Short term rentals scrutinized at meeting

WENATCHEE -- A packed house attended the Chelan County Planning Commission (CCPC) meeting at the Confluence Technology Center Wednesday, August 26.
The two-hour evening affair featured residential speakers from throughout the county and non-residential rental property owners, many who live on the westside of the state.
Manson resident and Community Councilwoman Kathy Blum stressed to the Commission that she felt the “quality of life” has experienced a”steady decline” due to under-regulated short term rental properties in the Lake Chelan town.
She called for a “well regulated” rental industry that will ease the concerns of Manson residents and help all parties coexist.
Dan Beardslee, BNCW’s Government Affairs Analyst, spoke to the Board on behalf of that housing industry nonprofit trade association, saying it would take $750,000 to hire enough county personnel to enforce new regulations as it is currently understaffed.
BNCW CEO Lee Pfluger, stated in an email reply to this reporter, “BNCW has not taken a position against nor in favor of STRs at this point. We do however oppose the proposed code changes currently in front of the Chelan County Planning Commission.”
Pfluger continued, “The current proposal as written has not been vetted out properly and leaves many unanswered questions, many of which we addressed in our letter. Since drafting the letter there are a number of other questions and issues that have come up.”
BNCW is a well known advocacy group defending the rights of the building community. Pfluger said, “One being since the STR permit is a land use permit involving zoning issues it is very likely that a court would find that all of the current STRs would be exempt from the permit requirements as they have been legally operating at their current locations for years in many cases, and would be considered a “legal non-conforming use” under the new standards.  Just like if someone legally built a duplex and subsequent zoning changes barred duplexes, existing duplexes would be considered “a legal non-conforming use.”
Pfluger states, “There is really nothing in the proposed regulations that would lead to better enforcement of existing parking, noise, or nuisance ordnances already in place.”
He continued, “There is language in the proposal stating that after 3 complaints an STR’s permit can be revoked, however no appeals process is defined and there is no protection for unfounded complaints. If the county were to adopt the current proposal there would certainly be costly lawsuits around a number of issues. The current proposal would impose significant burdens on current and future STRs while at the same time not really doing anything to alleviate the issues that STRs neighbors face, all while opening up the county to costly lawsuits…
“We do not believe that Chelan Community Development engaged the community adequately before drafting this proposal.  I find it odd that County Commissioners have stated publicly that ‘we are in the early stages of drafting this proposal.’”
Pfluger commented, “Typically a hearing in front of the Planning Commission takes place near the end of the process, with their recommendation being forwarded to the County Commissioners for adoption or rejection.”
He concluded, “It is our position that the county needs to go back to the drawing board on this issue. Unfortunately at this point parties on both sides of the issue are dug in and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in coming together in an effort to reach a workable solution.”
A large group of meeting attendees wearing bright yellow T-shirts, members of the Short Term Rental Alliance of Chelan County, or STRACC, were in attendance to show solidarity in favor of less draconian regulations.
One member, Tom Latta of Auburn, claimed that the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office has only had “two complaints in two years in regards to tenants of rental properties.”
Latta said the SCSO responded to area hotels and motels at a far greater rate.
The irony of Chelan County having two major destination resort towns, Leavenworth and the Lake Chelan area, is that both areas spend a small fortune to attract tourists every year and those advertisements have been successful.
Some short term rentals easily cost $400 a day with higher rates during festivals, especially Leavenworth’s Oktoberfest, Christmas Lightning and Chelan’s Winterfest and summer lake season.
Though the massive influx of money is great for business owners, some residents aren’t too happy with what they perceive as lax enforcement of ordinances by the town councils. The CCSO is the only law enforcement entity these towns have, but civil zoning enforcement is a matter for each town to figure out for themselves. Now there is the possibility that the CCPC will move to take care of short term rentals that exist out of town boundaries, but in the county.
It is that board’s job to make recommendations to the Chelan County Commissioners for any suggested policies to be enacted into law.
Keep reading the Leavenworth Echo, Cashmere Valley Record and the Lake Chelan Mirror for the next installment about this contentious issue.