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rental", the existing prohibition of commercial events at residences, or the existing vacation rental parking regulations. It is also important to note that all county regulations applicable to a single- family residence (e.g. use and limitations on docks, noise and nuisance regulations, and environmental regulations) apply to vacation rentals as well. As stated, previously, during its review the PZC added a number of items to the proposed ordinance (see attachment 8). Those items have been incorporated into the ordinance now proposed for Board consideration (see attachment 13). As structured, the proposed ordinance includes all provisions recommended by the STVRAC with the exception of a license application submittal requirement added by staff (page 2 of ordinance) and an alternative recommendation for occupancy limits (page 3 of ordinance). Both of those changes are highlighted in the ordinance (see attachment 11). The attached ordinance, if adopted, will: 1. Require the owner of a vacation rental unit to obtain a county license from the community development department, said license to be valid for 3 years with the ability of an owner to obtain a license renewal every 3 years. Rationale: As part of establishing a local vacation rental license, the county should require site inspections and must set a length of time for which a license remains valid. In determining those requirements, the county needs to consider a number of factors, including: the items that need an inspection, who should perform the inspection, how often inspections need to be conducted, staffing levels/efficiency/costs, and ease of licensing as it affects the Board's objective of "bringing vacation rental units out of the shadows" and into compliance. Based on requirements in subsequent sections of the proposed ordinance, items that should be inspected include: • Parking accommodations • State -required fire protection items (smoke alarms, emergency lighting, fire extinguisher) • Occupancy limit items (number of bedrooms) • Posting or displaying required public and "good neighbor" information inside the vacation rental unit With adequate training, code enforcement officers can conduct those types of compliance inspections and will retain personal knowledge of the unit in the event that compliance issues and violations occur at some point in the future. With respect to the length of a county license and the frequency of regular inspections (not including inspections for suspected violations that may arise from time to time), it is staff's opinion that annual licensing and annual inspections would be more frequent than necessary. It is also staff's opinion that a 3 year license and regular site inspections every 3 years will be frequent enough to catch major unit changes that could affect compliance with county vacation rental regulations. In summary, staff and the STVRAC support requiring an inspection for the initial permit, a permit timeframe of 3 years, and an inspection with each permit renewal. As previously stated, separate inspections will occur if and when there is a suspected violation at a particular vacation rental unit. MAAGENDA\Current Year\2016\Consideration of Proposed Vacation Rental Ordinance Establishing Local License Requirement and 5 Vacation Rental Regulations 062116.docx 127