Commission discusses rental regulations

The Mason County Planning Advisory Commission presented draft short-term rental regulations to Mason County commissioners in a workshop May 7.

Commissioner Randy Neatherlin said the briefing was “only a work study” and nothing had been finalized yet regarding potential new rules.

“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.

Several people spoke before the workshop during public comments and the planning commission has received numerous letters from residents weighing in on proposed regulations.

Beth Rossow, who lives in Totten Shores, wrote to the commissioners expressing her displeasure with short-term rentals and told how Totten Shores Property Owners Group fought against short-term rentals.

“We formed a group to hire an attorney, pooling our funds, to stop short-term rentals in Totten. We got very committed to the campaign after experiencing a terrible summer in 2022 because of just one listing for a short-term rental,” Rossow wrote.

She said the group spent $3,500 “to shut down that one listing in our neighborhood for a bevy of violations,” including trespassing on private beaches, driving on beaches and ignoring community park rules, she wrote.

Constance Ibsen, co-chair of the Lower Hood Canal Watershed Coalition, wanted the commissioners to consider impacts on septic systems from short- term rentals.

“The Lower Hood Canal Watershed Coalition (LHCWC) is pleased that a short- term rental ordinance is being considered.

“It is essential that short-term rentals, just as other home businesses such as day cares, have enhanced oversight of onsite septic systems because of the potential for overuse.

“As the ordinance develops, LHCWC encourages the county to include the need for an annual inspection by a certified septic inspector to help ensure the surface and marine waters are safe for visitors and residents and limit damage to water dependent industries and cultures. LHCWC is happy to provide input as the ordinance develops,” Ibsen wrote.

Union resident Daniel Hanson spoke to commissioners during public comments before the workshop about the short-term rental he operates near Alderbrook Resort and Spa.

He said it’s a log cabin built by his grandfather, who settled the property in the 1930s, next to his main home. He said he rents it on Airbnb and it’s his retirement income.

He urged commissioners to make distinctions between a room rental in an owner’s house, an accessory dwelling unit rented on the owner’s property and rental of an entire house with an off-site owner.

“I think it’s important that these distinctions between those three short-term rentals are in the regulations,” he said.

Lori Thomas also operates a short-term rental in the county and wrote to oppose “heavy regulation” of rentals. She said existing laws address some concerns with short-term rentals.

“We have state and local ordinances to deal with loud parties. Enforce existing laws,” Thomas wrote.

“In Mason County we are required to have septic systems inspected every year for Glendon systems and every three years for gravity systems,” she wrote.

A Harstine Island couple have a vacation home on the same parcel as their residence and have been renting it out since 2009, they wrote in a letter to commissioners.

Mike and Shelly Glaser use VRBO to list their rental and limit the number of guests, have minimum stay requirements and the rental has its own septic system, they said.

“Many vacation rentals in our county are owned by individuals like us who are using the rent to subsidize their income and retirement. We hope that any regulations will be affordable and feasible for these people to maintain their business. We also hope that you will remember that many of these people use their rentals for their own personal use. In our situation where we have our rental on our residence parcel, we hope to be able to continue to have the same benefits as our neighbors in using our property for our personal use for family gatherings etc. without rental restrictions applying to said use,” they wrote.

At the workshop, Senior Planner Marissa Watson presented an “early draft” of work the commission has done.

Using commissioner feedback from Feb. 6 to the present, the first thing staff determined was that there will be “no outright ban of short-term rentals,” according to the presentation.

Feedback from the commissioners is needed regarding the definition of a short-term rental, whether the regulations will apply to the whole county, types of short-term rentals, number of short-term rentals per parcel, occupancy limits and septic approval, additional parking requirements, trash removal and fire, safety and health inspections, Watson said.

Commissioners discussed requiring large homes to get a special-use permit.

Neatherlin said if a home is “extremely large” it should be considered a commercial operation and need a corresponding permit.

All of the commissioners said possible regulations should not restrict short-term rentals to owner-occupied homes.

Neatherlin said a lot of people bought homes specifically to be used as vacation rentals and he “would hate” to prevent them from using their property for that purpose.

Commissioner Kevin Shutty said he was concerned about waste and septic systems.

“If you have a camper that you’re renting out, what is your bathroom situation?” he asked.

It makes sense to have proposed regulations cover rural and urban areas, he said.

“If it’s safe and acceptable for septic, chances are it will be for sewers,” Shutty said.

Staff recommended requiring short-term rental operators have someone available who lives “within three hours” of the rental.

“They absolutely have to have a designated local point of contact,” Shutty said, though commissioners were not sure about the specific time requirement.

Commissioners agreed regulations should include some form of inspection for the rentals.

“If it can’t pass a fire inspection, we have no business putting the people in there,” Neatherlin said.

This led to a discussion about how to pay for the proposed inspections.

Neatherlin said there should be an initial fee large enough to cover an inspector’s salary.

“So it actually pays for a position, a full position, to be able to do it,” he said.

He suggested a “small fee” charged on every day’s rental of up to $3.50.

“I know this is not going to be popular with people,” he said.

Shutty said he agreed.

“We’re not going to take a loss on this, but we want to make sure what we’re coming up with covers the inspections that need to happen,” Shutty said.

Commissioner Sharon Trask said she would like to see a projection from all the departments as to how much more staff would it take to be able to enforce proposed regulations and to inspect the rentals.

Watson said in Chelan County the fire marshal charges a $100 fee for the inspections.

Mason County has around 1,100 short-term rentals, according to a survey performed in 2022 and 2023, Watson said.

Mason County Administrator Mark Neary said commissioners should keep in mind a rental season is “maybe 90 to 120 days out of the year” and factor that into any proposed nightly rental fee.

Commissioners also said there should be a code of conduct required.

Shutty said a short-term rental in his neighborhood recently had a large number of guests on a sunny weekend. They parked along a “curvy road” and “you have a limited line of sight,” he said.

“The problem comes from the people who don’t respect or follow the guidelines,” Trask said.

Neatherlin agreed.

“We’re only here because it got out of control,” he said.

Watson said she hopes to present another draft of the regulations at a work session with the Planning Advisory Committee June 17.