||| FROM SEATTLE TIMES |||


As post-pandemic vacationing returns in coming years, tourists may find it harder to book an Airbnb near Leavenworth, Lake Chelan and other coveted areas in Chelan County.

County commissioners are considering new limits on short-term rentals and could approve restrictions as soon as next week. Though final details are still being debated, the rules could create a new permitting scheme and limit the number of short-term rentals starting in three years.

The debate has raged on town Facebook pages and in community councils that usually would be busy planning events like the annual Santa Breakfast (canceled this year because of the pandemic). Similar fights have played out in cities around the globe, as platforms like Airbnb draw travelers away from traditional hotels toward apartments, houses and condos.

Locals pushing for the new rules say the explosion of Airbnb, VRBO and other rental sites is transforming their residential neighborhoods and squeezing the local housing market. A consultant hired by the county estimated at least 1,200 rentals operate in unincorporated areas of Chelan County, up from just 76 in 2014.

Rental owners counter that their properties help fuel the region’s tourism-dependent economy and create jobs. An analysis by a Central Washington realtors group estimated that people staying in short-term rentals spent about $560 per party daily on food, recreation and shopping.

The proposed rules would affect only unincorporated areas of the county, bypassing cities like Leavenworth that already have their own limits. Many rentals are listed outside city limits, like those nestled along Lake Chelan and the Chumstick Highway.

When Seattle faced concerns that short-term rentals could deplete the city’s housing stock, the city passed new limits in 2017, though the rollout has been glitchy. San Juan County tightened its rules in 2018, when an estimated 7% of county housing stock was made up of vacation rentals. In Oregon, the popular town of Bend allows rentals in residential areas but requires them to be at least 250 feet apart.

In Chelan, a three-hour virtual public hearing Tuesday night drew more than 300 people as speakers debated property rights, nuisances caused by out-of-town renters and whether the regulations would kill jobs and amount to “wealth redistribution.”

A few miles outside Leavenworth in Peshastin, Stan Winters watched as the owners of two homes on his street transformed them into short-term rentals. Guests cycle in and out, causing parking irritations and a loss of “any sense of community,” Winters said.

“These houses just sit empty unless paying guests come,” said Winters. “A community of people who live here and work here, that’s what we want.”

Rental owners say frequent turnover is to be expected, and the short-term visitor housing is crucial for creating jobs.

Zelda Holgate manages six rental properties near the Wenatchee River. The cabins were some of the first vacation rentals in the area in the late 1980s, she said.

“Our economy is based on tourism,” Holgate said. “We advertise ourselves as ‘Washington’s playground.’”

READ FULL ARTICLE: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/debate-over-short-term-rentals-comes-to-washingtons-playground-as-chelan-county-considers-limits-on-airbnbs


 

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