Daily Regulatory Notes 10/20/2025
Cities address STRs. Annapolis, MD approves cap; Maui, HI reviews enforcement; Simpsonville, SC approves ordinance; East Hampton, NY weighs down new enforcement tools; Sedona, AZ approves amendments; Carlsbad, CA; Morro Bay, CA; Placentia, CA; Duluth, MN. READ MORE.
Annapolis has moved to rein in its growing short-term rental market with a new cap limiting STRs to no more than 10% of housing units per blockface. Approved by the City Council this week, the measure halts new licenses on blocks that exceed that threshold.
Granicus, Inc.
Owner-occupied rentals are exempt, and temporary exceptions will apply during major events like the Naval Academy’s Commissioning Week and the city’s boat shows. A staff report found that 42 blockfaces already exceed the 10% cap, with Ward 1 accounting for most of them. Those over the limit will have until November 2027 to renew, after which a lottery system — giving preference to existing local license holders — will decide who can continue operating.
Maui’s plan to reclaim apartment-zoned units from the vacation rental market may face major revisions after a temporary investigative group recommended carving out more than 4,000 units from Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposed phaseout.
The group’s report, presented to the County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee, calls for rezoning dozens of high-value or coastal properties to allow both short- and long-term rentals. The group—chaired by Councilmember Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins—said the move would minimize economic disruption and provide legal clarity where hotel-type uses already exist. But advocates for wildfire survivors and local residents objected that the exemptions could remove thousands of homes in Lahaina from potential long-term use.
Simpsonville has approved its first comprehensive short-term rental ordinance, setting clear rules on where rentals can operate and who can run them.
The new law, adopted October 14, requires owners to secure a city permit, designate a local rental agent within 15 miles, and limit guest stays to 30 consecutive days instead of the previous six months. Current operators have 120 days to comply before facing a $250 application fee. Mayor Paul Shewmaker said the measure is meant to “make it fair,” ensuring STR owners contribute business licenses and accommodations taxes like hotels.
East Hampton officials are weighing new enforcement tools to crack down on illegal short-term rentals as out-of-town investors increasingly buy up local homes for vacation use.
Deputy Supervisor Cate Rogers told the Town Board that only about half of the nearly 1,900 listings found online appear in the town’s rental registry, despite a $200 registration requirement. Rogers recommended purchasing software to help monitor platforms like Airbnb and VRBO, saying traditional tracking methods can’t keep up. Under current rules, rentals are capped at 14 days and allowed only twice per six-month period, but officials say compliance is weak.
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Sedona City Council has unanimously approved new short-term rental amendments aimed at tightening compliance and improving enforcement.
The Oct. 14 vote adopts Ordinance 2025-10.10, which clarifies owner attestation language, authorizes temporary permit suspensions when code or building violations are found, and creates a one-time late fee for renewals — $50 for permits renewed up to 90 days late and $100 for those over 90 days. City staff said nearly a third of renewals in 2025 were filed late, and the new fee is designed as a gentle incentive rather than a penalty. The ordinance also refines language to ensure the fee is applied as a single charge under the city’s consolidated schedule.
Carlsbad’s legislative subcommittee is tracking several new state laws that could reshape how cities handle housing and short-term rentals.
During its recent meeting, representatives from state offices and the city’s Sacramento lobbyist briefed members on key bills from the latest legislative session, including SB 346, which allows local governments to require short-term rental platforms to register listings with the city. Staff said the new authority could improve enforcement and transparency, as some listings remain hidden from local monitoring.
Other measures discussed included AB 87 and SB 92, both designed to prevent developers from using density bonus laws to gain concessions without adding affordable housing, and SB 79, expanding density allowances near certain transit stations — though Carlsbad officials are awaiting a clarifying letter from the bill’s author to determine whether it applies locally.
Morro Bay’s crackdown on illegal short-term rentals is showing results nearly a year after the City Council ordered stricter enforcement and froze new permits.
Community Development Director Airlin Singewald told the council that compliance has visibly improved, with 121 legal full-home rentals operating under the city’s 175-unit cap and more than 80 illegal or non-renewed listings shut down or voluntarily closed. Since January, the city has issued over a dozen cease-and-desist orders and fined unpermitted operators up to $500 a day.
Placentia, CA
Placentia has pressed pause on new short-term rentals for up to a year, giving city officials time to craft a comprehensive ordinance to tackle noise, parking, and enforcement concerns tied to Airbnb-style listings. The unanimous vote by the City Council extends a 45-day moratorium first enacted in September.
With 71 active STRs in the city, staff are considering capping them at 0.5% of total housing — around 85 units — alongside annual permit renewals, inspections, guest limits, and stricter fines for problem hosts.
The City of Duluth is moving toward a one-year moratorium on new short-term rental permits as officials seek to better understand the local housing and tourism impacts of the growing vacation rental market.
Mayor Roger Reinert said the city’s STR sector has expanded without much oversight, prompting a need for clearer direction. The temporary pause would allow the Planning and Economic Development Department to evaluate how the rise in short-term rentals has affected single-family housing supply, neighborhood stability, and hotel competition. The ordinance received its first reading this week and will return for public discussion and a possible vote at next week’s council meeting.
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Genelaine Urbano
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