Commission asks staff to reconcile rooming-house rules and new co-living requirement with state guidance

Staff told the commission that new state guidance requires jurisdictions to permit co-living housing types in residential zones that already allow multifamily development of six or more units, and that the local code’s existing “rooming house” provisions overlap with this requirement. Libby Grage said the code currently treats rooming houses differently by zone (conditional use in some zones, permitted in others) and noted the state guidance recommends jurisdictions retain similar housing types where they already exist at lower densities. Grage said staff will examine whether the existing rooming-house definition and property-maintenance references (which in some sections refer to larger numbers of sleeping rooms) are compatible with current state law and whether the city should revise definitions and standards.

Commission discussion focused on the need to reconcile municipal definitions with building/property-maintenance code references and to avoid creating unintended nonconformities. Commissioner Currier and others asked staff to check property-code references that use the term rooming house and to return with a recommendation on whether to preserve the rooming-house term, adjust it, or replace it with co-living terminology in affected zones. Staff said they will return with a recommendation and with options that preserve regulatory clarity while complying with state requirements.