Short-term rental rules are coming

Short-term rental regulations are coming to Mason County. The extent of new rules and fees for owners will be hammered out in the coming months by county commissioners and members of the Planning Department.

“The Planning Department has been directed by the Mason County Board of Commissioners to review the short-term vacation rental (Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, etc.) situation in Mason

County. The county has never regulated, nor does it currently regulate short-term rentals. The state, however, enacted certain statutes, RCW 64.37, regarding short-term lodging rentals that became effective on July 28, 2019. Many counties and cities have already extended the statutes to encompass their own regulations based on the unique situation within their jurisdiction,” according to the project’s webpage.

Senior Planner Marissa Watson led a workshop for the commissioners Feb. 6 to review community survey results.

Watson said the department sent postcards to waterfront property owners asking them to fill out a survey on short-term rentals and responses were collected Nov. 16- Jan. 12.

“The majority of short-term rentals are on our shoreline,” Watson said.

More than 1,500 people responded.

“That’s amazing,” she said.

Commissioner Kevin Shutty agreed.

“I think that’s an incredible amount of responses. I haven’t seen that type of engagement from our community on an issue in my eight years on the commission,” he said.

The first question on the survey was, “Have you been negatively impacted by, or do you have concerns about short-term rentals (Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, etc.) in Mason County, WA?”

Out of 1,504 respondents, 42% said “yes,” 48% said “no” and 10% said “maybe.”

Noise, parking and trespassing were big concerns for respondents.

Impacts on septic systems and poaching of shellfish were also mentioned, Watson said.

She was able to pick out themes in the survey and said respondents also saw benefits to vacation stays.

“They do believe short-term rentals are good for the economy of Mason County, even if they want regulations,” Watson said.

Potential regulations also concerned those surveyed.

“Who will enforce the regulations?” Watson asked.

Some opposed any new rules saying there were already regulations in place and some worried new rules would affect their income.

“A lot of people bought property in the county to use as short-term rentals,” Watson said.

Short-term rental rules in Skamania, Grays Harbor, San Juan and Chelan counties were presented to the commissioners as possible templates for Mason County’s regulations.

Some of those county rules only allow short-term rentals in a specific area, restrict the number of guests, have license fees, mandate the number of parking spaces and have lot size minimum requirements, according to the presentation.

Shutty said he could see “a blend of those four” counties’ regulations for Mason County.

“I’m not interested in an outright ban,” Shutty said.

He said he uses vacation rentals and sees their value but considers them businesses.

“It’s appropriate to have plans on file with us about how they’re managing it,” Shutty said.

Commissioner Randy Neatherlin also agreed vacation rentals are businesses.

“It’s just like a hotel in my opinion,” he said.

Neatherlin thinks some regulations are necessary.

“When you see 20 people in a one-bedroom, you have a problem,” he said.

Commissioner Sharon Trask said the county benefits from short-term rentals economically and there’s a lot more studying to do.

“Having standards or guidelines would be a smart thing to consider,” she said.

One of Mason County’s largest homeowners associations, Lake Limerick, doesn’t currently regulate short-term rentals in their development.

Lake Limerick Country Club HOA Compliance Chair Brian Smith spoke with the Journal about how possible county regulations might affect the association.

“Each homeowners association has unique needs,” Smith said.

The Lake Limerick association has more than 1,000 homes and only a “handful” have been used for short-term vacation rentals, Smith said. For the most part there haven’t been problems, but Smith said he has seen guests trespass on docks and flout owner-only amenities rules.

“At some point, the board will have to tackle it,” Smith said about short-term rental rules.

As far as countywide regulations, “One size doesn’t fit all,” he said.

Watson said the next step in developing possible regulations is a work session with the Planning Advisory Committee in April or May.

People can sign up for notifications about the next workshop on the project’s webpage at http://www.tinyurl.com/wmysz3h3.