The Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance 2026-1872 on Oct. 6 by a 4–0 vote, with Supervisor Vasquez absent, according to the county clerk’s draft minutes. The ordinance sets its effective date 30 days after adoption, making that Nov. 5. It amends the county’s zoning rules for unincorporated areas and does not change rental rules within Fairfield city limits.
County planners said some operators advertised a 31-day minimum while offering cancellations or refunds that allowed much shorter stays. The staff report says unpermitted operators used that arrangement to bypass restrictions in places where vacation house rentals are not allowed, costing the county lodging-tax revenue, permit fees and business-license fees.
The amendments define a long-term rental as at least 31 consecutive days of actual occupancy, without an early termination or prorated refund that produces a shorter stay. The minimum-stay rule expressly allows shorter rentals where they are permitted under the county’s short-term rental rules. An agreement labeled as 31 days or more that produces a shorter stay through a host’s cancellation policy, a guest refund or advertising practices is treated as a short-term rental subject to the ordinance’s penalties.
The long-term rental standards limit a dwelling to no more than one tenant within any rolling 31-day period. A pattern of refunds or early terminations without documented emergency circumstances can serve as evidence of unlawful short-term rental activity.
Listings subject to those long-term rental standards must state a 31-day minimum and cannot show daily or weekly rates or suggest availability for brief stays. Operators must keep guest arrival and departure dates, charges and refunds, and reasons for early termination for three years, and provide those records to the county on request for an audit or investigation.
The county adopted its original short-term rental ordinance in October 2018. A two-year moratorium on new vacation house rental permits in rural residential zones began in April 2021, followed by an ordinance update in March 2023. The Planning Commission reviewed the latest amendments in April 2026, and the Airport Land Use Commission found them consistent with its land use compatibility plans in May, according to the staff report.