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As structured, the draft ordinance clarifies the County's current regulations by referring to "carport <br /> or garage" parking areas rather than referring to enclosed or unenclosed parking areas. The draft <br /> ordinance also establishes automobile parking maximums for vacation rentals. As currently <br /> proposed, for vacation rentals with a garage and/or carport, the maximum number of parked <br /> automobiles is the total number of garage/carport spaces plus one space per bedroom not to exceed <br /> 5 automobiles parked outside a garage/carport. For vacation rentals with no garage or carport, the <br /> current proposal limits the total number of parked automobiles to 2 plus one space per bedroom not <br /> to exceed a total of 5 automobiles on site. <br /> In addition to the parking limitations described above, a vacation rental may provide and use <br /> "excess" parking spaces if such spaces meet parking location requirements and are visually <br /> screened from view from any adjacent public or private street. As proposed, excess spaces cannot <br /> be occupied between 10 pm and 8 am and must be reviewed and approved by planning staff through <br /> the administrative approval site plan process. In practice, the current proposal to allow excess <br /> spaces will be useable on larger sites, will maintain visual compatibility from the view from <br /> adjacent streets, and will accommodate larger numbers of parked automobiles thereby <br /> accommodating larger numbers of people at vacation rentals. <br /> Issues Other Than Parking <br /> Since the Board's February 10, 2015 meeting, other issues and concerns have been raised. Those <br /> issues are discussed below. <br /> — Event Sites <br /> One issue relates to use of vacation rentals for events involving large gatherings of people. Staff's <br /> initial review with the Deputy County Attorney indicates that the County could prohibit or <br /> separately regulate the renting of a residence (conventional residence or vacation rental) for <br /> compensation for a large gathering event. Such commercial "event site" regulations could include a <br /> prohibition of advertising a residential unit for events, and could limit the size of a gathering or <br /> occupancy of a rented residence to provide a quantitative standard for enforcement. In addition, as <br /> an alternative to prohibiting all events, "event site" regulations could be structured to limit the <br /> number of large gatherings allowed during a calendar year at a residence rented for such purpose. <br /> For example, retail sales in the form of garage sales are allowed at a residence but are limited to <br /> three garage sale events per calendar year. If the Board wishes to prohibit or limit large gathering <br /> events, then the currently proposed provision for excess parking spaces should be deleted or <br /> revised. <br /> — Fire Safety <br /> Another issue recently raised related to fire safety for vacation rentals. In response to that issue, <br /> County Fire Prevention staff coordinated with DPBR staff. According to DPBR staff, a licensed <br /> vacation rental is required to have functioning smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher. Actual site <br /> inspections by DPBR staff, however, appear to be rare and are scheduled only in response to <br /> complaints. Inspections of vacation rentals by Fire Prevention are not currently provided in the <br /> county code. Consequently, local inspections of vacation rentals for smoke detectors and fire <br /> extinguishers cannot be required without a change to the county code. <br /> F:\Community Development\CurDev\BCO2015 BCC\ParkingRegsVacRentals.doc 4 199 <br />