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San Juan County hearing examines whether short-term RV rentals at Saltwater Farms violate land-use rules
Summary
Owner Andrew Fleming told the hearing examiner he relied on years of county staff guidance to place Airstream trailers as short-term lodging; county code enforcement argues the county's current reading bars commercial short-term rental of stationary recreational vehicles in RFF zoning. The examiner left the record open for written arguments.
Andrew Fleming, owner of Saltwater Farms on San Juan Island, told the San Juan County hearing examiner on May 27 that he relied on repeated oral guidance from county staff and a public comment by a former director when he placed a group of Airstream trailers and other small units on his property for short-term lodging.
Fleming said he first discussed the idea in 2019 with a county compliance officer, who told him the code contained no clear prohibition so long as units retained their vehicle character and used temporary utility connections. Fleming said he and his team later ordered and placed multiple Airstream trailers across several preliminary lots tied to a pending subdivision and operated them, in part, to provide lodging for event guests at the on-site B&B and event venue.
"He said you have to keep the wheels on it...water, power, septic must be temporary connections," Fleming testified about his early conversation with staff. He said the county's 2021 council-level remarks that the code was ambiguous reinforced his view that the practice was allowable with appropriate safeguards.
County code enforcement officer Villaluz told the hearing she reviewed complaints, roadside and satellite imagery and website listings showing the units and found no building permits or vacation-rental permits tied to the parcels. She said the county's land-use table (SJCC 18.30.040) does not allow recreational-vehicle parks or mobile-home parks in the RFF zoning and that recreational vehicles are expressly excluded from the county's dwelling-unit definition. "A recreational vehicle is not a dwelling unit," she said, noting that if a unit is permanently affixed and connected to utilities it may meet the code definition of a mobile home and thus require building permits.
Fleming acknowledged he had not requested a formal written code interpretation or applied for a provisional/conditional permit on the RV activity, saying he and the county had been engaged in a multi-year dialogue and he had relied on the history of those conversations. He also said some trailers were used as staff housing and that many units were booked as part of wedding contracts rather than individually on open short-term marketplaces.
The hearing focused on three factual threads: the physical characteristics of the Airstreams and three small "tiny-home" units (whether on wheels or permanently affixed), how the units were offered on Fleming's booking system (individual bookings versus block-booked as part of event contracts), and whether historical internal county guidance created a legitimate expectation that rentals were allowed without additional discretionary approvals.
Examiner McLean did not rule during the session. He accepted evidence into the record and set a deadline for written closing materials (parties to file submission per the schedule provided), saying the outcome could be precedent-setting for how the county regulates RV rentals. He also noted the county council can change code language if it wishes.
Sources: San Juan County Hearing Examiner oral testimony and exhibits, May 27 hearing.
