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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMNUSSIONERS <br />2023 STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: November 13, 2023 <br />TOPIC: Short Term Vacation Rental Committee <br />ACTION REQUESTED: <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Mark R. Cook <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Direct CDSIPW coordinates with Board of County Commission (BoCC) administrative <br />staff soliciting for committee membership. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• Unregulated short term vacation rentals are becoming more prevalent in the <br />county particularly in upper county. <br />* At two recent town hall meetings in Cle Elum and Easton, residents expressed <br />frustration with the lack of regulation. <br />* Community Development Services (CDS) staff are able to staff a BoCC <br />committee first quarter of 2024. <br />• CDS desires having draft code language to the Planning Commission by second <br />quarter 2024. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Recent town hall meetings have produced consistent concerns from Upper County <br />residents regarding unregulated short-term rentals. The proliferation of internet <br />advertising results in uncaptured lodging tax revenue from unregistered rental owners. <br />Increasingly, county residents are lodging complaints about late night revelry from <br />heavily occupied weekend rentals. Evaluation of how the United States census captures <br />short term rentals in Kittitas County suggests the census data is marginally accurate. <br />Census data reports a decline in short-term rentals during the past decade. <br />DISCUSSION: <br />Forming a BoCC committee of proponents and opponents to short-term rentals will likely <br />inform staff of issues and obstacles to form a draft ordinance for Planning Commission <br />and BoCC consideration second quarter of 2024. The target date will likely require the <br />committee to meet twice monthly in the months of January, February, and March 2024. <br />CDS staff will collect sample legislation from various counties in the state of Washington <br />and utilize existing legislation to engage committee members on feedback regarding <br />expectations of success and issues of implementation. <br />Page 1 of 2 <br />Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2023 <br />