About 10% of Sonoma County’s housing stock is estimated to be unavailable to local residents because it is used for whole-house (also called “non-hosted”) vacation rentals or as a second or third home. The City of Sonoma bans new vacation rentals except in newly adapted historic structures; it has about 50 licensed vacation rentals. See Sonoma County’s map of vacation rentals, including hundreds in Sonoma Valley. Sonoma Valley’s previous County Supervisor was able to get small areas in Sonoma Valley to limit the number of vacation rentals, but could not get a supervisorial majority to enact county-wide policy.

Vacation Rentals in Sonoma Valley

Compared to the rest of Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley has a concentration of vacation rentals.

Generally, the City and County’s regulation of existing, permitted vacation rentals is strict. However, there are many illegal vacation rentals that are not actively sought out for enforcement. And the number of allowed, existing vacation rentals is still high enough to degrade the social infrastructure of neighborhoods and remove homes from the Valley at a time when we need every possible home available to people who live or work here. The following approaches are recommended:

  • Limit non-hosted vacation rental permits to one per owner. Current multi-permit holders may retain their permits but cannot renew them or acquire new permits. 

  • Require vacation rental permit/license holders to be “natural persons”, to avoid corporate ownership (City)

  • Revoke vacation rental permits upon sale or transfer of property (City)

  • Resume hiring contractors to locate illegal vacation rentals, and enforce the law.

  • Evaluate the cost and benefits of creating a new program providing an incentive to landowners to rent to locals, as in North Lake Tahoe and Truckee.

Note that although many support a tax on vacant homes or second or third homes, as a way to help fund affordable housing and reduce the number of empty homes, it is not clear that such a tax would generate more money for affordable housing than it would cost in staff time to monitor and enforce. The City of Sonoma is investigating this tradeoff; the County has not, so far.