Next Thursday, September 21st at 4pm at City Hall, (401 California Ave.) the Council will have a Special Meeting on the highly controversial topic of Short Term Rentals. This is after the City has already held a Town Hall Workshop on July 12, and also conducted an online and in-person survey, that yielded 717 total survey responses. The survey closed on August 1st.
For this coming meeting, the Agenda reads: “For possible action: Discussion and direction regarding a possible text amendment permitting short-term rentals and establishing regulations or to continue prohibiting short-term rentals.”
As with all Council meetings, public comment is welcome and encouraged via attending in person, calling in or writing. You can view the full Agenda information online HERE. But first, we thought we would share some of the survey results, as they are highly interesting.
Of the 717 respondents to the survey, 91% of them were residents, while others indicated they lived elsewhere. Of the 91% who are residents, the survey results show that the community is split almost completely right down the middle with a slight edge to the “No” vote for allowing Short Term Rentals.
Please feel free to download the Packet on our website HERE. It is 204 pages long and shares the full data from the survey along with a great deal of supporting information that includes everything from the current ordinances on short term rentals in nearby communities, as well as many studies that share both supporting and opposing materials.
From the survey there are a few notable takeaways:
- 64% of respondents think that short term rentals should require a conditional use permit
- 85% say the city should require certain standards (those are not defined in the question)
- 51% believe the owners should reside at their rental location
- 50% say there should be a distance requirement (between rental locations next to each other)
- 63% think the city should limit the number of rentals a resident can own
Clearly the community is wanting some meaningful control over how these locations, should they be allowed, be regulated by staff. Exactly how the possible ordinance should be crafted and what form those might take would then come from direction from the Council to the staff when writing up that language.
We asked City Manager, Taylour Tedder to weigh in and explain the possible outcomes of Thursday’s meeting. “City Council would like to discuss the results of the survey and town hall discussion during this special meeting. The Council will then direct staff on next steps. These steps could be preparing a possible text amendment permitting short-term rentals and establishing regulations, continuing to prohibit short-term rentals, or they could request more study on the issue.”
In other words – the Council may, or may not, decide Thursday night on the ordinance. For those with strong opinions in favor of, or against this issue – and that appears to be MANY of you, it is once again time to show up and lobby your leadership to let them know how you think.
We don’t envy them. The last time we recall seeing our community this activated was on the ATV issue several years ago. We will hope folks are respectful in their discourse, and remember that we are all friends and neighbors who love our community and way of life. We will be there to watch, learn and see what is next.
