||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||
PRELIMINARY AGENDA:
Discussion items may be added and/or the order or content changed at the discretion of the Council Chair. If there is a change in location, the alternative meeting location will be visibly posted at the location indicated above. Public Hearings will not start earlier than the posted time. Times listed on the agenda for other items are approximate and are provided as a rough guide to aid in planning.
MONDAY, JULY 12, 2021
COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
Legislative Hearing Room, 55 Second Street, Friday Harbor, WA
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Phone Conference ID: 220 970 292#
09:00 AM
- CALL TO ORDER & FLAG SALUTE
- EXCUSED ABSENCE
- APPROVAL OF AGENDA
- PUBLIC ACCESS TIME
09:15 AM
PUBLIC HEARING OPENED AND RECESSED TO 11:30 AM; PUBLIC TESTIMONY FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING WILL BEGIN AT 11:30 AM
11:30 AM
To Receive Testimony on a Resolution Amending a Moratorium Adopted in Resolution No. 05-2021 on Vacation Rentals of Residences and Accessory
Dwelling Units Adding Findings of Fact, a Work Plan, and Extending the Moratorium through January 13, 2022 – Erika Shook, Director Community
Development
01:00 PM ADJOURN (approximate)
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Because comments were closed on the July 1, 2021, story about Council and the VR issues, I’m posting here information from Tim Blanchard about Council Member Wolf’s apparent misunderstanding of the Planning Commission Action:
Just to set the record straight, Cindy Wolf’s post of July 3, 2021, at 4:07am, suggesting review of “the minutes from the November 20, 2020 when a unanimous vote was recorded in favor of recommending caps on Vacation Rentals at existing levels,” mischaracterizes the Planning Commission’s motion and recommendation.
For context, the referenced motion was made as part of the Planning Commission’s deliberations regarding potential revisions in the update to the County’s Comprehensive Plan, which is required by the Growth Management Act and has been the focus of Planning Commission in recent months. The motion was not presented as a stand-alone recommendation to the County Council for immediate action. More important, the July 3rd post does not accurately reflect the minutes of November 20, 2020, which were approved with corrections including a clarification of point 5 in the motion, as follows: “Whatever cap or caps are ultimately adopted should not be annual limits on increases in the number of VR permits, but should be based on a fixed number of permits beyond which no additional permits shall be approved in the areas subject to the cap(s).”
Point 5 of the motion was addressed only to the form of the caps, rejecting the idea that the caps should be re-set annually based on a percentage of current housing stock or similar measure. The Planning Commission did not make any recommendation at the November 2020 meeting about what number of VR permits should be allowed under the cap(s), because the Planning Commissioners recognized that significant additional information and analysis would be necessary “by island, neighborhood or smaller geographic area” to support specific recommendations regarding the number of VRs that should be permitted.
The complete minutes of the meeting on November 29, 2020, as approved with corrections on December 18, 2020, can be accessed at https://www.sanjuanco.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11202020-2277
In the interest of accuracy regarding these important issues,
Tim Blanchard
Member of the San Juan County Planning Commission from 2013 through December 2020
Cindy Wolf has raised the possibility of including the Orcas Highlands neighborhood in the moratorium.
I have lived in the Highlands for 20+ years. I serve on the Orcas Highlands HOA Board. Our Board has explicitly decided not to take a position on the vacation rental issue, recognizing that our members have different opinions, interests and needs.
I am quite curious how the Highlands could be singled out for inclusion in a moratorium. We are not a UGA, or hamlet, or activity center. We are Rural Residential/5. Spot zoning is not legal in Washington State, to specifically target our parcels out of all the Rural Residential/5 parcels on the island seems, well, unwise and uninformed. I’d encourage Cindy and the rest of the Council to attend the State’s Short Course On Local Planning.
