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Council weighs short-term rental rules on noise, lighting and posting; staff to refine draft
Summary
The council reviewed proposed short-term rental (STR) ordinance changes covering noise, exterior lighting, capacity posting, and nuisance-abatement procedures; members expressed support for clearer posting requirements and time-limited quiet hours, and asked staff to refine language to avoid overly subjective enforcement.
Councilmembers reviewed a drafted ordinance addressing short-term rentals (STRs), focusing on noise, exterior lighting, required on-site posting, and nuisance-abatement procedures.
The draft would require property owners to post a copy of the STR license, a current health-department inspection (where applicable), a copy of the city’s noise and STR lighting provisions, maximum occupancy, and contact information for an on-call local manager. Council discussion touched on where the posting should be located (staff recommended a conspicuous interior location near the primary exit, not hidden in a closet), how to define "primary exit," and how to ensure that posted emergency contact information is effective (staff suggested including both 911 and a nonemergency number).
Members debated lighting and quiet-enjoyment rules. Several councilmembers voiced concern about excessive decorative or string lighting visible off-site and discussed a cut-off hour; the council generally coalesced around an 11 p.m. quiet/light cutoff for routine complaints, while asking staff to craft language that avoids introducing highly subjective standards that would pull police into routine neighbor disputes. The council also discussed objective site-plan lighting standards that already appear elsewhere in city code (a site-and-architectural-plan requirement for commercial projects that lists required lighting specifications) and asked staff to adapt appropriate principles for STRs.
On enforcement, councilmembers asked that nuisance-abatement language be aligned across city code sections and noted Tallgrass (weed/grass) notice provisions require four to five days’ notice; staff said they would reconcile breadth and notice timelines across the draft ordinance and nuisance provisions. Council also asked staff to make the STR posting requirements analogous to a hotel-room information card and to return with refined wording on definitions (for example, "adult") and objective lighting limits.
No adoption occurred; staff will return with refined draft language that clarifies posting location, objective lighting standards, quiet hours, capacity definitions, and nuisance notice timelines.
