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KITTITAS COUNTY
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
2026 STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT
STUDY SESSION DATE: January 26, 2026
TOPIC: Short Term Rental Committee
ACTION REQUESTED: Request to approve a Resolution dissolving the Short Term
Rental Committee
BACKGROUND: On March 5, 2024, the Board of County Commissioners
created the Kittitas County Short Term Rental Committee
through Resolution 2024-049.
On April 28a', 2025, the Board of County Commissioners
instructed the STR committee to develop draft regulations
with assistance of CDS, through Resolution 2025-093. The
Committee met from March of 2024 through December
2025.
On December 18, 2025, the STR held their regular
scheduled committee meeting to continue discussions and
finalize the draft STR code for public review thereby
completing the Boards direction.
On January 12ffi, 2026, KCCDS Study Session the Board
directed Staff to prepare Resolution dissolving the STR
Committee and commence with legal review.
INTERACTION: CDS.
RECOMMENDATION: Sign resolution dissolving the STR Committee
HANDLING: None.
ATTACHMENTS: Resolution
LEAD STAFF: Chad Bala,Director
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMSSIONERS
COUNTY OF KITTITAS
STATE OF WASHINGTON
RESOLUTION NO.2026-
DISSOLVING THE SHORT TERM RENTAL COMMITTEE
WHEREAS: Kittitas County Short Term Rental committee was formed on March 51,2024(Res.2024-
049 by the Board of County Commissioners; and
WHEREAS: The Short Term Rental Committee duties were expanded to develop draft regulations with
the assistance of the Kittitas County Community Development Services Department on
April 28, 2025 (Res. 2025-093); and
WHEREAS: The Short Term Rental Committee held its final committee meeting on December 18,
2025,with a quorum of 5 committee members and finalized the draft Short Term Rental
Code(Kittitas County Code 17.63)with a unanimous vote of approval; and
WHEREAS: The final Short-Term Rental committee meeting minutes of December 18,2025,has been
included within this resolution.
NOW THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED that the Short Term Rental Committee has completed its
duties as directed by the Board of County Commissioners of Kittitas County,Washington,in the best
interest of the public, does hereby dissolves the Short Term Rental Committee.
DATED this 26th day of January 2026, at Ellensburg,Washington.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
KITTITAS COUNTY,WASHINGTON
Cory Wright, Chairman
Attest:
❑ Clerk of the Board-Julie Kj orsvik _
Brett Wachsmith,Vice-Chairman
❑Deputy Clerk of the Board-Mandy Buchholz
Laura Osiadacz, Commissioner
KITTITAS COUNTY
SHORT TERM RENTAL COMMITTEE MINUTES
Chamber of Commerce
609 N Main St, Ellensburg
Special Meeting
THURSDAY 3:30 PM December 18, 2025
Committee members present: Amy McGuffin, Jessica Karraker,
Nicole Johnson, in person and Gina Peckman and Dayna Larimer via
Webex.
Committee Members Not Present: Bryan Pitman and Norman Pascoe
(excused) and Joe Fithian, Derek Doremus (unexcused) .
Others Present: Jeremy Johnston, Dan Young, Jessica Miller -
Clerk and no (0) members of the public.
CALL TO ORDER
Meeting was called to order at 3 : 32 PM
CITIZEN COMMENTS (1 min. time limit)
There were no citizen comments.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion by Amy McGuffin to approve the November 20, 2025 minutes.
Seconded by Jesssica Karraker. Discussion - none. Motion passed.
NEW BUSINESS
DISCUSSION/DECISION - DEVELOPMENT OF RECOMMENDED SHORT TERM
RENTAL DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS
LONG RANGE PLANNER JEREMY JOHNSTON stated the goal of today' s
meeting is to focus on the violation section of the regulations .
The draft violation section was sent out to the committee
members by email for review.
Jessica Karraker asked for clarification on defining an actual
reported violation. Jeremy Johnston stated it would be a
reported violation to code enforcement. Code enforcement would
issue a letter to the person and follow through with requesting
compliance with the noise violation through the decimal reader
report .
Discussion occurred regarding fire ban violations and who gets
the violation. Fire Marshal Dan Young stated the renter would
receive the violation if the homeowner properly posted fire ban
documentation. If a fire was left unattended after the renter
2025-12-18 MINUTES 1
Motion by Nicole Johnson to remove section Exceptions 17 . 63 . 060
in its entirety. Seconded by Jessica Karraker. Discussion -
none. Motion passed 5-0 .
Motion by Nicole Johnson to add to Applicability section
17 . 63 . 030 as written bullet point (5) , that short-term rentals
within a planned unit development or master planned resort shall
be subject to this chapter unless expressively authorized by an
approved development agreement or PUD final development plan.
Seconded by Amy McGuffin. Discussion - may want to change the
word chapter to title, staff will discuss with legal . Motion is
revised to use the word "title" instead of "chapter" . Motion
passed 5-0 .
Motion by Jessica Karraker to send this document to Planning
Commission as written. Seconded by Amy McGuffin. Discussion- the
document will have to go through legal but the committee won' t
need to review it . Jessica Karraker withdrew her motion.
Motion by Jessica Karraker that we send the entire regulation
document 17 . 63 to legal and barring so significant changes from
legal that this document moves on to the Planning Commission.
Seconded by Amy McGuffin. Discussion - Committee members are
able to attend the Planning Commission meeting. Motion passed 5-
0 .
Jessica Karraker requested that the committee members that are
not present be notified that the document will be sent to legal
for review and then to the Planning Commissioners, so that
everyone is informed. The committee members would like to be
informed of when the Planning Commission meeting will be
scheduled.
Discussion of the decimal devices occurred. Staff is unable to
suggest a company or device due to the possibility of being
biased.
Staff will check with legal regarding approving these minutes
and how that is handled.
OTHER BUSINESS
There is no other business
CONCLUDED
Meeting concluded at 4 :45 PM
2025-12-18 MINUTES 3