City to tackle vacation home rules
That's among the rules city commissioners will consider adopting Monday, less than a month after requiring licensing for a different type of short-term rental.
Vacation homes are allowed in the city's commercial, hotel resort, development and industrial districts, and rented for less than 30 consecutive days, city documents show.
City Clerk
"The purpose of that inspection really comes down to making sure that there's a fire escape route that's posted so if there's a fire, people have a visual that's easy for them to find and understand how to safely get out of the place," he said.
Vacation homes also would need clearly marked exits and a posted summary of the city's noise and fireworks ordinance, Marentette said.
Licenses would cost
City ordinances allow short-term renting in tourist and vacation homes.
Tourist homes have more restrictions -- they can operate in one- and two-family residential neighborhoods, must be in the owner's primary residence, have a season length cap and shorter stay limit, have spacing requirements depending on the operation's size and require a host when guests are staying.
Vacation homes have no spacing or hosting requirements, Marentette said.
Mayor
Carruthers said he supports the licensing requirement. Not only is it on par with what the city now requires of tourist homes, but it serves a purpose in keeping renters safe, he said.
"Many businesses have to be licensed for what they do, so why not be mindful of what's going on in our business district so at least we know if things go awry we could fall back on some of the regulations that we set up for them," he said.
The rules also looked good to Commissioner
"Hopefully we can get all those inspections done before summer, maybe with a few exceptions," she said. "So that's important as a tourist destination to know that our tourists are safe."
Commissioner
Werner said they're two separate issues. He has no financial interest in tourist homes. He'll recuse himself again Monday when vacation home rules come up, he said.
City Attorney
Cherry Fest agreement for 2020, 2021 festival in works
National
Marentette's office still requires festival organizers to complete the permitting process each year for the numerous festival events that require them, and festival staff and city administrators talk after each festival about what should be done differently next time, he said. The agreements help inform the city what festival leaders have in mind.
Requirements from the city this time include more rugged barriers to keep people from driving into crowds -- intentionally or otherwise, Marentette said. Police and fire will again have a unified central command for directing operations and emergency responses, and more trash pick-up vehicles will be required after parades.
Festival Executive Director
Mayor
Commissioner
"It's an integral part of our summer and I hope it goes smoothly," she said.
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