Short-term rentals in Port Hueneme, explained properly.

Permits are issued for one year (Sec. 5663(d)). Renewal may be denied if the operator has three or more confirmed violations in the preceding 24 months, has not paid required transient occupancy tax, permit fees, fines or other amounts due, has not complied with the approved nuisance response plan, or is otherwise not in good standing; the City may require an inspection or an updated nuisance response plan before renewal (Sec. 5663(e), (f)). An application filed after expiration is a new application subject to the cap and any waiting list.

Sec. 5663(d). A new owner applies as a new applicant, subject to the citywide cap and any waiting list in effect at that time.

The annual permit fee is $995 (Secs. 5664(a), 5672(a)), set by Ordinance No. 833 adopted September 18, 2026. The City may amend the fee by resolution to recover program costs. The fee is solely for administering Chapter 10 and is separate from, and in addition to, any business license tax under Chapter 1 of Article 5 (Sec. 5672(d), (e)). Transient occupancy tax is paid separately.

Sec. 5665(k) bars short-term rentals in accessory dwelling units, affordable housing units and mobile homes. The ordinance does not say how it identifies an affordable housing unit.

The applicant certifies that operation is permitted by and complies with leases, covenants, conditions and restrictions, association rules and other private restrictions (Sec. 5664(g)). If the property is in a homeowners association or common-interest development, the operator gives the association written notice and a copy of the approved nuisance response plan at initial issuance and each renewal, and an updated copy within 10 calendar days after a change. A City permit does not authorize a violation of private restrictions, and the City does not interpret or enforce them (Sec. 5669(c), (d)).

Sec. 5665(a). Events, weddings and other commercial gatherings may not exceed permitted occupancy (Sec. 5665(i)).

Sec. 5665(b). Trash must be stored in proper containers and set out only under City schedules, with instructions posted inside the unit (Sec. 5665(d)).

Garage spaces, driveway spaces or a combination count if made available to guests. Tandem parking may be permitted if it does not obstruct sidewalks, driveways or fire access. A space is not counted if using it would obstruct a sidewalk, bicycle lane, alley, fire lane, required emergency access, or access to a garage or driveway serving another dwelling. The City may inspect parking areas on reasonable notice (Sec. 5665(c)).

The contact person must be on site within 30 minutes during quiet hours and within 60 minutes at other times if needed to resolve a complaint. Within one hour of a complaint the operator or contact notifies the City, and within 24 hours files an incident response report. Operators keep a complaint log and give copies to the City on request. Failure to respond is an independent violation (Secs. 5667, 5666).

The notice, on a City-approved form, gives the address, permit number, the 24-hour contact number, a summary of the nuisance response plan and how to report complaints. Proof of mailing or delivery is submitted before a permit is issued or renewed, and an annual affidavit is filed. Updated notice is due within 10 calendar days after a change in the contact person or contact information (Secs. 5669, 5665(f)).

Sec. 5665(e), (h).

The life-safety certification covers smoke alarms in each sleeping room, carbon monoxide alarms where required, portable fire extinguishers, unobstructed emergency exits, evacuation information and pool and spa safety features where applicable, and bars use of garages, tents, vehicles, storage rooms or non-habitable spaces for sleeping. The City may require an inspection or documentation before issuance or renewal (Sec. 5664(e), (h)).

The plan covers complaint response timeframes, contact information, written Good Neighbor Guidelines delivered to guests on arrival, monitoring of occupancy and parking, steps to prevent recurrence including guest eviction, and an acknowledgment that repeated nuisance activity may lead to suspension or revocation. Each failure to follow the plan is an independent violation (Sec. 5666).

Records include guest names, dates of stay, gross rent, cleaning fees, platform fees charged to guests and transient occupancy tax remitted (Sec. 5674). The City may use a third-party compliance monitoring service to identify unpermitted rentals and verify tax collection (Sec. 5670).

Violations are declared public nuisances. Fines must comply with Government Code Section 36900, including its limits on a first-time failure to register or pay a business license fee and any hardship-waiver procedure. Operating without a valid permit is a misdemeanor or infraction as determined by the City Attorney (Sec. 5671).

Violations may also bring permit suspension. Multiple violations from the same continuous incident count as one violation event for suspension or revocation. The City Council's decision on an appeal is final (Secs. 5671(c), (e), 5675).

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.