By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – The Port Angeles City Council has taken steps to improve the housing crisis this year, notably, allowing for multi-family housing units in neighborhoods that were previously restricted. But, the thinking is, it won’t do a lot of good if much of the existing housing and future housing is being used for short term rentals, like Air B&B.

That’s why the Council this week, following a “very enthusiastic” public meeting, approved a 6-month moratorium on new short term rentals in certain neighborhoods, while they work on a permanent policy to deal with the issues.

Defined in part as “a residential dwelling or portion thereof, either detached or attached, rented out on a nightly basis for less than 30 days…is not a permitted hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast…and that contain kitchen facilities”, in Port Angeles, short term rentals have been allowed in Residential Medium and High Density zones and most Commercial zones. Any that are operating outside of those areas, and there are some, have been doing so illegally.

One reason they can do that, says Mayor Kate Dexter, is that there is no licensing permit in place.

“That’s part of the problem is, the only regulation currently in place, based on municipal code, is where they’re allowed. I think we all agree, we don’t like the current rule, which was written long before we got there. So, it’s been a priority of ours to address short-term rentals. So we’re beginning the process of looking at “what should the regulations be?”

Dexter said the goal is to have a solid policy ironed out and ready to be adopted by March of next year. That policy should be based, as much as possible, on solid data. But figuring out exactly how many short term rentals there are inside the city limits, and where they are, is a very difficult thing to pin down. That’s why the Council also approved hiring a consultant who specializes in that work.

“And they do what they call data scraping, which is actually getting the data on where the short-term rentals are. Are they a whole house? One room? The basement? Owner-occupied, not owner occupied? All of that data. They also will help us with some of the regulation planning, and then they also are a platform for, if we go with a licensing process for example, they have the portal for that to work. So, it’s what I think will be a really helpful tool for for both the City and for people who are operating short term rentals.”

The moratorium, by the way, does not apply to the rental of individual rooms within a house where the owner resides, owners renting out their homes while they are on vacation, or where the entire housing unit is rented out for 30 days or less during a calendar year.

City staff are working on a clarifying statement that will include frequently asked questions, and that is expected to go out next week.