The Tony Hill Room at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium was standing room only as the final scheduled meeting of the Short-Term Vacation Rental Subcommittee got underway. Roughly four dozen community members—most of whom were there for the first time—jammed in to hear what recommendations the group would submit to the Santa Cruz Planning Commission.
Usually when a months-long subcommittee process like this draws to a close, it provides an opportunity for people to say how much they learned from people they disagree with. This March 7 meeting was a little short on “kumbaya” moments, though.
Instead, frustrations ran high, with only one committee member saying they were fully satisfied with the suggestions they planned to submit. Some members of the subcommittee felt it had done a poor job representing the community. Some felt they hadn’t properly answered the questions staff had asked them. Everyone agreed the issue was much more complicated than what could be covered in six meetings, and they’ve decided they need more time to collect and analyze all of the appropriate data.
“That was supposed to be the last meeting,” says David Foster, committee member and director for the Habitat For Humanity’s Monterey Bay chapter. “But obviously, nobody was happy with the conclusions that were drafted.”
The subcommittee is requesting two more three-hour sessions from the City Council, and suggesting that the short-term rental moratorium, which was scheduled to end May 31, be extended a second time.
The City Council formed the subcommittee last year, in response to the growing trend of rental listings on airbnb.com and similar sites, and tasked the group with exploring two main issues. One was how to preserve rental housing in Santa Cruz, and the other was how to protect the character of Santa Cruz’s neighborhoods.
Airbnb is an online marketplace that allows people to rent out their room or their whole house to people on vacation. In heated discussions that have played out the past two years in Santa Cruz and around the world, critics have worried that vacation rentals eat into valuable housing stock, sending rent and home prices up, while supporters see the service as a uniquely 21st-century shift in the economy that offers a better vacation experience to consumers and lets people supplement their incomes.
Caroline Kao, who moved to Santa Cruz five years ago to attend UCSC for her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology, knew she wanted to be on the subcommittee because she cares deeply about rental availability. “I moved from New York, and I thought that was the worst a rental market could get. So I was very surprised when I moved to a small city that somehow rent is still an exorbitant rate,” remembers Kao, who believes vacation rentals cripple the rental market.
Once landlords know they can rake in bigger bucks out of a short-term rental, she says, it not only takes those units off the market, but it raises the property values for the whole neighborhood.
Kao feels that in order for the 11-member committee—put together last fall by Councilmember Cynthia Mathews, then-City-Councilmember Don Lane and then-City-Councilmember Pamela Comstock—to better represent the community, she wishes it had included more tenants. Just three members currently rent in Santa Cruz, whereas 56 percent of city residents are renters. “If it was truly representative of the population, we’d have six members [who rent],” she says.
One committee member at last week’s meeting did make a point of reminding everyone that, even though many subcommittee members might now own homes, they still remember what it’s like to be renters.
As of December, the finance department reported that 291 short-term rentals were registered, accounting for about 1 percent of available rentals, although the actual number of operating vacation rentals appears to be higher. In April 2016, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that roughly 76 percent of Airbnb listings were unregistered with the city.
“We know the registered number is not the complete list,” says Brion Sprinsock, who serves on the committee. By cross-referencing short-term rental sites over the course of five months, he came up with a very different number: 577.
“The most frightening statistic is [that] out of the 291 registered with the city, all but 45 registered within the last three years,” he says. “Nothing else in the city is growing at this rate. Not heroin use, not traffic, not crime. It’s mind-boggling.”
Although the city requires landlords with short-term rentals to pay transient occupancy tax (TOT)—a tax paid by all 60 local hotel and lodging businesses—not everyone ponies up. And Airbnb has anonymity protection, allowing it to hide information on who is renting what units in any given city around the world, making enforcement difficult.
