Save Our Santa Rosa – Save Our Neighbourhood From Short Term Rental

Welcome to Save Our Santa Rosa .org.

We are a grassroots organization that is taking our neighborhoods back from the proliferation of short-term rentals. We would like you to become part of the movement. Please join us in raising our collective voices to make noise to our city officials. We need to be heard over the voice of corporations, out of town investors who have ruined our neighborhoods and turned them into hotel zones with Non-Hosted Short term rental. Click contact us above to join our movement and email list to stay connected.

What are the goals of SOSR?

SOSR hope is to influence the regulations of Non-hosted STR’s by clear zoning and strong regulations. The best way and legally sound is for Santa Rosa to zone STR’s as lodging. They would then only be permitted to operate in commercially zoned areas.

Disruptions by Non-Hosted Short term rentals

Loss of community
Party houses
Obnoxious outdoor party lights and music
Constant rotation of strangers
Traffic and parking issues
Drives up local housing prices while reducing the price of the houses around them
Reduces availability of housing stock for full time residence.
Local renters are evicted to turn homes into vacation rentals.

SHORT-TERM RENTAL

A Short-Term Rental (STR), exemplified by Airbnb, most often includes the entire home and the owner doesn’t live on-site. In absence of supervision, more guests can stay than the home can accommodate, which in turn leads to an excessive amount of parked cars, noise, and trash. The listing is advertised globally and the payment method is streamlined, which helps the property to maximize the number of guests and bookings. The STR is therefore busy, rotating guests in and out as frequently as possible. In the case of absentee ownership, the property is serviced by a local property management company which provides cleaning services and responds to the concerns of the visitors. These qualities describe a hotel, not a quaint B&B owned by friendly members of the neighborhood.

Vacation Rentals are a Big Business

The city of Santa Rosa was negligent/late to the game in putting together an ordinance against out-of-town investors, corporations coming into our neighborhoods and buying up homes to turn them into transient housing (quasi hotels). These out of towners profit while the homes around them lose value. How is this permitted in Residential zoning? The latest Wall Street predatory player to come into our neighborhood is AVANTSTAY. They are a company that works with high-net-worth individuals and corporate investors to build a portfolio of short-term rentals. They just raised 160 million dollars in funding to acquire more homes in residential areas and turn them into hotels with hotel like amenities. This is big business abusing the system and the regulations that are put in place. They have come with their series A funding and are destroying our neighborhoods.
https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/15/avantstay-a-platform-for-kitting-out-and-then-renting-out-high-end-vacation-rental-homes-raises-160m/

We need neighborhoods to be for neighbors! Get informed know your rights!

SOSR is committed to assisting our community, and we’ve noticed that many neighbors may not be familiar with the proper procedure for reporting violations related to Short-Term Rentals (STR). The City of Santa Rosa has implemented a Short-Term Rental ordinance aimed at safeguarding our rights to the peaceful enjoyment of our homes.

Reporting a Violation:

If you experience disturbance from an STR in your vicinity, follow these steps:

Call the Short-Term Rental Hotline at 707-543-3244. This hotline dispatches a code enforcement officer to investigate and document the complaint.
Record and photograph the violation, if possible, to create your own record.
Submit a complaint online through the city portal: City Complaint Portal
Email your complaint to shorttermrentals@srcity.org to ensure they are aware of the issue.
Follow up with code enforcement at code@srcity.org to check if the violation resulted in a fine.

Understanding the Ordinance:

For a comprehensive understanding of the ordinance, please refer to Maintain Compliance and Report Violation.

Check for Permits:

Find out if the STR near you has a permit through the citizens portal: Permit Search | Citizen Access

We encourage you to stand up for your rights and the peaceful enjoyment and safety of your home and family!

Thank you for being an active member of our community.

Best regards,

The SOSR Team SOSR Website

To read the Short-Term Rental Ordinance go to https://srcity.org/3625/Short-Term-Vacation-Rentals To submit a complaint Whenever you are disturbed by activity at the STR near you, We encourage you to call Santa Rosa Police at their non-emergency dispatch number – (707) 528-5222. There is a new policy in place that requires an officer to be dispatched to investigate and make a record of the complaint. This record is vitally important to our cause.

https://srcity.org/3116/Submit-a-Complaint

Document violations by sending in date/time stamped photos. Any images and photos are helpful to submit to code enforcement.

Does the STR near you have a permit? Go to the citizens portal to find out.

https://ws.srcity.org/PWMaps/PermitSearch.aspx?STR=1

https://citizen.srcity.org/CitizenAccess/Default.aspx

Get involved!

smeads@srcity.org (City planner)
msmith@srcity.org (City manager)
Jnutt@srcity.org (Assistant city manager)
chartman@srcity.org (City planner)
joswald@srcity.org (Head of code enforcement)
mstapp@srcity.org (City council)
vfleming@srcity.org (City council)
crogers@srcity.org (City council)
nrogers@srcity.org (Mayor)
jokrepkie@srcity.org (City council)
ealvarez@srcity.org (City council)
dmacdonald@srcity.org (City council)

We need your help? Write letters to the editor, post signs and write emails to our local representatives! Let them know how non-hosted short-term rentals are changing the fabric of our communities, ruining our neighborhoods. Santa Rosa has had a shortage of housing exasperated by the Tubbs and Glass fire that ripped through Santa Rosa and destroyed 3,000 plus homes. We need homes for families that send their children to our local schools, shop in our stores, volunteer and donate to our local charities.

We hope that you will become a voice speaking out against Non-Hosted STR and in support of our quest to have them eliminated from residential neighborhoods.