Short-term rentals in Pacifica, explained properly.

Sec. 9-4.4902(c)-(d): the cap is 150 permits at any given time. Applicants over the cap go on a waiting list processed in the order applications were received. Under Sec. 9-4.4904(h), waitlisted applications for qualifying properties are processed twice a year, between October 31 and November 30 and between April 30 and May 31, oldest first, and a nonrefundable waitlist fee set by Council resolution applies. The Administrator may ask a waitlisted applicant for updated information when a permit becomes available. In the Coastal Zone the article is enforceable only after Coastal Commission certification.

Sec. 9-4.4903(a) bars short-term rentals in any ADU or JADU, citing Secs. 9-4.453(a)(6) and 9-4.454(a)(6), and no permit is issued if the site is not compliant. Sec. 9-4.4903(b) also bars a short-term rental in any location not approved as a permanent dwelling unit, including a vehicle, trailer, tent, storage shed or garage. These two standards apply to all short-term rentals when the article takes effect (Sec. 9-4.4912), which in the Coastal Zone is after Coastal Commission certification.

Sec. 9-4.4903(f) allows only hosted short-term rentals in a multi-family development, and Sec. 9-4.4905(v)(iii) prohibits unhosted rentals there. A multi-family development includes a duplex, triplex, attached units (including attached single-family dwellings), apartment houses and flats. For a single-family unit or a residential condominium unit, one short-term rental may operate as an accessory use on the site (Sec. 9-4.4903(e)). A hosted rental is one where the operator occupies one or more bedrooms while other areas are rented. Sec. 9-4.4903(f) and Sec. 9-4.4905(v) do not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4903(d). A permit also covers a single short-term rental on a single site. Sec. 9-4.4903(c) through (f) do not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912); in the Coastal Zone the article is enforceable only after Coastal Commission certification.

Sec. 9-4.4905(v)(i). An unhosted rental is one where no operator is present on the site during the rental. At renewal the operator must document the nights rented in the prior year and whether they were hosted or unhosted (Sec. 9-4.4907(b)(ii)). This standard does not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4905(v)(ii). The rule is written for unhosted rentals. A short-term rental is a stay of less than thirty consecutive days. This standard does not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4907. A permit not renewed by the October 31 deadline expires and the operator must apply for a new permit under the rules then in force. Renewal applications are reviewed for compliance and may be refused if the operator is not in compliance. Permits issued before September 10, 2025 pick up the later-applying standards at renewal (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4904(b), (d)(ii) and (h) and Sec. 9-4.4908(d) refer to fees set by Council resolution. The fee schedule hasn't been reviewed yet, so no dollar amounts are shown here. A business license and business license tax also apply (Sec. 9-4.4905(k)).

Sec. 9-4.4904 requires operator and responsible-party details, a site plan with on-site parking, a floor plan showing legally permitted bedrooms, the owner's consent if the operator is not the owner, the hosted or unhosted choice and estimated nights, the advertising platforms used, proof of an installed exterior noise monitor and proof of insurance, plus an owner affidavit under penalty of perjury. The inspection checks the number of legally permitted bedrooms, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, pools and spas, and lighted ingress and egress. No permit is issued with unresolved building, fire, health or planning violations, or when the site has had two or more violations of the article in the prior twelve months or the operator's permit was revoked within twelve months. Appeals of the Administrator's decision go to a hearing officer within ten days. Permitted operators and sites are listed on a public registry.

Sec. 9-4.4905(m)-(n). A legally permitted bedroom is one approved for occupancy in the City's building permit records. These standards do not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912). Guests must be given the maximum occupant number before arrival (Sec. 9-4.4905(d)).

Sec. 9-4.4905(s). This standard does not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912). Sec. 9-4.4905(g) also bars neighborhood parking impacts.

Sec. 9-4.4905(o)-(r) and Sec. 9-4.4901(n). No sound-producing equipment may be used outside or be audible from outside a rental, and amplified music inside may not be heard beyond the property line. The noise monitor has no camera and does not record conversations. Guests must be told the property has a noise monitor. These standards (subsections (l) through (v)) do not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4905(l). This standard does not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4905(c) and Sec. 9-4.4901(p). The operator may be the responsible party. Changes to the responsible party's address or telephone must reach the City within 48 hours (Sec. 9-4.4904(a)(iii)).

Sec. 9-4.4905(e)-(f). The advertisement format is "City of Pacifica Short-term Rental Permit No. ####". The sign shows the permit number, a QR code of at least 3-by-3 inches with the operator and responsible party contact details and a link to the City's code enforcement website, and is posted at the front of the site for single-family dwellings or on the door for a hosted multi-family unit or condominium. Advertising platforms may not complete a booking unless the rental is on the City's registry (Sec. 9-4.4911(b)).

Sec. 9-4.4905(t). Events include weddings, conferences, retreats, commercial events and loud or disruptive gatherings. Home occupations run by the primary resident under the City's home occupation ordinance are allowed if parking and all other requirements are met. This standard does not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked (Sec. 9-4.4912).

