Olympia considering cap on short-term rental properties
New regulations proposed by the city of Olympia would set a two-property limit for operators of short-term vacation rentals.
The new rules, which are being developed in an effort to protect the supply of affordable housing, would continue to allow homeowners to rent out rooms in their homes, but crack down on people or companies that own and operate entire homes as vacation rental properties.
Properties listed on sites such Airbnb and VRBO make up a small portion of rental units in Olympia, about 1%. A search on Thursday pulled up roughly 270 vacation property listings total across both websites; Olympia has more than 22,000 housing units, according to the Housing Needs Assessment report.
Other proposed regulations would add permitting requirements for those non-owner-occupied vacation rentals, as well as mandate that operators create one additional off-street parking space if they rent out more than two bedrooms.
The added parking provision comes at an awkward time as the city’s Land Use Committee is looking at reducing mandated parking requirements as part of a broader review of development regulations that impede new housing construction.
In 2019, Washington state passed new regulations on short-term rentals, which required operators to register with the state, meet certain safety requirements, obtain liability insurance, and pay sales and lodging taxes.
A more recent bill introduced in 2021 by Sen. Liz Lovelett would have allowed cities to create an additional excise tax on short-term rentals that would fund affordable housing construction, but that bill failed to advance out of committee.
Olympia’s Planning Commission will consider public testimony on the proposed short-term rental regulations at a virtual public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 19. You can register to speak at the hearing on the city’s website.
This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
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