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Council sends short‑term rental zoning amendment to planning commission after debate on residential impacts
Summary
City planner presented a text amendment to allow vacation short‑term rentals to apply for special use permits in any zoning district; council debated protections for R‑1/R‑2 neighborhoods, noted three noncompliant rentals, and asked staff to take the amendment to the planning commission for public hearing Feb. 10.
City Planner Greg Custer presented a proposed zoning text amendment to Article 26 that would make vacation short‑term rentals eligible to apply for a special‑use permit in zoning districts where they are currently prohibited.
Custer said the amendment would "make them eligible to apply for a special use permit" and noted staff found three short‑term rentals operating out of compliance. He urged the council to provide guidance before taking the amendment to the planning commission for a public hearing on Feb. 10.
Councilors discussed geographic limits and protections for residential neighborhoods. One council member said they were "not interested in voting to allow these vacation … units in residential neighborhoods no matter what the R is," expressing concern about neighbor disruption and property‑value impacts. Other members said the special‑use process allows site‑specific conditions and that a supermajority (four of five votes) is required to approve a special‑use permit, which adds a higher threshold for approval.
Councilors also asked staff to consider options such as percentage caps (limiting the share of housing used as short‑term rentals), reapplication requirements when property ownership changes (granting permits as personal privileges versus running with the land), and stronger enforcement mechanisms for bad actors. Several members recommended forwarding the draft to the planning commission for testing and neighborhood input; staff agreed to do so.
Next steps: staff will send the text amendment to the planning commission for the Feb. 10 public hearing and report back with the commission’s recommendation and any suggested text changes.
