The growing vacation housing industry has prompted the Chelan County Commissioners to consider regulatory changes to the county land use code on Short Term Rentals (STR).
Hundreds of STRs; homes, condos and accessory dwellings on property in the unincorporated areas of the county, can be operated as lucrative businesses under specific occupancy, parking and safety rules, requiring an annual permit.
As Short Term Rentals increased across the county, Chelan County adopted regulations in 2021. The county commissioners sought to update the STR codes last year, and after months of discussion the county planning commission offered several pages of recommended revisions.
Two-dozen citizens, a mix of STR owners and neighbors, turned out Tuesday at the confluence Technology Center in Wenatchee for a public hearing where the county commissioners heard two hours of testimony.
Occupancy limits and whether to consider children under two years of age as occupants of STRs, parking on parcel of property only to include recreational vehicles, ATVs and boats, specific zoning and proposed owner-completed fire safety checks, were the most contentious issues.
"Kids count and the fire code doesn't allow for any exemptions on that," said Chelan County Fire Marshal Chris Pederson. "Self (fire safety) inspections, we found that they don't work. People, they don't know what they don't know."
"We go to classes, we get certified, we take tests so that we're certified so we know what to look for so that we can help make your short term rental safe," said Pederson in addressing the need for firefighters to conduct safety checks. "That's why we disagree with the self inspections. And this is also a commercial building. As soon as it became a commercial building, that comes into my realm of the fire and life safety inspection."
The county commissioners will accept written comment through 5:00 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 16. A decision on any changes that will be made to the STR code is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 28.
New suggestions on how the city of Chelan will regulate the short term rental industry will be discussed by the city Planning Commission beginning at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 15 at Chelan City Hall.
The city is considering allowing STRs in special use districts, where the proposed minimum lot size for each rental would be 2 ½ to 5 acres. The city is considering only permitting up to 10 new short term rentals in the special use zone per year.
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