ALERT - Newport Beach City Council Meeting Has Two Items Today of Interest to STR Owners
This afternoon at 4 PM, the Newport Beach City Council will discuss and consider TWO items of note to STR owners and managers in Newport Beach.
Agenda Item 19 is the City’s response to the OC Grand Jury’s report on STR regulations Countywide.
Newport Beach Proposed Response to OC Grand Jury
Here’s a summary of the City’s draft response:
The City of Newport Beach has issued its formal response to the Orange County Grand Jury’s 2025 report on short-term rentals, titled “Long-Term Solutions to Short-Term Rentals.” The Grand Jury report evaluated STR issues across the county and proposed recommendations for better regulation and enforcement.
Here’s what Newport Beach had to say:
✅ Strong History of STR Oversight:
Newport Beach emphasized that it has regulated short-term rentals since the 1960s, with a full permitting system and enforcement tools adopted in 1992 and expanded multiple times since.
✅ Proactive Enforcement:
The City already conducts property inspections for health, safety, and code compliance, and it closely monitors illegal rentals — including misuse of platforms like Airbnb to disguise STRs as long-term leases.
✅ TOT Collection Transparency:
The City does not allow Online Booking Agencies (like Airbnb or VRBO) to remit Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) directly, citing transparency concerns. Instead, operators report directly to the City, and Newport Beach is working on software upgrades to modernize this process.
✅ Event Planning in Place:
While Newport Beach isn’t a host city for the 2026 World Cup or 2028 Olympics, it expects spillover tourism and plans to increase enforcement during those periods — just as it already does during the summer and major holidays.
✅ Collaboration Already Happening:
Contrary to the Grand Jury’s suggestion that cities don’t talk, Newport Beach says its staff already participate in monthly meetings with other cities' enforcement officials to share STR strategies and updates.
📋 City Commitments and Future Actions:
Newport Beach agreed to review and possibly enhance its STR regulations, evaluate audit procedures, and upgrade its technology for better tracking. However, it pushed back on some ideas (like monthly TOT collections from every property), saying they are not practical without major system changes.
What does this mean for STR owners in Newport Beach? While the City does have more effective programs that some envisioned by the County Grand Jury report, the City also makes it clear that aggressive enforcement is and will be their posture. While good enforcement of good laws is welcomed by well-run STRs, it can easily cross the line into overly-aggressive enforcement which treats even well-run STRs in the same manner as poorly run and illegal ones.
Meanwhile, as we previously reported, Agenda Item 24 is the City’s final adoption of 75 new STR permits in the City in Mixed-Use Zones and move them to the front of the line, delaying property owners who have waited legally and patiently on the waitlist for their permits by seven to ten years.
Details on City Council Meeting Here.
This policy was originally approved by the City Council before NBSTRA was formed. It was subject to Coastal Commission review, which has now been granted with minor changes. The City Council must now adopt this final version at a public hearing, scheduled for next Tuesday at 4 PM at Newport Beach City Hall.
Approvals after Coastal Commission review are often adopted without much comment, but we feel it’s important for NBSTRA to speak up.
NBSTRA supports STR permits in mixed-use zones. STR guests shop more and dine more locally than other visitors. STR guests, especially those in mixed-use zones, support local small businesses by staying right in the middle of shopping and dining.
However, we have serious concerns that:
These changes were made without any input from the existing STR community,
These 75 new permits are moved to the front of the line, setting back existing wait list members by upwards of 10 years, and
The City should also be encouraging more STRs in other mixed-use zones, like Balboa Island and the Peninsula, where many local shops are struggling.
Speaking at City Hall for our STR community is exactly why we formed the NBSTRA. Our city lobbyist will be at the Council meeting and make sure our voice is heard on both these matters.
This is also why we need you to join the dozens of your fellow STR owners, managers and wait-listers in the City who are already NBSTRA members. Only by representing the collective interests of all these property owners and businesses can we have the clout to be heard at City Hall.
We’re asking you to take immediate action:
If you are local in Newport Beach, it’s always a good idea to attend the City Council meeting so the City knows our members are engaged.
Similarly, you can email the City Council at citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov, and express your thoughts. We recommend being supportive of STRs in mixed-use zones, while encouraging the City to engage more with NBSTRA and the STR community for input on future changes.
If you have not already done so, join the NBSTRA now so we can continue to build our collective political influence in Newport Beach.
NBSTRA representatives will be at the Council meeting to represent you, but it is important that the City Council knows our members are organized now and ready to speak up. We’ll report back on what happens at the Council meeting next week.