Vacation rentals appear to be allowed in the city of Chico — for now.
The city decided not to appeal an administrative judge’s ruling allowing the part-time rental of homes in Chico, made popular on sites like AirBnB and VRBO.
City Manager Mark Orme, who confirmed this, said city staff is “continuing to evaluate that situation” and having discussions about how to proceed.
The hearing came about after a local family contested the city’s position that the part-time rental of their home was not allowed, which included fines.
Judge Marcie Larson ruled in Mandy and Jacob Whigham’s favor at a hearing in July. Chico’s municipal code does not effectively prohibit short-term occupancies “given the absence of any clear direction,” she concluded. This creates the “danger of overbroad and arbitrary application.”
That does not mean things will stay as is. The City Council can revisit the municipal code and alter it to include regulations about short-term rentals.
Until then, however, it appears nobody should expect to be cited or fined for using their home in that manner.
The Whighams’ attorney, Rick Leland, said that while the ruling is binding only in this particular case, the logic applies to everyone who is in a similar situation.
Leland, a real estate lawyer, said the Whighams really “took one for the team,” clarifying this for everybody in Chico.
He said the topic begs to be adjudicated and worked out in a public forum, where everybody can have their say.
“The City Council has to address this issue,” he said. “Chico needs to have an AirBnB ordinance.”
Jacob Whigham said in a previous Enterprise-Record article that his family ended up being the guinea pigs — this is the first time the city has dealt with this issue, and it “lost on every count.”
The council should consider how to make it work rather than prohibiting vacation rentals, he said.
“The bottom line is it’s not just us, it’s the whole community of people that are doing this,” he said.
Despite what has been a legally murky topic, there are more than 200 listings on airbnb.com and more than 40 for vrbo.com in Chico.
