Humboldt County Sides With Neighbor in Short-Term Rental Dispute

Humboldt Retreats property manager Amy Gonzalez

Given a choice between the out-of-town owner of an Arcata area vacation rental and a neighbor with complaints, Humboldt County’s Planning Commission sided with the neighbor.  Neighborhood impacts of Short Term Rental (STR) units figured into the commission’s June 4 denial of a special permit for an STR on Pepperwood Lane close to Arcata’s city border.

On the surface, conditions look appropriate. The STR is located on a comparatively spacious 2.5 acre parcel in a heavily forested area and isn’t within 600 feet of another rental. But it’s close to a residence and there’s a zoning issue – the parcel is zoned for agriculture which kicks in a requirement to get a special permit if one or more neighbors request a hearing.

And the STR’s neighbor put in a hearing request due to noise and other issues.

Amy Gonzalez owns a company called Humboldt Retreats, which manages 70 STRs in the county, and represented the permit applicant and STR owner, who lives in Concord.

She acknowledged the neighbor’s noise concerns but described them as being resolved.

“There was some stress on her end regarding the noise from parties – not an actual party, but, like, people that were there at the unit,” she said. “I immediately was responding to the guests, letting them know, ‘Hey, we’re totally uncomfortable with this, you need to shut it down,’ and they did. And the neighbors in texts and in correspondence suggested that, yes, it had quieted down. I had done my job.”

She added she was “assuming everything seemed copacetic between us since then.”

It’s not.

“Our parcels might be 2.5 to five acres but our houses are literally a stone’s throw away from each other,” said Elizabeth Oliver, the neighbor. “Everyone is up all night, I got home from work at 10:30 last night and people are hanging out in the hot tub that backs directly up to my home. I have two little girls that need to wake up for school that have their bedrooms that face this patio. I can’t even open their window at night because of the noise.”

She added, “Typically this house is bringing in large groups of people” and is “a complete nuisance to us.”

Commissioner Peggy O’Neill was empathetic.

Saying the STR reaps an annual income of $70,000 “at least, if not more,” O’Neill questioned why Oliver would still have concerns if the issues are resolved.

“It seems like the owner’s doing a minimal amount effort and waiting to be told what to do even though it’s been brought to their attention that they’re interfering with the homeowner’s harmony in their life,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to have to have people in a hot tub at night and my kids seeing that. So I don’t think this is appropriate. I think that the owner should have done something a long time ago.”

Asked about regulating the outdoor activities, Planning Director John Ford said the hot tub and “a lot of outdoor activity going on on that side of the house” can be cited as issues needing to be dealt with to “protect the character of the neighborhood.”

There was some discussion on adding conditions to the permit but Commissioner Todd Fulton vouched for a more direct approach.

“I’m more inclined to end the permit and request that the applicant resubmit once some things have been put into place,” he said “Maybe the hot tub moves and some sound stuff is put in the house to keep it a little quieter, and then resubmit for another application.”

“We might have a situation here where the chosen location just isn’t the right location,” said Commissioner Jerome Qiriazi.

The staff recommendation was to approve the permit but Senior Planner Cliff Johnson said because the short-term rental is unpermitted and there’s evidence of noise issues that have “adversely impacted” quality of life, the permit can be denied.

And it was, in a unanimous vote.

“We have a person that lives in Humboldt County that owns a home and pays taxes and I don’t feel that we should prioritize someone from out of the area who’s making money on the process and interfering with our local residents’ quality of life,” O’Neill said before the vote.

The STR owner now has two options.

“If it were to persist and were to receive complaints, it would become a code enforcement action,” said Ford.

Or, as Fulton suggested, the owner can re-apply and gain a permit if it’s shown that things have been done to address the issues.