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Richland County committee adopts short-term rental ordinance to take effect Jan. 1, 2026
Summary
The Richland County Finance Standing Committee voted to adopt a short-term rental ordinance and set an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026, while leaving some fee details to be finalized in the county fee schedule and noting the need to update zoning rules for conditional-use permits.
The Richland County Finance Standing Committee voted to adopt a short-term rental ordinance and set an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026.
The ordinance was presented to the committee by Kathy (staff member), who said she had reviewed the draft for typos and clarified language about license terms and conditional-use permits. Kathy said that if the ordinance is approved, the county’s zoning ordinance will need to be updated to accommodate conditional-use permits for short-term rentals.
The committee discussed how fees would be implemented. Committee members noted the county’s fee schedule is a separate document that lists individual fees and would need to be amended to include any new short-term rental fee. Kathy and others said the committee had discussed a $25 fee for the license; the committee also referenced existing sanitary-related fees (an annual renewal fee of $30 was mentioned) and that fee language in the ordinance should refer to the county’s current fee schedule rather than hard-coding dollar amounts. Committee members discussed two options: (1) adopt the ordinance with a Jan. 1 effective date to give time to amend the fee schedule, or (2) amend the fee schedule immediately; the committee favored the Jan. 1 effective date as it would give the county time to prepare and notify operators.
Committee members also discussed adding a severability clause so that if a court invalidates a specific fee, the remainder of the ordinance remains effective. Staff said severability language is commonly used in ordinances to prevent the entire ordinance from becoming unenforceable if one part is struck down.
Mr. Cooley made the motion to adopt the short-term rental ordinance with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2026; Mr. Frank seconded. After brief discussion about a typographical fix in item 6.a (the word “each”), the committee voted to approve the motion. The committee also asked staff to incorporate language in future ordinance drafts that would automatically reference and update the current fee schedule when monetary provisions are involved.
The committee recorded no roll-call vote totals in the transcript; the motion passed by voice vote.
The ordinance will next proceed as required by committee and county board processes.
