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- City of *0110111a <br />No. 1 The Plaza <br />Sonoma California 95476-6690 <br />Phone (707) 938-3681 Fax (707)938-8775 <br />E -Mail: cityhall@sonomacity.org <br />July 27, 2015 <br />Stephany Aguilar, President <br />League of California Cities <br />1400 K Street <br />Sacramento, CA 95814 <br />Dear President Aguilar: <br />RE: A RESOLUTION OF THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES SUPPORTING SB 593 <br />(MCGUIRE) AND CONTINUED LOCAL FLEXIBILITY FOR CITIES AS THEY ADDRESS <br />NEIGHBORHOOD AND FISCAL IMPACTS OF TEMPORARY RENTALS OF RESIDENTIAL <br />UNITS FOR TOURIST OR TRANSIENT USES <br />The City of Sonoma supports the proposed resolution related to the Sharing Economy and <br />concurs in the submission of the resolution for consideration by the League of Cities General <br />Assembly at its annual meeting on October 2, 2015. <br />The resolution reaffirms and acknowledges local efforts to effectively regulate land use impacts <br />and collect applicable taxes from transient residential rentals as part of the emerging "shared <br />economy". <br />The short-term rental of residential houses, rooms, condominiums, and apartments present <br />numerous challenges within neighborhoods and to adjacent property owners. They may create <br />additional noise, traffic, parking, privacy and public safety issues, subvert local rent -control laws, <br />decrease available housing stock and in some cases turn residential neighborhoods into de - <br />facto hotel rows. <br />Where the temporary rental of residential units is allowed by local regulation, the associated <br />transient occupancy tax (TOT) should also be collected. These units are in direct competition <br />with hotels, motels and other accommodations where guests pay the local transient occupancy <br />tax, so all such uses should be subject to the same tax. The revenues generated support local <br />streets, roads, fire, police, lifeguards, trash pick-up, park maintenance and other local public <br />services which directly affect local quality of life and the attraction of the community for a visitor. <br />The City of Sonoma believes SB 593, as referenced in the proposed resolution, acknowledges <br />existing local authority in this area and provides the necessary data for local jurisdictions to <br />enforce their regulations regarding short-term residential rentals and a helpful regulatory <br />framework that local governments may choose in lieu of exercising their existing authority. <br />The City of Sonoma is a tourist destination and the proliferation of vacation rentals is a top <br />priority for City staff. The workload in monitoring and attempting to ensure compliance with local <br />