Grover Beach officials began taking the next steps in drafting a short-term rental ordinance, slated to go into effect by the summer.

City Manager Matthew Bronson said it's important for the city to get the ordinance right.

"We've been working on a fast-track in order to create a regulatory environment where there is none in time for, ideally, this summer/fall when we have the most usage of our short-term rentals," Bronson said.

At its April 1 meeting, the Grover Beach City Council unanimously approved the short-term rental regulatory framework and recommended that staff proceed with drafting an ordinance.

While there aren't any specifics about the draft ordinance just yet, Bronson told New Times that at a Jan. 22 meeting, the council asked staff to look into not limiting short-term rentals in certain areas of the city and not limiting the location of rentals to just residential areas. The council also wanted staff to include homestay—where the owner is present on the property while the guest is staying—but not limit the rentals to just that option.

"The ordinance will also have the information and requirements with regard to noise, parking, garbage, and it will talk about the complaint process and the violation process to ensure neighborhood compatibility while we allow the short-term rentals in a regulated manner," Bronson said.

The city currently does not have an ordinance that addresses short-term rentals.

According to a staff report, in 2011 the council considered adopting a short-term rental ordinance but did not take action at the time. Since then, the number of short-term rentals has increased, as has the number of reported complaints from neighbors of the rentals.

Host Compliance, a firm that tracks short-term rentals for local agencies, estimated that there are currently about 100 short-term rentals advertising in Grover Beach.

The actual availability of short-term rentals in the city is unknown as is the amount of transient-occupancy tax the city of Grover Beach is losing by not regulating the rentals, the report stated.

The city, however, did receive about $69,000 in transient-occupancy taxes over the last year from approximately 40 short-term rentals that voluntarily submitted taxes to the city.

The draft ordinance will be brought to the council on May 6 for feedback and review, and the public hearing process will begin for the Planning Commission and the City Council by the end of June.