Kittitas County committee reports 848 responses to short-term rental survey; analysis and next steps outlined

KITTITAS COUNTY — County staff and members of an advisory committee on short-term rentals told the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners during a study session that a community survey on possible regulations had received 848 responses so far and will remain open through April 5.

Jeremy Johnston, a long-range planner with Community Development Services (CDS), briefed the board on the survey on Feb. 4 and said the instrument was scheduled to run 60 days. "As of this morning, we had 848 responses," Johnston said, and staff were still analyzing open-ended comments and checking IP addresses for irregularities.

The advisory committee and commissioners discussed data sources and enforcement costs as they consider whether to recommend regulations. Jessica Carricker, a committee member, urged the committee to treat the process as an opportunity to "unite stakeholders, including short term rental communities, HOA presidents and residents, the chamber from a tourism standpoint, and economic development group," rather than simply imposing rules. "This effort is particularly timely as the county prepares to update the Growth Management Act," she said.

Why it matters: The county is weighing whether to draft regulations for short-term rentals that could impose operational requirements, taxes or fees and create enforcement obligations for county staff. Several participants warned that enforcement is already strained and that any regulatory program could be labor-intensive and costly to administer.

What was reported and discussed

Johnston said specific survey items drew notable response volumes: question 12 (which asked which regulations respondents would support) had 644 answers; question 20 (an open-ended request for additional comments) had 356 responses. He told commissioners staff would continue qualitative coding of open-ended replies and verify response validity.

Participants discussed outside data sources. Multiple speakers referenced AirDNA data and said the county should obtain a clearer breakdown. A commission member said lodging-tax and platform-fee totals matter when estimating fiscal impact: one speaker noted a recent state-level House bill could add roughly 6 percentage points in tax on short-term rentals, which the speaker said would make total taxes and fees for a booking in the county exceed 20 percent once platform fees are included. The speaker did not provide the bill number.

Several speakers urged the county to study other Washington counties that have adopted short-term rental rules. "Maybe we look at what hasn’t gone right there and learn from that so that we don't redo it here," an unnamed commissioner representing District 2 said, referring in particular to Chelan County.

Data limits and next steps

Committee and staff highlighted limits of the available commercial data: AirDNA (often used to estimate listing counts and revenue) covers Airbnb and Vrbo but may not capture all platforms or owner-managed bookings, and ZIP-code breakdowns can aggregate distinct jurisdictions. Staff said Amy from the chamber had provided lodging-data material and that the county planned to request a meeting with the platform operator to clarify metrics and methodology.

Johnston said the committee charter is currently narrow: the committee will use survey and data analysis to determine whether regulatory development is warranted; if the board directs staff to draft regulations, staff and the committee would prepare a draft then seek public input, including open houses and planning commission review. "No matter what, this is going to have to have a good public participation plan," a staff member said.

Distinguishing discussion from action

No formal motion, vote or ordinance was taken during the study session. Commissioners and committee members discussed options and requested further analysis and public outreach. Staff described the next concrete steps as completing the survey analysis, correlating results with AirDNA/chamber data, and presenting findings for the board to decide whether to direct rule-making.

Concerns and context

Speakers raised a mix of concerns: effects on neighborhood quality of life (noise, garbage, nuisance complaints), the county’s capacity to enforce new rules, potential fiscal impacts on tourism and lodging revenue, and the need to respect property rights. Several participants noted that short-term rentals are concentrated in Upper County and that master-planned resort approvals already include rental provisions that may be treated differently in any regulatory framework.

Ending

Staff and committee members said they will continue analysis and return to the board with consolidated findings after the survey closes and additional data from commercial sources and the chamber are reviewed. No regulatory language or timeline was adopted at the session.