Title
PLN250318 - SPARANO WILLIAM ANTHONY & MARAZZA ROMINA LIS TRS
Public hearing to consider action on after-the-fact Commercial Vacation Rental to allow the use of residential property for transient lodging for a period of 30 calendar days or fewer to clear Code Enforcement case 26CE00050.
Project Location: 26136 Atherton Drive, Carmel, CA 93923
Proposed CEQA Action: Find the project Categorically Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301 and none of the exceptions to the exemptions listed in Section 15300.2 can be made.
Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the Zoning Administrator adopt a Resolution:
a. Finding the project qualifies for a Class 1 Categorical Exemption pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301 and none of the exceptions to the exemptions listed in Section 15300.2 can be made; and
b. Approving an after-the-fact Coastal Development Permit for a Commercial Vacation Rental to allow the use of a residential property for transient lodging for a period of 30 calendar days or fewer to clear Code Enforcement case 26CE00050.
The attached draft resolution includes findings and evidence for consideration (Exhibit A). Staff recommends approval subject to 9 conditions of approval.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Agent: Romina Sparano
Property Owner: William Anthony Sparano & Romina Lis Marazatto
APN: 009-302-018-000
Parcel Size: approximately 0.22 acre
Zoning: Medium Density Residential with a maximum gross density of 2 acres/unit with a Design Control Overlay or “MDR/2-D(CZ)”
Plan Area: Carmel Area Land Use Plan
Flagged and Staked: Not Applicable
Project Planner: Imani Harrigan, Assistant Planner
harrigani@countyofmonterey.gov; 831-755-5845
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The project is located at 26136 Atherton Drive, a County maintained road, in Carmel. On November 17, 2025 the agent submitted an application seeking to use their existing single-family dwelling located in a residentially developed neighborhood (Exhibit C).
The site is developed with an existing 1,347 square foot single-family dwelling with an attached 491 square foot garage. The single-family dwelling currently has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, and a kitchen. The applicant has an approved Design Approval Application DA230038 (Exhibit D) to convert the existing 491 square foot attached garage into two bedrooms and add a 379 square foot carport. Upon final of the Construction Permit #23CP01521, the structure would result in an 1,838 square foot single-family dwelling with an attached 379 square foot carport containing four bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room and kitchen. Although an additional bedroom is proposed, the applicant does not intend to utilize the 4th bedroom as part of a commercial vacation rental and intends to put up adequate signage and restrict this area when rented. Therefore, if approved, this application would propose a maximum of occupancy of 7 people overnight and 10 people during daytime hours at the property at a time.
The property is currently served by a California American Water, and the company Waste Management is providing solid waste services for the dwelling. If approved, the granting of this Coastal Development Permit would allow the establishment of the 13th permitted vacation rental in the Carmel Area Land Use Plan out of 118 Coastal Development Permits permitted pursuant to Title 20 Section 20.64.290.F.3.b.
The proposed project is subject to the policies and regulations of the 1982 County of Monterey General Plan (General Plan), Carmel Area Land Use Plan (CAR LUP), Monterey County Coastal Implementation Plan, Plan 4 (CIP), Monterey County Code Title 7 Chapter 7.120, and the Monterey County Coastal Zoning Ordinance (Title 20).
Land Use
The parcel is zoned Medium Density Residential with a maximum gross density of 2 acres/unit with a Design Control Overlay, within the Coastal Zone or “MDR/2-D(CZ)”. Title 20 Section 20.12.050.DD allows for the Commercial Vacation Rental use, subject to the granting of a Coastal Development Permit. Title 20 Section 20.64.290.F establishes the regulations for a property operating as a Commercial Vacation Rental on such property for transient lodging for a period of 30 calendar days or fewer.
The property complies with Title 20 Section 20.64.290.F.5 in that it has been demonstrated that the response time for County emergency services for fire and emergency medical services is adequate. Adequate is defined as 5-8 minutes within Community Areas, Community Plans, and Sphere of Influence, 12 minutes within Rural centers, and 45 minutes for all other areas. The subject property is within the Sphere of Influence for Carmel-by-the-Sea; therefore, it is subject to the 5-8 minutes response time. Rio Road Fire Station is 4 minutes away, and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula is 8 minutes away, which provides 24-hour emergency medical and fire response services for structural coverage. Staff incorporated Condition No. 6 to ensure that the guests are provided with information on the response time for emergency medical and fire services and that contact information for these services is provided to all guests as a part of the informational notice posted within six feet of the front door (Exhibit A).
In its current configuration the subject property has space in the driveway for at minimum four uncovered parking spaces; however, the configuration is not compliant with 20.58.050.F because there are no covered parking spaces available. After the Construction Permit 23CP01521 is finaled in the approved configuration the subject property will be compliant with at minimum one covered parking space via the proposed carport and three uncovered parking spaces in the driveway. Parking requirements outlined in Title 20 Sections 20.64.290.F.6 and 20.58.040 require that a Single-Family Detached residential dwelling unit have 2 spaces/unit which this application complies with as illustrated in the attached plans.
