Minutes - Council - 09/12/2023 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Manager Larson said yes. He continued by discussing how the rental housing inspections will ensure that when anyone is occupying a home that is rented out they have a safe and clean place to be. Councilmember Musgrove stated that she is concerned with how the neighbors feel about the traffic and changeover of new people coming in and out of short term rentals. She asked if these do not qualify as home occupations based on land use. Planning Manager Larson said that was correct. He added that they are really not changing anything that has to do with the short term rentals other than that they will also be inspected as part of the rental licensing program. Councilmember Howell asked if they were to put in very restrictive restrictions for short term rentals where they would address them. Planning Manager Larson stated that they could revise the ordinance to delete all short term rentals and add a clause for a minimum lease term. He added that there are very short term rentals in town and noted that they do not get many complaints on these properties. He shared that HOAs and townhouse associations can further restrict this. Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick explained the benefit of addressing short term rentals in the Code. He stated that when they do not regulate and address short term rentals they are still going to happen. He shared that in a previous city he worked for they did not permit short term rentals at all which made them very hard to regulate. He noted that having this address short term rentals requires that the property owners comply with certain regulations which gives the CIty the opportunity to identify the homes that are being rented as short term rentals, as well as the opportunity to inspect the homes for safety and security. He added that this also allows the City to ensure that the surrounding neighborhood is not affected by this short term rental. He stated that it also gives them the ability to revoke or suspend a license. He stressed the importance of having this in the Code. He recommended continuing to license these short term rentals. Councilmember Howell agreed with Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick. She stated that she supports having regulations; however, she wonders about diving further into AirBnBs based on what other cities are doing throughout the country. Councilmember Woestehoff stated that they should do more research on AirBnBs; however, by implementing this new policy it gives the City more data and feedback. He added that he does not see a reason to hold this item as it can always be amended later. Motion by Councilmember Woestehoff, seconded by Councilmember Riley, to waive City Charter requirement that the ordinance be read outloud and adopt Ordinance #23-16 Amendment to Chapter 24, Article XIV Rental Residential Dwelling Units, with a change to verbiage in the purpose statement regarding the word ‘citizen’ to the word ‘renter.’ A roll call vote was performed: City Council / September 12, 2023 Page 7 of 10