Bulletin: Pacifica, CA News Today
Staff will back Pacifica's ordinance only if the city drops its six-month residency rule and 60-night unhosted cap, with commissioners voting August 12
Coastal Commission Staff Reverses Course, Moves to Strip Pacifica's Residency Rule and 60-Night Unhosted Cap
Staff will back Pacifica's ordinance only if the city drops its six-month residency rule and 60-night unhosted cap, with commissioners voting August 12
Photo by Jules Marvin Eguilos on Unsplash
The two provisions that gave Pacifica's short-term rental ordinance its teeth are the two the California Coastal Commission staff now wants removed.
In a staff report released ahead of the Commission's August 12, 2026 hearing on item W13b, staff recommends denying Local Coastal Program amendment LCP-2-PAC-25-0079-2 as submitted and approving it only if the City of Pacifica deletes its primary residence requirement and its 60-night annual cap on unhosted rentals. Staff had recommended certification of the full ordinance ahead of a February 2026 hearing that was postponed.
What Staff Wants Deleted
Two sections of Ordinance No. 901-C.S. are targeted:
Hosted rentals face no annual night limit under the ordinance. Staff calculates that the night cap alone would cut potential unhosted stays in the coastal zone from roughly 55,000 nights to 9,000 which is a reduction of more than 85%, while the residency test would halve the remaining availability by taking whole units off the market for six months of every year.
Pacifica's Ordinance NO. 901 C.S.
Passed and adopted on August 11, 2025
The Coastal Access Argument
The reasoning rests on lower cost visitor accommodation with Pacifica having 330 hotel and motel rooms citywide while staff frames unhosted rentals as a substitute supply that inland and lower income visitors rely on to reach the shoreline.
The report grounds the finding in Coastal Act Section 30213 which protects lower cost visitor and recreational facilities, and in Land Use Plan policies requiring the city to maximize public coastal access.
Second set of California Coastal Commission ex parte communication disclosure materials for Pacifica’s short-term rental amendment received August 10, 2026, ahead of the August 12 hearing. | Source: https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/
What Survives Review
Staff takes no issue with the rest of Ordinance No. 901-C.S. and what remains is still a tight policy.
The eligibility rules stand: a citywide ceiling of 150 permits at any given time, operators limited to natural persons rather than corporations or LLCs, and one rental per operator. So does the location limit that bars short-term rentals from accessory and junior accessory dwelling units.
The operating conditions survive intact as well, among them a two consecutive night minimum for unhosted stays, overnight occupancy of two renters per legally permitted bedroom, and good neighbor rules governing noise, parking, waste, signage and safety inspections.
⦾ Item: LCP-2-PAC-25-0079-2, item W13b, California Coastal Commission, August 12, 2026.
⦾ Underlying ordinance: Ordinance No. 901-C.S., introduced July 14, 2025, in effect outside the coastal zone since 2025.
⦾ Currently governing the coastal zone: Ordinance 888, adopted February 27, 2023, until the amendment is certified.
⦾ Staff recommendation: Deny as submitted; approve with two suggested modifications.
⦾ Modifications sought: Delete the primary residence requirement; delete the 60-night unhosted cap.
⦾ Permit cap: 150 citywide, with a waitlist once reached.
⦾ Registration required: Yes. STR permit, city business license and signed safety declaration; annual renewal October 1 to 31.
⦾ Permit fee: $1,704 per year, plus $263 inspection fee outside the coastal zone.
⦾ Transient occupancy tax: 15% of rent.
⦾ Penalties: $1,000 per misdemeanor violation; minimum $1,500 for an initial infraction threatening public health; revocation considered after two violations in a year.
⦾ Platform responsibility: Yes. Advertising platforms must report listings, responsible parties, addresses, length of stay and price paid to the city.
⦾ Deadline: Commission must act by April 7, 2027. If it approves with modifications on August 12, the City Council has until February 12, 2027 to accept them by resolution.
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