Office of the City Treasurer
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Short-Term Residential Occupancy (STRO)
(Updated on January 12, 2022)
The 
STRO Ordinance (Ordinance) requires a license for all STRO of a dwelling unit, or part thereof, for less than one month. There are four (4) license types with varying requirements on the number of days and type of dwelling available for the STRO. A host may only hold one license and operate one dwelling unit for STRO at a time; licenses are not transferrable between ownership or location/dwelling unit.
A host may obtain a maximum of one license at a time in one of the following four (4) STRO license tiers:
|
Tier 1 |
Tier 2 Home Sharing |
Tier 3 Whole Home (excluding Mission Beach) |
Tier 4 Mission Beach Whole Home |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Rented for an aggregate of 20 days or less per year The owner or permanent resident does not need to reside onsite during the STRO |
Renting a room or rooms in the home for more than 20 days per year so long as the owner or permanent resident resides onsite The owner or permanent resident may be absent from the permanent residence during the STRO for up to 90 days per calendar year Home sharing includes duplex properties and eligible accessory dwelling units when the host resides onsite |
Rentals for more than 20 days per year where the owner or permanent resident does not reside onsite | |
|
The number of licenses issued will not exceed 1% of San Diego’s total housing units outside the Mission Beach Community Planning Area* Guest two-night minimum stay required |
The number of licenses issued will not exceed 30% of the Mission Beach Community Planning Area* Guest two-night minimum stay required |
||
*Based on the most recent Demographic and Socioeconomic Housing estimates issued by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) rounded up to the nearest whole number
The Office of the City Treasurer will establish a lottery application process; this webpage will be updated as more information becomes available. If the total number of Tier 3 and/or Tier 4 applications received are greater than the number of licenses available, applications will be chosen via a lottery. Prioritization will be given to “good actors” as outlined in this memo to City Council.
Additionally, City Council has approved the following application and license fees:
| Application Fee | License Fee | |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 |
$ 25 |
$ 100 |
| Tier 2 |
$ 25 |
$ 225 |
| Tier 3 |
$ 70 |
$ 1000 |
| Tier 4 |
$ 70 |
$ 1000 |
Note that application fees are non-refundable, and licenses expire two (2) years from the date of issuance and may be renewed in accordance with section 510.0106(d) of the Ordinance.
This website will be updated as additional information becomes available. If you would like to be notified when the website has been updated, please submit your email address to receive email updates.