On August 13, 2025, the California Coastal Commission approved Monterey County’s Local Coastal Plan Amendment, implementing the new STR ordinance in the coastal zone. Every vacation rental will require a license (Homestay, Limited, or Commercial).
- Homestay: the Owner must stay in the home during their guests’ stay and home must be the Owner’s Primary Residence.
- Limited Vacation Rental: allows the Owner or Operator to rent their home up to three times per year as a Non-hosted Vacation Rental.
- Commercial Vacation Rental: allows the Owner or Operator to rent their home for an unlimited number of times per year (Non-hosted).
Commercial rentals will be capped at 4% in the areas where allowed. Only Homestays and Limited Vacation Rentals will be allowed in Big Sur, Carmel Valley, and Carmel Highlands.
Anyone seeking to engage in “commercial” short-term rentals will have to apply for and obtain a Coastal Development Permit (as well as other permits/certifications). The CDP process will likely be time-consuming and expensive, which further discourages short-term rentals. It’s estimated that an application will cost between $8,000 -$12,000 and will be subject to renewal (cost unknown) every three years. Owners who already have permits will be required to renew every seven years, and applicants who are rejected are not entitled to any rebate of application fees.
The County of Monterey has a severe budget shortage, and this ordinance will seriously reduce tax revenue, thus exacerbating the issue. Instead of patterning an ordinance after successful ones such as those of Santa Cruz and Pacific Grove, the County passed an onerous ordinance designed to discourage short term rentals in favor of hotel stays.
The Monterey County Vacation Rental Alliance provided objections in great detail with supporting evidence and studies, but the Commission chose to disregard this input.
The ordinance will require formal adoption by the Board of Supervisors and will go into effect thirty days after that time.
Note: The new regulations do not apply within city limits of Monterey County (such as Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzales, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Sand City, Seaside, and Soledad).
Application info can be found here: Vacation Rentals | County of Monterey, CA