16.26.010 Purpose and intent.
A. The purpose of this chapter is to establish the regulations governing the use of a residential dwelling unit as a short-term rental. This chapter provides reasonable and necessary regulations for the permitting of short-term rental of residential dwelling units in order to:
1. Ensure the safety, welfare and convenience of occupants, owners, and neighboring property owners;
2. Balance the legitimate neighborhood livability concerns with the property owner’s desire to use their property as they choose;
3. Recognize the need to limit short-term rental options within neighborhoods to ensure compatibility, while recognizing the benefits of short-term rentals in providing recreation and income opportunities, as well as transitional housing and business or hospital-related short stays;
4. Help maintain the city’s needed housing supply for long-term residential use; and
5. Protect the character and stability of the city’s neighborhoods by limiting the number, concentration, and maximum occupancy of full-time short-term rentals in residential zones. In the adoption of these regulations, the city finds that the transient rental of dwelling units can be incompatible with surrounding residential uses. Therefore, special regulation of residential dwelling units listed for transient rental is necessary to ensure that these uses will be compatible with surrounding residential uses and will not materially alter the neighborhoods in which they are located.
B. A short-term rental permit grants approval to operate a short-term rental in accordance with this chapter. A short-term rental permit may be terminated or revoked if the standards of this chapter are not met and will expire if the dwelling is sold or otherwise transferred as defined in this chapter. This chapter provides an administrative framework for approving the annual operation of a short-term rental.
C. The regulations of this chapter are not intended to permit any violation of the provisions of any other law or regulation.
D. Exemption of a use from the provisions of this chapter shall not exempt the use from other applicable provisions of this title.
E. Prior to the adoption of the provisions contained in this chapter, there were no provisions in this title that identified or allowed the establishment of a “short-term rental” as a legally permitted land use. Accordingly, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to identify or allow an existing use to be classified or considered a legal nonconforming short-term rental subject to the provisions and allowances of WMC Chapter 16.28. (Ord. 19-29(SUB)(AM) § 2, 2020)