I served on the San Juan County Planning Commission for many years, including the period where we drafted the current Vacation Rental Permit regulations. I don’t see a need to rush to an emotion-driven decision on this issue.
https://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/growth-management/short-course/
I believe the County Council should adopt the resolution drafted by the Department of Community Development (see the agenda for a link). The extension would allow the County the time to properly study the issue of how VRs impact our community. I tend to agree, up to a point, with those who say VRs do not significantly impact the availability of affordable housing. That said, using the County’s own data, there are on the order of 170 VRs with appraised values below $400k. Whether that represents affordable depends on who is looking.
But affordable housing is not the only factor which we should consider in regard to limiting, or not, VRs. A concerted effort should be made to determine the localized impact within neighborhoods. The County should reach out to those living near to or among VRs to establish the level of acceptance or aggravation those households experience.
Further, we need to address the issue of just how many visitors the islands can absorb. Leave aside obvious limitations such as water (which is severely limited in some areas), parking, the capacity for the Sheriff’s office, Emergency Services, the clinic to meet their obligations, etc.. There are plenty of intangibles which are impacted: Eastsound, Cascade & Mountain Lake, Turtleback, Deer Harbor and the other recreational opportunities that Orcas has to offer. How many of your neighbors avoid those areas due to crowding? For those without a fast internet connection the ferries are practically inaccessible. All these visitors are good for businesses, IF they can find employees, but not so welcoming to residents.
I can’t help but view this as a “tragedy of the commons” scenario. Some few will benefit from a proliferation of VRs but many will suffter.
In closing, the County has proposed an extension of the moratorium to allow it to study these issues. Perhaps they are not pressing on Lopez and San Juan Islands but I believe they are here on Orcas and I support Cindy Wolf in her effort to persuade the Council to grant this extension.
There is a clear and distinct reason why Orcas Highlands is being singled out as a particular neighborhood on Orcas to focus regulation. One need only look to the political funding that has placed Councilperson Wolf in office to understand what is driving the urgency of her efforts.
It is, however, an unfortunate outcome of the interference of partisan politics in our non-partisan county legislative process.
I encourage the Council to make any and all necessary changes and alterations to the Vacation Rental code, but do it because the work has been done to understand ALL aspects, not just based on the opinions spoon-fed by the supporters in your inbox. The Planning Commission has given you a clear and unanimous description of what they want you to analyze… now get to work on it! The limited capacity of legislative space that is being eaten up by the myopic focus on Vacation Rentals is slowly eroding the function at all levels of County government. In a few short months, we will lose our Manager, Planning Director, and who knows who else.
Perhaps we should be looking in the mirror a bit instead of out the window.
“One need only look to the political funding that has placed Councilperson Wolf in office to understand what is driving the urgency of her efforts.”
Justin… can you clarify this vague comment please?
I support the following:
* extending the moratorium;
* modifying the existing scope of the moratorium to include the rural residential areas on Orcas;
* crafting fixed caps on all vacation rentals whether they’re whole houses, bedrooms, attics, basements, or owned by resorts or lodging establishments… again, all vacation rentals;
* comply with the recommendations submitted by the Vacation Rental Work Group in their Dec. 2019 letter;
* Change the land use element so that vacation rentals no longer run with the land upon the time of sale;
* implement a three strikes rule against vacation rental permit holders who are in violation of the regulations;
* Set limits on how many vacation rental permits an individual, a family, or a corporation can own;
* listen to the voices of the 3,000 plus people who signed the Vacation Rental Work Group’s petition.
* enforcement, enforcement, enforcement. New regulations without increased enforcement is a losing strategy… indeed, it’s one of the reasons why we’re here today;
* Host future meetings of this importance at a time when the average working man can attend.
“It is, however, an unfortunate outcome of the interference of partisan politics in our non-partisan county legislative process.”
Justin, you brought this issue to our attention, and it was thoroughly vetted back during the 2020 election… and no improprieties were found. I take accountability and transparency during elections as seriously as you do. I understand that you’re upset that your favored candidate didn’t win the election, but unless you have any new information that sheds light on this issue it’s time to drop this line of attack. It is, at most, a stretch.
And, seriously, if you have any new information on this issue I want to see it. It may affect the way I vote in the next election.