People who own vacation rentals in Port Hueneme will have to get a city permit, notify their neighbors and enforce quiet hours, though these rules won’t go into effect just yet.
In August, after almost two years of discussion and debate, the Port Hueneme City Council approved a new set of regulations on homes rented for 30 days or less. These short-term rentals are typically listed on sites such as Airbnb and VRBO, and city officials believe there are about 50 of them in Port Hueneme.
Three other cities in Ventura County have adopted their own regulations for short-term rentals: Ventura, Oxnard and Simi Valley, which approved a short-term rental ordinance in May.
In Port Hueneme, most of the vacation rentals are in the seaside strip of the city
known as the “coastal zone,” where land-use regulations are subject to the approval of the California Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission does not allow cities and counties to ban vacation rentals in the coastal zone or to place limits that are too restrictive because part of its mission is to preserve opportunities for people to visit the coast.
The Port Hueneme City Council initially planned to put the new vacation rental regulations into effect immediately in just the non-coastal portion of the city, and wait for Coastal Commission approval for the coastal zone. But the council decided that might confuse some people who don’t know if their homes are in the coastal zone, City Manager James Vega said in an email interview.
“It definitely makes it a little more complicated,” he said.
Vega said the “timeline for review” is not clear yet, and city officials will be meeting with Coastal Commission staffers soon to work on scheduling the matter. The Coastal Commission might also ask for changes in the city’s new vacation rental policy, Vega said.
What are the new rules?
Once the new ordinance goes into effect, owners of short-term rentals will have to have a business license and a city permit that will cost $995 per year. Permits will not be issued to homes owned by a corporation or other business, unless it’s a trust or partnership in which each member is a “natural person” and not a business entity. Accessory dwelling units, mobile homes and subsidized affordable housing will not be eligible.
The new regulations also include a number of “good neighbor” standards. Homes will be limited to no more than two guests per bedroom plus two additional guests, with a hard cap of 10 people. Owners must enforce quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. and give written notice to all of their neighbors within 200 feet, with 24-hour contact information in case of complaints.
Violating any of the city’s rules could bring fines of up to $1,500 for the first violation, $3,000 for the second and $5,000 for the third. Three violations within two years could result in the loss of a short-term rental permit.
Short-term rental owners have always been required to pay the same transient occupancy tax as hotels, which in Port Hueneme is 10%. Vega said the city is already in contact with most of the city’s vacation rental owners and most of them are current with their taxes and hold valid business licenses.
In 2025, the city took in about $56,000 in taxes from stays in short-term rentals, which was about 10% of the city’s total transient occupancy tax revenue.
Vega said most of the city's short-term rental owners have been operating well.
"This ordinance is really just to try to give everyone clear standards and ensure a level playing field, while allowing us to address any potential problem units that arise,” Vega said in an email.
The city expects the new regulations to be revenue-neutral, Vega said. In other words, the money the city gets from permit fees would be about the same as what it spends on issuing permits and enforcing the rules.
Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Port Hueneme approves new rules, permits, fees for vacation rentals
