Napa County Grand Jury
• 2018-2019
Enforcing Short-Term Vacation Rental Codes in the Napa Valley
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
Neither the County of Napa Code Compliance division nor the City of Napa Code Enforcement division have enough staff to manage all the code compliance and enforcement complaints they receive from the public on a timely basis.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Both the County of Napa Code Compliance division and the City of Napa Code Enforcement division evaluate their staffing ratios versus complaints received and cases investigated. This should be completed
F2
Both the County and City of Napa Municipal Codes are outdated, unwieldy, and in need of revision. Officials recognize that the task is difficult with the current staff and violations cannot be completely remedied. This leaves code enforcement officers without sufficient resources to enforce the County/City codes for the benefit and protection of the citizens.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Both the County of Napa and the City of Napa complete a revision to their respective Codes, by June 30, 2020. These revisions should remove outdated codes which are no longer enforced, as well as make it easier for residents to find answers to their most common code questions.
F3
The County has an estimated 450 non-permitted STVRs within the unincorporated areas of the County. This not only deprives the County of much- needed housing stock for residents and workforce, but also denies revenue to hotels, as well as Transient Occupancy Taxes to the County and its cities. The number of non-permitted STVRs in the City of Napa is unknown.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
When staff turnover allows, both the City and County of Napa consider an alternative workweek for new CE officer hires that would allow for evening and/or weekend coverage.
F4
Both the County of Napa Code Compliance officers as well as the City of Napa Code Enforcement officers have restricted work schedules that limit their ability to monitor STVR violations during peak evening and weekend hours when many violations occur.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The County explore ways to reduce the number of non-permitted STVRs in the unincorporated areas of the county
F5
STVR owners are aware of the resource limitations faced by City and County enforcement teams, and are thus adept at avoiding detection and/or prosecution.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The County authorize and train CC officers to be armed with pepper spray,
F6
The County CC officer is a potentially dangerous occupation. Officers are issued bulletproof vests, but are not supplied the appropriate tools, such as pepper spray, to defend themselves. 10
No recommendations for this finding
Commendations 1
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CM1 Page 12C1. The Napa Valley Register has recently reported that the City and County CC/CE teams have taken legal action against several non-permitted STVRs and the Grand Jury strongly supports those actions and the accompanying public show of enforcement. BIBLIOGRAPHY City of Napa Municipal Code http://qcode.us/codes/napa/ Napa County Municipal Code https://library.municode.com/ca/napa_county/codes/code_of_ordinances City of Napa Code Enforcement website: https://www.cityofnapa.org/244/Code-Enforcement-Division Napa County Code Compliance/Enforcement Division website: https://www.countyofnapa.org/1888/Code-Enforcement https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/city-hundreds-of-napa-residents-rent- vacation-stays-illegally/article_f1330632-f8a4-5287-b42c-358568fddd5d.html https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/napa-county-takes-vacation-rental-to- court/article_0911657a-f37e-5d23-8f24-839237cb9f51.html https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/illegal-napa-vacation-rental-shuts-down-put- up-for-sale/article_6e5a8b6d-3885-5cf2-939a-9a01d21fb6dd.html https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/operator-of-notorious-napa-vacation-rental- settles-case-with-city/article_6df6700f-1afa-562d-8383-13ab72a983fd.html Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Penal Code section 929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury. 12
No Responses Found 2
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
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