed the two departments responsible for overseeing this Expansion Services with building permits and the treasurer s office with short-term rental taxes would start sharing information to prevent clear violations More than five years have passed since then and functionaries have only in the last few days gotten a handle on it Efforts to reach property owners Inewsource reporters called emailed and knocked on more than a dozen doors of property owners illegally renting ADUs short-term None were willing to talk on the record A spokesperson advised inewsource the city has been enforcing the law and responding to citizen complaints all along Functionaries have removed more than listings on short-term rental platforms advertising ADUs and issued thousands of dollars in civil penalties to owners the spokesperson mentioned But it wasn t until last month that both departments figured out a system to block owners trying to rent ADUs on a short-term basis from obtaining a license to begin with That change came more than seven years after the ban took effect Last year the city started asking owners questions about the unit they intended to rent short-term hoping to identify ineligible units that way Meanwhile neighbors have been forced to deal with it That s how Matt King describes living for the past several years between the two ADUs on the same street in Pacific Beach People come here all the time King noted adding that it s part of the price to pay when living in San Diego If you demanded me after the Fourth of July weekend I d tell you to take em all down he commented Charles Cruz who lives right next to the ADU with a rooftop deck describes himself as anti-Airbnb My wife and I are sick of it he explained There s so a multitude of units on our street now and I ve often wondered why do we have a hotel-motel district Parked cars crowd both sides of Opal Street on a weekday morning in Pacific Beach Photo by Charlie Neuman For inewsource Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera represents San Diego s mid-city area including City Heights College Area and Rolando Records show there are properties in his council district with an ADU and short-term rental license the third highest among his colleagues Elo-Rivera advised inewsource his office has heard fewer complaints since the city regulated short-term rentals a couple years ago but he understands the impacts haven t disappeared both on neighborhoods and on housing His office is exploring policies to address the problems occurring in neighborhoods As for now the law is the law he revealed referring to the city s ban on renting ADUs short-term It s just a matter of enforcing the rules that are on the books Councilmember Jennifer Campbell who represents Ocean Beach Point Loma and Mission Beach led the charge in to regulate San Diego s short-term rental industry In the present day her council district leads the city with properties that have an ADU and a short-term rental license She did not respond to requests for comment Neighborhood complaints For years the San Diego region like a multitude of other communities across the state has been grappling with a housing and affordability problem that experts say is driven largely by underproduction Half of San Diego s housing supply are rentals and only are vacant material shows A regional housing analysis projected San Diego will need more than new housing units every year to meet the demand of all income levels by the end of the decade Last year the city authorized construction on only a third of that And several who have housing are having trouble keeping it More people in San Diego fall into homelessness every month than those who manage to leave the streets and find housing Following a statewide push the San Diego City Council eased restrictions around building ADUs in These small backyard units have been seen by policymakers as additional tools to chip away at the state s housing predicament creating quick and easy infill advancement in overly developed coastal California cities The new policies cut permitting costs in half and significantly reduced turnaround times In exchange for these new building incentives the San Diego City Council made it illegal to rent new ADUs for fewer than days As a outcome any ADU permitted after September is ineligible to be rented short-term only about existed prior to the ban and are eligible records show ADUs have since exploded in popularity driven by a bonus operation beginning in that allowed multiple units on a single lot in several cases as a great number of as could fit Nearly ADUs were approved last year under the incentive with one -unit project in Clairemont stirring resentment among locality members The City Council repealed that incentive project earlier this year But by then specific neighborhoods had already seen a shift Take one apartment complex on Front Street in Hillcrest In the owner received permits to convert seven attached garages into five accessory dwelling units It appears certain of those units are listed on Airbnb between and for five nights Inewsource reporters analyzed more than addresses for building permits short-term rental listings and complaints through city code enforcement and the Get it Done portal About in of the properties identified had a short-term rental listing associated with what appeared to be an ADU And city records show neighbors have been pleading with city executives and elected leaders Please do something about this illegal rental a complaint says about one of the properties identified I ve also contacted Councilman Stephen Whitburn s office for help Whitburn s district which covers downtown North Park and Hillcrest has properties that have an ADU and short-term rental license the second highest number among his colleagues He did not respond to requests for comment Code enforcement fines City spokesperson Richard Berg explained bureaucrats are enforcing the ban Code enforcement has issued civil penalties at a rate of per day per violation As neighborhood complaints come in code enforcement investigates them inspecting the property conducting building permit and license searches and determining whether violations exist Berg noted If an ADU is identified to be rented short-term code enforcement issues civil penalties until the host cancels their license bookings and provides proof As for the front end when owners and hosts apply for a license to begin listing units online city agents did not have all the information they needed until last month Improvement Services which is responsible for building permits produced a list of ADUs that were permitted after the short-term rental ban took effect That list will be used by the treasurer s office which is responsible for issuing short-term rental licenses to validate applications as they come in Personnel started this new process two weeks before inewsource presented the findings of its analysis Berg disclosed The city s own list shows ADUs junior ADUs and guest quarters have received short-term licenses City staff did not answer questions about why it took so long to put a process in place to prevent new ADUs from being rented short-term But this type of reactive enforcement where without a complaint the city only stops owners who go to apply for a license or renew is standard Berg commented Michael Wayne with KPBS contributed input analysis to this review inewsource is a community-focused nonprofit nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and accountability journalism The news outlet is a Pulitzer Prize finalist