Sonoma County has a Vacation Rental Program inland and in the Coastal Zone. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors (BoS) approved the Local Coastal Plan Update at their 7/17/2023 meeting. Then they approved amendments to Chapter 26C to allow the county to establish Coastal Zone VR regulations on 9/26/2023. The VR regulations were certified by the CA Coastal Commission on 4/11/2024. See the latest posts.
Join our Friends group to receive the password for the Private posts.
Here is the Sonoma County “Coastal Zone” at the west edge of the county:
Short-term vacation Rental (VR) homeowners open our homes to the public and provide coastal access in the North Central Coast of California.
First on our agenda was the Sonoma County Local Coastal Plan (LCP). SonomaCounty.ca.gov/LCP-Update
The county planning department (Permit Sonoma) has revised their Vacation Rental Ordinance for the inland Sonoma area and plan on making their program county-wide and incorporate the “coastal zone” in the next Vacation Rental regulation.
Local Coastal Plan History: For 40 years the county planning department (Permit Sonoma), with the California Coastal Commission’s approval, has overseen this important coastal LCP planning document. The LCP extends the county’s planning rules & regulations to the Coastal Zone. It is now being updated by Permit Sonoma.
The final county-approved LCP goes to the California Coastal Commission for approval after which it is certified and final.
VACATION RENTAL (VR) REGULATIONS for the coastal zone are part this change. This blog explains the substance of the county short-term VR rules, as well as the procedure for extending those VR rules to the Coastal Zone in 2023.
Sonoma County’s Coastal Zone is 55 miles of dramatic, sweeping coastline. The population of this coastal area was 3385 in the 2010 Census. 70% of the north central coast population is in two zip codes – each where a homeowners’ association is located: Bodega Harbour Homeowners’ Association (BHHA) and The Sea Ranch Homeowners’ Association (TSRA).
There are 9 communities in this Sonoma County coastal area (zip code/ approx. population):
Bodega Bay, Salmon Creek, Carmet (94923/1210); Duncan Mills (95430/175); Jenner (95950/136); Sereno DelMar 95465; The Sea Ranch (95497/1307); Timber Cove (95421/164); Valley Ford (94972/147); and there about 122 additional residents living in the coastal zone outside of these communities.
NEXT: The LCP Overview and What’s it Got to Do with VRs?
NOTE: Some of our posts are PASSWORD PROTECTED. The password is shared with coastal zone VR owners. Join our Friends group to get this access.
[Any errors are the authors’; please let us know if something is amiss!]
