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Short Term Rentals

“Short term residential rentals” (STR’s), or rental of a room or an entire home for a period of less than 30 days, are currently prohibited in Brisbane’s residential zoning districts. In 2015, following Planning Commission and City Council study of the issue, the City Council directed its Planning Issues subcommittee to study the issue further.
 
The subcommittee met several times from 2016 to 2018 to discuss and observe the changing regulatory environment as STRs gained popularly throughout the region and country, and to consider best practices in the regulations of other cities and counties,  The subcommittee's study culminated with their recommendation to the City Council to initiate zoning text amendments to regulate STRs at the February 7, 2019 City Council meeting.
 
The City Council directed the Planning Commission to develop an STR ordinance that would contain the following components at a minimum:
  • Occupancy Requirement – The STR ordinance will require STR operators to live on the property as their primary place of residence. This means that a corporation or business entity could not purchase a property solely to be rented as a short term rental.
  • Limit Non-hosted Rentals- "Hosted rentals" are room rentals that occur while the permanent resident is physically occupying the property. The STR ordinance will allow unlimiated hosted rentals.  Unhosted rentals, conversely, are rentals of entire homes with no permanent resident physically occupying the site. The City Council has indicated that unhosted rentals should be limited to no more than 90 days (or a lesser number of days) per calendar year. This is intended to allow reasonable rentals of entire homes or dwelling units in the resident’s absence (e.g., while on vacation) but retain the permanent occupancy by a long-term resident year round.
  • Revenue-Capture Mechanisms- The STR ordinance will include revenue capture mechanisms, including annual business license fees and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). TOT tax is currently 14% and is paid by guests as part of their total payment for their stay.
  • Notice to Neighbors/”Good Neighbor” Policies- The STR ordinance will include neighbor notification at some point during the STR approval process, and will require compliance with “Good Neighbor” policies (noise, parking, garbage, etc.) with failure to comply with these measures as grounds for permit revocation.
  • Homeowner Insurance Requirement- The STR ordinance will require STRs to be adequately insured.
 
The Planning Commission has started studying an STR ordinance consistent with the City Council's direction and will consider it at upcoming public meetings.
 

STR Public Meetings

The City Council will consider the Planning Commission's recommendations on STR regulations at an upcoming public meeting which has not yet been scheduled. To get email notifications of public meetings about STRs, please email Senior Planner Julia Ayres.

 

Public Meeting Archive

 

2020
  • February 27, 2020 Planning Commission meeting to review draft ordinance. The Planning Commission recommended the City Council approve the draft ordinance with modifications, including but not limited to the following:
    • Ban unhosted STRs with exceptions for unplanned host absences;
    • Ban STRs on any property that has an ADU built on or after 4/1/2017;
    • Increase the number of days a host must reside in the dwelling unit in order to host STRs from 180 days to 275 days;
    • Establish a registry of issued STR permits with host contact information accessible to the public;
    • Establish a a permit term of 1 yr for initial permit applications and 2 years for renewal permits.
  • January 9, 2020 Planning Commission meeting to review draft ordinance.
2019
 
2018
 

STR Archive: 2015

[The below historic information is provided for the public's reference. The current status of the City's study of STR regulations is provided above.]
 
The Comunity Development Department conducted a community survey to collect feedback from Brisbane citizens, and the Planning Commission discussed the community's multi-faceted concerns with short-term rentals at  a March 12, 2015 workshop and a second workshop on April 9, 2015. The Planning Commission considered a final recommendation to the City Council at the regular meeting on April 23, 2015. The Planning Commission's recommendation was presented to the City Council on July 16, 2015, and the Council ultimately decided that additionally community dialogue was necessary. City staff will continue to research regulations from other cities and reach out to the community for additional feedback in the upcoming months.
For more information, please contact Senior Planner Julia Ayres.