Sprinsock owns 18 rental units, which he rents to 48 tenants. He also owns two extended-stay places in Santa Cruz—the Adobe on Green Street and the Hinds House, but he says his concerns about Airbnb have nothing to do with any competition they pose to his inns. Most of his income, he notes, comes from his homes. And he could make more money if he expanded his hospitality business, switching to all vacation rentals.
“Don’t make it easier for me to kick out my 48 tenants and triple my income,” he says.
For what he sees as a worst-case scenario in the approach to vacation rentals, Sprinsock points to Venice Beach. With data from InsideAirbnb.com—a watchdog site for the service—he’s found there are 1,900 vacation rentals in the 1.5-square-mile city.
In a position that may sound extreme to some people, he and Kao both suggest the city could see every short-term rental in residential areas as a zoning violation.
Timerie Gordon and her husband Christian Nielsen have roots in Santa Cruz. Since 2007, Gordon and her husband have owned and operated Nielsen Studios, and they own their home. Until this year, they rented a long-term with a shared wall attached to their home. They recently switched it to a vacation rental in order to keep the availability open for when family or friends decide to visit, while still making some money in the meantime. She notes they have not—as of yet—made as much as they did with a long-term rental, and even if they do in the future, the money isn’t what’s important to her. She believes the committee members who operate short-term vacation rentals were able to put aside their personal interests because they still have a vested interest in Santa Cruz.
“There is a quality-of-the-neighborhood issue,” she says. “There are signs all over that if [vacation rentals are] undiscussed, things can get out of hand.”
Tucked away on the busy ocean-bound route funneling tourists off of the 17 and onto the Boardwalk, there lies a subtle coffee oasis serving affordable “elite coffee” that’s not just for the elite. Opening its doors in 2015, Coffeeville offers that real laidback, beach-town cafe feel, with a cozy studying nook and outdoor riverside seating. Yes, the “river” is actually Branciforte Creek, which is mostly surrounded by concrete, but on a bright breezy day Coffeeville’s open patio totally transforms the scenery. Its brews are smooth, its pastries a perfect pairing, and a host of delicious substitutions for the dairy averse are available, along with housemade organic syrups (how about some honey and hazelnut, black walnut, or creme de menthe?). 
In some parts of Afghanistan, there is still no refrigeration—hence the need for out-of-the-box culinary thinking, honed over generations. Qurut yogurt has been dried and rehydrated with water, and the resulting mint- and garlic-infused paste tastes similar to tzatziki sauce, with a twist. The yogurt lines the plate of the butternut squash kadoo boranee at Laili, downtown’s beloved home of inspiring Afghan-Californian fusion food. The boranee itself is mashed and sweetened butternut squash, its presentation simple yet elegant. The flavors are sure to wow. 
Players from the Warriors come in to Samba Rock almost every day to get their all-organic superfood acai bowls made with nutritious Brazilian ingredients.
In 1985, UCSC grads Tom Watson and Cathy Kriege opened Zachary’s on a historic Pacific Avenue site as a way to stay in Santa Cruz.
A Santa Cruz favorite for 50 years, Harbor Café was established as a local hangout for sailors and fishermen, evolving over the years into its current family-friendly reputation.
Founded in 1980 by Larry and Shelly Pearson, with the goal of making the best, most affordable cookie in town.
Jan Wilson’s family business encompasses three generations, including her daughter Carren and granddaughter Hannah.
Mobo’s slogan is “Mind Altering Sushi,” which, because food and the act of eating are psychoactive, is literally true. It might have something to do with the sake bombs, too.
Pono is a Hawaiian word and guiding principle that means to live with good morality and overall goodness, not only in personal and community relationships, but also in being good stewards of the Aina (land), Kai (ocean) and Honua (earth.)
The sope shells at Cilantros puff into a delicious pastry, unlike the more common flat cakes available elsewhere.
Co-owner Brad Briske was opening chef for Main Street Garden, which was once located in this spot—giving special meaning to the new restaurant’s name.
Ella King opened her fine-dining restaurant in the terminal in 2015, after running Café Ella for seven years.
