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Kittitas County short-term rental committee seeks clearer charge; survey to go live Feb. 4
Summary
Members of a county short-term rental advisory committee and Community Development Services staff told commissioners the group needs a clearer resolution charge to know whether to recommend new regulations. The committee plans to publish a public survey Feb. 4 for 60 days to inform any regulatory proposals.
Gina Peckman, a member of the short-term rental committee, told the Board of County Commissioners that confusion remains about the committee’s charge under resolution 2024-049 and asked the board whether it should adopt an amended resolution directing the committee to draft regulatory recommendations.
Peckman said a letter dated March 7 clarifies the committee’s role as “responsible for recommending appropriate regulations for short term rental community and provide solutions to the board of commissioners for potential implementation.” She asked whether the board wants that letter’s language incorporated into a formal amended resolution, and requested guidance about whether a commissioner should be assigned to the committee and who the official staff contacts are.
Community Development Services staffer Jeremy Johnson said the original resolution is “extremely vague” and that staff could draft a new resolution that would explicitly charge the committee with developing draft regulations if the commissioners want that direction. Johnson confirmed that the committee has been meeting monthly and working on proposed regulations.
Chad Beyla, CDS director, summarized the committee’s work and said the committee has completed and vetted a public survey that staff plans to publish on Feb. 4. “The plan is for a 60 day return on it, and we can extend that if we need to,” Beyla told commissioners. The survey will be posted to the county website, promoted through the county newsletter and listserv, and noticed in local papers.
Commissioners and staff discussed differences of view among committee volunteers about whether the committee’s role should be to decide only whether regulations are needed or to draft specific regulatory language. Beyla and other staff said the committee includes volunteers with differing perspectives and suggested the board clarify expectations in any amended resolution; they also discussed procedures for volunteers to step down if they no longer wish to participate.
Commissioners asked staff to collect available data on the number of short-term rental units before deciding how aggressively to pursue regulations. Beyla said the county has older third‑party data and that the Chamber of Commerce had been funded to perform research; he offered to obtain that data from the chamber and include it in the packet for the board and the committee.
No formal motion or vote to amend resolution 2024-049 was recorded during the study session. Staff said they would proceed based on the board’s guidance: allow the committee to complete its survey and return recommendations (and staff could draft a clearer resolution if the board prefers).
The short-term rental committee also asked for confirmation that Jeremy Johnson and Jamie Eilich of CDS are the staff points of contact.
