TO: PLANNING COMMISSION
FROM: CHRIS VEIRS, ACTING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2026
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER AN AMENDMENT TO THE CLAREMONT ZONING CODE (TITLE 16 OF THE CLAREMONT MUNICIPAL CODE) AMENDING CHAPTER 16.110 (SHORT-TERM RENTALS) PERTAINING TO HOMESHARING ELIGIBILITY, PERMIT SCOPE, AND SHORT-TERM RENTAL FACILITATOR REPORTING (FUNDING SOURCE: GENERAL FUND)
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SUMMARY
On May 13, 2025, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2025-04, which added Chapter 16.110 (Short-Term Rentals) to the Claremont Municipal Code and established a one-year pilot program regulating short-term rentals (STRs). The ordinance took effect on June 12, 2025. Under the pilot program, only hosted homesharing rentals are permitted; all other short-term rental types are prohibited, and the number of Short-Term Rental Permits is capped at twenty per STR Zone for a citywide maximum of 100 permits.
Claremont Municipal Code (CMC) section 16.110.140 requires the City Council to re-evaluate the pilot program one year after its effective date. On June 23, 2026, staff presented the City Council with a report on the program’s first year, including permit activity, enforcement outcomes, and revenue. Following that discussion, the City Council directed staff to prepare amendments to Chapter 16.110 that extend homesharing eligibility to qualifying tenants, clarify the scope of what a Short-Term Rental Permit authorizes, and incorporate the short-term rental facilitator reporting authority created by Senate Bill 346.
The attached draft ordinance, Exhibit to Attachment A, implements that direction and includes several related clarifying amendments identified through the first year of program administration. Because these amendments would amend the City’s Zoning Code, public hearings are required before both the Planning Commission, for a recommendation, and the City Council, for final approval. A new minimum twenty-day noticing requirement also applies.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ADOPT AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 16.110 (“SHORT-TERM RENTALS”) OF THE CLAREMONT MUNICIPAL CODE TO EXTEND HOMESHARING ELIGIBILITY TO QUALIFYING TENANTS, CLARIFY THE SCOPE OF SHORT-TERM RENTAL PERMITS, INCORPORATE SHORT-TERM RENTAL FACILITATOR REPORTING REQUIREMENTS UNDER SENATE BILL 346, AND MAKE RELATED CLARIFYING AMENDMENTS.
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ALTERNATIVES TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the recommendation, there are the following alternatives:
A. Request changes to the proposed ordinance and/or resolution, which, depending on the extent of the changes, may require the Commission to continue the item.
B. Take no action.
C. Indicate an intention to recommend denial of the proposed ordinance and/or resolution and direct staff to prepare a denial resolution for consideration at the October 6, 2026 Planning Commission meeting.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
During the first year, the Short-Term Rental Program generated $29,355 in Transient Occupancy Tax and $15,215 in Short-Term Rental Permits. To manage the STR program, the City has utilized the services of a compliance consultant and software program, Rentalscape, which is used to assist with identifying short-term rentals, tracking usage, offering a portal for permits and TOT payments, and a 24/7 bilingual hotline. The cost of these services is approximately $14,000 a year. The staff cost to manage this program is estimated at $12,600 and is included in the operating budget of the Community Development Department. The proposed amendments are not anticipated to result in a significant change to program costs or revenues.
The staff cost to prepare this report is estimated at $1,500 and is included in the operating budget of the Community Development Department.
ANALYSIS
Background
The City of Claremont maintained a long-standing prohibition on rentals of less than thirty consecutive days. In 2019, the Future Financial Opportunities Committee (FFOC) recommended that the City consider regulating STRs to enhance transparency and accountability in the market while generating additional revenue to, at a minimum, offset enforcement costs. The FFOC included the regulation of short-term rentals as an “immediate” recommendation.
In October 2019, staff presented the City Council with an overview of potential STR regulations. In March 2020, staff presented proposed regulations to the City Council, but further ordinance development was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2024, the City Council reaffirmed the regulation of STRs as a priority item and directed staff to prepare regulations addressing all STR types. The City conducted a community survey in August 2024, and the Planning Commission reviewed six key regulatory decisions in September 2024 and provided initial comments on a rough draft ordinance in November 2024.
On February 4, 2025, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the draft ordinance and forwarded a positive recommendation to the City Council. On April 22, 2025, the City Council held a public hearing on the proposed ordinance and received 245 written public comments and extensive public testimony. Following that testimony, the City Council directed staff to revise the ordinance to allow and regulate hosted short-term rentals only, including homesharing and accessory dwelling units, with a maximum of 20 hosted short-term rentals in each City Council district for a citywide maximum of 100, and to structure the program as a one-year pilot. The City Council introduced the revised ordinance for first reading that evening and directed staff to prepare a resolution establishing program fees and the permit cap.
The City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2025-04, and the ordinance took effect on June 12, 2025 (Attachment C).
