Protecting Sunset Mesa From Becoming a Party-Rental Destination

Sunset Mesa has always had renters, and for most of our history they have been a healthy, welcome part of the community. That began to change with the rise of Airbnb and VRBO. More and more, owners started renting their homes for shorter and shorter stretches — a few days, even a single weekend. It became a common sight: a rental car pulls up, a group of strangers climbs out with roller bags, and the house fills with a rotating cast of overnight guests.

Short-term visitors who are only in the neighborhood for a weekend have far less at stake in how they treat it than residents or longer-term tenants do. We are not accusing any current homeowner of permitting late-night parties or reckless driving — and we have no doubt that when problems are reported, most owners take action. But an owner who does not live here cannot respond quickly, and violations are hard to verify after the fact.

The risk is about to get bigger. In just the past few months, a large number of lots — both burned and still standing — have sold to new owners, some of them developers and builders who plan to construct a home and resell it. That business runs on tight margins, and a home sitting unsold generates no income. Once that financial pressure builds, short-term rental income is one of the fastest ways for an investor-owner to offset carrying costs while waiting for the right buyer — which means the incentive to run a full-time Airbnb operation out of a rebuilt home will only grow.

Nearly every coastal community north of Los Angeles has already adopted a 30-day minimum rental term for exactly this reason. If Sunset Mesa does not follow suit, we risk becoming the exception — the neighborhood where a rental car and a bachelor or bachelorette party are one phone call away, every weekend of the year.

This amendment closes that door. It requires any lease to run at least 30 days, in writing, and in compliance with our governing documents — protecting the quiet, residential character that makes Sunset Mesa worth living in.

New Amendment Verbiage: 

Minimum Lease Term: No lease or rental of a lot or residence/dwelling shall be permitted to be for a term of a less than thirty (30) days. An owner shall only be permitted to rent their lot or residence/dwelling pursuant to a lease that is: (i) in writing; (ii) for a term of at least thirty (30) days; and (iii) subject in all respects to the Association's governing documents, including, but not limited to, this Declaration.