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Committee advances island‑wide STR parking standards for planning review; vote passes 3‑2
Summary
After lengthy debate the committee voted 3–2 to advance staff recommendations that apply limited‑use parking standards (parking based on bedrooms, with on‑street allowances) for new STR registrations in single‑family zoning and similar districts, with existing registered STRs treated as nonconforming.
The Short‑Term Rental Ad Hoc Committee voted to forward staff parking recommendations to city planning and to city council consideration, adopting limited‑use standards for parking tied to STR bedrooms for new registrations while treating existing registered STRs as preexisting nonconforming uses.
Staff explained the proposal would extend a table of limited‑use standards that now applies to historic districts to additional zoning districts with single‑family housing. The standard described in the staff proposal ties required parking to the number of guest rooms, allowing up to two on‑street spaces to be counted toward total required parking. For new registrations, applicants who propose more bedrooms than their available on‑site parking would need to demonstrate where additional vehicles could park off‑site or on a documented driveway.
"The limited use standard is parking limited to one space per guest room; two on‑street spaces may be counted toward the total required parking," Tim (staff member) summarized during the meeting. Staff said the rules would apply island‑wide in the zoning categories identified, but the committee amended the staff recommendation to exclude the urban‑neighborhood zoning designation from the expansion, and to include a manager‑level appeal process for registration denials.
The committee debated whether to make the change retroactive to thousands of existing registrations. Staff said processing all existing permits under a new standard would create an unmanageable workload and conscribed the draft to new registrations, treating existing permits as preexisting nonconforming uses. Staff also noted that Deckard and other data sources already collect parking‑related self‑reported fields but that those datasets contain gaps.
The motion to advance the staff recommendations, with amendments excluding the urban‑neighborhood zoning designation and adding an appeal path for applicants, passed 3–2. Committee members said the item will move to planning commission and city council for further review and adoption as part of LDR changes.
Committee members emphasized the parking issue is island‑wide — affecting residents, STR operators and visitors — and suggested additional study in the comprehensive plan or a targeted parking analysis to examine demand and supply more broadly.
