Staff proposes removing 'rooming house' from code as state-required co-living rules take effect
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Summary
City staff recommended deleting the obsolete ‘rooming house’ definition because state-required co-living housing standards now cover the use; commissioners discussed how single-family houses with many unrelated occupants remain regulated under state law.
City planning staff told the commission that current state law requires jurisdictions to allow co-living housing in certain zones and that the co-living definition largely supersedes the older “rooming house” term in the municipal code. Libby Grange explained that staff reviewed the code and recommended removing the rooming-house definition and any cross references because the co-living category is intended to cover similar uses, particularly in higher-density and multifamily zones.
Commissioners discussed edge cases such as large single-family homes used for transitional housing or Oxford houses; staff and commissioners noted that state law treats many such group-living arrangements as single-family uses and prohibits some local restrictions on nonrelated occupants. For those reasons, Grange said removing the separate rooming-house category should reduce duplication and potential conflict with state law. Staff will remove the term from the next draft and present the revised code language for public hearing.
Ending: No formal ordinance action occurred; staff will delete the rooming-house definition and related references in the next draft and bring the amended text to the Oct. 22 public hearing packet.