GOLDENDALE — The main item in the morning workshop session during the Oct. 27 Klickitat County Board of Commissioners meeting was a discussion on changes to the short-term rental (STR) ordinance. Staff proposed significant changes to make the STR ordinance more concise and owner-friendly.
Economic Development Specialist Keaton Curtice put it this way: “Before we jump into the ordinance, I wanted to note the importance in making it concise and understandable, because this is an ordinance that’s going to have to be followed by regular people who are owning or operating short-term rentals. This is not an ordinance that’s going to be reviewed by a lawyer or a developer. So it needs to be concise, it needs to be readable, it needs to be easily understandable for the general public.”
In simplifying the ordinance, Curtice suggested replacing multiple photo requirements with a self-certification process, reducing the estimated staff time and establishing a fee range of $179-$258 if staff time calculations prove accurate.
Commissioners discussed whether fees should be embedded in the ordinance itself or established through a separate fee schedule, which would give future commissions the flexibility to amend the fee schedule without having to open up the whole ordinance and hold public hearings.
The board also agreed to grandfather in the few properties that had already obtained conditional use permits for STRs, a much harder, longer and expensive process, allowing them to continue operating under their existing permits..
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