At Tuesday’s meeting, staff will be presenting an information item to the City Council regarding short-term rentals… but what is a “short-term rental” exactly? A short-term rental (sometimes referred to as a vacation rental or STR) is typically defined as a rental of a residential dwelling unit or accessory building for periods of less than 31 consecutive days. Short-term rentals are often divided into the following categories: entire homes (such as a homeowner who periodically rents out their home); accessory dwellings (a homeowner who rents out their garage apartment or back cottage); and rooms (a homeowner who rent out one or more rooms within their home).
So, what’s the buzz about this item? Well, at this time, the City does not regulate short-term rentals within city limits–but we closely monitor them. Back in August 2018, staff presented an informational report to the City Council about housing topics, including short-term rentals–and in response, the City Council requested staff to return to the City Council at a future meeting (that’s this Tuesday) with short-term rental policy options for the City Council to consider. Specific to Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council will take an in-depth look at three options to further dive into: 1) Maintain the status quo of not regulating short-term rentals but monitoring them; 2) Allow and regulate short-term rentals using minimal enforcement efforts; and 3) Banning short-term rentals entirely.
According to our research, short-term rentals are scattered throughout the City. If you have questions or comments, or if you simply want to listen in on the presentation and conversation, feel free to attend on Tuesday. And if you can’t make it, but want to provide feedback to the City Council on this issue, you can do so on our website. Keep in mind that this item is an informational item–and that the City Council will not be taking any official action. That would occur at a subsequent City Council meeting.
For more information, read the staff report.