HomeMy WebLinkAbout031824 email - Interim Ordinance regarding Short-Term RentalsALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
Commissioners,
Following the series of community meetings held on March 12-14, 2024, you have each expressed strong support for the idea of requiring agencies such as Airbnb to only list rentals for
which a short-term rental permit, obtained from Jefferson County, is in effect.
Final action by the Planning Commission, and subsequent action by the BoCC the subject of short-term rentals and related topics will not be accomplished until well into next year.
With another summer of unpermitted, potentially unsafe STRs coming all too soon, I believe it would be in the best interests of the residents of the county for the BoCC to adopt an interim
ordinance regarding short-term rentals; such an ordinance would:
* Require Airbnb and any other identified listing agency (“platform”) to limit listings to properties for which required permits had been issued by DCD.
* Require such platforms to clearly post information identifying the applicable permit(s), including the tax parcel number and permit number (or equivalent).
* Be retroactive. That is, STRs currently listed by such platforms would have to be removed immediately unless and until a permit(s) has been issued by the county; existing rental contracts
at the time of the effective date of the ordinance would be exempted but would not be renewable.
* Require STR permits to be renewed annually. Altering the current permit process would, in effect, convert STR permits into licenses.
Regulation of STRs this way has already been done in numerous cities and counties. For example,
https://www.seattle.gov/business-regulations/short-term-rentals
Please review the extensive list of FAQs at the above link.
Seattle’s ordinance is here:
https://seattle.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=5707790&GUID=6EE24175-0711-4616-8260-6C0A0116FE1E
While much of the above ordinance is not applicable to Jefferson County, it should cover nearly every contingency that should be considered; it might be easier to remove some of its
provisions rather than start from scratch.
If Seattle’s ordinance is too all-encompassing, consider another Washington county’s ordinance.
Description:
https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/community-development/pages/short-term-rentals
Code:
https://www.codepublishing.com/WA/ChelanCounty/#!/Chelco11/Chelco1188.html#11.88.290
In other words, please don’t reinvent the wheel.
There are also state regulations that apply; see https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=64.37&full=true
Because it can take some time to enact a new ordinance, I urge you to begin work on this immediately, with the goal of enacting a new ordinance within the next two months.
Thank you,
Tom Thiersch