Owner of property rented on short-term basis petitioned for writ of mandate to enjoin city from enforcing zoning ordinances prohibiting short-term rentals.
The Superior Court enjoined ban on short-term rentals pending approval of zoning ordinances by Coastal Commission. City appealed.
The Court of Appeal held that:
- City’s residential zoning ordinances always permitted short- and long-term rentals, and thus ban on short-term rentals was amendment to local coastal program requiring approval by Coastal Commission;
- Short-term residential rentals did not fall within definition of “hotels, motels, and time-share facilities”; and
- Court of Appeal would not take judicial notice of decades-old definition of “hotel.”