Proposal aims to regulate short-term rentals

A proposal to add short-term rental housing to Flathead County zoning regulations as a conditional use is an effort to regulate such rentals — currently an illegal use — and create a process for accountability.

The Northwest Montana Association of Realtors is requesting a zoning text amendment to add short-term rental housing to the list of uses requiring an administrative conditional-use permit in agricultural, suburban agricultural and residential zones in the Ashley Lake, Labrant/Lindsey Lane, Lakeside, Little Bitterroot Lake, North Fork, Rogers Lake and West Valley zoning districts. The amendment further would add performance standards for short-term or vacation rentals.

The county Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Feb. 8 to consider the proposal that already has drawn a considerable amount of public interest. Opponents don’t want short-term rentals allowed in any form in their neighborhoods; proponents say short-term rentals are already happening, so why not allow and regulate them?

The Realtor association’s decision to move forward with the proposed text amendment was spurred by a discussion the association’s government affairs committee had with county Planning Director Mark Mussman last year, when he told the committee that creating a regulatory process for short-term rentals had been on department’s agenda for some time. The association’s executive board approved the effort to move forward with an application for a zoning text amendment.

“We want to get out ahead a little bit and say, ‘OK, these [short-term rentals] are happening and will continue to happen regardless; let’s have a process,’” Mussman said.

Erica Wirtala, government affairs director for the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors, said the association is not promoting short-term rentals but rather wants to see them regulated.

“Realtors are not trying to have short-term rentals in every home out there,” she said.

SHORT-TERM rentals are a use that has grown in popularity throughout the county for a variety of reasons, the planning staff report notes. A key reason for the proliferation of such rentals — which currently are not allowed in the county’s zoning regulations — is growth in the “sharing economy.” Online marketing makes it easy to tap into short-term rentals via websites such as VRBO and Airbnb.

“Another reason there appears to be a growth in short-term rentals throughout the county is that the short-term rental income to the property owner allows the property owner to continue to invest in the property,” the staff report notes. “There are many instances where even just a few times a year where a property is rented on a short-term basis allows a seasonal resident to afford the property and continue to maintain that property so that it does not become a blight to the neighborhood.”

From a Realtor’s point of view, the proposal will protect the homeowner with an approval process, and also will protect the traveling public and neighbors of a vacation rental unit because there would be a reporting process and contact person for questions or complaints.

If approved by the county commissioners, who have the final say, the zoning text amendment outlines a number of performance standards. For example, if there are prohibitions against short-term rental housing written into covenants, conditions and restrictions in a housing development or homeowner association documents where the subject property is located, the property owner cannot apply for an administrative conditional-use permit. If the property is sold, the new owners would need to apply for a new permit.

Once an application for a permit is made, the county planning staff would notify neighbors within 150 feet of the subject property. If there is neighborhood opposition, the planning staff report and any public comment would be forwarded to the county Board of Adjustment for its review and decision.

Applicants for short-term rentals would be required to register with the state of Montana for an accommodations license for a “tourist home,” and that license is administered by the Flathead City-County Health Department. Other performance standards include a required health and safety certificate from the applicable rural fire department, ensuring the property has the requisite number of smoke detectors and proper egress.

The staff report acknowledges confusion in current county zoning rules as to whether short-term rentals are permitted. County zoning defines a dwelling unit as “one or more rooms designed for or occupied by one family for living or sleeping purposes with stays of 30 days or longer.”

“It is the requirement that stays need to be 30 days or longer that has led to much of this confusion,” the report notes. “Because the county does not have any restrictions on renting a home for over 30 days, many property owners do not realize that it is not allowed to rent a home for less than 30 days in most zoned areas.”

Further exacerbating the confusion are the unzoned areas in the county where short-term rentals are not governed and therefore permitted.

If the text amendment is passed, administrative conditional-use permits for short-term rents will be subject to suspension or revocation if conditions aren’t met or if there are disturbing the peace complaints.

Mussman said the Planning Office receives complaints every summer from neighbors affected by short-term rentals operating illegally throughout the county.

“It starts up the first of July and we get complaints throughout the summer, and then people are quiet about it” through the winter months, he said.

The Planning Office’s enforcement officer investigates the complaints. Mussman said he believes the officer’s workload would be diminished once a process is in place for allowing short-term rentals.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.