The subject property complies with the limitation on the number of Commercial Vacation Rentals per legal lot requirements of Title 20 Section 20.64.290.F.7, which allows one Commercial Vacation Rental per legal lot of record. The subject property will be the only Commercial Vacation Rental on the legal lot of record. The owner of the subject property complies with the ownership requirements of Title 20 Section 20.64.290.F.10, wherein the owner of the subject property is allowed to have an ownership interest in one Commercial Vacation Rental within unincorporated Monterey County. The owners of the property do not have an ownership interest in other already operating Commercial Vacation Rentals in unincorporated Monterey County, and this would be their first and only Commercial Vacation Rental in unincorporated Monterey County.
As detailed in the draft resolution (Exhibit A), the Applicant/Owner has provided evidence of compliance with the applicable requirements. The designated Property Manager for the Commercial Vacation Rental, Romina Sparano, resides at 26136 Atherton Drive, Carmel, CA 93923, approximately 0 minutes away (0-mile drive) from the subject property. However, Mrs. Sparano will be lodging at 157 Mar Vista Drive, approximately 10 minutes away (3.7-mile drive) from the primary residence, the subject property, if it is occupied as a commercial vacation rental. Mrs. Sparano’s contact information will be provided to the guests of the property and will be available 24/7 to respond to guest or neighborhood questions or concerns and has the ability to arrive within thirty minutes. This contact information will be provided to guests as a part of the informational notice posted within six feet of the front door as required pursuant to Title 7 Section 7.120.040.L.
The subject dwelling has three bedrooms; therefore, the property has a maximum occupancy of 7 overnight guests and 11 daytime guests. After the finaled Construction Permit 23CP01521 there will be four bedrooms, although it is the applicant’s intention not to utilize the fourth bedroom as part of the commercial vacation rental and will restrict the area went rented. The proposed occupancy does not exceed the limits set forth in the California Uniform Housing Code and the requirements enumerated in Title 7 Section 7.120.070.C, which limit the maximum overnight occupancy to two persons per bedroom plus one and not counting infants (zero to twelve months), with a not to exceed total maximum overnight occupancy of 10 overnight guests, regardless of the number of bedrooms in the property.
To ensure the proposed use will not affect the residential character of the neighborhood, the following two conditions have been incorporated. Condition No. 4 has been incorporated to ensure that the property will not be an event venue, and Condition No. 8 to ensure that the property will remain in compliance with the regulations for Vacation Rentals in Title 7 Chapter 7.120, Title 20 section 20.64.290, and the Conditions of Approval. Additionally, the proposed Commercial Vacation Rental is subject to Monterey County’s Noise Ordinance (Chapter 10.60), which prohibits loud or unreasonable noise between the hours of 9:00PM and 7:00AM. In accordance with Title 20 section 20.70.060, if the property is found to be in violation of the approved operations plan or conditions of approval attached to this Coastal Development Permit, the permit may be revoked for non-compliance.
Private Road/Access
The property is accessed through Atherton Drive, a County maintained road and therefore is not subject to the private road regulations as outlined in Chapter 16.80.
CEQA:
The project qualifies as a categorical exemption from environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301. This exemption applies to the operation of existing private structures, involving negligible or no expansion of an existing use. The Applicant/Owner proposes to use a residential single-family dwelling for transient lodging where the term of occupancy, possession, or tenancy of the property by the person entitled to such occupancy, possession, or tenancy for a period of 30 consecutive calendar days or fewer. This project does not propose or authorize any additional exterior development and/or expansion of the existing structure currently on the project site.
The subject property will be limited to one rental contract at any given time. All facilities, as planned and approved, have been confirmed by County agencies to be adequate for this use. Therefore, the proposed use is consistent with the CEQA Guidelines Section 15301. None of the exceptions under CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply to this project. Additionally, there will be no significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances. Further, there is no evidence that “the cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place, over time is significant.”
The County prepared a FEIR for the Vacation Rental Ordinances project, which was certified by the Board on August 27, 2024 (SCH# 2022080643). The FEIR analyzed the project for environmental impacts and did not identify any significant impacts of Commercial Vacation Rentals up to the Commercial Vacation Rental cap set for each County of Monterey Planning Area. This Commercial Vacation Rental does not exceed the cap on Commercial Vacation Rentals in the Carmel Area Land Use Plan. It would be the 13th Commercial Vacation Rental out of a maximum of 118 in the Carmel Area Land Use Plan. The FEIR did address public comments that vacation rentals have the potential for negative side effects including nuisance issues such as traffic, parking and noise. However, no significant environmental effects were identified. County regulations have been developed and are in effect to ensure that vacation rentals remain compatible with existing residential uses. Cumulative impacts of the regulations taken together with other past, present, and probable future projects were analyzed and no significant effects were identified. There is no evidence suggesting that approving this project would result in significant environmental impacts
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
None
Prepared by: Imani Harrigan, Assistant Planner
Reviewed/Approved by: Jacquelyn M. Nickerson, Principal Planner
The following attachments are on file with HCD:
Exhibit A - Draft Resolution including:
- Recommended Conditions of Approval
- Site Plans and Floor Plans
- Home Inspection Checklist
Exhibit B - Vicinity Map
Exhibit C - Aerial Image
Exhibit D - Design Approval Permit DA230038
Exhibit E - Public Correspondence
cc: Front Counter Copy; Jacquelyn M. Nickerson, Principal Planner, Dennis Ing, William Anthony Sparano & Romina Lis Marazzato Property Owners; Interested Party List: The Open Monterey Project; LandWatch (Executive Director); Lozeau Drury LLP; Christina McGinnis, Keep Big Sur Wild; Planning File PLN250318.