Pacifica, CA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Pacifica Municipal Code Article 49 (Sec. ), enacted by Ordinance No. effective September 10, 2025, defines a hosted short-term rental as a use where the resident-operator occupies one or more bedrooms while renting out other areas of the dwelling for transient stays. Sec. m. This overnight presence duty is separate from the round-the-clock responsible-party contact requirement in Sec. 4905(c), which additionally obligates the operator, or a designated responsible party, to be reachable by phone 24/7 and able to respond in person within 30 minutes of any complaint about the rental.

Both requirements are conditions of holding a valid short-term rental permit issued by the Assistant City Manager, acting as Administrator, and both are checked at the life-safety inspection required before a permit issues under Sec. 4904(d). Because the presence rule applies to hosted rentals only, an unhosted rental, one with no operator present at all, is instead subject to a separate 60-night annual cap and multi-family prohibition under Sec. 4905(v). Violating the overnight presence requirement is treated the same as any other operation-requirements violation under Sec.

4909: a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine, or an infraction carrying escalating fines of $1,500, $3,000 and $5,000 for repeated violations of the same provision within a year, since the article deems any violation a threat to public health or safety. A second violation of any Article 49 provision within 12 months triggers mandatory permit revocation by the Administrator under Sec. 4909(e).