Sec. 9-4.4906 and Sec. 9-4.4905(d). Records include reservation history, transient occupancy tax payments, length of stay and number of persons per reservation. Noise monitor readings are kept 30 days. Guest materials cover an exit diagram, fire extinguisher locations, emergency numbers, contacts, the maximum occupants, parking, noise rules, quiet hours, and trash and recycling rules, and must also be available in print at the site.

Sec. 9-4.4909. Operating without a permit or violating any provision of the article is deemed a threat to public health or safety. The $1,500 fine applies to an initial violation, $3,000 to a second violation of the same provision within one year and $5,000 to each later one. The Administrator may grant a hardship waiver after a first violation for a bona fide effort to comply; the fines do not apply to a first-time failure to register or pay a business license fee. Citations may go to occupants, owners, operators, responsible parties and advertising platforms. Enforcement costs are recoverable from the operator, and an aggrieved resident within 300 feet may bring a private action after 30 days' written notice.

Sec. 9-4.4908 and Sec. 9-4.4909(e). Grounds include misrepresentation, violation of law, two violations in twelve months, detrimental operation, refused inspection and records not produced within thirty days. A suspension or revocation takes effect ten days after the notice unless a timely appeal with the fee is filed; a hearing follows within thirty days and the hearing officer's decision is final administratively.

Sec. 9-4.4912(a): the immediately applicable sections are 9-4.4900 to 9-4.4902, 9-4.4903(a)-(b), 9-4.4904, 9-4.4905(a)-(k) and 9-4.4906 to 9-4.4911. Sections 9-4.4903(c)-(f) and 9-4.4905(l)-(v) do not apply to a permit issued before September 10, 2025 until it is renewed, terminated or revoked. In the Coastal Zone the article applies after Coastal Commission certification, and the same carry-over runs from the date of certification (Sec. 9-4.4912(b)).

Sec. 9-4.4912(b). On certification, the immediately applicable sections listed in Sec. 9-4.4912(a) apply in the Coastal Zone, and Sec. 9-4.4903(c)-(f) and 9-4.4905(l)-(v) are held back for permits issued before the certification date until renewal, termination or revocation. The Pacifica Municipal Code page we read is codified through Ordinance No. 906-C.S. (Supp. No. 59, online March 17, 2026) Confirm the status with the City's Planning Department before relying on this for a Coastal Zone address.

California Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 lets the legislative body of any city, county, or city and county levy a tax on the privilege of occupying a room or other living space in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel or other lodging, unless the stay is longer than 30 days. A county's tax applies only in its unincorporated areas. The rate, registration and filing rules are set by each city or county, so the local tax is shown in the city's own section of this page.

Government Code sections 50990 to 50996 (Senate Bill 346, 2025) apply only in a city or county that adopts an ordinance making them apply. Where they apply, a booking platform must, on the local agency's request, report the physical address with nine-digit ZIP code of each short-term rental it facilitated (no more often than every 3 months, or monthly if the local tax is remitted monthly), and must include in each listing any applicable local license number and any transient occupancy tax certification issued by the local agency. The local agency may fine a platform that does not report. The act does not stop a city or county from regulating short-term rentals, platforms or tax collection in other ways.

Government Code section 66333(g) requires a city's junior accessory dwelling unit ordinance to require that a rental of a junior ADU be for a term longer than 30 days (as amended by Assembly Bill 1154, in force January 1, 2026). Section 66323(e) requires a city to require that a rental of an ADU created under that section (the ministerial, by-right approvals) be for a term longer than 30 days. For other ADUs on a lot with a single-family home, section 66315 bars standards beyond section 66314, including owner occupancy, except that a city may require that the property be used for rentals of terms 30 days or longer. Cities can be stricter in their own codes; see the city section.

Civil Code section 4741 says an owner in a common interest development is not subject to a governing-document provision that prohibits, has the effect of prohibiting, or unreasonably restricts renting or leasing a separate interest, ADU or junior ADU, and an association may not cap rentals below 25 percent of the separate interests. The same section says it does not prohibit an association from adopting and enforcing a provision that prohibits transient or short-term rental of a separate property interest for 30 days or less. Check your association's governing documents.

Civil Code section 1940 applies the chapter on hiring of real property (Civil Code sections 1940 to 1954.071) to tenants, lessees, boarders, lodgers and others who hire dwelling units, but excludes a person in transient occupancy in a hotel, motel, residence club or other facility when the stay is or would be subject to a transient occupancy tax under Revenue and Taxation Code section 7280 (stays of 30 days or less). Stays longer than that are not covered by this exclusion.

In a December 6, 2016 letter to coastal cities and counties, the California Coastal Commission said that regulating short-term or vacation rentals in the coastal zone must happen within the local coastal program or under a coastal development permit, because it changes the intensity of use and access to the shoreline and so counts as development under the Coastal Act. The Commission said it does not believe outright bans adopted outside that process are legally enforceable in the coastal zone, that it has not historically supported blanket bans, and that it has supported limits such as caps on numbers by area, limits on days, occupancy limits, 24-hour response, parking, noise and signage rules and payment of transient occupancy tax. This applies only to places inside the coastal zone.