Short-Term Rentals

In Santa Cruz County, property owners may rent part or all of their home for less than 30 days with a short-term rental permit. 

There are two types of short-term rentals, Hosted Rentals and Non-Hosted Rentals:

• A Hosted Rental is a short-term rental where a property owner or long-term resident acting as host occupies one legal bedroom in a dwelling unit while one to three other legal bedrooms in the dwelling are rented.    A Hosted Rental must have a minimum of two legal bedrooms. Hosted Rentals require a Hosted Rental Permit.
   
• A Non-Hosted Rental (formerly known as a Vacation Rental) is a short-term rental of an entire home. This requires a Non-Hosted Rental Permit.  
  Non-Hosted Rentals are different from Hosted Rentals and “Bed and Breakfasts” (short-term rental of not more than 20 bedrooms of a home where the property owner is on site during the rental).

The following is some key information about Non-Hosted Rentals and Hosted Rentals in Santa Cruz County.

The following describes the eligibility restrictions for short-term rental permits.

• Short-Term Rental are prohibited:
  • Within Mobile Home Parks, affordable housing units, or in apartment buildings.
  • On properties containing an ADU or Junior ADU pursuant to State Law.
  • On a parcel when the resulting residential “block density” goes over 20% within the Davenport/Swanton Designated Area (DASDA), Live Oak Designated Area (LODA), or Seacliff/Aptos/La Selva Beach Designated Area (SALSDA). 
• A property is prohibited from having a Non-Hosted Rental Permit and a Hosted Rental Permit simultaneously. 
   
• Only one Short-Term Rental is permitted per person/entity/property.
   
• Within the three Designated Areas, a parcel is prohibited from a Non-Hosted Rental permit when adjacent to two or more parcels with active Non-Hosted Rental permits. "Adjacent" means a shared parcel line or two parcels that would share a parcel line if the road or alley between them were removed.

Short-term rentals are organized by four different areas within the County

The Davenport/Swanton Designated Area (DASDA)
“Davenport/Swanton designated area” or “DASDA” means that portion of the North Coast Planning Area bounded on the south by Riverside Avenue and San Vincente Street in the unincorporated town of Davenport, and extending north along Highway 1 to include the areas of New Town and Davenport Landing south of Highway 1, and bounded on the north by the intersection of Swanton Road and Highway 1, and including all parcels within one-quarter mile of Swanton Road, but excluding any parcels that abut Last Chance Road.

The Live Oak Designated Area (LODA) “Live Oak designated area” or “LODA” means the Harbor Area Special Community (as described in the General Plan—Local Coastal Program and depicted on the General Plan—Local Coastal Program map) and that portion of Live Oak that lies east and south of East Cliff Drive and Portola Drive from the intersection of 9th Avenue and East Cliff Drive to the intersection of Portola Drive and 41st Avenue.

The Seacliff/Aptos/La Selva Beach Designated Area (SALSDA)
“Sea Cliff/Aptos/La Selva designated area” or “SALSDA” means that portion of the Aptos Planning Area bounded on the west by the Capitola city limit, on the north by Highway 1, and on the east and southeast by Bonita Drive, San Andreas Road, the Urban Services Line from San Andreas Road to Monterey Bay, and the community of La Selva Beach.

Short-term rentals in the following areas and streets shall not be limited by, or count toward, SALSDA caps or block density limits: Pot Belly Beach Road; Las Olas Drive; those residentially zoned parcels in the Rio Del Mar flats consisting of parcels fronting on Stephen Road, Marina Avenue, and Venetian Road between its intersection with the Esplanade and Aptos Beach Drive to its intersection with Lake Court and Stephen Road; those parcels fronting on or gaining access from Cliff Court or fronting on or gaining access from Rio Del Mar Boulevard between its intersection with Aptos Beach Drive and Beach Drive to its intersection with Kingsbury Drive, Cliff Drive, and Beach Villa Lane; Beach Drive; and Via Gaviota.

Outside of the Designated Areas
Any areas within the unincorporated county that are outside of the Designated Areas

County-Wide Limits

The number of Short-term Rental Permits within the county is subject to a maximum number in “Designated Areas” and in the “County” as a whole.  See table below. To determine whether there are available permits in your area, email vacation.eplanreview@santacruzcountyca.gov.

