A HILL TO DIE ON
A new short-term rental (STR) in June Lake approved Tuesday makes way for as many as four new units of workforce housing. But for neighbors to the property, the tradeoff is hard to swallow.
In a 4–1 vote, with Chair Jen Krietz dissenting, the Mono County Board of Supervisors approved a short-term rental activity permit for property owner John DeCoster, allowing him to operate a hosted STR in one of two dwelling units on his Hillside Road property near the entrance to June Lake village.
County Planning Analyst Erin Bauer told supervisors the short-term rental could not be considered as a standalone proposal because it is legally intertwined with a use permit approved by the Planning Commission in December.
That earlier approval authorized construction of up to four workforce housing apartments above DeCoster’s commercial cannabis building on Hwy. 158, along with electric vehicle charging stations.
Under conditions already attached to the project, DeCoster cannot begin operating the short-term rental until at least two workforce housing units are completed. If the remaining two units are not built within two years after that, the STR permit expires.
Further, the Hillside Road property does not have enough on-site parking to support a legal short-term rental under Mono County rules. The parcel contains two dwelling units (the owner’s residence and the smaller unit approved as the STR) but currently lacks the designated off-street parking spaces required for both.
Because county code does not allow STRs to rely on roadside or informal street parking, the project cannot qualify on its own parcel as-is.
To meet that requirement, parking for the Hillside Road STR is being provided on DeCoster’s adjacent Hwy. 158 commercial parcel, where a new parking lot is planned as part of his larger workforce housing development.
That lot includes four spaces reserved for the Hillside Road residences and additional spaces for the new apartments above the cannabis retail building.
DeCoster argued that, in practice, the parking impact is overstated.
The rental unit is currently occupied by full-time tenants, he said, meaning daily commuting traffic already occurs. Replacing those tenants with a seasonal STR operating would generate fewer trips overall.
He also stressed that the project is financially structured around all four workforce units being built, saying the rental income from those apartments is necessary to support construction financing. Most of the time, he said, the STR would only be used by his own family.
“I have to show, on paper, a huge amount of parking that we know is not going to be used,” he said. “The reality is there’s ample parking on Hwy. 158, and we just have these requirements to show it on a plan.”
Neighbors were unconvinced.
“I’m very well aware of the Airbnb community, and I do not personally believe that this will only be done for the use of planning,” one neighbor said. “If he says he’s not going to use [these parking spots], well, he can say that, but he’s gonna have permission.”
Outside of parking, public opposition focused overwhelmingly on Hillside Road itself, and the traffic and congestion the short-term rental could have.
“I do not see a benefit to the hillside people,” one neighbor complained. “I see more road repairs. As is, there is no road repair.”
Because Hillside Road predates modern fire and access standards, it is exempt from current width and emergency access requirements.
The county cannot require upgrades, and maintenance remains the responsibility of individual property owners because there is no homeowners association or road district overseeing the road.
Long story short, there’s no one to maintain the road.
June Lake Fire Protection District Chief Julie Baldwin also raised concerns about emergency access, saying the back-house location of the rental makes EMS response more difficult. The proposed parking lot, she said, would only make congestion on Hwy. 158 worse.
“My other concern is inspections,” she said. “I’ve noticed a trend here in June Lake with the increase of short-term rentals that extinguishers are not being maintained. Carbon monoxide detectors are not being maintained. Trash is not being picked up or provided.”
Despite the public opposition, the board was supportive of the project as an “imperfect” solution to adding workforce housing to June Lake.
“If this were a stand alone project, I would tend not to be in favor […] simply because of the loss of a home,” Supervisor Paul McFarland said. “But the fact that this is part of a larger development program… it leads me to support it.”
Krietz cast the lone dissenting vote, her concern being the split parking arrangement. She questioned what would happen if the parcels were sold separately in the future.
County staff responded that the issue is addressed through a recorded covenant attached to the Hwy. 158 parcel, requiring that four parking spaces remain permanently dedicated to the Hillside Road property regardless of ownership changes.
Imperfect or not, the board ultimately decided the housing gain outweighed the logistical complications, and the permit passed.