On June 23, 2026, staff returned to the City Council with the one-year evaluation required by Section 16.110.140, along with policy discussion items regarding potential amendments to Chapter 16.110. Based on that report and the City Council’s discussion, the City Council directed staff to prepare amendments to: (1) extend homesharing eligibility to qualifying primary-resident tenants with written landlord consent; (2) codify the scope of what a Short-Term Rental Permit authorizes, including multi-room homesharing and the use of eligible accessory structures on the same parcel; and (3) incorporate provisions invoking Senate Bill 346 to authorize short-term rental facilitator reporting and strengthen enforcement.
Senate Bill 346
Senate Bill 346 (Chapter 751, Statutes of 2025), codified at Government Code Section 50990 et seq. and effective January 1, 2026, allows a local agency that has adopted an ordinance invoking its provisions to require short-term rental facilitators to report specified property and reservation data, to require the display of permit numbers on listings, and to impose administrative fines for noncompliance. Facilitator reporting gives the City a direct source of listing and address data rather than relying solely on third-party scraping of hosting platforms, which improves the City’s ability to identify unpermitted short-term rentals and to verify TOT remittance. The City must adopt an ordinance invoking these provisions in order to exercise the authority, which the attached draft ordinance does through new Section 16.110.150.
Ordinance Overview
The attached draft ordinance amends Chapter 16.110 in its entirety, with additions shown in underlines and deletions shown in strike-through. The key changes are summarized below:
• Homesharing by Qualifying Tenants: New Section 16.110.045 allows a qualifying tenant to apply for and hold a Short-Term Rental Permit for a homesharing rental. A qualifying tenant is a natural person who occupies the dwelling unit as their primary residence under a written lease, is not in default under that lease, and has obtained written landlord consent on a form approved by the Enforcement Official. The Landlord consent must identify the unit and any eligible accessory structures, acknowledge that the landlord has reviewed the requirements of the chapter, and state that consent may be revoked in writing at any time. If landlord consent is revoked or the tenancy ends, the permit automatically terminates and the tenant must notify the enforcement official within seven days. All obligations and penalties that apply to an owner apply equally to a qualifying tenant, and the permit may not be subleased, assigned, or transferred.
• Scope of the Homesharing Permit: Sections 16.110.030 and 16.110.040 are revised to state that a Short-Term Rental Permit authorizes a host to rent one or more bedrooms of the host’s primary residence and/or one or more eligible accessory structures located on the same legal parcel, including an eligible accessory dwelling unit or a permitted detached habitable structure such as a guest house, provided the host maintains and resides in at least one bedroom throughout the guest’s stay. The new language is intended to resolve questions raised during the first year regarding whether a host may rent more than one room and how detached structures are treated.
• New “Host” Definition and Terminology: A new definition of “Host” is added, meaning the owner or qualifying tenant who holds the permit and resides in at least one bedroom of the short-term rental throughout the guest’s stay. References to “owner” throughout the operational requirements and violation sections are changed to “host” so the obligations apply consistently to both owner-hosts and tenant-hosts. The obsolete definition of “homeshare interest” is deleted.
• Short-Term Rental Facilitator Reporting: New Section 16.110.105 invokes Government Code Chapter 4.6 (commencing with Section 50990) and authorizes the Enforcement Official to require facilitators to report the physical address, including the nine-digit ZIP Code, of each short-term rental in the City for which the facilitator processes a reservation or collects payment during a reporting period. This section also prohibits a facilitator from interfering with direct communication between a guest and a host.
• Dedicated Appeals Procedure: New Section 16.110.085 establishes an appeals process specific to short-term rental permits. A denial, suspension, or revocation may be appealed to the Director within ten calendar days, the Director’s decision may be appealed to the Planning Commission within ten calendar days, and the Planning Commission’s decision may be appealed to the City Council, whose decision is final, also within ten days. Each level of review is de novo. This replaces the cross-reference to Chapter 16.32, which is not well suited to permit-level enforcement decisions.
• Removal of the Pilot Program Provision: Section 16.110.140, which established the program as a pilot subject to re-evaluation after one year, is deleted since the required re-evaluation occurred on June 23, 2026.
• Administrative Streamlining: The requirement that a host file a summary or abstract of each rental contract with the Enforcement Official prior to each occupancy is deleted. Hosts remain the required to enter into a contract with a guest for each stay and to collect the required guest and vehicle information. This section was a holdover from the original draft, which allowed unhosted vacation rentals. Staff has found that this requirement is not necessary for hosted stays.
RELATIONSHIP TO CITY PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Staff has evaluated the agenda item in relationship to the City’s strategic and visioning documents and finds that it applies to the following City Planning Documents: Council Priorities, Economic Sustainability Plan, and 2026-28 Budget.
CEQA REVIEW
This item is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). It can be seen with certainty that the Code Amendment has no possibility of having a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, the adoption of the proposed Ordinance is not a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
The agenda and staff report for this item have been posted on the City website and distributed to interested parties. If you desire a copy, please contact Nhi Atienza at natienza@claremontca.gov.
Submitted by: Prepared by:
Chris Veirs Alex Cousins
Acting Community Development Director Senior Management Analyst
Attachments:
A - Draft Resolution Recommending City Council Approval with Draft Ordinance
B - 2/4/25 PC Meeting Minutes
C - Existing STR Ordinance