Raleigh County advances proposed short-term rental rules including 500-foot unit separation and one-hour agent response

Amanda Webb, Raleigh County planning director, recommended changes to the county's short-term rental code on Nov. 17, proposing a 500-foot separation measured between rental units, a requirement that responsible agents respond in person within one hour to emergency complaints, and a condition that properties containing short-term rentals be current on all applicable county taxes and fees.

Webb said staff and the planning boards settled on measuring 500 feet between individual units rather than between properties to avoid unfairly penalizing owners of large parcels. "We felt it was a little bit more flexible. It still met the intention of mitigating for parking and traffic concerns," Webb said, adding that GIS tools will be used to map and measure unit locations.

The proposal would allow existing licensed short-term rentals that sit within 500 feet of one another to remain legal so long as their licenses remain current. Webb explained the 12-month renewal window aligns with the county’s nonconformities provision: "If it expires or you don't use it more than 12 months, that's generally the end of you being able to do that," she said.

On responsible agents, Webb said the planning board and staff debated residency and response-time options and settled on defining the requirement as an in-person response within one hour for complaints classified as emergencies. "We said respond in person within one hour of receiving a complaint," Webb said, explaining the change was intended to ensure timely, on-site handling of urgent incidents such as police calls.

Commissioners raised concerns about leaving exception authority too broad. One commissioner asked staff to add objective criteria for when staff can waive the separation distance — for example when properties are accessed from different streets or where parking impacts do not materialize. Another commissioner cautioned that not every complaint warrants an in-person response and asked for language that differentiates emergency responses from minor complaints.

Webb said she and staff will work with the planning board to tighten that discretionary language before returning to the commission. She also said Public Works requested the tax-and-fee compliance clause so the county can ensure utility and other obligations are current as a condition of licensing.

Next steps: staff will revise the draft language to specify circumstances under which staff may grant exceptions and clarify the scope of required in-person responses. The item was discussed for further refinement rather than being adopted at the meeting.

Sources: Amanda Webb, Planning Director (presentation and Q&A, Nov. 17 meeting).