Agenda - Planning Commission - 11/12/2015

Home

housing code, posting the registration number on the hosting platform's listing, and a clearly printed sign inside of the front door with the locations of all fire extinguishers in the unit and building, gas shut-off valves, fire exits, and pull fire alarms. The application fee and renewal fee every two years is $5o. The hosting platform has numerous responsibilities, and there are fines for violations. It is a good model from which to start. Isle of Palms, South Carolina, regulates STRs through zoning, defining an STR to be three months or less. The city's STR standards limit the number of overnight occupants to six and daytime occupants to 40 (can we assume a wedding party or the like?), set a minimum floor area per occupant, and establish off-street park- ing requirements. Monterey County, California, also regulates STRs in its zoning code, defining STRs as rentals between seven and 3o consecutive calendar days. The county considers stays of less than seven days to be a motel/hotel use. The regula- tion provided for administrative approval of all STRs in operation at the time of its adoption in 1997 if the property owners applied within 90 days. Most of the existing, legal STRs date from that initial round of approvals. Since then, there have been some discretionary approvals, and many STRs are believed to be operating without the required permits. San Bernardino County, California, permits STRs, defined as rentals of less than 3o days, by zoning in the "Mountain Region" by special use permit exempting multifamily condominium units in fee simple and timeshares with a previ- ous land -use approval. The development stan- dards include code compliance, maximum oc- cupancy based on floor area per occupant and the number of beds, off-street parking require- ments, and signage specifications. Conditions of operations address the contents of the rental agreement, posting of the property within the unit with all the conditions of use, and details of fire safety and maintenance, even including a prohibition on the use of extension cords. Miami Beach, Florida, prohibits STRs in all single-family homes and in many multifamily buildings in certain zoning districts. Registering all these STRs can be burden- some. Since May 1, 2015, Nashville has issued 1,00o permits, and staff estimates the city still has 800 illegal hotels and motels (Bailey 2015). Wait times for all types permits went from 3o minutes to four hours because of all the STR registrations (Bailey 2015). THE MAKINGS OF WORKABLE PROGRAM Overarching issues to consider include the nature of the activity you aim to regulate, the management structure of the STR, and the limits on STR use. What Is the Nature of the Activity You Will Regulate? Presumably, hosting a STR is a private enterprise and almost certainly not a commercial lodging business. It is a type of lodging that is largely advertised online, through social media, and on bulletin boards. How will you draw the line between that modest, private activity and a commercial operation? How Is It Managed? Does the host have to be the owner, and does the host need to be there during the rental? If not, will you regulate differently in terms of num- bers of units allowed, number of days per year, or terms of occupancy? i • \" 1i^ This building in downtown Boston includes a two-bedroom loft apartment that rents for $245 per night, with a seven -night minimum stay. What Is the Limit of Use? Will you require the host to live in the residence at least some minimum number of days per year? Will you limit rentals to some maximum number of days per year? Will you define STR as a rental of 3o consecutive days or less and not regulate longer rentals in any way? Will you regulate whole -house, exclusive -use rent- als differently, for example by only regulating when the house is rented for less than a week or two weeks? And will you regulate renting of rooms on a different schedule, for example by including room rentals only if they are less than one month and otherwise not regulating longer room rentals, which may be covered by zoning anyway, possibly under the definition of a rooming house? There are so many questions to be answered and so many lines to be drawn. A checklist of considerations for hosts and public officials for_planning, regulation, and operation might include current zoning require- ments; applicable codes (sanitation, health, building, occupancy among many); business licensing; business organization (none, limited liability corporation, general or limited liability partnership, Subchapter S, etc.); home owners association covenants and restrictions; other easements, covenants, restrictions on the land; lodging to be offered (room, whole house, host - occupied, length of stay); 911 marking at the street; emergency notifications; food service (permitted? licensed?); federal, state, and local taxes; safety inspections; fire, smoke, CO2, and other detectors; fire extinguishers; child safety; parking; insurance; emergency notifications; water and septic; safe hot water temperature; electrical and plumbing in good repair; pest/ver- min-free (especially bed bugs); ventilation, heat, air conditioning adequate; no hazards; no mold or excessive moisture; working doors, windows, and screens; adequate means of egress; linen sanitation; and pool and spa maintenance. YOU'VE MADE YOUR BED .. . So goes the idiom from the French as early as 1590: "Comme on faict son lict, on to treuve" (As one makes one's bed, so one finds it). In plan- ning for and regulating STRs, you will indeed be the ones making the bed, and you will have to lie in it. There are benefits and burdens in how you permit STRs and many considerations to be weighed. If you start with life -safety issues first, you can be quite certain the most important aspect of this rapidly emerging sharing economy phenomenon will be addressed. After that, it is the usual planning and politics. ZONINGPRACTICE 10.15 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page 6