When Peter Mustin returned to his hometown of Port Townsend, he was able to find a job, but he has struggled to find a place to live, he told the Port Townsend City Council March 20 before it approved a 180-day moratorium on permits for “tourist home” rentals.

Following the council’s unanimous approval of the moratorium, April 3 was established as the council’s next date to discuss short-term rental rules. April 17 has been set for a public hearing on the moratorium on new conversions of homes to tourist homes.

The council’s previous recommendations to the planning commission, presented to Lance Bailey, planning director, on March 13, would winnow the permissions currently granted to short-term rentals in the “tourist home” category.

“Short-term rental” means an accommodation rented for fewer than 30 days. That includes “tourist homes” – properties occupied by owners who rent one or more rooms to tourists on a short-term basis. Short-term rentals have also been known as “transient accommodations” and “vacation rentals.”

Under the revised guidelines, tourist home rentals would still include a bedroom, a bathroom and a second room or “suite,” but would not be allowed to include a kitchen, a kitchenette or exterior entrances, all of which are currently permitted.

Council member Michelle Sandoval, who was not at the March 20 meeting, had previously called for a moratorium on new conversions to tourist homes until the rules are sorted out.

NO PLACE TO LIVE

Muslin was one of nearly a dozen people who addressed the City Council March 20 about housing concerns, prior to the moratorium vote.

“We wash your dishes,” Mustin told the council. “We clean your clothes. We serve your needs. And we can’t live in the town where we work.”

Mustin presented his struggles not only to retain the housing that he’s had, in the face of landlords whom he accused of trying to push him out, but also to gain livable housing. He listed a litany of ways in which he saw himself and fellow renters as being overcharged.

Dean Brittain told a similar story, noting that he’d also grown up in Port Townsend, but he’s spent months couch-surfing, in between finding lodging that was only available to him because he could lean on friends of friends.

“I’ve called places on the day they were listed, only to be told I was the 10th person to call,” Brittain said.

Fellow Port Townsend native Daniel Frederickson said he was asked to leave by his landlord of four years, and echoed Brittain’s suspicions that landlords want to make those rentals more profitable by renting to tourists.

Kelly Henwood, who’s worked here six years and considers herself “middle class,” has nonetheless found herself outbid every time she’s tried to buy a home, and suggested an incentive for first-time homebuyers.

“We don’t take your concerns lightly,” Mayor Deborah Stinson told those who had spoken. “Your frustrations are shared by those of us sitting up here. We need your voices at the table, to help us understand this issue.”

City Manager David Timmons outlined a number of potential solutions that the city is exploring, including working with housing-focused nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity, as well as reconstituting Homeward Bound, a currently dormant housing trust fund for Jefferson and Clallam counties.

“These don’t help people’s immediate needs, but coming up with a solution takes time,” Timmons said. “What you want is to be able to guarantee that your housing will be affordable in perpetuity.”

Timmons deemed rentals to be the city’s highest priority of affordable housing, citing council member David Faber’s observation of the number of speakers who are seeking affordable rentals.

“We don’t want to gentrify neighborhoods,” Timmons said. “We need to serve all income levels, in blended types of housing.”

TOURIST HOMES ON HOLD

On the topic of short-term rentals, Bailey reiterated that 13 applications for conversion to tourist homes have been submitted and approved since October 2015.

Bailey said the council had proposed the moratorium on tourist homes March 13, out of concerns that they might otherwise approve further applications that would not comply with a changing code.

He added that four current applications are in the process of being reviewed, and even though the moratorium would go into effect immediately upon its approval, those existing applications would remain in the process.

Ellen O’Shea, who’d spoken during the initial public comment period in support of those struggling to find housing, returned to the podium for the comment period devoted specifically to the moratorium.

“I know two families who were evicted from their homes, and saw [those homes] flipped into Airbnbs,” O’Shea said of the company that helps homeowners rent out rooms and entire houses to tourists worldwide. “I looked online and saw these Airbnbs listed for a minimum of $160 a night up to $400, and they’re filled all the way through September. Meanwhile, we have people actually living here who don’t have a place to live.”

FINANCIALLY LUCRATIVE

Online tourist-accommodation businesses such as Airbnb and VRBO make it easy for homeowners to advertise houses, apartments or rooms to rent. Short-term rentals can be more financially lucrative than long-term, especially in places that are popular tourist destinations, like Port Townsend.

Because council members Sandoval and Amy Howard were not in attendance at the March 20 meeting, Faber pointed out that all four remaining council members, plus the mayor, would have to vote to approve the moratorium.

“I suppose I’m directing this at you, Bob, since I sense you might be the only holdout,” Faber said to fellow council member Robert Gray, who had asked Bailey for details of tourist home rentals. “We need some breathing room here. Otherwise, it offers more opportunities for people to use the current rules, that are outmoded and outdated and killing this community.”

“I had no intention of voting no on this,” Gray replied, with laughter. “I agree that we need to make a decision on this, but it can’t just be about tourist homes.”

In response to Gray’s concerns about the council getting sidetracked and “going off on a different direction,” Deputy Mayor Catharine Robinson opined, “This council has the unanimity to get things done.”