• The County maintains a Wait List for Non-Hosted Rental and Hosted Rental permits for parcels located within the Designated Areas, located on streets subject to a  Block Limit, and parcels located outside the designated areas. Short-Term Rental Permits will be issued on a first-applied, first-issued system, with evaluation of permit availability occurring on a bi-annual basis (July 15 and January 15). There is a $145.00 annual Wait List fee to maintain space on the list.
• To submit a Wait List Request, please complete the Wait List Form and email it to: vacation.eplanreview@santacruzcountyca.gov for review and signature. Applications will not be accepted without signature. Following receipt of signature, please drop off the completed form with the cashier during Unified Permit Center Counter business hours, or mail it, along with the annual Wait List Fee ($145.00 check made out to the County of Santa Cruz) to:

County of Santa Cruz CDI, Unified Permit Center
Attn: Vacation Rental Processing
701 Ocean Street, Room 400
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Instructions for submitting an application for a Hosted Rental Permit or Renewal are provided in our Discretionary ePlan Instructions. Please submit your application through our online ePlan Review portal. 

New Non-Hosted Rental Applications

• Hosted Rental Application Form - PLG155 and List of Application Required Information (LORI) - revised form and LORI coming soon.
• Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) certificate or signed application form from the County Tax Collector (701 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA). For more information, visit the County’s TOT Website, review the TOT Application Form or contact the Tax Collector at (831) 454-2510 or ttc.webmail@santacruzcountyca.gov.
• Copy of rental/lease agreement. For hosts who use an online hosting platform such as Airbnb where the rental/lease agreement may be integrated into the online platform website, a copy of the House Rules is sufficient. See the Application Form for a list of required items to include in rental/lease agreement or house rules. Applicants can start with the Sample Hosted Rental Agreement and fill in project-specific information.
• Non-refundable application fee of $315 plus the $240 intake fee.

Non-Hosted Renewal Applications require the following items:

• Proof of Significant Use: A summary of the dates the unit was used as a non-hosted rental, between the time of issuance of the existing permit and the date of renewal application, is required. See application form for details. 
• Proof of TOT payment
• Registration with CruzAware
• List of hosting platforms
• Copy of listing to be used
• Copy of the house rules/lease agreement
• Nonrefundable application fee of $149.60

Questions? Visit the Zoning Counter, email us at vacation.eplanreview@santacruzcountyca.gov or call the Zoning Information Line at (831) 454-2130.

Instructions for submitting an application for a Hosted Rental Permit or Renewal are provided in our Discretionary ePlan Instructions. Please submit your application through our online ePlan Review portal.  Please submit your application through our online ePlan Review portal.

• Hosted Retnal Application Form - PLG155 (Revised from coming soon) and List of Required Information.
• Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) certificate or signed application form from the County Tax Collector (701 Ocean St, Santa Cruz, CA; For more information, visit the County’s TOT Website, review the TOT Application Form or contact the Tax Collector at (831) 454-2510 or ttc.webmail@santacruzcountyca.gov.
• Copy of rental/lease agreement. For hosts who use an online hosting platform such as Airbnb where the rental/lease agreement may be integrated into the online platform website, a copy of the House Rules is sufficient. See the Application Form (coming soon) for a list of required items to include in rental/lease agreement or house rules. Applicants can start with the Sample Hosted Rental Agreement and fill in project-specific information.
• Non-refundable application fee of $315 plus the $240 intake fee.

Hosted Rental Permit Renewal Requirements

• Hosted Rental Permit Renewal Application Form - PLG160 (Revised from coming soon.)
• Proof of Significant Use: A summary of the dates the unit was used as a hosted rental, between the time of issuance of the existing permit and the date of renewal application, is required. See application form (PLG-160) for details. 
• Proof of TOT payment
• Registration with CruzAware
• List of hosting platforms
• Copy of listing to be used
• Copy of the house rules/lease agreement
• Nonrefundable application fee of $149.60

Questions?  Visit the Unified Permit Center counter by making an appointment, email us at vacation.eplanreview@santacruzcountyca.gov or call the Zoning Information Line at (831) 454-2130.

If you wish to surrender your Short-Term Rental Permit, indicating your voluntary decision to cancel your short-term rental authorization, the property owner must send an email requesting the surrender of the permit to: vacation.eplanreview@santacruzcountyca.gov. Be sure to include the permit #, site address and/ or APN, and a clear request to surrender the permit approval. Upon surrendering the vacation rental permit, it will be rendered null and void as of the specified date.

Questions?  Visit the Unified Permit Center counter by making an appointment, email us at vacation.eplanreview@santacruzcountyca.gov or call the Zoning Information Line at (831) 454-2130.